P5.express is an open, freedom-respecting system that belongs to everyone in the world, so it’s great to have it in as many languages as possible. All translations are done by volunteers who contact us and offer their help; people like yourself!
If you don’t see the manual in your favorite language and would like to contribute its translation, please read this page first to understand the amount of work and the process, and then contact us to make arrangements. Please do not start translating before contacting info@omimo.org because other volunteers may already be working on the same language.
On this page, you will find
- The content that needs to be translated
- Explanations of the translation process
Approach
Some people use machine translation (e.g., Google Translator) to translate everything into the target language and then review the output and make adjustments. Please don’t do that! It never results in a good enough text that the audience deserves.
Please only accept this work if you have the time and will to do a real translation that the audience will love and appreciate – one you will be proud of!
Amount of work
The translatable content is about 8500 words, equivalent to about 17 pages of standard text.
The general approach
You don’t have to stick to the words and sentences in P5.express; the only important thing is the meaning behind the words. So, feel free to use any construct in the target language that can convey the meaning in a simple and clear way. If you have any doubts about the meaning of something, let us know, and we can explain it to you.
Translating key phrases
There may be several ways to translate a key phrase. Usually, the more common translation in the target language is preferred. If you’re unsure how to translate a key phrase, check the existing technical texts in your target language.
For example, suppose you’re wondering how to translate “wisdom of the crowd”. In that case, you can open its English page in Wikipedia and then use the languages section on the sidebar to open the same page in your target language (if it exists) and see how it’s translated: “wijsheid van de massa” in Dutch, “sagesse de la foule” in French, “saggezza della folla” in Italian, etc.
Key phrases
This is a list of key phrases in P5.express: key-phrases.txt
It’s a good idea to translate the key phrases at the beginning and use them as a reference throughout the work. This is especially important if more than one volunteer is working on a translation, as it keeps the output consistent.
The diagram
When you’re done, we’ll prepare a translated version of the process diagram based on your translation. You don’t have to worry about translating the diagram.
Translation package
Here’s a compressed file containing all the source files: manual-en.zip
If you need to use another translation as a proxy, you can find all the existing ones here:
Please do not change the file names, as they are used to address the files in the system.
The contents of these files are described below.
Translation content #1: The UI phrases
A few phrases are used in the user interface of the website, and when a visitor selects a language, these phrases are used instead of the English ones. These phrases are contained in the ui.txt file.
Translation content #2: The example
There’s an example spreadsheet that needs to be translated. The spreadsheet is in ODT format, which is compatible with the office suits of Microsoft and Google, but it’s best to use LibreOffice (free and open source) to edit the file.
Translation content #3: The manual
Except for the ui.txt file, each file contains a metadata block at the top, followed by the main content below it.
Metadata
The metadata is the block at the top of each file that starts and ends with --- (three dashes). Fields in this block that contain a normal, meaningful piece of text need to be translated; e.g., the ‘title’ field. Other fields, such as codes, shouldn’t be translated.
The content
What comes after the metadata block is the main content, which is in markdown. Markdown is a simple way to format text. Only 4 syntax forms are used in the text:
- Lines starting with
##are headers. - Lines starting with
*are bulleted lists. - Phrases surrounded by a pair of asterisks, like
**important word**, are bold. - Something like
[website](https://example.com)is a hyperlink with a visible text of ‘website’.
For hyperlinks, the visible text may need to be translated. The internal links shouldn’t change, as they automatically adapt to the target language. For external links, if the external page is available in the target language (e.g., in Wikipedia or NUPP), please change the link to the translated page.
Finally, remember that paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines. If you start a new line without leaving a blank line before it, it will be merged into the previous paragraph.
Thanks, and good luck!