Hello and welcome to our Jump Start Guide for Localization. To begin, thank you for your interest and effort in localizing Proton and our services. We understand you are volunteers and this contribution is a matter of principle for many of you.
This guide will introduce you to our system so that you can start localizing with ease. We will teach you everything you need to know about our products and how we localize them into different languages.
Jump Start Guide for Localization
Version: v.4
Date: 08-02-2024
Introduction
Proton is a tech company based in Switzerland building an internet that puts people first and protects their privacy.
| Vision | Mission | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| To build a better internet where privacy is the default. | To create trusted ways for people to be secure online and in control of their information at all times. | To enable freedom online and ensure the internet serves the interests of all people. |
Proton allows people to do the following while keeping their personal information secure and private: communicate, create & share their schedule, access the uncensored internet, and store files.
Discourse
We use Discourse as our main communication platform for localization as it is easy to use, and a popular and well-supported service. It will serve as the single source of communication and will streamline your requests. You should receive the invite if you are reading this. You can check our guide How to join Discourse and find information about how to use Discourse in our Knowledge Base.
It is crucial to create your accounts with the same username and email address (exact match). Otherwise, your onboarding might not be completed.
It is important to mention that since Discourse is our single source of communication, we will be using this platform and emails for future contacts.
Crowdin Enterprise
We use Crowdin Enterprise for our localization process. To join our localization projects, simply follow the instructions on your invitation and complete your sign-up as we explained on How to join Crowdin Enterprise.
Once you have completed your onboarding, you can check our welcome project to test the features it provides and you can refresh your existing knowledge on the tool.
You can check our Knowledge Base to find useful tutorials. If you have any questions regarding Crowdin Enterprise, you can create a topic on General Queries after your registration is complete.
If you don’t complete account creation for both platforms in one month, your invitations will expire and your information will be deleted from our database.
Style Guides
To make localization easier, clearer, and more fun for you, we have created a general and some language-specific style guides that you can find in the Style Guides category.
If your language is not listed and you would like to help us to create one, please open a topic in the Style Guides category or reach us directly.
We have also created a space for your language where you can introduce yourself and discuss linguistic decisions that will impact the quality and consistency of your language.
Language Leads
Most of our language communities have a language lead. They can help you get started, guide you through projects, assign priorities, and address any issues you might encounter. Please check our Language Lead List to reach out to your language lead! If you don’t have a language lead in your language, feel free to reach out to @PMtranslator with a message.
Localization Strategy
For some languages, Proton uses a hybrid localization strategy involving three stakeholders: our volunteering community (you!), along with internal and external professional linguists.
You are our valued localizers who use our products and know them inside and out and you can influence how Proton is localized into your language through your knowledge, dedication, and willingness to volunteer.
At Proton, we respect your free time and we also rely on internal and external professional stakeholders to create a timely product localization while ensuring our services’ consistency and quality. We don’t prefer one solution over another, but the decisions are taken based on time, workload, and stakeholders’ capacities.
We care about your involvement in our localized products. For each localization precision, we carefully evaluate each opinion that affects localization before we bring a factual change and reach a conclusion. This decision can involve many stakeholders, including (but not limited to) volunteering and professional localizers for one or more languages, native Proton employees, the marketing and acquisition departments, technical teams, etc.
Quick Tips for Translation
- For a better translation result, be mindful of each element’s context in the source code. The same word could need a different translation depending on where and how it is used in the software.
- Each red-marked string needs translation. Enter yours and hit “Save”. Green-marked strings have already been translated. You can either vote for the best existing variant or add a better one.
- Be sure to always include the existing spaces by clicking on them in the source text. The same applies to variables. Variables should never be translated. They must be identical in the translated text to how they appear in the source text.
- Some strings might have multiple translations included in one string. These usually have 3-4 tabs with possible translations. If any of the translations are missing, the color of the string will be yellow. It must be green to be complete.
Community Values
To maintain a healthy and inclusive community, we must follow these fundamental values. These values are essential for new and existing members of our community. Your presence in this community implies your agreement to abide by these values, including any future revisions.
- Be respectful and considerate of each other.
This one is simple: Treat others the way you want to be treated. - Consider other members’ privacy.
Please don’t share names, addresses, or other personal information on Crowdin or Discourse. - No inappropriate language.
The use of profanity should be kept to a minimum. Derogatory language towards anyone in the community is prohibited. - Appreciate the good effort.
This is a community, and we support each other! Everyone is a volunteer trying their best. - Don’t criticize harshly.
Everyone makes mistakes! That’s expected. If you find a mistake, consider it an opportunity to (respectfully) teach. If you make a mistake, embrace the feedback and treat it as an opportunity to learn a lesson.
Please make sure to check our Legal Notice.
Thank you for being a part of the community and helping protect privacy! Please feel free to get in touch if you need any help via the @PMtranslator.