README.translation

Translating OpenFlights into your language does not require any specialized technical skills. This is a step-by-step guide for how to do it.

OpenFlights currently contains about 400 strings, mostly short but some long. You do *not* need to translate everything, and translating even a small part would be very helpful; somebody else can easily continue from where you left off.

0) First, notify info@openflights.org that you want to translate a language. This will help prevent duplication of effort.

1) Download and edit POEdit (https://poedit.net/), a specialized editor for translation. It's free, and versions are available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

2a) To create a new language, download a copy of the blank template:

  https://github.com/jpatokal/openflights/blob/master/locale/template.pot

2b) To edit an existing language, browse to:

  https://github.com/jpatokal/openflights/blob/master/locale/

...and find the existing messages.po file. For example, the Japanese (ja) file is here under the "ja_JP.utf8" directory:

  https://github.com/jpatokal/openflights/blob/master/locale/ja_JP.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/messages.po

3) Load the .po file in POEdit.

4) From the "View" menu, activate "Show comments window", so you can see string explanations (if any).

5) Translate! Press CTRL-Arrow Up/Down to move between entries. Some style pointers:

- Especially for short entries, try to roughly match the length of the existing string. If the English uses an abbreviation ("Reg."), keep the translation short.

- The special strings %s, %1, %2, %3 are automatically filled in by OpenFlights. Keep them in the translated string, but you can change the order if you want.

  "Results %1 to %2 of %3" --> "Total %3 hits, last result %2, first result %1"

- HTML markup like <tag>text</tag> is used in some entries. Do not change content inside <>, but do translate everything else, including text inside tags. Again, you can change the order:

  "<font>Blue</font> is a delicious cheese" --> "Une fromage delicieux, c'est <font>Bleu</font>"

6) Finished? Save and send the new messages.po and messages.mo files to info@openflights.org.

Thank you for your help!