peertube-plugin-livechat/support/documentation/content/contributing/translate/_index.en.md

+++
title="Translate"
description="Translate the plugin"
weight=20
chapter=false
+++

You can contribute to this plugin translation.
Translations are handled using the [Weblate](https://weblate.org/) software,
using [Framasoft Weblate instance](https://weblate.framasoft.org/).

{{% notice warning %}}
Never modify directly files in the `languages` folder, this could lead to conflicts.
{{% /notice %}}

## How to

* Create an account: https://weblate.framasoft.org/accounts/register/
* Validate your email and follow the link sent
* Create your password and setup your account
* Go to the plugin project page: https://weblate.framasoft.org/projects/peertube-livechat/peertube-plugin-livechat/
* Choose the locale you want to translate
* Just translate missing sentences, or correct the ones that seems incorrect to you.

{{% notice warning %}}
There might be some «very technical» strings. If you are not 100% sure of
the meaning, or of your translation, you better not translate it,
so it will display in english.
{{% /notice %}}

## Documentation translation

Fow now, this is not done on Weblate. I am still looking for the good technical solution.

Please refer to the "documentation" documentation page.

## Adding a new locale

If you think there is a missing locale, please check first if it is handled in Peertube.
If so, you can [open an issue](https://github.com/JohnXLivingston/peertube-plugin-livechat/issues) to ask for it.

## Adding new strings / use translations in the code

If you are working on new features, and need new strings, you can create them directly in Weblate.
The english version is mandatory. Start with it.

Each string is linked to a key (for example `use_chat`).
Choose an explicit key in english.

To use a string in front-end, you need (for now) to call `peertubeHelpers.translate` with the english string.
This means we can't change english strings without updating the code.
This is not optimal, but will change in a near future.

For backend, for now the only file where there is localisation is
`server/lib/settings.ts`. There is a `loc` function to call, passing as parameter the localisation key.

If you have to test new strings without waiting for a Weblate merge, you can modify `languages/*.yml` files, but avoid to commit these change
(to minimize conflict risks).