Translate the software

Improve existing translations or add a language.

Translating the Software

If you are fluent in a language which is not yet available in Ancestris, and if you would like to add it, please let us know and join our team of translators.

Willing to add a language to Ancestris o improve one

Our translators mostly came this way : by discovering Ancestris and using it for their own genealogy needs, and translating it in their native language.

Our numerous translators are great and they made a tremendous contribution to the software which is used everyday in quite a number of countries. They are integral part of the Ancestris team that you can see on our web site.

If you would like to join them, please email support@ancestris.org and we will set you up.

We will show you how to use the translation tool called Trancestris.

It can take up to 2 or 3 months to translate Ancestris in a new language. That is actually the time it took to translate Ancestris in Spanish and Catalan.

 

The Trancestris tool

We have created a tool called Transcestris to help translate the Ancestris software.

This is simple to use. Transcestris is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux. Feel free to get the latest version from here.

It uses a translations file which you can dowload here.

Instructions to install and use Trancestris are explained on the following page.

From there, you will be able to create or update a translation.

 

 

 

 

Trancestris User Guide

Trancestris is a translation editor. It has been created by one of the Ancestris developers, Dominique, a.k.a. "Lemovice".

This tool is easy to use, does not require any knowledge of any sort, and produces translation files that Ancestris can use immediately.

 

Install and launch Trancestris

We assume you have Java installed on your computer. Otherwise please first read the instructions to install Java.

Then you download Trancestris from here.

You get a file called trancestris.zip that you have to unzip in the directory of your choice.

Then you go to the trancestris/bin directory and run transcetris if you use MacOS ou Linux, or you run  trancestris.exe if you use Windows.

 

Start with Trancestris

The first time you run Transcestris, the following window appears.

Trancestris_A1.jpg

Trancestris asks you to download the translation files.

These files are zipped inside the Ancestris_Bundles.zip file. Please do not modify this name.

In the second field, choose a directory where you would like to store the translations.

Trancestris also asks you which translation you will produce. By default, it suggests English to French. You may change both languages but we recommand you to start from either the English of the French version.

Then click OK.

Trancestris displays the Tip of the Day. Click "Next" to see other tips or else "Close" to start working with Transcestris.

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Trancestris then downloads the Ancestris_Bundles.zip file. Once done, if everything went ok, you should have the following message.

Trancestris_A2.jpg

Click "Ok".

E-mail setting

Once you have translated a file for Ancestris, you will need to send it to us.

In order for Transcestris to send us your work, Trancestris will first ask you to set-up your email configuration.

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Click "OK". The following email settings window appears.

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Please fill in the following fields:

That's it. You can start translating.

 

Translating

Transcestris workspace looks lilke the following.

Trancestris_B1.jpg

The window above shows a tree-like structure on the left hand side, and sentences to translate on the right hand side.

If you are beggining with translation work, just a little advice : do not try to translate a whole lot immediately. 
Try it first with a small file, so we can set you up and test the whole translation cycle.
Once you receive our confirmation that it wen well, download the translation file again. It should include the work you already did. Start from this new file to continue.

The tree-like structure on the left hand side is where you will select a file to translate and see the coverage of the work you already achieved.

To select a file to translate, unfold the directories until you get to the files.

Trancestris_B2.jpg

If a directory is red, it includes translation files still to be translated.

If a directory is blue, no translation remains to be done.

Once you select a file, the sentences that it includes will appear on the right hand side.

A file corresponds to a given functionnality of Ancestris and therefore, all sentences within a file should deal with the same topic.

Some sentences may be in red, black or blue.

If a sentence is not to be translated, Trancestris will not let you modify it.

To actually modify a sentence, write it at the bottom of the screen and click OK when finished. Then proceed to the next sentence.

Tip : it might be a good idea to have Ancestris open at the same time on your computer so you can see what functionality you are currently translating.

HTML tags

HTML tags should be left untranslated at the positions they have in the sentence.

HTML tags are word starting with "<" and ending with ">". For instance, you may find "<html>" and "<br>".

"<html>" is the start of an HTML text. "<br>" represents a line break.

For instance, you may find the following sentence to translate :

<html>Please click on OK</html>

If you had to translate it in French, you would write:

<html>Veuillez cliquer sur OK</html>

You see, both HTML tags "<html>" and "</html>" have been left where they were.

 

Send your translation

To send us your translation, click the icon with the little envelop.

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A message window will appear. Fill in the fields and tell us your message.

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Click "Send" when completed. Trancestris will create a zipped file including all the files you have translated since your last download.

For instance, if you translate from English to Italian, the file Ancestris_Bundles_it.zip will be created next to your downloaded file Ancestris_Bundles.zip.

This Ancestris_Bundles_it.zip file contains the modified files which will be sent to us.

In case the automatic send does not work, just send this file manually to us.

If the sending is successful, you should see the following confirmation message.

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You may then close Transcestris.

In case try to close Transcestris before sending us the translation work, you will see the following message.

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You may ignore this message and click "No".

 

Checking your translation has been included in Ancestris

Once you have sent us the translation files, please wait for our confirmation that it did make it into Ancestris before continuing the translation work.

Your translation file are manually integrated into the code of transcetris.

Every night, Ancestris is compiled and all translations received from all translators during the day are integrated into the software.

The following morning, your translation has been integrated and the new translation file is available.

You can check Ancestris if your work is visible in the software.

Then you can download the new translation file and continue translating.

For that, just start Transcestris which will detect the change and offer to download the new translation file.

 

Delayed sending

If you want to keep working on some translation and send thel another day, make sure you save your work

If you saved your work and closed Trancestris without sending it to us, DO NOT download the translation file again when you reopen Transcestris, otherwise it would overwrite the file where your modifications have been made.

Trancestris will warn you, but we prefer to tell you so you do not waste your efforts.

Tip : regardless of the quantity of translations you did, it is preferable to send it to us before you close Trancestris.