Instructions for translators

Editing Instructions for WeBWorK translators

• Tools
  • You should download the java based application Poedit. (See http://www.poedit.net/). The download page is http://www.poedit.net/download.php
  • Obtain the webwork2.pot file from http://webwork.maa.org/viewvc/system/trunk/webwork2/lib/WeBWorK/Localize/
• There are good instructions for creating and adding translations to a .po file at http://betterwp.net/wordpress-tips/create-pot-file-using-poedit/. Translators can skip the first section on creating a .pot file and proceed directly to the "creating .po files" and "updating .po files" sections.
  • Poedit uses the webwork2.pot file as a template or catalog to define the strings that need translating. It saves a .po file, for example tr.po (resp. es.po, etc.) which contains the translations of those strings in Turkish (resp. Spanish, etc.).
• Definitions
  • .po stands for portable object. It is a text file which consists of strings to be translated followed by their translations. It also contains comment lines which give the location of the string in the source file. Translators modify this file to add new translations to strings.
  • .pot stands for portable object template. Developers modify (or recreate) this file when the original code file is rewritten. The format for this file is the same as for the .po file, but the translations are ignored. This file exists to specify which strings need to be translated.
• The .po and .pot files can beedited (carefully) by any text editor, but it is better to use the Poedit application to edit them. The Poedit application will make sure that the format is preserved.

• When you have created a new .po file that you would like to have uploaded to the current webwork distribution email it to

Mike Gage and/or to Jason Aubrey . The will upload the file to the SVN repository for distribution.

If you have questions email Mike Gage or Jason Aubrey .

Thank you for your help in making WeBWorK available in every language.