Works for me

There's a major release coming up, I can't say just yet if it will be 1.0, but that's where I'm heading at. You can see some progress in the image above.

I'm trying to simplify the user interface and the navigation. I'll introduce tabs where possible and remove options that are rarely used. I'm also working on introducing some basic functionalities that were missing so far, like deleting users and projects.

Better import and export is in the works as well, because it's still not working out of the box for everyone who installs Narro.

Once the existing functionality will be cleaned up, I'll address the most important issues from the issue tracker and bring out a release.

In conclusion, works for me is just not enough and works for everyone means just more work.

Translations of similar texts and other news

The project list should show only what can be worked on, that is translations in progress. If you want you can select which projects to see.




Looking at some projects that I'm not translating, I always wondered if somebody is actively translating there. Well, now I know, on the project list I can see when was the last activity.

Another thing that I didn't like was that If an original text changed in form of adding or removing a punctuation sign, I had an untranslated text again. So I went back to the days where I had an index to search for similar texts.

Better yet, if yhere's no translation, the translations of similar texts appear automatically. You can copy them and adjust them before translating.



Other things planned in the near future are:

• storing and using a word count value for texts and translations
• adding project settings, like ignoring some files from templates, adding a custom header for gettext files and so on
• split the Manage page into smaller pages

Several people have tried to install Narro on shared hosting environments or Windows machines and failed to do so. A better installation procedure is an ongoing effort on my side and several people have helped so far. The versioning started with 0.9 because I do not see Narro as an application that anyone can easily install yet. If you're not a technical person, you should wait for 1.0.

1 year of open translations

Time sure flies and I forgot that Narro is one year old officially.

It all started more than a year ago when after years of translating software on voluntary basis I realised the obvious. I was doing a job that anyone could do if they had the necessary tools and the knowledge to use them. So I pursued my dream of creating the tool that needs no tools to translate.

Thinking in such a way leads to a lot of hard to appreciate functionality under the hood. There's no documentation and almost no samples of working procedures. If you're using Narro and like using it, maybe you would consider recording a video of using it. Drop the link in a comment here if you wish.

Where is that link?

Working with Narro I have come to the conclusion that the Actions columns from the text lists was just eating up valuable space. So I dropped it. Now you have to click the translation cell to translate. This way I also had the chance to explain the colours that I use:

• black means approved
• blue means not approved and not your translation, but the most voted
• green means still not approved but it's your translation

Feel free to give some feedback on this.

I also added Search by author. Sometimes I get a very good translator and I want to approve all of his suggestions. So now I just search for him using the texts list and either use mass approve or just do it old fashion, text by text.

Another hidden feature worth mentioning is that the translation page already has some access keys defined for keyboard fanatics. Here's the list:

• Save - s
• Save and ignore - i
• Approve - v
• Next - k
• Next 100 - h
• Previous 100 - l
• Previous - j
• Copy original - c
  

In Firefox you use Alt+Shift+letter above. Feedback is welcomed on this as well, but have in mind that I'm planning to make this keys customizable.

Nobody's perfect: 0.9.4

The new release contains many improvements on the import and export side as I got a lot of complaints that "it's not working", especially for Windows based installations.

There are also new features, probably the most notable is the mass approve function on the text list.

I'd like to draw some attention to a hidden feature that I've never talked about before. If you put in the project's directory, let's say data/import/1 two files named import.sh and export.sh they will be executed, the first before import (for things like running a wget) and the second after export (for things like creating a language pack, or a compiled .po file). The scripts are called with useful arguments. Here's a script used for creating a Firefox language pack after the export process:

#!/bin/bash
# $1 - language code
# $2 - language id
# $3 - project name
# $4 - project id
# $5 - user id

cd /mozilla_projects/firefox/fx/browser/locales

make -s langpack-$1
export retVal=$?

exit $retVal

Don't forget about returning a value. The output will be shown anyway but with a warning or success message depending on the retVal.

If you're doing a fresh installation, follow the instructions in the INSTALL file.
If you're updating from 0.9.3, run the update files in the root directory. Their names are pretty suggestive.

And here's the link: http://narro.googlecode.com/files/narro-0.9.4.tar.gz.

I'd just like to add a small note of warning. The setup and install process may be a little rough as systems installations differ. But if you need help, don't hesitate to ask for help on the discussion group: http://groups.google.com/group/narro-project/post.

Sharing the story: localization matters

Ever since I installed a Narro instance on the l10n.mozilla.org server I received requests for supporting languages that you don't usually find next to other languages in localized software versions. They want Firefox in their language. Like Mayan, Oromo, Valencian, Kabyle, Kazakh, Zapotec, Malayalam and others.

They have to register an account and I have to give them administrative permissions on their language. After that, they can start translating in Narro. They can invite their friends to help. Whenever they feel like testing, they export the translation and a language pack is generated ready to be installed. That's a language pack that they can post on addons.mozilla.org for others to enjoy.

So a low entry barrier to the localization matters. If people like the software, sooner or later they want it in their own language. And be sure that there are people that won't use software in English.

So today I feel the essence of localization, which is making a product suitable for use in a particular country or region. I might add "by simply translating it", because usually you need tools and knowledge.

Love your language!

Sort files and projects by progress

I've just finished writing the piece of code that allows sorting files and projects by progress. This seems such a natural thing to do, but it's so complicated to code.