Testing your translation made much easier

Here on BabelZilla we have always tried to make extensions translation as easy as possible for translators, that is make them focus only on what they are excellent at, which is: translating.
So we have provided online tools to avoid them fumbling in code, extract files, manage an editor with required settings before coming to translation. That is the way we can welcome non-tech contributors from around the world.

But there was still a missing step in the process: testing one’s translation is one compulsory step for any good translator, and what looks trivial for developers was not for translators:

  • download and un-pack the original xpi
  • download and insert one’s locale files in the appropriate directory
  • update the chrome.manifest with the appropriate line
  • re-pack the xpi and install

Now we can provide a quicker and uncomplicated two-step process

  1. Download the already localized xpi including your translations
  2. Install and test the extension in your language

Where to get it

Very simple. Once logged and on your translation page for one extension, click on the dedicated button and you can download the xpi ready for testing with your own language.

localized_addon

(Click to enlarge)

menuitem_localized_extension

What is to be known about it

  • The localized extension gets a new GUID:
    extensionname.localized.languagename.@babelzilla.org
    (e.g. reminderfox.localized.de@babelzilla.org)
    The localized build is identical to the original .xpi, only the localized files, install.rdf (without updateURL) and chrome.manifest are newly created by the WTS.
    It is a build for testing purpose only.
  • Your localized xpi name is unique:
    bz-localized.languagename.date/timestamp.name_of_the_uploaded.xpi
    e.g. the name of the localized .xpi for German would be:
    bz-localized.de.24-10-2013_191532.reminderfox214beta_20131019_1316.xpi
  • Missing strings are replaced by en-US strings.
    It means you can test your WIP, fix typos and draft translations, test again and iterate until you or your reviewer (recommended) is OK for pushing the status to released.
  • It should work for most extensions except for some very old ones.
  • Note that this feature does NOT (yet) work with restartless add-ons!
  • Enjoy, and tell us if any issues when using.

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