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List:       kde-i18n-doc
Subject:    idea - Translation Wiki - a web interface for translation
From:       <yezonghui () gmail ! com>
Date:       2007-05-11 8:11:55
Message-ID: 200705111611.56103.yezonghui () gmail ! com
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After doing some translation for some qt and KDE programs, I had the question whether \
the translation process can be made simpler so that an ordinary user who come up with \
a little piece of translation (say, one sentence) can easily make it available to \
other users. I mean, he doesn't have to get the po/ts files, find and translate the \
sentence, submit the change and wait for next release. Finally, I come across this \
idea of translation wiki.

Explanation:
A translation wiki is a wiki-like web interface that allows every one to contribute \
translation to an applicatoin, where the building blocks are pages with source text \
and (editable) translations. The following functionality are provided:

1. Translation pages is generated from to-be-translated po files. updating from \
changed po files is also needed (translation pages added and dismissed, existing \
translations reused),i.e. version control. 2. In addition to source and translations, \
the pages can contain (editable) explanations to the source (about its context, exact \
meaning, etc.). The explanations can have not only text but also links (related \
translations), images (e.g., screenshot), videos or anything to help the translation. \
This is the wiki part. 3. For one source and one language there can still be multiple \
translation candidates, which is chosen by the wiki users to their taste. Voting for \
candidates is a plus. 4. To complement 3, there is an 'official' user whose choice is \
the default for everyone else. 5. A comlete translated po file is generated for a \
user according to his/her choices. 6. Translation pages are mannually (or \
automatically) grouped together (e.g. according to UI interfaces) to facilitate \
navigation and understanding. This is also part of the wiki part.

Optional functionalities include:
1. Voting for candidates.
2. Phrase dictionary.
3. In-application 'translate this' link to the translation pages. (like 'what's this' \
help) 4. Search for remaining un-translated text.

Benefits:
By making translation process this way, we
1. can expect ordinary users to contrubute to the translation, thus increased number \
of translators. 2. can have more clues on how to translate cerntain text(through \
grouping and explanations), compared to those provided by po/ts files. 3. have faster \
translation-evaluation cycle 4. have fewer chances that translation work get \
duplicated 5. enable personalized translations

Draw backs:
1. The translations, explanations, and groupings can be messed up by bad boys. But \
all wiki's have this vulnerability... 2. Version control is more complicated. \
Developers (or site managers) will have to maintain correspondence of translation \
pieces between versions. However we should be able to get most of these \
automatically.

Here it is. I have this idea but am so unfamiliar with web development that I can't \
implement it myself. And doing it alone is just unwise.

So, if anybody think this is a good idea, let's refine it and find people/resources \
to make it reality!

Thanks.

-- 
    Best Regards,
yzhh


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