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04-01-14, 07:39 PM   #1
Duugu
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So, what do you think? Is adding a machine translation a good idea?

I'm currently thinking about the localization of my addon. In the past I experienced that it is a problem to get people who are willing to provide localized strings.

I recently saw some authors who used machine translations (google, bing, don't know). But, in my experience those translations are very, very poor. They are often difficult to understand, and sometimes incomprehensible.

So, what do you think? Is adding a machine translation a good idea? Or is it even worse than showing english texts if there's no localized data?
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04-01-14, 08:07 PM   #2
Seerah
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Do what others have done. Post your Google translate here and let anyone correct it. Easier than getting them to do all the work from scratch.
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04-02-14, 01:37 AM   #3
Phanx
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Originally Posted by Duugu View Post
So, what do you think? Is adding a machine translation a good idea? Or is it even worse than showing english texts if there's no localized data?
Worse. Add a note to your download page indicating which languages you need translations for, and then just show English for any untranslated strings. Mangled machine translated garbage is not useful for anyone.

That said, for single words, using a dictionary or machine translation is probably fine. Google in particular will show you a list of possible translations, along with a list of English words each translation is used similarly to, so you can easily figure out which is the best option.

And for common phrases like "font size" or "background color" you can just copy from another addon.

If you're posting your addon on Curse too, I highly recommend adding all your translatable strings on the localization tab of your project page, and leaving them open so that anyone can submit translations. You don't need to be using the CurseForge/WowAce packager to use the localization system there -- when you want to update the translations in your addon, just use the "export" feature and copy/paste the whole batch into your addon file. The only downside is that there's no notification of any kind when someone adds or updates a translation, so you have to remember to check on it before making a release.

In my experience, you're most likely to get Chinese (both varieties), Russian, German, and occasionally French translations. I've very rarely had anyone send me Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese translations. Even Grid didn't get full Italian translations for probably 2 years after Blizzard launched the Italian version of WoW. I'm not sure if players in those languages just don't use very many addons, or if they all speak English and just don't prefer their native language strongly enough to bother with translations, or what. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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04-02-14, 03:34 AM   #4
10leej
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I have the benefit of living near a majority of the native speakers for my localization's I have yet to finish setting up.
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04-02-14, 06:04 PM   #5
Tonyleila
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No machine translation dosen't make any sense. Sometimes using some of blizzards translations works fine but not for everything.

I personaly hate localization system of curseforge. You can't test the strings ingame and so most times you are translating blind without testing if it fits into the place or if it is even the right translation at this place.

However if want a translation for "BAB Bars" just add English file and an empty German one and I'll do it.

Originally Posted by Phanx View Post
Even Grid didn't get full Italian translations for probably 2 years after Blizzard launched the Italian version of WoW. I'm not sure if players in those languages just don't use very many addons, or if they all speak English and just don't prefer their native language strongly enough to bother with translations, or what. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My experience from about 20 visits in Lago di Garda and Roma many Italians only know very little english, I think most of them are not able to do a localization from English to Italian!
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Last edited by Tonyleila : 04-02-14 at 06:11 PM.
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04-02-14, 07:59 PM   #6
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ooh I forgot about the italians....
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04-03-14, 01:11 PM   #7
humfras
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Originally Posted by Tonyleila View Post
However if want a translation for "BAB Bars" just add English file and an empty German one and I'll do it.
Ja genau Ulf, wir helfen dir, in deiner Muttersprache zu schreiben!

@Topic:
Since English is the default language, using short and simple descriptions and adequate localized strings from the default UI is the easiest way.
If the AddOn is ready-to-use and its features' functionality or description is quite obvious or easy to understand, then there's no need for an extra translation.
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04-04-14, 09:25 AM   #8
Duugu
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Originally Posted by humfras View Post
Ja genau Ulf, wir helfen dir, in deiner Muttersprache zu schreiben!
Well, how could he know?
Thanks for offering this Tonyleila.

So, I'll try to find some support here in the forum if the addon is ready to translate.
I don't like curse that much, and don't plan to upload the addon there too at the moment.

btw: I realized that Bliizard localization table is surprising big today. It's absolutly worth a look for common one or two worded terms.

I'm still not sure how good or bad Google translates some languages. The german translations are often very odd. But german is a complex language, which is not easy to translate. I'm sure there are other less complex languages with much better results. Like spanish? Is a spanish native speaker here who knows how the quality of those translations is?
Nevertheless, the most translations seem to be bad or worse. I can't even imagine how a Google translation to chinese must sound to a native speaker.

Last edited by Duugu : 04-04-14 at 09:33 AM.
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04-04-14, 12:46 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Duugu View Post
I'm sure there are other less complex languages with much better results. Like spanish? Is a spanish native speaker here who knows how the quality of those translations is?
Not a native or even fluent Spanish speaker, but in my experience Google does an okay job with simple sentences. Once you start throwing in clauses or even too many adjectives, though, all bets are off.
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08-17-14, 02:12 PM   #10
Yafis
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I can translate into Russian

Last edited by Yafis : 08-17-14 at 02:15 PM.
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08-17-14, 05:25 PM   #11
Nimhfree
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Originally Posted by Yafis View Post
I can translate into Russian
If you want to verify the translations for Russian for Wholly please look at http://wow.curseforge.com/addons/who...n/ruRU/?review to see whether they are good. I did some myself, and my Russian is poor.
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08-17-14, 05:36 PM   #12
p3lim
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Originally Posted by Yafis View Post
I can translate into Russian
http://wow.curseforge.com/addons/qui...lization/ruRU/

Have fun :]
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08-17-14, 08:04 PM   #13
myrroddin
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I only have a few strings left that need Russian, but I would appreciate it if you could fill in the blanks. Between these two AddOns, there is less than 20 strings I think.
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08-18-14, 05:21 AM   #14
Yafis
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Originally Posted by p3lim View Post
Ready. Went to translate other.
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08-18-14, 05:33 AM   #15
Yafis
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Originally Posted by myrroddin View Post
I only have a few strings left that need Russian, but I would appreciate it if you could fill in the blanks. Between these two AddOns, there is less than 20 strings I think.
Translated everything I could
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08-18-14, 05:37 AM   #16
Yafis
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Originally Posted by Nimhfree View Post
If you want to verify the translations for Russian for Wholly please look at http://wow.curseforge.com/addons/who...n/ruRU/?review to see whether they are good. I did some myself, and my Russian is poor.
You have a good translation.
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08-18-14, 08:54 AM   #17
Phanx
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If you're up for any more:Thanks!
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08-18-14, 10:10 AM   #18
Yafis
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Originally Posted by Phanx View Post
These translated, the rest will soon translated.
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08-18-14, 12:32 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by Yafis View Post
These translated, the rest will soon translated.
Thanks. I figured you might not want to do them all at once, so I listed them in order of how many strings needed to be translated.
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08-18-14, 07:46 PM   #20
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Yafis, thank you for translating the strings in SmartRes2 and FeedTillers. I forgot about one more. In this case, it is only one string.

http://www.wowace.com/addons/sharedm.../localization/

If you would be so kind, that would be awesome, please and thank you.
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WoWInterface » Developer Discussions » General Authoring Discussion » So, what do you think? Is adding a machine translation a good idea?

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