Subject: Re: TODO icons and labels (was Re: how should we localize localenames?)
From: Kevin Vajk (kvajk@ricochet.net)
Date: Sun Mar 11 2001 - 17:54:18 CST
I'll throw my 2 cents in. Note that I'm referring to the
discussion about localizing menus and whatnot. I'm *not*
talking about the subject that started this thread, which has
to do with marking different sections of text as belonging to
different languages (for spell checking and whatnot). I'm
talking about menus. Of course, having contributed so lttle,
my opinion doesn't count for much. But here it is, anyways. :)
I *stronly* suggest that we default to english instead of
a TODO message. I have seen people in S.E. Asia using english
versions of software who have learned to recognize the english
words for common actions (Save, Save As, etc) even though they
don't speak english. Obviously, a native language translation
is the best. But people who use computers have been forced to
learn some english words, or at least can find a friend who has,
so an english word will be (barely) usable, as opposed to "TODO"
which even a native english speaker could not decipher.
If bugging translators is the goal, I have another suggestion.
At startup time, if the translation is not 100% complete, pop
up a window which says "This translation is not complete; some
menu items may be in English". Having to click OK to this
every time abiword starts should be sufficiently motivating,
but it won't prevent regular users from getting their work done.
But maybe this would be too annoying, I don't know.
-- - Kevin Vajk <kvajk@ricochet.net>
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