Need guidelines to create a language translation extension

Hi everybody,

I am willing to write a new internationalization/localization extension for Contao 3.x. I have used the extension i18nl10n in the past and was very useful but the main issue I had with i18nl10n was that you need basically to clone every article and module to translate it, therefor you need to maintain text modifications repeatedly in every copy which was a bummer as I have 5 sister webpages in the same Contao installation and each has to be translated to 4 languages. So the work to change an article configuration gets multiplied by 4 an sometimes by 4x5. So cloning articlesand modules is not the approach I am looking for now.


This is my list of desired features:

1. no need to clone any module nor article to translate it
2. translations for a given article are easily made/maintained on a single grid (excel alike) where rows are translation items and columns are languages (so the translator person doesnt need to know Contao nor see any configuration options, only see the translation matrix), the grid access will be restricted with user roles
3. add an icon next to every text input field in a module/element backend configuration that opens a popup with its translation grid
4. support for all Contao built in modules, element-types, news
5. easy to implement translation support into any 3rd party module/content element
6. be able to track translation status and completion (as a report) based on date of modification, empty matrix fields, etc.
7. language to render is defined by a URL parameter and/or browser language
8. correct language would be placed on render time to the returned html

I have experience with Php but I am kind of new on Contao development.

Could anyone please guide me on whether this is possible??

Which core classes should I look at to intercept the rendering and replace the content with the correct language?

Which hooks should I use?


I am willing to start working on this by first week of February 2014, anyone willing to come on board is welcome.
Thanks a lot....
Diego C.

I made a linkt to this Topic in the german Forum

https://community.contao.org/de/show...018#post306018

Hi there!

In the need of a better translation solution inside Contao 3 than the basic way to do it, I started to have a look at i18nl10n, which I used in the older version, and started to see if I can bring it up to the new Contao version. And so far it looks really good, so I asked the developer for take over of his project (since he seems not to have time for it any more).

But for your suggestions: I think you have some good ideas.

1. no need to clone any module nor article to translate it
Surely, this could enhance language management on an item level. But keep in mind, that not all languages may show all the same content. Could be tricky if you put everything inside one element.

2. translations for a given article are easily made/maintained on a single grid (excel alike) where rows are translation items and columns are languages (so the translator person doesnt need to know Contao nor see any configuration options, only see the translation matrix), the grid access will be restricted with user roles
Also a good idea. Keeps everything in one place and gives a good overview. The hard thing on this one is the many options of input types, that would need to be covered in a handy way. Aditional front end modules could make tris realy tricky...

3. add an icon next to every text input field in a module/element backend configuration that opens a popup with its translation grid
Sounds good.

4. support for all Contao built in modules, element-types, news
5. easy to implement translation support into any 3rd party module/content element
This could be a hard one to force on other developers... which could keep the module from come arround

6. be able to track translation status and completion (as a report) based on date of modification, empty matrix fields, etc.
This would surely be a big help

7. language to render is defined by a URL parameter and/or browser language
A must.

8. correct language would be placed on render time to the returned html
Sorry, don't get that ;)


I personally like the way that n18nl10n handles translations by copying the element and label it with a language key. Makes it a bit easier to handle the contents in the backend and allows different content for every language. But like you said: Its difficult to keep track of what was changed where... which is a problem, that might not can be handled with the way the module works. But it may be possible to add a function like "make a localized, related copy of this content". I guess this would be quite similar to Typo3.

So, even if I think you have some great ideas, I will stay on track myself and try to bring n18nl10n to Contao3 and (hopefully) get the blessing of the original developer. But it's good to know that there are other people out there thinking about better solutions for all this localization issues...


Regards
Patric

In case you're interested: The Contao 3 version of the i18nl10n module finally made it into the repository!

Regards,
Patric