This is the third part of the series that explains how open source contributors translators can contribute to the translation category.

The first part here explained how the translation category has evolved. The major changes in the category were discussed. I went further to explain the functions of the Approved Translator and Language Moderator. The first part was concluded with the format that can be used as a guide to writing your application post.

The second part here explained each section of the format in details. It simply explains what is expected in the translator application post.

This part will explain the guidelines associated with the category.
Source
Once you are approved as a translator, you will be put in a team with other Translators and a Language Moderator or 2. The same goes for approval as a Language Moderator, you will be assigned a team of Translators. The next thing is understanding what the category guidelines are all about.

Open-source project to translate

Translations are made on Crowdin. Unlike in the past where users can just go and translate any open source project, it is now different. There is a project whitelist available to Language Moderators who then assign this whitelisted projects to their team members. This means that as an Approved Translator you have to meet with your Language Moderator in order to get a project to work on. You can see that it's now easy. This process will help the Language Moderator track the team progress and also keep a record.

Word count

You have been assigned a project to translate. How many words should you translate?

This is a question newly approved translators often ask. The minimum words that must be translated are 1000 words and above, although with some exceptions. These exceptions are

• The total word count of the project is less than 1000 words. Some projects total word count is less than 1000 and in this kind of situation the Approved Translator can go on and translate the whole project.

• Someone already translated the project but stopped halfway with less than 1000 words remaining. In this situation, the approved translator can complete the project.

• A situation where there is more than 1 unfinished project with less than 1000 words. The approved translator can go on and complete the translations of those projects. This should be in coordination with the language moderator. You can see the three exceptions to the 1000 minimum word rule.

We have instances where a translator translate

For example

1200 words out of a 1900 words project. This leaves the project with 700 words left to be translated. You should know that this is not accepted as it means your translation will be treated as a below 1000 words translation. You should translate the whole 1900 at once.

Strings translation

You may translate a total of 1500 words on Crowdin but those word count may come down to 1400 or 1300 after your contribution has been reviewed. What happened?

Translation of duplicate strings/texts don't count in the total word count.

Untranslated text/strings to do not count towards the total word count of the project. This means that when you have a lot of links, codes, and paths in your project your total word count will definitely be lower.

There are situations where an approved translator translate the same text/string already translated by a different contributor. In this situation, such translations will only be accepted if the Language Moderator can recognize that the new translation is of better quality than the previous one. Machine translations are also frowned upon.

Conclusion

You can get your project whitelisted by joining the DaVinci Discord Server and speak with any of the DaVinci team there.

Series Backlinks

https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@zoneboy/translation-category-joining-the-translation-team-1

https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@zoneboy/translation-category-writing-your-application-post