The proper way to translate a Wordpress website?
Thread poster: Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 18:43
French to English
Jul 29, 2014

Hello,

I have been asked to quote for a potential project, and received an xml file that starts out as posted below:

> and < all removed so it will hopefully post properly here!

(start of code)

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?

!-- This is a WordPress eXtended RSS file generated by WordPress as an export of your site. --

!-- It contains information about your site's posts, pages, comments, categories, and other con
... See more
Hello,

I have been asked to quote for a potential project, and received an xml file that starts out as posted below:

> and < all removed so it will hopefully post properly here!

(start of code)

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?

!-- This is a WordPress eXtended RSS file generated by WordPress as an export of your site. --

!-- It contains information about your site's posts, pages, comments, categories, and other content. --

!-- You may use this file to transfer that content from one site to another. --

!-- This file is not intended to serve as a complete backup of your site. --

!-- To import this information into a WordPress site follow these steps: --

!-- 1. Log in to that site as an administrator. --

!-- 2. Go to Tools: Import in the WordPress admin panel. --

!-- 3. Install the "WordPress" importer from the list. --

!-- 4. Activate & Run Importer. -->

!-- 5. Upload this file using the form provided on that page. --

!-- 6. You will first be asked to map the authors in this export file to users --

!-- on the site. For each author, you may choose to map to an --

!-- existing user on the site or to create a new user. --

!-- 7. WordPress will then import each of the posts, pages, comments, categories, etc. --

!-- contained in this file into your site. --

!-- generator="WordPress/3.9.1" created="2014-07-25 14:33" --

rss xmlns:wp="http://wordpress.org/export/1.2/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"

xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"

xmlns:excerpt="http://wordpress.org/export/1.2/excerpt/" version="2.0">-channel

title TRANSLATABLE TEXT /title

link http://LINKTOWEBSITE.fr/wordpress/link

description Un site utilisant WordPress /description pubDate

language fr-FR /language

(snipped the rest from this point on)


So I did some quick reading on how to handle xml files in WF PRO (it's been a while since I handled projects like this!). I decided to go with the standard XML filter provided by WF PRO and imported the file. I did read up on how to create properties files etc, and should add that my file has ![CDATA tags as well as html.

I was able to analyze the file using the standard filter, to get a general idea, but I'm a little concerned when I skim through the 17000 segments because it seems like most of them are filled with code and various elements that don't need translation. I am still clueless about how much work this translation would actually represent.

I also did some reading on how to translate wordpress websites, and saw that poedit is recommended, as well as some other plugins. Would anyone out there have advice for me on how to approach this project?

I am basically wondering if translating this xml export file provided by the client would be the proper way to go about it? And if yes, then I need to get working on tweaking my properties file in order to get this into useable format for translation in WF PRO. I might need help from the helpful folks on CAT tools lists... so far I have seen this http://www.wordfast.net/wiki/Translation_of_XML_Files and this http://www.wordfast.com/tips_and_tricks/xml_translation/index.html

If translating the xml file is not the right way, what is the right way to do this? Is there a way that would allow me to use my preferred CAT tool?
Collapse


 
Rossana Triaca
Rossana Triaca  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 14:43
English to Spanish
First, the bad news... Jul 30, 2014

WXR files (WordPress eXtended Rss) use a unique type of XML with varying namespaces (i.e. tag dictionaries) and, unfortunately, since they were not conceived for interchangeability (just for porting content between themes), they don't have any fixed standard schema or dtd that you can use to "read" them correctly with a CAT.

You can of course translate the .xml as is, but a lot of "code" will be imported and you'll have to decide what needs to be translated and what not. Moreover, t
... See more
WXR files (WordPress eXtended Rss) use a unique type of XML with varying namespaces (i.e. tag dictionaries) and, unfortunately, since they were not conceived for interchangeability (just for porting content between themes), they don't have any fixed standard schema or dtd that you can use to "read" them correctly with a CAT.

You can of course translate the .xml as is, but a lot of "code" will be imported and you'll have to decide what needs to be translated and what not. Moreover, this .wxr file will not include the theme strings, so even if you do a great job the client will still have a semi-localized website on their end (unless they are planning to use a theme they already have in the target language).

The good news: for translation, the workflow nowadays is different using either plugins as you mention (awful for translators!) or POEdit. Since Wordpress uses .PO and MO files (gettext) for everything, even themes, you can ask your client to send you the .PO file or files instead and you can translate them directly in POEdit (ew!) or, depending on your CAT of choice, you can work on the .PO files directly (Trados for example has a free OpenExchange addon that lets you work on them - haven't tried it yet though).
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Enrico C - ECLC
Enrico C - ECLC  Identity Verified
Taiwan
Local time: 01:43
English to Italian
+ ...
If that can help... Jul 30, 2014

Rossana Triaca wrote:

WXR files (WordPress eXtended Rss) use a unique type of XML with varying namespaces (i.e. tag dictionaries) and, unfortunately, since they were not conceived for interchangeability (just for porting content between themes), they don't have any fixed standard schema or dtd that you can use to "read" them correctly with a CAT.

You can of course translate the .xml as is, but a lot of "code" will be imported and you'll have to decide what needs to be translated and what not. Moreover, this .wxr file will not include the theme strings, so even if you do a great job the client will still have a semi-localized website on their end (unless they are planning to use a theme they already have in the target language).

The good news: for translation, the workflow nowadays is different using either plugins as you mention (awful for translators!) or POEdit. Since Wordpress uses .PO and MO files (gettext) for everything, even themes, you can ask your client to send you the .PO file or files instead and you can translate them directly in POEdit (ew!) or, depending on your CAT of choice, you can work on the .PO files directly (Trados for example has a free OpenExchange addon that lets you work on them - haven't tried it yet though).


...i did something very similar for WP recently and used the PO Add-on for Studio and it worked properly. Delivered the job and got no complaints. I assume it was ok.

Installing the add-on may be a bit tricky as even after installation it won't show in the Filetype list unless you activate it, from the same Filetype screen and that option is not marked properly so you may skip it.
But i confirm it all works properly for Studio.


 
Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 18:43
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you both Jul 30, 2014

Very helpful replies, have asked the client to provide the .po files, will see what becomes of it!

 


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The proper way to translate a Wordpress website?






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