Peter Kraume
Translation in TYPO3
Since 2011, we have been using the online translation management tool, Pootle, on the TYPO3 translation server. Pootle provides translators with an interface to localize labels for the TYPO3 Core and extensions. This self-hosted solution required a lot of work from the TYPO3 Server team in general, and from Xavier Perseguers in particular.
At the end of 2019, Georg Ringer introduced the SaaS solution Crowdin to TYPO3. The idea behind this change was to focus less on the infrastructure and more on the actual translation work. Crowdin offers very good collaboration features and a free plan for open source projects.
For a couple of years, the TYPO3 project used both platforms in parallel. In TYPO3 version 9.5.14, Crowdin was introduced with a feature toggle, and in version 10 onwards, Crowdin is used by default.
Over the last few years almost all maintained TYPO3 extensions have migrated from Pootle to Crowdin.
Impact on TYPO3 Users
The Pootle translation server was officially shut down on 2 May 2023.
The impact on TYPO3 users depends on your version:
- TYPO3 version 10 and above: the shutdown of the Pootle server will have no impact on your installation.
- TYPO3 version 9.5.14 and above: Use the feature toggle to select Crowdin instead of Pootle as your translation server.
- TYPO3 version 8.7 and below: You can download the existing translations (because the compiled XLIFF files are stored on a different server) but it is no longer possible to modify translations via the Pootle infrastructure.
Impact on Extension Developers
You can migrate your extension to use Crowdin and import your existing translations. Xavier Perseguers has written documentation and a shell script to import existing translations into Crowdin. See Migrate your project from Pootle to Crowdin on GitHub.
To find out how to integrate your extension into Crowdin, read the official TYPO3 documentation: Extension integration with Crowdin.
Thank You
We wish to acknowledge Xavier Perseguers for his consistent maintenance of the Pootle installation over the years. Our appreciation also goes to Georg Ringer for his contributions to implementing the Crowdin integration in TYPO3. Lastly, we would like to thank the TYPO3 Server Team for keeping the infrastructure running for so many years!
About the Localization Team
The goal of the Localization Team is to provide and maintain the services to make the TYPO3 Core and extensions available in as many languages as possible.
We help to make the localization process as smooth as possible, helping with localization-related issues and bugs in Crowdin or TYPO3 Core. See the Localization Team page to find out more about us.
If you have any questions regarding the translation process for TYPO3 backend or extension labels, please visit our Slack channel #typo3-localization-team or email Peter Kraume, head of the TYPO3 Localization Team.
