Rules of Thumb
- Your life comes first.
- Report all errors and problems you encounter on the forum. (Or on the talk pages, I check them regularly, but keep in mind that they are public.)
- Add the Langbar ({{langbar}}) on the bottom of every page, except categories.
- Never modify stuff that can't be translated. Leave them as is.
- Do not modify stuff inside double curly brackets (templates) "{{ }}"
- Do not modify pipes (|) and bangs (!) if they are in any kind of brackets.
- Do not modify external links (stuff inside single square brackets).
- If you insist on modifying them, translate the text after the first space. Example: [http://example.com/path/to/file Translate this]
- Do not translate wiki links, instead change them into this template. Example: [[Some Link]] → {{L|xx|Some Link}} (Where xx is your language code)
- New experimental feature, the language link template will detect the page language and will link to the appropriate page. Omit the language code to use it, eg: {{L|Some Link}}.
- Modify categories by adding a forward slash and your language code at the end of the category or by changing them into this template. Example: [[Category:Stuff]] → [[Category:Stuff/xx]] OR {{L|xx|Category:Stuff}} (Where xx is your language code)
- Remember to create the category page.
- Translate Image captions and alternative text attributes (If they exist, otherwise ignore). Example: [[File:File Name|thumb|alt=Translate this|Translate this]]
- Translate every other thing.
- Skip pages you see fit.
- Links in templates will be all changed to language detecting language links. You can't and do not need to translate it.
Examples
Full sample here. (But severely outdated)
| Code | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| External Links | Before | [http://google.com/ Google] | |
| After | 谷歌 | [http://google.com/ 谷歌] | |
| Wiki Links | Before | Main Page | [[Main Page]] |
| After | Main Page | {{L|zh|Main Page}}
| |
| Categories | Before | Category:Modules | [[Category:Modules]] |
| After | Category:Modules/zh | [[Category:Modules/zh]] | |
| -- | {{L|zh|Category:Modules}}
| ||
| Images | Before |  The Brake Handle's GUI. |
[[File:Brake Handle GUI.png|thumb|alt=The Brake Handle GUI|The Brake Handle's GUI.]] |
| After | 剎車桿的界面 |
[[File:Brake Handle GUI.png|thumb|alt=剎車桿的界面|剎車桿的界面]] |
Conventions
- Use the official translation of items and terms if available.
Others
- Create redirect pages for following pages. If you do not know how, ask me on my talk page or on the forum.
- Iron Chest chest upgrades
- Redpower sickles
Tips & Tricks
- (Shameless self-promo) Need to update the format of translated articles? Request (semi-)bot work here.
- Ask your teammate (or friend) to proofread your translated article.
- Keep track of your progress, visit every translated articles and update them every 1 to 2 months.
- Use the recent changes page and page creation log to your advantage.
- Mark pages that needs to be deleted with {{RfD}}.