UPDATE 2015-03-21: We have made changes to the translation files structure to prepare the move to Gettext. This means that some files have been removed, and their terms moved to trad4all (the central translation file). IF you are downloading new translation packages to update a portal currently in 1.9.*, please copy this language file *on top* of your existing language files (the ones that come with the Chamilo package). This will avoid errors on your portal. Either way, some terms have had a name change, so you will have a few terms missing (maybe 40 out or 8000, or approximately 0.5%). We're sorry about that. You can always add the terms by yourself in your local installation inside the corresponding trad4all.inc.php file.
UPDATE 2011-07 - This tool is currently still under development for Chamilo 2 translations. Please contact us on the forum if you would like to translate Chamilo 2.0!
Hi there! I'm Yannick, I'm the lead developer for Chamilo classic.
I guess you're here to translate Chamilo, right? Let me take you step by step to a successful translation.
There are two ways to translate Chamilo: the quick-change way (online, through this portal) or the deep-change way (on your computer, through Firefox). In any case, you first need a user account, so first click the "Registration" button on the right side. You can always come back to this page if you need to follow this guide, by clicking the Chamilo logo on top of the page. To make it easier, though, I recommend you open this page in a different window or tab, so you can switch between your registration and this page at any time without affecting the registration process.
Registration
The registration form is pretty simple: just enter your personal details. We won't use it for anything unrelated to your translations, so don't worry about it. It's better to enter the password yourself, otherwise you might forget about it. Only the fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory, so leave the others empty if you want.
Click the "Register" button. That's it, you're registered! (easy, right?)
Now comes the tricky part. Because you are a translator, you will obviously translate from a specific language to your language. This is what we will need to configure now.
On the portal homepage, click on the "Chamilo Translation Application" tab (on the upper-right side). On the new screen, you'll see a lot of information. Don't let yourself get distracted. Click on the "Help translating!" link. You get to a new screen. Now pick a source language (the language you will translate from). We generally recommend you choose English, as it is the most up to date language at any time.
Then choose a Target language. This is generallyyour mother tongue. You can choose several target languages, but this will complicate the interface later on, so why not start with only one? Once you have selected the source and target languages, click "Apply".
Now we will need to review your request and authorize you as a translator. This should take too long, but if you don't hear from us soon, send us an e-mail at info@chamilo.org to let us know you're waiting.
In the meantime, and if you want to undertake deep changes, you can already "Eport translations" in order to work on them using the second method described below.
Method 1: quick-change (online)
Once your account has been approved, you will receive an e-mail. Get into this portal again, and click (again) on the Chamilo Translation Application tab. The list of languages shows as normal, but now you have the possibility to Import language (as a zip package), and more importantly, your destination language will be marked in green and have an additional icon saying "Jump to the first empty translation". Click the icon.
On the resulting screen, you will find the version and the name of the file indicated in the breadcrumb above the page. In this case, I got "Futura (2.x) - profiler". This means that I'm seeing terms of the 2.0 version. If you want to translate both stable and development versions of Chamilo, that's fine but it's a lot of work. If you want to translate only Chamilo 1.8, we'll have to use a little trick...
Go back to the languages list page. This time, instead of clicking the icon on the right, click on the English name of your target language. You are now facing a list of the first 20 language packages in this language. Each of them show a link on the right side saying "Jump to the first empty translation". We're going to use those links, but only for the packages for which the Branch column says "Classic (1.8.x)".
Be aware that even if you only pick 1.8 files, once you're done with the terms of this package, you will automatically be sent to the 2.0 remaining terms. Once that happens, use the breadcrumb to go back to the packages list (click on your language name in the breadcrumb).
The big advantage of the online method is that, any time you save a language term, it is stored safely on the system. Even if your computer crashes, you will only ever loose a maximum f one term. This also means that possible other translators can work on the same language at the same time, on different files, increasing the speed of translation.
Method 2: deep-change (desktop)
UPDATE 2011-07: deep-change import is currently not functional. We are working on this. In the meantime, please keep a safe copy of the files generated using the method below or send us the translated files via e-mail at info@chamilo.org
Go to the main "Chamilo Translation Application" page and click "Export translations".
Select the version (1.8 = Classic), select the languages (your source language and your target language), select all the packs (click on "Core" and "Application" to select them by group), click download and let the system generate the package. Click the "Download translations" link to download a zip with the translations, and unzip it on your Desktop (for example).
On your computer download or open Firefox if you haven't done so yet. Download the phpLangEditor application from the Download link here. Open it with Firefox (Files -> Open file -> select the phplangeditor.xpi file you just downloaded -> Install -> Restart now -> Tools menu -> phpLangEditor). Because this extension is a bit old now, you might need to install a special extension that extends compatibility of extensions beyond versions: Add-On Compatibility Reporter.
Inside the window of phpLangEditor, click the "Open reference" and select the first file inside the "translations/english" directory on your Desktop.
Click the "Open translation" and select the first file from the "translations/[your language]" directory on your Desktop. You should now have the three areas filled with text inside your window. The left panel is the list of terms (you don't need to change that). The upper-right panel is the list of terms in English (or any source language you selected). The lower-right panel is the one you will be working on. This is the current string to be translated or improved. If you're happy with it, press CTRL+Enter to move to the next term. Otherwise change the translation then move on. Once you're done, click on "Save translation" to save the translated file, and open the next reference and translation files.
This method allows you to go very quickly, and review the around 6000 terms of Chamilo classic in about a day of work. If you're developing a new language, obviously this will still take some time, but most of the time will be spent thinking, not waiting for the online application.
For any question you might have about the translation application, please send us an e-mail at info@chamilo.org.
