Translator handoff

Translate the complete message for its audience and purpose. Keep the product facts, approved terminology and literal syntax intact.

Before translating

Use the source text, its interface or document context, and the relevant language and terminology pages. A terminology page lists the approved or proposed form, its status, translator notes and a link to the English definition. The language roster describes the planned review level; it does not prove that review is complete.

Ask for the meaning and possible values of placeholders. Identify exact interface labels, user input, code, file paths and version strings before changing the prose. The messages and variables guidance covers parser constraints and grammatical variation.

What can change

Use natural sentence structure, word order and register for the target language. Split or combine sentences when their conditions, scope and meaning remain clear. The language guides describe local conventions.

An approved term fixes the concept and its established wording. Apply the target language's grammar without renaming the concept. If an approved form cannot work in context, flag the entry and propose a correction rather than introducing a competing term in one page.

What must stay exact

Preserve protected product and service names, identifiers, code, paths and format syntax. A protected spelling does not approve a draft English product name for publication. Check both statuses.

Quote the interface label the reader actually sees. Preserve the operation, shortcut, menu path, version and quantity. Locale formatting may change how a number is displayed; changing a unit requires a verified conversion, not just a translated label. See names and formats.

Propose a terminology change

Use the English fallback when a translation is missing or still proposed. Submit the proposed form with its context, reason and any grammatical information a reviewer needs. For example:

kerning-class:
  translation: Kerning-Klasse
  status: proposed
  note: "Proposed German term; confirm the actual interface label before approval."

Update the terminology source after approval so every generated page receives the same correction. A one-page edit will be overwritten by the next build.

Review the result

Check terminology, facts and language together. Automated checks can compare literal tokens; they cannot establish that negation, responsibility or a condition keeps its meaning. A proficient reviewer must read the complete translated text.

Test realistic variable values and inspect the rendered result for agreement, clipping, wrapping, direction and accessible reading order. Record the reviewed version and unresolved questions. Use the shared localization review before publication.