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As the dev cycle for the first release of rehash winds down (one remaining bug before we're ready to deploy), I've turned my attention another large site-related project, specifically the possibility of internationalizing and localizing the site. Internationalizing a very large legacy codebase is a lot of work, and I want to gauge interest. For clarification, this work would translate the UI, and the site interface itself, and not the articles. Historically, I'm aware of two successful translation project, BarraPunto, and Slashdot.JP. However, both of those projects did so by simply rewriting the templates in their native language instead of using a more flexible system that would allow for dynamic processing.
After a few hours of cursing, I was successful in modifying rehash to use Locale::Maketext::Lexicon, and load translations dynamically from gettext when a template is loaded. The practical upshot is that if I continue with this effort, we will be able to import all the static strings in rehash, and translate them through any service that can handle standard gettext POT files (such as Launchpad Rosetta), then have rehash load the specific language on the fly depending on a user's settings, or their browsers preferences. This also has the benefit that translators would only require a minimal amount of HTML knowledge would be required to successfully translate rehash.
What I want to know is the following:
- Is there significant interest to prioritize this project?
- Are there enough people who are willing to engage in translating rehash to their native language?
- Assuming there is a successful translation committed and launched, would people be interested in running a version of SN in their own native language?
As long as the first two answers are yes, I'll push to get a localized codebase in place for the next rehash development cycle (likely landing in July or August). Please note there is a *lot* of strings to be translated, I'm expecting upwards of a couple thousand once I've finished scrubbing through all the templates and libraries. If you are interested in this, please note your native language below, and I'll get in contact with you once we're ready to start doing translation work.
Just to show that this is indeed possible, here's the output of the generate-pot-files script, with the few templates I've gone through:slashlithium~/src/rehash-ncommander$ bin/generate-pot-files * themes/default/templates/about;about;default - Total strings extracted : 21 * themes/default/templates/admin;menu;default - Total strings extracted : 7 * themes/default/templates/articlemoved;misc;default - Total strings extracted : 3 * themes/default/templates/bannedtext_ipid;misc;default - Total strings extracted : 2 * themes/default/templates/bannedtext_palm;misc;default - Total strings extracted : 2 * themes/default/templates/main;404;default - Total strings extracted : 11 READING PO FILE : i18n/rehash.pot WRITING PO FILE : ./i18n/rehash.pot DONE
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @10:32AM
Localizations are ok, IF you can choose a different language easily (WITHOUT needing an account).
Personally I just want English (which is not my mothertongue).
(Score: 2) by NCommander on Tuesday May 19 2015, @10:35AM
The default would be whatever your browser sends. Shouldn't be hard to simply add a dropdown box that sets a cookie to overwrite that.
Still always moving
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @12:52PM
What if I use Tor, which sends the same browser strings for everyone? And what if cookies are not allowed either?
This will just lead to more people being exposed unnecessarily to outsiders and it might be more possible to link posters to their posts than it already is.
Some people adopt styles of other posters and change their writing style for different comments, sometimes even on the same story. And not use their personal style to try and get their identities mixed up making it difficult for government criminals.
I think its a bad idea.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Tuesday May 19 2015, @06:36PM
And what if cookies are not allowed either?
The peasants have no cookies? Let them eat localForage. [github.com]
(Score: 1) by andersjm on Tuesday May 19 2015, @05:57PM
I'm not looking forward to seeing mixed-language gobbledygook in my browser, which is the direction in which you're heading.
Will you hold off upgrades until all translations are fully updated? Will you treat every missing translation as a bug? I rather doubt it. And that means all your language files will be incomplete pretty much all the time.
A partial translation can be of some use for a website where some of the users don't speak any English. But SN is not such a website. I suggest you belay this until there's an actual need, that is to say, until someone's setting up an SN clone with content in a different language.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @12:28PM
Your native language is German?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @01:03PM
No, you have 9 more guesses.
(Score: 2) by jbernardo on Tuesday May 19 2015, @02:15PM
French and you are tired of being shown sites in Dutch/Flemish?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @02:35PM
Dutch?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday May 19 2015, @05:57PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @07:03PM
D actually.