Translating Field Desktop
The German Archaeological Institute’s (DAI) software for the documentation of field research is currently managed by the development team in English and German. All other languages are managed by the community. This page explains the why and how of translating the application (user interface and configuration) into a new language or participating in the translation effort for one of the already available languages.
Field Desktop is the main desktop (MacOS, Windows and Linux) application for collecting data. Any new version release requires the user interface to be translated immediately. Therefore a structured process is required to enable the community to participate. The following steps are to be taken if a private person or an organization wants to be involved.
The translations are managed with Weblate. Please consult the documentation for any questions on specific functionality like the statistics. This wiki focuses on the practical translation of Field Desktop and its components. The DAI manages the translations for Field Desktop in a publicly visible Weblate project. If you click on the project you will see many components with a visual representation of the translation status.
All the components besides the manual (see below) are listed here.
The components of the software are:
The components of the configuration are:
Additionally the Sample data can be translated as well. The glossary can be used to ensure consistency of translations across components.
To get the right to translate into a certain language, registration is required. If you have any questions about the registration process feel free to contact the development team, but there is nothing out of the ordinary here.
After successful registration, you will be sent a confirmation link. Follow the link to confirm your registration and login to your account.
Next, create an issue in the Field Desktop repository. Please tell us your Weblate username and which languages you want to translate into, see screenshot. Use the label "translation" as shown below.
The manual is currently available here. It is not managed by Weblate and has to be translated separately at the moment.
Please feel free to point out any problems with the English or German translations or create an issue to make the development team aware of any mistakes.