[Phpmyadmin-translators] On line translating system

[Mihailo Stefanović]

Well, here is one vote FOR the proposal. Let me present my views. 

> Would you prefer manual file editing or web based system?

While many people prefer their favourite off-line editor, I wish there was an easy way to make minor (or major) modifications to the translation without complicated procedure (ie. pull the latest file from CVS, open in the editor, make changes, zip it, upload to Tracker, write comment...). Something like Google in Your Language (http://services.google.com/tcbin/tc.py), but in a more democratic way (I have no idea how Google decides on what changes to accept, and why). That said, :

> Should be access allowed to anyone or limit it to current translators?
> In case of unrestricted access, there should be some kind of review of
> translated texts by translator?

Access should be allowed to anyone (but with mandatory registration); they could suggest translations, but only authorized (official) translator sould accept and commit them. Also, it would be nice to be able to enter and see multiple variations of the same string, and then let the maintainer choose the best one.

> Would it be good to automatically commit updated messages to CVS (after
> possible approval) or just provide way to generate updated file to commit?

It would be nice to be able to commit messages automatically, and skip few boring steps (see above :)).

You should have in mind that several similar systems exist already, like Rosetta (https://launchpad.net/rosetta), primary translation system for the Ubuntu Project and hundreds of other open-source projects. I don't know if it would be possible (possible it is, but is it easy enough?) to import PMA language files to Rosetta, and export and commit them later. Also, too bad the Rosetta software itself is not open-sourced, so you have to use their system, on their servers.

Then there is Pootle (http://translate.sourceforge.net/), but it is written in Python, and is not quite there yet. 

Regards,

Mihailo Stefanovic
(PMA Serbian Translator)