This FAQ contains the most common questions and answers around translation for contributors, plugin/theme authors, and Global and Project Translation Editors.
For translators and editors
Should I translate both Stable and Dev?
You’d want to work on “Stable (latest release)” to use the plugin in your language. Strings in “Development (trunk)” are extracted from the code that is not released and subject to change or removal.
Since mid-April 2016, not only new strings but also edits are synced between dev and stable (both ways, only approved translations).
When a plugin releases a new version, all translations get copied from dev to stable. Credits would go to both users if different users submitted the translation (Waiting or Current).
Consistency checks: Is this the correct translation? How are others translating this word?
When translating, sometimes you want to check other translations for consistency to confirm that you’re using the correct word. The first place to look should always be the glossary of your locale. If the word is not found there, you can try to perform a consistency check to find that word in other plugins/themes in your language.
I suggested a wrong translation. What should I do?
Don’t worry! If you’ve submitted an incorrect translation, you can reject your own translation and then suggest a new translation for the string. GlotPress marks it in red color. Once you refresh the page, then you’ll see the string untranslated again.
Can I see more than just 15 strings per page when translating a plugin/theme/meta?
Sure! To do so, just change the number of rows you want on https://translate.wordpress.org/settings.
Do I need to contact the plugin author to become a PTE?
Developers need an “okay” from translators to request that they become PTEs of their projects, but translators don’t need approval from the developer to become PTEs for their projects. By adding their projects to translate.wordpress.org, the developers are putting them in the hands of the translation community.
Any contributor can request to become PTE for a plugin/theme by posting the request on https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/, indicating the plugin name or link and the locale.
For an example of a request post, please see the PTE Request page.
WordCamp translations are all validated but the website does not get updated. What happened?
After validating https://translate.wordpress.org/locale/locale-name/default/meta/wordcamp, the WordCamp sites are automatically updated once a day at 00:00 UTC. In case of issues, post a message to the #meta-wordcamp Slack channel.
Propagation of strings during .po import
Propagation is only available for plugins. When importing a .po, dev and stable are synced (both ways) and also dev-readme and stable-readme. There is no propagation outside the plugin where you perform the import.
How come I don’t have any strings for translation in Apps?
Even if the projects were created, the strings are not automatically imported for some apps (like iOS, Android, etc.). Please post a request on https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots with the Apps missing and your locale.
How to activate /support on our Rosetta site?
Before activating the support forums, make sure to have translated the “Forums” project and also the bbPress plugin for your locale.
Then post a request on https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots indicating the w.org usernames that should become keymaster (forum admins).
How do I activate /team and the handbook on our Rosetta site?
If your locale has a /team site already, the handbook should be active and you can create pages.
Examples:
If you don’t have a /team site yet, post a request on https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots indicating your Rosetta site (e.g. it.wordpress.org)
Why is there an empty resource list in PTE email?
When a GTE creates a PTE, an email is automatically sent. Make sure the Rosetta Locale Manager has correctly set the menu for the translation editors in https://YOURLOCALE.wordpress.org/wp-admin/nav-menus.php?action=locations otherwise, the list of resources in the email will be empty.
For theme/plugin authors
Strings are validated, when are they taken into account for download?
If strings in stable are approved for at least 90% for a plugin/theme in a certain locale, the generation happens 30 minutes after a translation has been updated. Then any local WordPress set to use that specific locale will download it in the next hours after the generation.
Strings in readme are deployed almost immediately, but the 90% to reach is only needed for the strings of the plugin/theme.
If Meta projects (like Rosetta or o2) are updated, it takes between 24 and 36 hours before the update is visible.
For WordPress core, the default/front-end project needs at least 90% current translations and the Administration project at least 75%. All other sub-projects have no limit. Once reached, the language pack is built every hour on the hour.
How do locales manage PTE requests?
Here are some examples:
- French: How French community handles PTE requests
- Italian: PTE status requests by devs for Italian localization
- Portuguese (Portugal): How the Portuguese Community handles PTE Requests
- Polish: Translation Help
- Japanese: Translation Review Request
- Spanish (Spain): How Spanish for Spain community handles PTE requests
You may be able to find information for your locale in their style guide or start guide.
As a plugin/theme author, how can my translators get validation rights?
If you as a plugin/theme author think your translators are doing a great job, then you can follow this PTE request process. You propose them and then GTEs from the requested locales can check further to verify that they are translating things properly. Most of the GTEs will start by checking what your translators already contributed and then see how to go further with them.
Some notes:
- Every locale might have its own ‘procedure’ to nominate a PTE. GTEs want to ensure that no translations are just copied/pasted from something like Google Translate and that the PTE understands the language well. References might be made to existing glossaries and style guides to maintain consistency over all plugins and themes of the same language. You don’t want your plugin to refer to your admin panels under ‘people’ if it is called ‘users’ in your language. So some initial agreements are needed between PTEs and GTEs.
- All GTEs are human and even have a life outside of here. Also, not all teams have many GTEs (yet). So please allow some time to respond to your request.
Can I exclude strings from external libraries?
If your plugin or theme uses external PHP libraries, then strings in such libraries don’t need to be translated. Make sure to put those libraries under the /vendor folder. During import of strings for translation, any files under this folder are skipped.
General
How can I get notified if somebody mentions the name of my plugin, theme or locale?
You are automatically notified if someone mentions you with @your_username. Also: if you’re a GTE, then you’ll automatically receive a notification if your locale tag (like #en_GB) is mentioned. But you can add extra words (like the name of your plugin/theme) or locales (like #fr_BE) to get notified on slack or by email upon mention. Check out your personal page on https://profiles.wordpress.org/profile/notifications.
Also keep in mind, that notifications are only processed and sent when a post or a comment is published first time. No notification is sent if a mention or a tag is added via editing an existing post or comment.
I lost my password to the email I used to create my wordpress.org account!
It might happen that you changed email and therefore cannot reset your password. For resets, you can send the details with the old email and forum account ID to [email protected].
How many WordPress versions are downloaded or installed for a specific language, country or locale?
Download statistics are not always accurate or useful, so there are no real statistical breakdowns. However, a chart with active installs per locale can be found on https://wordpress.org/about/stats/.
Where can I find the direct download link for the latest version of WordPress?
To download the latest version of WordPress in your target language, visit the locale’s Rosetta site to find the download link. For example, the link to the latest release of the Dutch (nl_NL) locale would be:
https://nl.wordpress.org/latest-nl_NL.zip.
Where can I ask validator rights for wordpress.COM?
The community here is dealing with wordpress.org translations. If you want to contribute to wordpress.com, then please check the FAQ on https://translate.wordpress.com/faq/ and place your request in the forum there.