how to inform members about translation - Printable Version
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how to inform members about translation by tomazb on 11-23-2005 at 02:34 PM
Is there any way to inform all members from Slovenia that is out Slovene translation for Messeger Plus! ?
RE: how to inform members about translation by Choli on 11-23-2005 at 02:52 PM
I don't think so 
RE: how to inform members about translation by tomazb on 11-23-2005 at 03:11 PM
Pity.
I thing this can be good idea, dont it?
RE: how to inform members about translation by Menthix on 11-23-2005 at 03:33 PM
Yes, some changes might be needed for the translations. I heard Patchou might need to delete some of the less used languages from his setup in the next version because the filesize will get to big otherwise. Why not change the way translations are distributed.
- Only include English (and maybe a few of the most used languages) in the setup file).
- When a user starts the MsgPlus! setup, connect to a tiny file on one of the MsgPlus! servers that has a list of all currently available translations.
- Fill the language dropdown menu in the setup dynamically with the ones it got from the server.
- Only download the languagefile the user selected during setup.
This way new translations don't need to wait until a next release, the setup file can be much smaller, saves bandwidth on the servers.
You won't reach all Slovenian users this way, just the one that do a install, but it's better then nothing. Hope Patchou considers it.
Fantastic Idea !!! by Heyder on 11-25-2005 at 01:35 AM
This is a great idea!
The files of languages are very small, easily they can be downloaded on-line in the hour of the install process.
I hope there is not restriction of languages if this idea go a head, and the portuguese of Brazil can be part of this list!
Download de Brasilian translation HERE 
Dr. Heyder 
BRasil
RE: how to inform members about translation by qgroessl on 11-25-2005 at 02:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by MenthiX
Only include English (and maybe a few of the most used languages) in the setup file).
When a user starts the MsgPlus! setup, connect to a tiny file on one of the MsgPlus! servers that has a list of all currently available translations.
Fill the language dropdown menu in the setup dynamically with the ones it got from the server.
Only download the languagefile the user selected during setup.
So pretty much you select what language of plus you want, and that's the language the installer is in and you don't pick between languages?
RE: how to inform members about translation by Menthix on 11-25-2005 at 08:23 AM
quote:From the outside everything will still be just the same as it is now. The only difference is that not all languagefiles are in the setup file anymore, when you select a language that is not in the setup it will be downloaded automatically.
Originally posted by groessl35
So pretty much you select what language of plus you want, and that's the language the installer is in and you don't pick between languages?
RE: how to inform members about translation by CookieRevised on 11-25-2005 at 04:04 PM
The idea is good (IMHO), but it is also a very old idea and suggested before.
The reason why it wasn't added before was because Patchou didn't wanted that Plus! connected to "the outside world" to avoid complains that Plus! "phones home with secret info". Dunno what his current position on this is though...
But also as suggested before: if he still feels that way, and to make everybody happy, I think a special dedicated page (part of the download page) which lists all these extra languages (and updates to official ones) would be very usefull.
As a matter of fact, I thought he once said he would do that (back in the time when the official homepage was being updated with localized versions). But I guess he either forgot about it or didn't had the time yet to implement it.
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quote:The suggestion is not to automatically download all the complete translations, but that the user is presented with a list of extra available languages which he can download individually and use if he wants.
Originally posted by Heyder
The files of languages are very small, easily they can be downloaded on-line in the hour of the install process.
Also, language files are not small, they are relative big and take up a considerable amount of space. Hence one of the reasons why not-often-used, old, bad, or unofficial translations are not added or removed from the setup.
RE: how to inform members about translation by Choli on 11-25-2005 at 05:38 PM
The main problem, as Patchou said, is that when the user installs Plus!, if the server is down, the installation wouldn't be able to download the language files, and that's a thing Patchou dislikes.
However I like the idea of having the installation file with only the most used languages: english, spanish, french, portuguese, nederlands... and download the others from the site... I don't know what Patchou thinks about this....
Anyway, I think that a solution for this matter has to be found. I've always thought that a language doesn't take so much space in the installation. At the end, a language is just a txt file compressed with zip... and that's only 10/15 Kb... (or maybe a bit more) but not very much.
RE: how to inform members about translation by Menthix on 11-25-2005 at 05:57 PM
quote:That would make it worse IMO. Most people are not aware that they can get seperate languagefiles from the site manually. And you end up with the exact same problem... when the server is down, people will not be able to install Plus!.
Originally posted by Choli
I like the idea of having the installation file with only the most used languages ... and download the others from the site ...
quote:When that file is not found because the server is down or whatever reason it could just display the languages that are included in the setup file.
Originally posted by MenthiX
When a user starts the MsgPlus! setup, connect to a tiny file on one of the MsgPlus! servers that has a list of all currently available translations.
RE: how to inform members about translation by pollolibredegrasa on 11-25-2005 at 05:58 PM
It probably wouldnt work, or theres some major flaw in my thinking but..
Couldn't Plus! when installing or w/e find the system's language (from the registry perhaps?) and if it doesnt match the list of languages contained in the installer, maybe pop up a simple message giving the user a webpage with all the translation files (a forum post perhaps? and maybe an "official" page too, so if one server is down then at least they can try the other?)
Or maybe they can select "other" from a language list or something which does roughly the same thing.
I think it could work, but it would need better thinking through probably 
RE: how to inform members about translation by Weyzza on 11-26-2005 at 09:34 AM
quote:Unfortunately, that has already happened to the translations which were deleted about a year ago.
Originally posted by MenthiX
quote:That would make it worse IMO. Most people are not aware that they can get seperate languagefiles from the site manually...
Originally posted by Choli
I like the idea of having the installation file with only the most used languages ... and download the others from the site ...
The link below is the thread I'm referring to.
Where are the pruned translations?
The simplest solution is to mention all languages Plus! supports in the installation window when the user is installing.
So, there's no need to connect to Plus! servers.
And the list of languages in an installer can be varied depending on the finished translations received by Patchou on translation due date.
Con: there might be an aesthetic problem: if the list grows larger and larger, the text wouldn't fit in the installation window.
Hence, the languages that are listed have to be national languages, no dialects.
quote:People, including me, could misinterpret the popup as an adware
Originally posted by fatfreechicken
maybe pop up a simple message giving the user a webpage with all the translation files (a forum post perhaps? and maybe an "official" page too, so if one server is down then at least they can try the other?)
quote:I think the only way to inform people about your translation is by telling about your translation to your friends, and (hopefully) your friends will tell other people.
Originally posted by tomazb
Is there any way to inform all members from Slovenia that is out Slovene translation for Messeger Plus! ?
FYI, if Patchou has not changed the number, you need at least 10000 users regularly using your translation to get your translation listed in the installer.
If you can't get more than 10k, your translation will be buried forever in Plus! server waiting some persistent Plus! user from your country to find the translation. (Sorry about the metaphor, but it's true)
Scary, isn't it?
RE: how to inform members about translation by Choli on 11-26-2005 at 09:00 PM
quote:yes... i meant something like that...
Originally posted by MenthiX
That would make it worse IMO. Most people are not aware that they can get seperate languagefiles from the site manually. And you end up with the exact same problem... when the server is down, people will not be able to install Plus!.
quote:
Originally posted by MenthiX
When a user starts the MsgPlus! setup, connect to a tiny file on one of the MsgPlus! servers that has a list of all currently available translations.
When that file is not found because the server is down or whatever reason it could just display the languages that are included in the setup file.
quote:currently Plus! does that. When the installation starts, it gets the language of Windows' settings and starts the installation in that language, if available. If not, (i think) english is used.
Originally posted by fatfreechicken
Couldn't Plus! when installing or w/e find the system's language (from the registry perhaps?) and if it doesnt match the list of languages contained in the installer, maybe pop up a simple message giving the user a webpage with all the translation files (a forum post perhaps? and maybe an "official" page too, so if one server is down then at least they can try the other?)
It would be very easy to add an additional text that says that the language of Windows is not included in the installation of Plus and that (maybe) can be downloaded from the server.
RE: how to inform members about translation by Jhrono on 11-27-2005 at 03:02 AM
Well, lots of people on this community have websites, so i'm sure we can spare some bandwidth and space so there are allways translations availables in mirrors if the msgplus server is down..
RE: how to inform members about translation by CookieRevised on 11-27-2005 at 03:07 AM
Plus! has his own mirrors. And in the very rare case that the servers will be down, I think it is a bigger problem that the setup can't be downloaded from the main page than that languages can't be downloaded.
In short: server downtime isn't the issue and shouldn't be a big point.