:TITLE:VNDB Interface Translation :INC:index :SUB:Introduction
Translation of the VNDB interface happens in roughly the following steps:
Be warned that VNDB has quite a lot of text to translate, so doing a full translation might take some time. Also keep in mind that the translations will need to be kept up-to-date when changes to the site are made.
:SUB:Translation Admin
The translation admin interface is available on a separate installation of
VNDB. It can be reached on the following URL:
http://vndbtl.blicky.net/tladmin
That VNDB installation is completely separated from the main VNDB, so you're
free to modify things and screw around as much as you like. The changes to the
database are not saved and may be reverted at any time.
Make sure to log in to the site if you wish to modify the translation. Changes
to the translations are saved locally and are directly visible on the test
site. The changes are not automatically moved on to the main VNDB. You can
notify Yorhel to move the edited translation to the main website.
IMPORTANT: When editing translations, make sure to
save often. It would really suck if you spend an hour translating everything
on a page, and then forget to save it. Or if you accidentally leave the page
and can't get back with your changes intact. Or if you wanted to save but the
server is suddenly having some issues. Whatever happens, be sure to hit the
"Save" button once every few minutes to limit any trouble!
All the interface text of VNDB is grouped into several sections.
Selecting a section allows you to view/edit the individual translation lines.
If the translation of a line is the same as the English text, the text box of
the translation can be left blank. Blank fields are automatically replaced
with the English text on the site.
Always try to find each translated line used on the actual site and see if it
looks good in context. Sometimes there are limits to the length of a line and
the layout will look bad if the translation is too long. At other times you
might notice that the translation is used in a very different context than you
had thought.
Checkbox
There is a checkbox next to each translation line. This is used for
administrative purposes and can be used to signal which lines still need to be
(re)translated. When the English line is modified, or when a new line is
added, this checkbox will be set. After updating the translation you can unset
it to mark the line as finished. When, and whether, to unmark the checkbox is
up to you as translator. The checkboxes are not used for any other purpose
than to help you keep track of a to-do list. The numbers next to the section
links at the top indicate how many lines are still checked in that section
versus the total number of lines.
Formatting
Some lines have special formatting codes in them. In most cases you can just
copy the codes from the original text into the translation and translate
anything that looks like actual text. Here's a list of the currently used
formatting codes:
Doc pages are pages like the FAQ, guidelines and other stuff. These can be
translated by editing the document on the right. Doc pages are written in HTML
and have a few special codes like :TITLE:, :INC:, etc. You don't have to worry
much about this, just make sure that if there's any codes on the original
document on the left, the same codes are used in the translated document on
the right. It helps to keep the line-breaks at the same point in the
translated document as in the original document, so that it's easy to follow
which lines correspond to each other.
Doc pages always start with a :TITLE: on the first line and a
:INC:index on the second. In the translated document it's also possible
to add a special :INC:incomplete line to indicate that the translation
is not yet finished or not synchronized with the English version. This line is
added whenever the English version of the doc page has been changed, and makes
it easy to see which documents need to be updated. After ensuring that the
translation has been synchronised, you can remove the :INC:incomplete
line from the document.
For convenience, in the doc page selection there is a !! indicator next to the doc page to indicate that it has
not been translated yet, or that it still has a :INC:incomplete line.
Unfortunately, this indicator is not added when one of the incomplete,
index or notfinished pages is modified. Be sure to regularly
check the index page for any additions!
When updating an existing translation for a doc page that has recently been
modified, it may be useful to see what has been changed exactly. The "Recent
changes" link at the top-right of the box will bring you to the edit history
of the English version of the doc page.
The following doc pages are not available for translation: