For Translators
Crowdin is a localization management platform that helps companies translate their software. In this article, you will find information on how you can contribute to localization projects as a translator.
In this article, you will learn about the typical workflow of a translator or volunteer translator on Crowdin. You will also learn how to find projects to contribute to, explore your workspace, and work in the editor.
Create an Account
If you are not registered in Crowdin, you can create an account using your email or sign up with the help of social media profiles (Google, Facebook, Twitter), GitHub, or GitLab profiles.
Click the profile picture in the upper-right corner and select Settings to access your Account Settings where you can view and manage your personal information, profile security, notifications, define preferred languages, etc.
Profile Page
A profile page is a place where you start working on Crowdin projects. In the Projects tab, you can see all the projects you have joined.
Exploring Projects
Find a Crowdin project you would like to contribute to using the search field in the header or the direct URL provided by the project manager. However, not all projects can be found with the help of the search field. This is because they are private and only accessible via invitation links.
Visit our Showcases page, where you can find some popular public projects grouped by category. Use the Advanced Search if you want to apply specific filter options (e.g., target languages, platform) to find a public project.
Explore Your Workspace
Once you find and open the needed project, you can access the following tabs:
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Dashboard – the page with a list of project languages, the main project details, and the list of project managers.
Click on the needed language to access files for translations. You can also use the Translate All button to access all project strings at once.
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Tasks – the page that contains the list of tasks assigned to you (if any).
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Reports – the page where you can see the project status and view the project’s top members.
Crowdsourcing projects don’t usually have financial rewards for translations. So you can use the My Contribution report to see the overall amount of the strings you translated and proofread without setting the rates.
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Activity – the page where all the Project Activity is shown. For example, comments, newly joined users, translated, and proofread strings.
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Discussions – the page with the project-related conversations. You can participate in already existing discussions or create a new topic if necessary.
Work in the Editor
The Editor is the main place where project members can suggest translations online. In the left section, you can see a list of strings in the selected file. An active string is highlighted. All the details about the string are shown in the middle and right sections.
Translation
Collaborate with other project members, discuss any issues or questions in the Comments section, vote for the best translation variants, and take advantage of the project Glossary and Translation Memory. Use the machine translations as a basis for your own suggestions.
Section 1 (Left sidebar)
In the left section, you will see the list of strings for translation. Strings are text elements that are either individual words, expressions, or sentences. Some of them might have replacement tokens (0, 1, or %1) or elements of ICU message syntax. To work with such strings, you should copy the source string and translate only the real words.
Section 2 (Middle-top area)
Middle-top section is the main working area, with the source string on the top and the translation section below. The Context of the string is shown right below the source string. You can request context from project managers from here if necessary. In the translation window, you may also see the maximum length of the translation limit in case it’s exceeded.
Section 3 (Middle-bottom area)
This section contains all the resources and previous translations you may use:
- Translations from other project members
- Translation Memory (TM) suggestions
- Machine Translation (MT) engine suggestions
- Translations into other languages
Section 4 (Right sidebar)
You can use this section to discuss the meaning of the source string or other related questions with other project members. You can mention the particular person you’d like to address or create an issue related to the string.
Main Menu
The Main menu in the upper-left corner allows you to switch between files for translation, change translation languages, contact a manager, and configure the Editor view.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Click in the upper-right corner to see the list of available keyboard shortcuts. They will help to do things in the Editor faster and without using a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.
Most shortcuts can be customized. Click on the needed key combination and then change it using your keyboard.
Side-By-Side View
Using the Side-By-Side Editor view, you can comfortably vote for multiple best translations in a row made by other project members.
Click the Main menu in the upper-left corner, then choose View > Side-By-Side.
To vote, click on the plus sign if you like the translation or the minus if the translation doesn’t seem correct. Translations that get the most positive votes will then appear on the top of all the translations available for the string.
Offline Translation
As an alternative to translating online in the Editor, you can download project files for offline translation if the project manager has enabled public downloads. Use the XLIFF file format for offline translation, which is supported by most desktop localization tools.