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| __NOTOC__{{draft}}{{L10navbar}}<p><br> | | __NOTOC__{{draft}}{{L10navbar}}<p><br> |
| This document outlines what you should expect in order to start building a new language, in the form of a language pack.
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| Here's the scoop, the Mozilla L10n program involves:
| | Every existing L10n team began with a common characteristic: they all wanted people who shared their language to have access to the web. From there, they began an effort that ultimately resulted in a localized version of Firefox for their region of the world. As this desire spreads around the world, more and more people come to Mozilla to either localize Firefox for a new region of users or to join forces with the L10n community team in their region. |
| *translating application strings and customizing the application for your region;
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| *distributing localization work to testers who will provide feedback on the translation quality;
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| *localizing the installation and migration process for users to find and later upgrade the Mozilla application with ease;
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| *translating web pages linked from the application and Mozilla websites to help educate users and market a localized Mozilla product.
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| =Team building= | | =The L10n teams= |
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| First things first, you'll want to join an existing localization team or start a new one if there isn't one already working on your language.
| | A comprehensive list of our awesome L10n teams is located on the [[L10n:Teams|L10n:Teams page]]. We use locale codes to identify these teams. Locale codes list the language first, then the region where the language is spoken (e.g., Mexican Spanish = es-MX). Each organized team has a wiki page to identify who is contributing to their efforts, what their main projects are, and how to get in touch with them. These teams are largely self-governing and can often include contributors who are focused on more areas of Mozilla than only L10n. They all range in sizes from a single active contributor to twenty active contributors, but regardless of size, they're always looking for more people to join their efforts. |
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| ==Join an existing team== | | ==Joining existing L10n teams== |
| Localizing Mozilla applications is a lot of work (and fun) - but that means there's plenty of opportunity to get involved. Some people may already be working on your language of interest; if so, they will be happy to have some help. You can find others who are already working on the same language by looking at the [[L10n:Teams|list of localization teams]] and the [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&product=Mozilla+Localizations&component=Registration+%26+Management&resolution=---&chfieldto=Now&order=bugs.short_desc open team registration bugs]]. A Google search might also find existing work. | | Localizing Mozilla products is a lot of work (and fun) - but that means there's plenty of opportunity to get involved. Visiting the [[L10n:Teams|L10n:Teams]] page is the best way for some one to learn if there is an ongoing effort to localize Firefox and other Mozilla products in their region. If an effort already exists in a region, then those who are interested in joining that team do the following: |
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| * Add yourself to a [[L10n:Teams]] wiki page that identifies you and what you're working on so people can find you. | | * Email the owner of that region's L10n team about getting involved. |
| | * Visit the [http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.l10n/topics mozilla.dev.l10n newsgroup] and introduce themselves as a new contributor joining the xx-XX community. |
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| ==Start a new team== | | ==New L10n teams== |
| If there isn't any information on an ongoing effort in your language, you should begin by creating a team page on [[Main Page|wiki.mozilla.org]] wiki, similar to that of the [[L10n:Teams:de|German team]]. Give it the same name as theirs, except replacing the language code <tt>de</tt> with your own. Firefox, Thunderbird, and XULRunner share the localization of a core piece called "toolkit", so if you start localizing one of those applications when some other team is already working on another one, you'll need to coordinate with them about that.
| | Of course, not everyone who visits the L10n:Teams page will find a L10n team for their region. These people find a unique and exciting opportunity: starting a new L10n effort for their region from scratch! While the opportunity can seem like a mountain of a challenge, everyone who has successfully done it before will agree that it is also exciting and very rewarding. If an effort doesn't exist in a region, then those who are interested in starting that effort do the following: |
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| There are some resources available for people starting new teams. We have a [[L10n:Server|server dedicated to l10n]] that you can get access to, or you can create a project on [http://mozdev.org/ mozdev.org] or [http://sf.net/ SourceForge] which will provide you with mailing lists, a place to store your code and so on. These services provide a more complete package, which the l10n server doesn't try to reproduce.
| | * Email the [mailto:l10n-drivers@mozilla.com L10n drivers] to introduce themselves and ask about getting started. |
| | * Visit the [http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.l10n/topics mozilla.dev.l10n newsgroup] and introduce themselves as new contributors who is starting the xx-XX community. |
| | * Create your team's wiki page by using the template form found on the [[L10n:Teams|L10n:Teams]] page. |
| | * Visit the [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Localization_Quick_Start_Guide Localization quick start guide] to learn about all of the technical details involved in localizing Firefox and other Mozilla products. |
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| * Read more about [[L10n:Registration|how to register a new localization team]].
| | =Mozilla L10n maxims= |
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| ==Communicate==
| | In order to be successful and have fun with localizing Firefox, each member of the L10n teams follow some very simple maxims. |
| If you haven't already you should also get onto the IRC Channel, [irc://irc.mozilla.org/l10n #l10n]. You will be able to get real-time help from other localizers and members of the L10n-driver team. You can also post questions or suggestions to [http://www.mozilla.org/community/developer-forums.html#dev-l10n m.d.l10n], available as newsgroup or on Google groups. In addition, you would want to have a bugzilla account as the majority of our work is started and tracked to completion in this way.
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| ==Collaborate== | | ==Communication== |
| Set up a communication channel for your language. You can use mailing lists or newsgroups, which many open source hosting partners offer, or simply open a Google or Yahoo group. You should leave a link to this forum on the wiki page for your language, so that new volunteers and members of the Mozilla community can find it. That's important because building a community around you to support your work is an essential part of being an open source project.
| | <b><i>Be very vocal.</i></b> |
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| = Localization work =
| | The most successful L10n teams are those who jump in on discussions and ask for help when it's needed. We offer several communication platforms for localizers to express themselves and get be heard. |
| Now you and your community are set up to do the actual localization work.
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| You may want to set up a central repository for your work (code, mailing lists, newsgroups, website). Depending on your working habits and the size of your team, you may want to look into open source hosting offers like [http://mozdev.org mozdev.org] or [http://sf.net/ SourceForge]. A very convenient way of keeping your files's version history up on the Web is to use [http://bitbucket.org/ BitBucket]. It's an on-line Mercurial (hg) hosting service, which has the nice side effect of getting you started with using hg. You can also just use plain files and regular backups.
| | * [irc://irc.mozilla.org/l10n The #l10n IRC channel] is a chat room where localizers from all over the world discuss L10n issues and help one another to succesfully localize their products. |
| | * [http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.l10n.new-locales/topics The mozilla.dev.l10n.new-locales newsgroup] is available to post questions or suggestions for various L10n-related topics. It is available as a newsgroup or on Google groups. |
| | * We use [http://bugzilla.mozilla.org Bugzilla] to track L10n developments and individual L10n team progress. |
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| Instead of localizing a language pack directly, you should localize in the source directory structure, and then make your work publicly available. We believe this as a good way to start out because it let's people know you are open to new collaborators and enabling a smooth path going forward.
| | ==Collaboration== |
| | <b><i>The more people involved, the merrier.</i></b> |
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| To make your work available for users to download and test, create a language pack which can be hosted on [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:1/cat:37 AMO]. AMO offers many advantages for both you and your testers and users, from download capacity to automatic updates of your Add-on.
| | The larger the L10n team, the easier it is to distribute the workload. Each L10n team can set up an IRC communication channel for their language. They can also use mailing lists or newsgroups, which many open source hosting partners offer, or simply open a Google or Yahoo group. Collaboration is important to building a L10n community to support and distribute the work. It is an essential part of being an open source project. |
| | | <div style="text-align:right">[[L10n:Localizing_a_project|Next >>]]</div> |
| Starting from scratch on a new localization depends a good deal on whether you use a [[L10n:Tools|tool]], and if so, which. On MDC, we documented [[mdc:Create a New Localization|bootstrapping a new locale]], which works with the Mozilla build system and an UTF-8-capable editor. You won't need a compiler, though, no worries. The steps roughly include
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| *Check out the en-US tree.
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| *Once you've created your working clone, edit the resulting tree to translate the strings (perhaps with [[L10n:Tools|tools]])
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| *Package up the result into a [http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Creating_en-X-dude#Create_a_language_pack language pack]
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| *Shipping it to some friends to test it.
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| *Translate more ...
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| Most of your work will happen here. There are many code strings to change so read the documentation we provided above carefully and use the resources we offer extensively to get you through it successfully!
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| The critical elements of this stage are to ensure your work has been reviewed by the community, particularly those interested in your language. You can use AMO to host your language packs and update them regularly. It's important to collect input from any and all sources about your language pack as this is the first time that people will be using it on a day-to-day basis and giving you feedback about the quality of your work. It is these same users who will then download and promote your new localization.
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| Something to think about all throughout your work is [[L10n:Building Blocks|expanding the community around you]] who can help you with the language you're working on. This is a good thing and will be useful for you for testing, celebratory events (i.e, launch parties), and possibly web pages or other areas you might need or want help with. We want to help you with this and are working on programs that we believe will do so. To read more about this, check out Seth's blog on our [http://blog.mozilla.com/seth/2007/06/04/support-update-3/ global program].
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| <div class="note"> | |
| '''You only have a language pack?''' There seem to be a bunch of language packs floating around still, that don't exist in an up-to-date form to be used for the build. If you have one, and would like to convert it to a source, [http://perso.orange.fr/cedric.corazza.net/html/langpack2cvstree.html there's a tool] by [http://perso.orange.fr/cedric.corazza.net/html/mozilla.html Cedric] that can help you with the file shuffling. The build process from sources to language packs is lossy, so there will be work left to do, but the tool will do the tedious part for you.
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| </div> | |
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| = Going beyond language packs =
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| Working on a language packs has the advantage that your testers can get updates on your work much more easily, and it requires a lot less [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolchain toolchain] compared to doing fully localized builds.
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| As mentioned in the [[L10n:Localization Process]], having language packs only comes with a few downsides for your users. In particular, the in-product web pages are not in your language, and the install and migration experience occurs in the language that your users installed first. Depending on your language, this may be more or less severe. Our common objective is to create fully localized official builds together, once you and your testers are comfortable with the localization thus far.
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| To move forward from the stage of language packs, you would request to make your build official, which is described in the [[L10n:Becoming_an_Official_Localization]].
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| [[Category:L10n]] | | [[Category:L10n]] |