Translations in Context
Posted on October 17, 2019 by pelikhan
Last week, we had the good fortune of meeting plenty of MakeCode users at micro:bit live. With many of the participants coming from a non-English speaking background, it reminded me again of how important it is to localize the editors. Unfortunately, it was also noted to us that the translation process was not as smooth as could be.
MakeCode uses Crowdin to manage the localization of all content, APIs, and documentation. With so much content, it can be very tricky to locate and begin translating the strings we’re interested in.
To address the issues just mentioned, we’ve added in context translations which allow translations of the strings from within the editor itself (or in a documentation page). No need to go on to the Crowdin web site anymore and navigate to the proper strings.
Editor translation
To enter translation mode in the editor, go the gearwheel menu, click Languages and then click the Translate the editor button at the bottom.
Each portion of text that is available for translation will have a colored border and an icon to edit the translation. The colored borders mean:
- Red border: the text has no translation
- Blue border: the text has a translation but it isn’t validated/approved
- Green border: the text has a valdated/approved translation
For user interface elements, simply click on the icon to translate them.
For blocks, go to the context menu and click Translate this block.
You will be prompted with a dialog that contains the block translatable string.
Roll-out
The in context translations are available in the beta editions of these editors.
/betaversion of micro:bit/betaversion of MakeCode Arcade/betaversion of Adafruit Circuit Playground Express/betaversion of LEGO - EV3/betaversion of MakeCode for Minecraft- The Maker Editor
Feedback?
Drop us a note in the MakeCode forums at https://forum.makecode.com/t/translations-in-context-blog/643 with any comments.