We are always looking for new translators. Even if a specific language already is translated and has an official maintainer, we can use helping hands in reviewing and updating translations. Important: It is perfectly fine if you only have time for a partial translation or quick review work - our system accomodates many people collaborating on the same language.
The content for UI elements (button labels, field titles) and instruction texts shown in the CMS and elsewhere is stored in the PHP code for a module (see [i18n](/topics/i18n)). All content can be extracted as a "language file", and uploaded to an online translation editor interface. SilverStripe is already translated in over 60 languages, and we're relying on native speakers to keep these up to date, and of course add new languages.
Please register a free translator account to get started, even if you just feel like fixing up a few sentences.
We provide a GUI for translations through [transifex.com](http://transifex.com). If you don't have an account yet, please follow the links there to sign up. Select a project from the [list of translatable modules](https://www.transifex.com/accounts/profile/silverstripe/) and start translating online!
For other modules, have a look in the module README if there's any specific instructions.
If there aren't, you'll need to translate the YAML files directly. If the module is on github,
you can create a fork, edit the files, and send back your pull request all directly on
the website ([instructions](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo)).
### How do I translate substituted strings? (e.g. '%s' or '{my-variable}')
You don't have to - if the english master-string reads 'Hello %s', your german translation would be 'Hallo %s'. Strings prefixed by a percentage-sign are automatically replaced by silverstripe with dynamic content. See http://php.net/sprintf for details. The newer `{my-variable}` format works the same way,
but makes its intent clearer, and allows reordering of placeholders in your translation.
### Do I need to convert special characters (e.g. HTML-entities)?
Special characters (such as german umlauts) need to be entered in their native form. Please don't use HTML-entities ("ä" instead of "ä"). Silverstripe stores and renders most strings in UTF8 (Unicode) format.
### How can I check out my translation in the interface?
Currently translated entities are not directly factored into code (for security reasons and release/review-control), so you can't see them straight away.
It is strongly encouraged that you check your translation this way, as its a good way to doublecheck your translation works in the right context.
Please use our [daily-builds](http://www.silverstripe.org/daily-builds/) for your local installation, to ensure you're looking at the most up to date interface. See "Download Translations" above
to find out how to retrieve the latest translation files.
### Can I change a translation just for one SilverStripe version?
While we version control our translation files like all other source code,
the online translation tool doesn't have the same capabilities.
A translated string (as identified by its unique "entity name")
is assumed to work well in all releases. If the interface changes
in a non-trivial fashion, the new translations required should
have new identifiers as well.
Example: We renamed the "Security" menu title to "Users"
in our 3.0 release. As it would confuse users of older versions
unnecessarily, we should be using a new entity name for this,
and avoid the change propagating to an older SilverStripe version.
Once you've logged into the CMS, you should see the text "Hi <yourname>" near the top left, you can click this to edit your profile ([direct link](http://localhost/admin/myprofile/)). You can then set the "interface language" from a dropdown which automatically includes all found translations (based on the files in the `/lang` folders).
It is entirely possible that we missed certain strings in preparing Silverstripe for translation-support. If you're technically minded, please read [i18n](/topics/i18n) on how to make it translatable. Otherwise just post your findings to the forum.
### How do I add my own module?
Once you've built a translation-enabled module, you can run the "textcollector" on your local installation for this specific module (see [i18n](/topics/i18n)). This should find all calls to `_t()` in php and template files, and generate a new lang file with the default locale (path: <mymodule>/lang/en.yml). Upload this file to the
online translation tool, and wait for hyour translators to do their magic!
### What about right-to-left (RTL) languages (e.g. Arabic)?
SilverStripe doesn't have built-in support for attribute-based RTL-modifications (`<htmldir="rtl">`).
We are currently investigating the available options, and are eager to get feedback on your experiences with translating silverstripe RTL.
### Can I translate/edit the language files in my favourite text editor (on my local installation)
Every logged-in user on the system can flag translations,
and discuss them with other translators.
### I'm seeing lots of duplicated translations, what should I do?
For now, please translate all duplications - sometimes they might be intentional, but mostly the developer just didn't know his phrase was already translated.
Please contact us about any duplicates that might be worth merging.
### What happened to translate.silverstripe.org?
This was a custom-built online translation tool serving us well for a couple of years,
but started to show its age (performance and maintainability). It was replaced
* ["Translatable ModelAdmin" module](http://silverstripe.org/translatablemodeladmin-module/): An extension which allows translations of DataObjects inside ModelAdmin
