Translations
Within Odoo source code, all translatable terms (master terms) are written in international English (language code en_US). The administrator of an Odoo instance can load additional languages from the official translations. As a result, the corresponding translations of all installed modules will be loaded in the database, and used to replace the default English terms in the application interface for users changing their preferred language.
The easiest way to translate Odoo is to use the dedicated Translation interface on Transifex. Please read the general Transifex Documentation before writing your first translation, as it includes very important advice for new translators.
Transifex provides a web-based translation interface, which can be used to translate. Its main features are:
- Web-based, accessible everywhere for anyone, and does not require any developer skill
- Offers a Translation Memory that automatically translates similar terms present in other versions and modules
- Provides collaborative reviewing features, and allows marking the terms that one thinks should be reviewed by other translators
- Automatically synchronized with the source code files (.pot) containing the translations, removing the the need for manual updates
After registering on Transifex, you can access the translations for any Odoo project on the organisation page
Links to the current Odoo translations:
Every language is managed by a dedicated translation team. Anyone is free to join any translation team at any point. Within each team, members can have different roles:
- Translator: free to join, can submit translation suggestions (this is your role when you initially join a team)
- Reviewer: can approve translation suggestions from Translators
- Coordinator: can manage the members of the team and appoint Reviewers
Translators submit translation suggestions for any language and need the validation of reviewers before their translations are used in Odoo.
If your language is not yet present in the list of languages and you are motivated enough to manage the team, you can request the addition of this language (link on the list of languages).
We accept localized versions of a language (e.g. fr_BE) but only to store the terms different than the master language (fr). Do not request the addition of a localized version for the main country (e.g. no need for a fr_FR or de_DE).
If no Coordinator is assigned to a language team, contact us to require the appointment of a coordinator.
Yes! You can use Transifex Client to sync your .po files with our sample .tx/config file. This will allow you to get and send the translations of all resources (modules) at once.
Typical commands:
-
tx pull -r "odoo-8.*" -l fr --mode reviewed# get all reviewed translations for Odoo 8.0 in French -
tx pull -s -r "odoo-7.*"# get all source terms (.pot) for Odoo 7.0 -
tx push -s -r "odoo-8.crm" -l es# send my Spanish translation suggestions for the crm module for Odoo 8.0
Please refer to the Transifex client documentation for more information.
Submitted translations are then pulled regularly in the Odoo source code, and will therefore appear automatically in the source code of Odoo stable branches and Odoo installation packages (nightly builds).
The expected synchronization frequency is as follows:
- 8.0 and 9.0: weekly (on Sundays)
- 7.0: monthly
We prefer not to do it for stable Odoo versions at all. Changing the master terms (even a simple typo) would discard every existing translation for this term.
It is okay to make a Pull Request on GitHub for changing master terms in the development version (master), however.
A localization module (named l10n_*) contains the list of accounts, journals, taxes in a defined country. Most terms (journals, taxes names...) present into the localizations are not translatable and the remaining ones (e.g. report names) are usually not in English and not translated (it's ok to just copy the source in your translation).
Some countries (e.g. Belgium or Switzerland) have multiple official languages and these objects can be translated in some defined languages (check l10n_be or l10n_ch for practical implementation detail). The translations are however not published on Transifex as should be translatable only in the country's official languages. The translations files are located inside a i18n_extra/ folder in the module tree.
- Find or create the translation inside the localization
i18n_extrafolder (e.g. the Dutch translations ofl10n_bewill be inaddons/l10n_be/i18n_extra/nl_BE.po). If not present a template file (.pot) should be present to create the new translation. - Open the file using an external translation tool (e.g. Poedit) and start translating
- Once the translation done, create a Pull Request to submit your translations
For a better translation, it is often useful to know the context in which a term is used. While this part requires more technical knowledge of Odoo, it can be useful to check Transifex indicates the source of the term.
Resource: the module the term comes from, in above example, the "sale" module. Occurrence: the reference (or list of references) where this term is used. Here is a few example of references used in Odoo 9.0:
- model:ir.model.fields,field_description:purchase.field_purchase_order_date_order the label of the field date_order from a purchase order
- model:ir.ui.view,arch_db:sale.view_order_form the content of the view of the sale order
- model:ir.ui.menu,name:account.menu_finance_entries: the name of the finance menu
- model:ir.filters,name:crm.filter_usa_lead: the search filter for leads from USA
- selection:calendar.event,week_list:0 one of the possible value in a selection field of calendar
-
code:addons/hr/hr.py:119: a message triggered inside the python code, typically an error message for the user. The path
addons/hr/hr.py:119indicates the file of hr module and line 119 where this code is executed.
But in the end, the best way is often to check on a Odoo instance directly. To do so, the easiest is probably to use the Runbot, where you can test the different Odoo installations with all modules installed.
As was the case on Launchpad previously, Odoo translations are contributed and published under the Simplified BSD License. By contributing translations to the Odoo project you agree to publish them under the terms of the license. This does not affect your original copyright on the translations. The text of the license is as follows:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are those
of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies,
either expressed or implied, of Odoo S.A.