Translation

Quick start

Translations of Minetest are automated using weblate at here.

In case you wish to translate a new language, contact a core dev.

Overview

Minetest can use the gettext library to translate in-game text. To enable internationalization support, the game must be built with the -DENABLE_GETTEXT=1 option to cmake.

Language detection

Minetest detects the current language by inspecting the LANG environment variable. This is not a problem on Unix-based systems (such as GNU/Linux) since the system already defines this variable at login. On Windows platforms, the system language is used.

Available translations

The available translations are found in source form in the po/ directory. The cmake detects them, and they are built as part of the build process.

Contributing a new translation

To create a new translation, one must create a directory named after the language code, creating a copy of the po/minetest.pot file as po/LANG/minetest.po, and translating the original english text into your language; then cmake will detect it and make builds the language.

However, it is recomended to contact a core dev to create the .po file for you language and then use weblate to translate.

How to merge translations from hosted weblate

Translations should be merged in bulk, and not too often, to not create too large "noise" in the commit log. A good schedule is once per month. Right now, est31 manages translations. This section explains the neccessary steps for core devs, in the case est31 isn't around. You will need owner access to the hosted repo though, in order to be abled to push the "Rebase" button.

Setting up

Add weblate as remote: git remote add weblate git://git.weblate.org/minetest.git.

Once every translation

1. Generate a clean history, without merge commits. Go to Repo maintenance, and push the "Rebase" button.

2. Do git remote update weblate. Confirm e.g. with gitk weblate/master that it bases on upstream's master, and only has "Translated using Weblate" as additional commits, no merge commits.

3. As every weblate user can freely edit translations, there can be vandalism. Therefore, check the translation commits, e.g. with help from online translator services like google translate, other core devs, or trusted members from the community. It might be helpful to push the commits to your github clone's branch, then you have commit http links to share. In the case of required changes, let them do it over the weblate interface, and start with 1. again.

4. (if required/desired) Run util/updatepo.sh, and commit. Note that it creates lots of unneccessary changes, and enlarges repository size disproportionately, therefore run it even less often.

5. Push to the github repo