Translation and Review Guidelines

Please review the tips and guidelines below prior to localizing projects. The following information will help you navigate the Weblate interface and more effectively and accurately translate and review projects.

Translation and Review Workflow Policy To ensure the highest level of quality and impartiality in our projects, we follow a double-blind workflow. This means that no single contributor is permitted to perform both the translation and the review of the same string or content. The translator's work is independently reviewed by a separate individual to ensure accuracy, consistency, and adherence to project-specific guidelines. This two-person process is a core component of our quality assurance and is a requirement for all Localization Lab projects.

Machine Translation and AI Assistance We follow a "human-first" approach. Do not submit raw, unedited machine translations or AI outputs as final work. We expect human translation first - any AI or machine translation tools must be strictly supplemental, heavily reviewed, and validated by a fluent human speaker before being added to the target-language area, no matter what platform is being used or what project is being localized. Please note that our Weblate platform does not integrate AI or MT plugins. Any use of these tools occurs entirely off-platform at your own discretion. If you heavily rely on an external AI assistant to draft a translation, you must leave a comment on the specific string in Weblate (e.g., "Drafted with AI assistance") so reviewers can apply extra scrutiny. Never include tags or notes inside the actual translation text, as this will break the software code.

Communicate Leave Comments for other translators Localization is a group effort. If you fix a minor typo, make the change directly. If you change key terminology or structure, leave a comment explaining the change and tag the previous translator using @username. This ensures others understand your edits and can learn from them. Leaving comments ensures that other contributors understand why you have made changes, can learn from them, and can make sure to apply the changes to future translations. Report issues to project maintainers: If you need more context or spot a fundamental issue with the source text, let the maintainer know. Use the "Comments" tab in Weblate to start a discussion or report an issue with the source string so developers are notified.

Read the Developer Notes and Context Developer notes and context are located in the "Source string info" section or "Context" tab in the Weblate editor. Always read and follow these instructions for the string you are translating.

Do Not Translate or Transliterate Application or Project Names Do not translate or transliterate project, company or application names that do not have an official or widely adopted regional variation. Some projects have widely used and accepted translations or transliterations of their names. If this is the case in your language, feel free to use the localized version. Example: تويتر (Transliteration of Twitter in Arabic)

Focus on Consistency Ensure translations for recurring terminology and duplicate strings are consistent across a project. Weblate provides features to help manage consistency: Search: Use the search bar to find words and phrases across components and projects. Translation Memory: The "Translation memory" tab in the editor shows how similar strings were translated previously. Glossary: The "Glossary" tab displays approved translations for key terms. If a term is missing, Reviewers can add it directly to the glossary.

Watch Out for Placeholders, HTML, and Markup Placeholders and variables: Strings often contain placeholders (e.g., %s, {user}) replacing dynamic content. Keep these unchanged. You can move them to where they make grammatical sense in your target language. If you are unsure what a placeholder represents, check the context or ask the maintainer. HTML and Unicode entities: Keep HTML entities (e.g.,  , <) exactly as they appear in the source, or replace them with their corresponding character if appropriate. New lines: Ensure your translation has the exact same number of new lines (\n) as the English source text.

Pay Attention to Read-Only and Failing Checks Some strings are marked as read-only or flagged to be ignored. Do not force translations on these. Weblate has built-in quality checks that will trigger a failing check warning if your translation mismatches the source format, variables, or punctuation. Always review and resolve these warnings.

Punctuation, Capitalization, Double Spaces, and Typos Small details matter. An inconsistent interface reduces user trust. While translating and reviewing, ensure you: Use correct and consistent punctuation. Use correct capitalization. Match the English source unless your language rules dictate otherwise. Add the correct number of brackets and parentheses. Do not add double spaces unless present in the original source. Weblate will flag trailing or multiple spaces as a failing check.

Reference Other Languages If you are multilingual, you can view current translations in other languages to better understand the context. Use the "Other languages" tab in the Weblate editor. Remember to ultimately defer to the English source text, as other translations may not be fully reviewed.

Always Keep the End User in Mind Ask yourself if a non-technical user would understand your translation without help. The goal is to make the text understandable and culturally appropriate, rather than translating literally.

Know the Style Guide Check to see if there is a style guide for your language on this wiki. No style guide on the Localization Lab wiki for your language team? Refer to style guides for other technical projects.