Mercurial > pidgin > nest / file revision

---
title: Internationalization
date: 2019-01-15T05:58:46.000Z
replaces:
  - developer.pidgin.im/wiki/TipsForTranslators
lastmod: 2019-01-21T22:34:09.000Z
---

Pidgin is used widely across the globe, so having proper
internationalization/translations of the different strings that are displayed in
it is quite important. As no single person can speak all the different languages
in the world, we require the help of our community to help us and take care of
translating Pidgin to the language they know.

## The platforms we use for translations

* Currently Pidgin uses
  [Transifex](https://explore.transifex.com/pidgin/pidgin/) as the platform to
  manage the translation of the different strings it has.

* The [translators mailing list](https://lists.pidgin.im/listinfo/translators)
  is the recommended channel for translator communications.

## Submitting translations

Our translations are provided by volunteers. To improve consistency and quality
we prefer to have a designated person or group of people maintain each
translation.

If Pidgin already has a translation for your language, please contact the
designated translator(s) and ask if you can help. It's possible they are looking
for someone to take over. You can find their email address in Pidgin's
*Help→Translator Information* window. Or, for some languages you can try
contacting the translator(s) via
[Transifex](https://explore.transifex.com/pidgin/pidgin/).

If you're unable to contact the designated translator(s) or if Pidgin does not
yet have a translation for your language, email the [translators mailing
list](https://lists.pidgin.im/mailman/listinfo/translators) and ask if anyone is
already working on translating that language. If you are the first one working
on that language, the Pidgin team will guide you on how to set things up in
Transifex.

## Translation statistics

You can see the current translation statistics at
[Transifex](https://explore.transifex.com/pidgin/pidgin/). Over there you will
be able to find all the languages that Pidgin has been translated to and the
coverage of those translations.

## How translation updates are handled

* Each language will have a current translator assigned to it, a volunteer that
  leads the translation effort of the Pidgin strings for this particular
  language.
* Current translators are always listed in Pidgin's Translator Information
  dialog (*Help → Translator Information* from Pidgin's Buddy List window) by
  name, and each translator's e-mail address is included. Because of this, we
  need current translators to inform us if their e-mail address changes.
* Translation updates for each language are accepted **only** via Transifex.

  We do this to minimize confusion among users--we've found over time that some
  translators will choose different ways to translate a given word or phrase,
  which inevitably confuses users. We apologize for any inconvenience this may
  cause, but we believe that following these rules makes translations better for
  everyone.

  If you find yourself in this situation, use the [translators mailing
  list](https://lists.pidgin.im/listinfo/translators) or [contact us]({{< ref
  "contact" >}}) so that we can evaluate it and make a decision.

## How translations go from Transifex to Pidgin

If you look at the [Pidgin repository](https://keep.imfreedom.org/pidgin/pidgin)
and browse its contents, you'll find a directory called `po`. In it we store all
the different translations, each one in its own `.po` file.

Once the Pidgin Developers team agrees that a new Pidgin release is almost ready
to go and that no new strings will be added or changed, an email will be sent to
the [translators mailing list](https://lists.pidgin.im/listinfo/translators)
stating so. That way, translators are made aware that they need to check if
strings in the language they maintain need to be updated or added. For more
details on this process, check out our [release process]({{< ref
"development/release-process" >}}) page.