Comments on the user account page (including general remarks)

Natuk,

Thanks again for your input. My comments follow:

"Password" is translated as "συνθηματικό". Clearly this is consistent in the rest of the interface, however, I am just thinking whether this is a successful translation. I am not quite sure how other projects translate the word "password" but I think the Greek equivalent should be "κωδικός" rather than "συνθηματικό" as the latter in Greek requires another word to follow, e.g. συνθηματική λέξη or συνθηματική γραφή. Strictly speaking the word "κωδικός" should be used like that as well, however in everyday language it has gained a stand-alone meaning/use. Without being certain, I think that the grammatically correct option would be "σύνθημα", however this does not sound right somehow, therefore I feel that "κωδικός" is the best.

Some dictionaries translate password as "σύνθημα" or "συνθηματική λέξη". Personally, I like "συνθηματικό" better than "κωδικός". "Κωδικός" is a bit vague. However, I agree that the right word to use is either "σύνθημα" or "συνθηματική λέξη".

It's a matter of discussion.

"Blocked" in the account status is translated as "Αποκλεισμένος", which is a correct direct translation. However, in Greek the word αποκλεισμένος is normally used in completely different context ( e.g. αποκλεισμένος από το χιόνι) and I wonder whether it sounds a bit strange here. An alternative translation would be simply "ανενεργός" which contradicts the "ενεργός" nicely.

Here, I disagree. Blocked refers to a user who is not able to login, because he is blocked. So, the meaning of blocked here is similar to the example you descsribe.

"Upload image" has been translated as "Αποστολή αρχείου εικόνας". Again this is a good translation as it is difficult to find the equivalent of "upload" in Greek. I am just thinking that from a user's point of view, "uploading" is not "sending" which "αποστολή" implies. Maybe a different word should be used here, something along the lines of "φόρτωση" or "ανέβασμα" (neither of which I like really). Also there is a space after "ή εικόνα" in the description which shouldn't be there.

Personally, I never liked "ανέβασμα" or "κατέβασμα" or "μεταφόρτωση". They seem ackward to me. "Αποστολή" seems more appropriate. Again, this is a matter of discussion. In the mailing list, this issue came up and we settled with this translation (Αποστολή/λήψη) for the words of upload/download.

"Interface" has been translated as "διεπαφή", again I am not sure what other projects are using for this but it does sound a bit strange. I am afraid I have no alternative suggestion for this. However I think that the field description should change to something simpler like: "Επιλέξτε τη γλώσσα διεπαφής του λογαριασμού σας."

Again, a matter of discussion.

As you see, we cannot have a 100% correct translation. One translation would be 100% correct for a user, when for another it would seem strange at a few points. Most times, it comes to the point that it's a matter of usage, where, by the time, a user gets used to the translations.

My personal views on these. (Some of which I have supported in our little project's mailing list -- consider doing that)

Password: No strong objections to "συνθηματικό", but "κωδικός" (perhaps "εισόδου" or "πρόσβασης" or without any qualification) sounds much more natural to me as well.

Blocked: "Αποκλεισμένος" is correct.
- It is semantically correct
- Although "Blocked" appears in /user/[uid]/edit as the opposite of "Active", in other instances the opposite of "Active" is "Inactive" and we must try to keep the language rich and avoid giving different terms the same translation as much as possible.

Upload/Download: The translation "Αποστολή/Λήψη" was first introduced by Microsoft's localization project around 1995 (I was there...) and has caught on a lot since, and used in many online projects. But it seems natural only when you think of nothing else but the button which you are translating.

I completely disagree with it and I don't intend to ever leave them that way on any site of mine, for many reason. However this has been discussed a lot in our mailing list, and the general democracy which we have in these first steps of our project overwhelmingly decided for this term.

Some reasons for which I consider that it is the worst of all available options, semantically wrong and grammatically awkward: Consider the translation of "uploaded files" or "uploads", "downloaded files" or "downloads", the verbs "upload" and "download"... Nothing fits or makes sense. "Απεσταλμένα" is about sending. "Uploaded" is about storing on the server after being sent. "Αρχεία λήψης" doesn't mean anything. It just arises because we have labeled "Download" as "Λήψη". A new term is required to convey a (new) meaning.

Now, other options...
- "Ανέβασμα/Κατέβασμα", "Ανεβασμένα/Κατεβασμένα", "Ανεβάστε/Κατεβάστε" etc. It sounds a bit too informal, but considering all option it is currently my favorite (and a popular one).
- "Φόρτωση/Μεταφόρτωση" is used by many projects and gaining ground. Or so Google says.
- "Αναφόρτωση/Καταφόρτωση" has appeared lately in some projects. I have seen it in the Greek Wikipedia and in some Ubuntu discussions.

I take this chance to repeat my Rule #1 for translations: To translate a new concept, never reuse a word which means something else in the same or a similar domain. Even if it catches, professionals will keep using the English word between them to make clear what they mean, which means that the translation is doomed from the beginning.

But as I said, this has been discussed a lot. Perhaps it will be discussed again when use in practice will bring new views of the subject.

(user) Interface:There have been only two translations in use in academic publications and printed books for a long time:
- "Διασύνδεση (χρήστη)"
- "Διεπαφή (χρήστη)"

Several projects where I have worked have been using the former, but personally I prefer the latter even if it sounds stranger, for reasons which I have mentioned (keep the vocabulary rich, go for introducing new words to a domain for new concepts, instead of sticking to just a few words such as "σύνδεση" and loading them with dozens of prefixes)

Simplifying explanations is good, and doesn't always need to repeat the term verbatim. Since "γλώσσα διεπαφής χρήστη" is already in the title of that section in /user/[uid]/edit, it should be OK to simplify the explanation to something like "η γλώσσα επικοινωνίας του ιστοτόπου σας".

natuk,

Your comments are always welcome. We're still at beta2 for Drupal 5.x and 6 is on its way. Even if we release a stable version, the comments are always welcome and taken for consideration for the next stable release.

As far as your initial comments are concerned, the link to the issue here has been posted in the mailing list, for consideration and commenting by the rest of the team. I advise you to join the mailing list (http://developer.berlios.de/projects/drupal-el/) and give us your insight.

Thanks.

No, please post your comments here. It should be more appropriate to post comments here, for the reasons you specify (and other).

OK, we consider this issue fixed.

natuk, you are welcome to post any comments in a new issue. Thanks.