2. OSMC

Dear translators,

We'd like to thank you for your help translating OSMC into other languages and making it accessible to more users that way!

Please read this small guide before starting to translate:

• If a translation should be exactly the same as the English source string, leave the translation field empty: The source string acts as a fallback for untranslated strings and therefore identical translations shouldn't be submitted - we're sticking to how Kodi handles this and to how the Kodi localization system is designed! This also prevents Unchanged translation errors. If a string has to be left empty, an Untranslated string warning will show up instead though. Just dismiss the warning and add a comment to it leaving a note to others that this translation was left empty on purpose. This means that some languages might never reach 100% translated status, but that shouldn't worry you.
• Names e.g. of add-ons or databases as well as technical terms (e.g. Skin Helper Service, Metacritic or display_rotate) should not be translated: This means that no translation of parts of names/technical terms (e.g. no translation of My in My OSMC) and no conversion into other char sets (My OSMC should stay that way even in languages like Japanese or Chinese) should be done. This applies to names/technical terms that are part of a longer string. Strings that only contain a name/technical term and shouldn't be translated are set as read-only and cannot be edited by translators.
• With every small update to the skin or other components there can be changes to the English source strings that require a new translation effort for affected strings: Unfortunately, this means that the whole translation for that string is being thrown out by WebLate (a behaviour we cannot change) and has to be done from scratch. To make things easier for you, you may look at the previous translation you created (you may look at our GitHub as your translations are regularely pushed there: OSMC Skin, media center, My OSMC modules) and look into the history of your language file.
• Please try and stick to the way translations in your language are being handled in the Kodi WebLate system to streamline translations with the rest of the media center: This is easily done by going to the Kodi WebLate website, browsing for your language and checking whether the word or term you're not sure about has been translated there in some context as well. This also applies to grammar rules (e.g.: in German, ways of directly adressing users should be avoided and passive forms be used).
• For your language to stay up to date, it might help to double check your WebLate translations every now and then - there might be new comments, translations that need reworking or new strings that need translating and it might help to not have to work on such issues right before a new OSMC update.

More general things to be aware of:

• Translations that are done and that you're sure can be publish this way, should be marked Approved. Please only do this after looking over your translation again thoroughly to spot and avoid spelling mistakes, etc. that might've been missed the first time.
• In case a translation fails an automatic WebLate check, they'll be looked at regularely by our moderation and might be marked Needs editing. Please double-check for translations marked that way every now and then - feel free to comment and ask in case it might not be clear what exactly needs editing.
• Translators can only translate languages they've been assigned to - strings can only be edited by translators. You may comment and suggest translations for all other languages available though, if you'd like to support other translators with their work.
• Initial or most active translators of a language are also reviewers of that language. Reviewers should double check translations for consistency and any mistakes that might've been overlooked. You may also add strings to your language's glossary which can help translators keep translations consistent.

If you need any help or advice, feel free to contact our current translation moderator via a comment (ping @Chillbo) or in the respective OSMC forum thread.

Thank you again and see you around...