Just wanted to post some guidelines here for all the translators and translation admins working hard to get Roon localized!
If you have questions, let us know!
Translators
What Do Translators Do
When you log into the Translation website, the best thing to do is click on “Help Out On A Translation” – this will pick a translation that needs help.
Translators primarily help in two ways:
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Translating: Obviously, this is the most important thing – once you’ve logged into our translation site, you can look over all the text (or “strings”) from the Roon app and translate them. For each string you can add a new translation, even if it was previously translated – obviously you would only do this if you feel the previous translation was wrong or could be improved.
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Voting: Even if you don’t want to contribute translations, or if you’re language is currently 100% translated, you can still contribute by voting. Under each translated string, you’ll be able to choose a rating, and the system is designed to take this voting into account – because we automatically use the translation with the highest rating, even just a few minutes of voting helps make Roon better in your language.
I Don’t See My Language
If you don’t see your language on our translation site, it can be added. Note that for a language to be included in the Roon application (as opposed to the translation site) it will need to have at least one admin and a few translators.
We’re happy to add new languages to the translation tool, but we need an admin to get started. If you want to be an admin, read on below.
How Do I See My Translations?
Unfortunately, for the moment new translations can only be deployed with a new version of Roon. Every time a new version of Roon is released, new translations will be included, and you can see when the latest version went live in the Release Notes section of the Community Site.
What if I’m unsure about a word or translation?
If you need more context for how a word will be used, or where it will be used, you can always click “Request Clarification”. Roon staff will look into the word and provide some additional context so you can translate properly.
Note that once clarification has been requested, the word will be removed from the pool of translations, until Roon Staff has provided clarification. If you’re unsure or need more information, please post in the Translations section of Community and flag @mike.
Translation Admins
Any Roon member can help translate Roon by visiting our translation site but @TranslationAdmins have some additional powers and responsibilities.
What Do Admins Do
The most important thing when translating Roon is making sure that translations are consistent and accurate. This is done in two ways:
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Common Words: The Roon Team publishes a list of common words. This list is used across all languages, and is populated with words that are used over and over again in Roon. For example, the word “Playlist” is used many times in Roon, and it’s important that the same word is used everywhere. Translation Admins are in charge of translating the “Common Words” for their language. This is often done after discussion on Community with other translators in the Translations category.
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Language Notes: Admins are responsible for adding the “Language Notes” for their language. These notes are displayed to translators as they work, and should help guide everyone about the tone and formality of the translation. They might also refer translators in your language to a thread on the Community Site where translations are being discussed. Notes are your chance to let translators know what’s too formal, too technical, inappropriate, etc – make sure you take a few minutes to communicate with the translators helping in your language.
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Encouraging Voting: All Roon members can log into the translation site and vote on which translations are best. We cannot release a translation that does not have multiple members contributing and voting, so the Admin is responsible for talking to other Roon members who speak the language and making sure we have sufficient participation to be confident adding the strings to Roon. Just to be clear: localized strings will not be added to Roon until a sufficient number of users have voted and contributed.
Tips
Some additional tips from French translation admin Alec:
How Do I Become A Translation Admin
You can become an Admin by sending a PM to @mike.
Languages can have more than one admin, and additional languages can also be added by sending a PM to Mike.