Localization

[unv-unv]

What problem would this solve?

I'd like to participate in localization if possible. I'm interested in Russian translation and want to have an ability to create such a translation either as a part of the program or as a plug-in.

What would you like to happen?

Ability to localize interface.

Which platforms does this concern?

all

Workarounds or alternatives you've considered (optional)

No response

[vstrelnikof]

Interface localization shipped in v0.31.0: there is a language picker in General → Appearance, and a translation is one TOML file and no rebuild. Copy a shipped catalog, translate the right-hand side, drop it in ~/.config/poltertype/i18n/ — the picker lists it beside the shipped ones, it wins over them key by key, and it survives updates, because an installer never touches your config directory. With the default ui_language = "system" a ru.toml sitting there is simply picked up. The format and the four rules that actually matter are in docs/TRANSLATING_THE_UI.md. The file is yours to pass around, too: anyone who wants it drops the same TOML in the same place, and nothing has to come through us.

What we are not planning is bundling further catalogs into the build. The shipped set is closed for now — each one has to be re-checked complete at every release against an English original that keeps moving, and the installers are already north of 55 MB before any of that. The guide used to invite a PR for a new language, which was a promise the build would not keep; I corrected it today.