WHOIS: Translation

You have the ability to translate the WordPress FAQ plugin in your preferred language. The translation process is rather simple and the only mandatory requirement is that you fluently understand English and another language. This article will guide you through the process if translating the WordPress WHOIS plugin using an application called poEdit. 

In order to get started, you’ll need a copy of the WHOIS plugin on your local computer. Put it on your desktop or another location where you can easily find it since you’ll be using it in the next steps.

First step is to download the poEdit application. Once you have downloaded the software for your specific operating system, install it and launch it.

Go to “File” > “New Catalog…” which will create a new catalog file. You’ll notice a dialog appearing with three tabs at the top. In each of these three sections, you’ll need to type some details.

The first section requests some general details regarding the project. The only mandatory field is the project title. You may leave the other fields blank if you prefer to do so.

The second section named “Paths” requires a “Base Path”. Simply put a dot “.” into the “Base Path” field. Then, in the box below that, create another path item and add a dot “.” See the screenshot above.

In the third section, named “Keywords”, you need to add two items. The first item is two underscores “__” and the second item is an underscore and the letter e like this : “_e”. Both without the quotation marks.

Now click “Ok” and the application will ask you where you would like to save the file. The destination should be inside the “wp-whois” folder of the plugin where you put it on your local computer earlier on. So simply save the .PO file inside the “wp-whois” folder. Give it an appropriate name according to your personal preference.

After you’ve successfully saved the file, the poEdit application will start doing a scan. The scan will pick up all the phrases and words inside the WordPress mailing list application which are translatable. When the scan has finished, you’ll see a list of phrases and words.

You’ll need to click each of the phrases/words and translate it. When you are done, save everything and upload the plugin, together with the files created by poEdit. The language file should remain inside the “wp-whois” folder when you upload the plugin to your “wp-content/plugins/” folder. The name of the .PO file should be “wp-whois-xx_XX.po” where “xx_XX” should be replaced with the appropriate language code which you’re using. See the list of language codes if you are uncertain