Kestello

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Translating Kestello ​

This page is for people who want to translate the Kestello admin, emails and messages into their language, and for site owners who want to try a translation. You need a free program for translation files, such as Poedit, and a GitHub account to send the translation in. You do not need to read code.

Choose the language of your site ​

Open System → Settings, and under General choose a Language, then save. The list shows English and every language that comes with your version of Kestello. The admin, the emails Kestello sends and the text of your theme switch to it. Numbers, dates and plurals follow the language too.

Languages written right to left, such as Arabic or Hebrew, turn the admin around as well.

How translations work ​

Every sentence Kestello shows is written in English in its code. A translation pairs each English sentence with yours. Kestello looks up a sentence in this order, and uses the first one it finds:

  1. the language and region, such as Serbian in Latin script for Serbia (sr_Latn_RS),
  2. the language, such as Serbian (sr),
  3. the English sentence.

So a translation for a region only needs the sentences that differ from the main language.

The list of every sentence lives in a template file, core/resources/lang/kestello.pot in the Kestello repository. Translation programs read it and save your work as a .po file named after the language, such as sr.po or pt_BR.po.

Translate ​

  1. Download kestello.pot from core/resources/lang. If a .po file for your language is already there, download that instead and continue it.
  2. In Poedit, choose Create new translation and open kestello.pot (or open the existing .po file). Choose your language when asked.
  3. Translate each sentence. The notes next to a sentence say where it appears.
  4. Save the file as <language>.po, for example sr.po.

Some sentences have parts in curly brackets. Keep them exactly as they are, and move them where your language needs them:

  • {name} and other single words in brackets are replaced by a value. Hello, {name} can become Zdravo, {name}.
  • {count, plural, one {# entry} other {# entries}} changes with a number. Translate only the words inside the inner brackets, and add the forms your language has, such as one, few, many and other. The # is replaced by the number.

The template has a note at the top that says the same.

Try it on a site ​

On a test site, copy your .po file into core/resources/lang/, then choose the language under System → Settings. Each page of the admin loads the new sentences.

WARNING

Files you add to core/ are replaced by the next Kestello update. Send the translation in (below) so it ships with Kestello.

Send it in ​

  1. On the Kestello repository, add your file to core/resources/lang/ with Add file → Upload files. GitHub makes a copy of the repository for you when you do.
  2. Describe the change as feat(i18n): Serbian translation, and choose Propose changes, then Create pull request.
  3. A maintainer checks the file and merges it into the next release.

New Kestello versions add sentences. After a release, open your .po file in Poedit, choose Translation → Update from POT file, translate what is new, and send the file in again.

Translating a plugin or theme ​

Plugins and themes have their own templates, named after them, such as resources/lang/acme-shop.pot in the plugin's folder. Translate them the same way and send the file to whoever publishes the plugin.

If something goes wrong ​

My language is not in the list. The list only shows languages with a file in core/resources/lang/. Check the file name: it must be a language code, such as sr.po, not serbian.po.

Some sentences stay in English. They have no translation yet, or the English sentence changed in a newer version. Update the file from the template as described above.

A sentence shows curly brackets on the page. A bracket part was changed or removed. Compare it with the English sentence and keep the parts in brackets exactly as they are.

Next ​

Kestello documentation.