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wvengen edited this page Jun 24, 2013 · 26 revisions

Translation of software is not always straightforward. While a normal text has a kind of flow, software mostly consists of small pieces of text. Sometimes they are isolated words to give a hint, sometimes a verb indicating an action, sometimes an explanation. Translation often depends on this context.

Some hints to help us obtain a clear, beautiful and consistent translation.

  • Try to recognise if something is a sentence or a single word. If it is a sentence, also translate it into a full sentence. If something is a single word, try to judge whether it would make sense to start with a capital or not. Often actions (on buttons or links) as a separate word are capitalised. Parts of sentences usually look better when not capitalised.
    • e.g. "Save" is capitalised, while "or cancel" isn't.
  • Word order can sometimes be completely different in the translation. Please feel free to change sentences radically. The aim is to convey meaning and smoothly communicate. This is often done differently in different languages.
    • e.g. "Hier kannst du eine Person in die Gruppe %{group} einladen, die noch nicht Mitglied der Foodcoop ist." could be translated to "Here you can invite someone, who is not yet a member of the foodcoop, to the group %{group}."
  • Please don't miss quotes. Not even at the end of a line.
  • Be consistent, also with other people's translations (when it makes sense) - see the word list below. Some words point to concepts in the software, like "workgroup" or "household". While "work group" may be more natural to British speakers, the concept as used here is written as one word. This is also valid for names. "Foodsoft" is like that, always starting with a capital (because it is a name). Sometimes you may encounter the word with the 's' capitalised as well. This is old, and better be changed for consistency.

Word list

Please use these terms where applicable. Note spelling. If something is capitalised here, capitalise it everywhere; if not, only where the language would normally use capitals. This list contains just singular forms, unless otherwise mentioned.

Consistency is everything.

  • Foodsoft (all) -- name of the product
  • household (en) - Bestellgruppe (de) - huishouden (nl)
  • workgroup (en) - Arbeitsgruppe (de) - werkgroep (nl)
  • net (en) - Netto (de) - netto (nl)
  • gross (en) - Brutto (de) - bruto (nl)
  • lot ?or? unit (en) - Gebinde (de) - groothandelsverpakking? (nl)
  • lot size ?or? unit quantity(en) - Gebindegröße ( Geb.Gr. ) (de) - groothandelsverpakkingsgrootte/-eenheid ( Gr.Eenh. )? (nl)
  • you (en) - du ?or? Du ?or? Sie (de) - je/jij (nl)
  • database (all)
  • order cycle (en) - bestellingscyclus (nl) {the following terms are not used consistently right now}
    • open - open (en) - laufend (de) - lopend/open (nl)
    • finished - closed (en) - beendet (de) - gesloten (nl)
    • closed - settled (en) - abgerechnet (de) - afgerekend (nl)
  • ...
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