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Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
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Thor
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O.P. Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
Hello to the people of the forums.  (A)

Recently while I was bored, I thought I'd fix/update the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!.

So I did. However, it's worth noting that there is most likely several errors, or parts that can be improved. I am by no means taking credit for the translation guidelines, neither am I saying that it's perfect. Some parts have been cut, some have been changed and some have probably been forgotten.

View the translation guidelines at its thread.

All your comments are belong to us.

For those feeling like ranting or just asking why I bothered, don't. I was bored and I wanted to update them. Comments that don't touch the area of rantin', are of course encouraged. That counts for improvements too. End of story.

This post was edited on 06-25-2008 at 05:15 PM by Thor.
:plus4: Translation guidelines for Messenger Plus! Live
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04-14-2008 06:17 PM
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Choli
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
Very good work, Nitro.

I just want to say my comments of your work (not big things, don't worry, they're just details :P)

quote:
The content of language files is read by Messenger Plus! during its execution. It means that, when you update a language file, you just have to close a window and reopen it to see the changes. You don’t need to exit Messenger. To see modifications in the Plus! menus, do the same thing: close the Messenger windows and reopen them.
That isn't excatly true. Plus!, by default, reads only once the translated texts of the file, when it needs them to display a window. Next times Plus! displays that window, the texts are read from memoy, not from the file. Therefore, updates to the language file won't be seen when you close and reopen a window. To do that, you need to set a special key in the registry: setting the dword value AlwaysReloadInterfaces to 1 in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Patchou\Messenger Plus! Live\GlobalSettings" forces Plus! to always read the translation from the file.

quote:
Before you do anything, you need to uninstall your current version of Messenger Plus! Live, reboot your computer (so that all the old files of Messenger Plus! are deleted) and install the latest version of the software from www.msgplus.net.
www.msgpluslive.net ;)

quote:
Note: the interface language can be modified later in the “General Options\Local Settings” section of the Preferences panel of Messenger Plus!.
The section is called "General > Main" in Plus 4.x

quote:
Examples of incorrect translations:
  • UnicodeRadio=Unicode encoding
  • UnicodeRadio= Unicode encoding
  • UnicodeRadio=Unicode
    encoding

Maybe I can't see well the document, but it seems to me that the first line can be a correct translation, can't it? Or it may be a typo where it should show the example of putting a space before the equal? (UnicodeRadio =blablabla)?

quote:
Different tags can be found in the text. Here is a list of those tags and their meaning:
Review this section. In Plus! Live, the only tags that appear are these:
  • %1, %2, %3, ... : these tags are like the old %s of Plus 2.x and 3.x but the number identificates them, so in the translation you can place them in diferent order as they appear in the english translation.
  • %1!d!, %2!d!, ...: the same as the revious ones, but these are for numbers (not strings). It is important not to interchange them (ie: if the tag has the "!d!" part, keep it. If it doesn't have it, don't put it). These tags are the equivalent of %i of Plus 2.x or 3.x.
  • \n, \t and & : the same as in Plus 2.x, 3.x.


quote:
The auto-update feature has two windows. The first one pops-up when an update is detected and, if the user clicks “Download” in this window, the second one is displayed when the download is complete and the update is ready to be installed. Here are the steps to trigger the auto-update window.

Start regedit to open the Windows registry.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Patchou\Messenger Plus!\.

Edit the “SoftwareBuild” value and set it to 1 (write down the current value to set it back after the test is complete).

Simply wait and hope for Messenger Plus! to check for an update.



does this still work in Plus Live (adding "Live" in the registry path)?



quote:
To edit it I recommend using Choli's tool for translating Messenger Plus!.
Thanks for the credits :P
Messenger Plus! en español:
<< http://www.msgpluslive.es/ >>
<< http://foro.msgpluslive.es/ >>
:plus4:
04-14-2008 08:02 PM
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John Anderton
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Originally posted by Choli
www.msgpluslive.net ;)
*cough* msgplus.net would still let you download MP!L :P
Though he should link to msgpluslive.net, I'm just saying.. :P
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04-14-2008 08:55 PM
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Choli
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Originally posted by John Anderton
*cough* msgplus.net would still let you download MP!L
yes, i know; but the "official" web is ...live.net (even if msgplus.net is also official :P)
Messenger Plus! en español:
<< http://www.msgpluslive.es/ >>
<< http://foro.msgpluslive.es/ >>
:plus4:
04-14-2008 09:01 PM
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Thor
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O.P. RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Originally posted by Choli

I just want to say my comments of your work (not big things, don't worry, they're just details (Smilie))

Input regarding the doc in itself is always appreciated. :D
quote:
Originally posted by Choli
    [Quote]Before you do anything, you need to uninstall your current version of Messenger Plus! Live, reboot your computer (so that all the old files of Messenger Plus! are deleted) and install the latest version of the software from www.msgplus.net.


www.msgpluslive.net (Smilie)
Fix'd.
quote:
Originally posted by Choli

   
quote:
Note: the interface language can be modified later in the “General Options\Local Settings” section of the Preferences panel of Messenger Plus!.

The section is called "General > Main" in Plus 4.x
Fixed in several places. :)

quote:
Originally posted by Choli

   
quote:
Examples of incorrect translations:

        * UnicodeRadio=Unicode encoding
        * UnicodeRadio= Unicode encoding
        * UnicodeRadio=Unicode
          encoding
Maybe I can't see well the document, but it seems to me that the first line can be a correct translation, can't it? Or it may be a typo where it should show the example of putting a space before the equal? (UnicodeRadio =blablabla)?

If it was a typo, then it's fixed now.

quote:
Originally posted by Choli

   
quote:
Different tags can be found in the text. Here is a list of those tags and their meaning:
Review this section. In Plus! Live, the only tags that appear are these:

    * %1, %2, %3, ... : these tags are like the old %s of Plus 2.x and 3.x but the number identificates them, so in the translation you can place them in diferent order as they appear in the english translation.
    * %1!d!, %2!d!, ...: the same as the revious ones, but these are for numbers (not strings). It is important not to interchange them (ie: if the tag has the "!d!" part, keep it. If it doesn't have it, don't put it). These tags are the equivalent of %i of Plus 2.x or 3.x.
    * \n, \t and & : the same as in Plus 2.x, 3.x.
Did a quick edit at that area. Please come with further input regarding the tags.

quote:
Originally posted by Choli


   
quote:
The auto-update feature has two windows. The first one pops-up when an update is detected and, if the user clicks “Download” in this window, the second one is displayed when the download is complete and the update is ready to be installed. Here are the steps to trigger the auto-update window.

    Start regedit to open the Windows registry.

    Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Patchou\Messenger Plus!\.

    Edit the “SoftwareBuild” value and set it to 1 (write down the current value to set it back after the test is complete).

    Simply wait and hope for Messenger Plus! to check for an update.
does this still work in Plus Live (adding "Live" in the registry path)?
The registry value is there, so I assume it does work. However, the old .doc said that you could check for updates through the About window, which no longer is true.

I did some quick searching, but I didn't find any ways to force it.

quote:
Originally posted by Choli

   
quote:
To edit it I recommend using Choli's tool for translating Messenger Plus!.

Thanks for the credits (Smilie)
Credits shall be given where credits is deserved. ;)

This post was edited on 04-14-2008 at 09:42 PM by Thor.
:plus4: Translation guidelines for Messenger Plus! Live
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04-14-2008 09:40 PM
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Chancer
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
* Chancer checks.
04-14-2008 11:29 PM
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CookieRevised
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RE: RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
First of all, good job in updating them. This is something I always wanted to do also (and I think I speak for many other translators too). So, excellent.

Now that you took the initiative, I hope the guidelines will once more become de defacto standard to read first before translating. (y)

A few comments, like Choli, though:
quote:
Originally posted by Choli
quote:
Examples of incorrect translations:
  • UnicodeRadio=Unicode encoding
  • UnicodeRadio= Unicode encoding
  • UnicodeRadio=Unicode
    encoding

Maybe I can't see well the document, but it seems to me that the first line can be a correct translation, can't it? Or it may be a typo where it should show the example of putting a space before the equal? (UnicodeRadio =blablabla)?
I wouldn't exactly describe these as incorrect. As a matter of fact, those entries (except the last one) are correct syntax.

Of course, the spaces could be removed to save some bytes. But it might be that some are done on purpose. eg: to have a better viewing of the translation. But they aren't incorrect...

Note that in some situations you could want to have a space in front of the translated sentence. For this you need to encapsulate the entire string in quotes. eg:
keyname="  keyvalue"

quote:
Originally posted by Choli
quote:
Different tags can be found in the text. Here is a list of those tags and their meaning:

Review this section. In Plus! Live, the only tags that appear are these:
  • [snipped]
  • \n, \t and & : the same as in Plus 2.x, 3.x.

There can be more iirc, but not all those tags (better would be escape codes, or whatever they are properly called in eg C++ and the likes) can always be used in each sentence. Test it before implementing them in the final translation.

About \n (newline): Use it with care. Especially in dialog texts. For example: Vista renders dialog boxes way differently than XP. So a sentence which you have divide up on a new line in XP can look quite crappy when it is shown in a Vista messagebox.

The same when you use it in text in windows. People can have different DPI settings which can lead to different sizes of (text) controls. Or something in that line (can't explain it accuratly/properly enough).

quote:
Originally posted by Choli
quote:
To edit it I recommend using Choli's tool for translating Messenger Plus!.
Thanks for the credits :P
I second this. However a strong note should be attached saying that the tool is just a tool. It should not be used as the only utility to translate. A big post of mine once listed the different aspects of translating and where Choli's excellent tool comes into play. It is only usefull for a small part of the entire things-to-do-list.

Also, much about these things (the docs) have been said in older threads. So this could also be something you (or somebody) could check. A lot of usefull stuff has been said in the past regarding the docs. So when you have the time, check those posts out also.

---

Finally, for now, would it be an idea to make a temporary WIKI out of the docs? In that way we could participate into updating the docs more easier while maintaining control. And links and shortcuts can be integrated for better navigation and relation between subjects and topics.

I'll comment further later on when I have some time

This post was edited on 04-15-2008 at 01:08 AM by CookieRevised.
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04-15-2008 12:56 AM
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Here are the steps to trigger the auto-update window.
Triggering the auto-update should be as easy as that, but you don't have to wait after changing the registry setting, you can speed up this phase by sending /checkupdates to any contact (in a chat).
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04-15-2008 07:41 AM
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Thor
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O.P. RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised


Finally, for now, would it be an idea to make a temporary WIKI out of the docs? In that way we could participate into updating the docs more easier while maintaining control. And links and shortcuts can be integrated for better navigation and relation between subjects and topics.

http://tgmp.wikispaces.com

I added the document. Feel free to make changes. :)
:plus4: Translation guidelines for Messenger Plus! Live
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04-15-2008 07:44 AM
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RE: Unofficial update of the translation guidelines for Messenger Plus!
quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised
About \n (newline): Use it with care. Especially in dialog texts. For example: Vista renders dialog boxes way differently than XP. So a sentence which you have divide up on a new line in XP can look quite crappy when it is shown in a Vista messagebox.

The same when you use it in text in windows. People can have different DPI settings which can lead to different sizes of (text) controls. Or something in that line (can't explain it accuratly/properly enough).
that's true. In fact, translators should not use "\n" unless it is used in the english translation.
Messenger Plus! en español:
<< http://www.msgpluslive.es/ >>
<< http://foro.msgpluslive.es/ >>
:plus4:
04-15-2008 07:05 PM
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