Extension:TranslateSvg/2.0

This is the planning page for version 2.0 of the TranslateSvg extension, a project being undertaken by Harry Burt (User:Jarry1250) as part of Google Summer of Code 2012.

Installation and configuration
To install and setup the TranslateSvg extension (warning: the current status of the extension is strictly alpha): Ensure you have a working, fairly up-to-date MediaWiki installation (1.18.1 or above should do it). Ensure you have some SVG files on your wiki to translate.

Follow Manual:Uploads to set up file uploads. Add the following to your LocalSettings.php:

Change the SVG rasterizer to. Install librsvg with, e.g.,. Then, add this to your LocalSettings.php:

Tweak  as required. For example,

Check that an SVG you've uploaded renders; consult Manual:SVG if it does not. Add this to your LocalSettings.php:

Manually patch your MediaWiki installation to support rendering SVGs in different languages. Firstly, add the following to, around line ~265.

Similarly,  will need to be updated to this file. Backup first, no warranty provided.

Install the Translate extension, TranslateSvg branch. To do this, you can either grab it from Git (clone, then run ), or get a snapshot from Gitweb and extract it. Rename that folder to something more convenient e.g. extensions/Translate.

Next, configure the Translate extension. First, edit your LocalSettings.php, full options are available at Help:Extension:Translate/Configuration, but this should do it for our purposes:

Now, run maintenance/update.php. You may also need to open up the permissions on the cache/ directory.

Install the TranslateSvg extension by downloading a .tar.gz file from Special:ExtensionDistributor/TranslateSvg, and extract it in the same manner, so that extensions/TranslateSvg now exists. You can also clone it from gerrit. Add this to your LocalSettings.php:

(optional) Configure TranslateSvg by adding the following line to your LocalSettings.php (there are some other options but you shouldn't need to change them):

(optional) Register that username on your wiki, and probably give them the bot flag.

Navigate to an SVG file containing a string, and follow the link to start translation.

Status
[older items hidden in an HTMl comment]


 * Establish a private test wiki on Labs [Done]
 * Write instructions for testing TranslateSvg, if only for self-reference [Done]
 * Work with Krinkle to sign off basic JS hooks system [Done]
 * Investigate making private wiki public [Done]
 * Consider modifying/removing "suggestions" [Done]
 * Write wizard/instruction page [Done]
 * Get from from 93.5% to over 95% [Done]
 * Seek and resolve code review for phase 1 [Doing]
 * Enquire about temp file clearance issues [Doing]
 * Handle as many errors as possible nicely [Doing]
 * Seek and resolve code review for phase 2 [Doing]
 * Seek and resolve code review for phase 3 [Doing]
 * Have all hooks and other modifications to Translate signed off, branch merged
 * Change namespace from File to Translations
 * Rewrite thumbnailpage to use API
 * Consider re-adding an improved form of suggestions
 * Use Font::findFontFamily

Future roadmap

 * 21 July to 11 August: Heavy-duty code review, documentation, and several rounds of testing with real-world translators.
 * 11 August to 20 August: Final polish, integration focussed elements. Pencils down on official project.
 * 20 August to end of October (provisional): Prepare for deployment if required

Suggested workflow

 * User wants to use diagram or other SVG image, but it is not available in her or her language.
 * User clicks link to special page in order to translate it
 * If not already present, a message group is created, filled with defaults, and saved
 * The Translate interface is loaded and displayed to the user.
 * User selects the desired language(s) and translates using Translate interface. After each, the translation is saved back in the usual Translate wiki way.
 * When user is finished with change(s), user can either (a) wait until midnight or (b) press a big save button. After either has been done, the export process reassembles the message files back into the SVG in the form of an "Upload a new version of this file"-style update (checking for edit conflicts and fixing as appropriate!).
 * The user is able to insert the SVG thumb, now translated into the new language, into any MediaWiki document using the lang=xx attribute.

Required deliverables
The final extension should:
 * be able to handle the translation 99%+ of text embedded in SVGs, taking account of (for example) meaningful s, italics, bold, superscript, subscript and other formatting using well-documented methods;
 * provide a functioning, internationalisable and polished interface able to adjust for translations (with a "native" feel and a minimum of visual clutter):
 * in different writing scripts,
 * with different x/y positioning,
 * and in right-to-left (RTL) languages;
 * modify file description pages, to enable visitors to view files in different languages and provide them with easy access to the translation mechanism;
 * be written to cope with "evolving" SVG files, i.e. those which go through a repeated translation-modification cycle;
 * be well documented, or, even better, be sufficiently simple that it needs little in the way of official documentation;
 * implement logical and informative permissions and error-handling;
 * and do all of the above in a resource-efficient manner, even for large SVGs; or, if this proves impossible, at least implement a reasonable upper limit with regard to performance (similar to the long-time situation with large PNG files).

If time permits
The final extension could:
 * provide quality control via a special logging action (reverting being handled natively via MediaWiki);
 * separate a new SVG-translation user right from the usual upload user right to allow for more granular permissions;
 * ensure SVG-file-parsing system is sufficiently logical and/or modular to be easily extensible by future developers.

Further details

 * Results of SVG analysis