Consolidated English glossary for translators

[Benjol]

Transifex provides a glossary function per language, but what we are missing is a glossary which gives the context for the English terms. Sometimes you can use the tags in Transifex to work out where a given text is actually used, but other times it’s still not clear. And some terms are ambiguous when translated, so extra context is needed.

The aim here is not to provide a context per tag, nor for every single word, but if a translator finds a given word ambiguous, he/she should be able to come here and get help. I don’t know if it’s best to do a big wiki or what, but something is better than nothing.

I also think that the English developers should get into the habit of coming here to confirm their terminology too: fairly often there are inconsistencies in the original text, which make extra work for everyone. (Dear devs, every time you change a word, that is numeber_of_languages people who have to review/check/translate something )

See also:

Dev guideslines for making translation easier

I’m aware of topics and guidelines for translators, but are there guidelines anywhere for devs so that they can make translation easier? If not, I have a few ideas Avoid ‘walls of text’. tos_topic.body is totally unwieldy, for example. And that’s if you just have to translate it the once. But every time there is a modification, you have to scroll up/down to find the differences. Try to avoid ambiguity (i.e. does “User Modified” mean “modified by the user” or “the user has been …

[Benjol]

Post, Private Message, Message, Personal Message

Q: Is there a difference between Message, Personal Message & Private Message?
A: There are no differences.

Initially we used the term “Private Message (PM)”, but since they aren’t private, we changed to “Personal Message (PM)”.

And since less word is always better we now tend to use “Message” (as opposed to “Topic”).

Composer, Editor

Q: The same thing?
A: Yes

Whisper

A whisper is a post that is created in the context of a topic, but which is only visible to Staff. (or members of a group)

Pinned topics, Featured topics, Hot topics, Banner

Q: What’s the difference?
A: Pinned topics are topics that are at the top of topics lists (either in a category or globally).

Featured topics are topics that are featured in a category (used only in /categories and in category “boxes”)

Hot topics are topics which have a burst of activity (usually due to a topic). They might be subject to “temporary read-only mode”

Banner topics are topics that are shown above the topics lists.

(TODO: a link to an example/screenshot of each, or a meta post about these would be nice. As it stands it’s not really clear unless you already know the difference)

User, Staged User, Logged-in User, Anonymous User, Basic User, Engaged User, Visitor

Q: What’s the difference?

Mail, Email

Q: Should they be harmonised, or does it not matter?
A: My OCD would like to, but that might not always be possible.

Activation Email, Confirmation Email, Notification Email

Q: What’s the difference?
A: A notification email is an email that is sent to inform the user of new replies, messages, topics etc. (Depends on your preferences)

TODO: Confirmation and activation emails?

Archive, Backup

Q: What’s the difference?
A: There are Archived topics, but I don’t think we use Archive to talk about Backup, do we?

[rizka]

I feel you, I had similar issues for a long time. My current workflow allows me to reach the commit behind the need for translation very easily, though. I can also see what has changed easily. That’s because I realized I can have the Git blame of the English locale file opened. For instance here is the blame of server.en.yml:

https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blame/master/config/locales/server.en.yml

Note that you will most likely need a couple of refreshes to open it because the document is so massive. Github server can barely calculate the blame for the two major locale files, server and client.

Rapid editing of same strings is an issue, I agree. Has happened a couple of times recently. It’s especially problematic because the stable release is so near. If not translated again before the release, the string will remain untranslated for 4-5 months for everyone using the stable branch. More careful proof-reading before committing would certainly ease the burden of translators.

[zogstrip (Régis Hanol)]

@Benjol

Q: Is there a difference between Message, Personal Message & Private Message?

There are no differences.

Initially we used the term “Private Message (PM)”, but since they aren’t private, we changed to “Personal Message (PM)”.

And since less word is always better we now tend to use “Message” (as opposed to “Topic”).

@Benjol

Composer, Editor

Q: The same thing?

Yup.

@Benjol

Pinned topics, Featured topics, Hot topics, Banner

Q: What’s the difference?

Pinned topics are topics that are at the top of topics lists (either in a category or globally).
Featured topics are topics that are featured in a category (used only in /categories and in category “boxes”)
Hot topics are topics which have a burst of activity (usually due to a topic). They might be subject to “temporary read-only mode”
Banner topics are topics that are shown above the topics lists.

@Benjol

Mail, Email

Should they be harmonised, or does it not matter?

My OCD would like to, but that might not always be possible.

@Benjol

Archive, Backup

Q: What’s the difference?

There are Archived topics, but I don’t think we use Archive to talk about Backup, do we?

[pfaffman (Jay Pfaffman)]

I have a client who has renamed personal messages “direct messages”, which I think is better still, but it doesn’t start with p.

[Benjol]

I have a client who has renamed personal messages “direct messages”, which I think is better still, but it doesn’t start with p .

That’s what I’ve done in French, but yes, that does screw up the initials.

[Benjol]

Thanks, I’ve integrated your answers into my wiki.
Am open to further contributions !

[MikeNolan]

The whisper entry is incorrect (or maybe just out of date), any member of a selected group may create a whisper.

[twofoursixeight]

@Benjol

A whisper is a post that is created in the context of a topic, but which is only visible to Staff. (or members of a group)

I have corrected this issue.