Merge branch '43294-improve-externalization-documentation' into 'master'

Resolve "Externalization (i18n) documentation should say that whole shouldn't be split into several externalized words/group of words"

Closes #43294

See merge request gitlab-org/gitlab-ce!17151

3 files changed, 158 insertions, 109 deletions

diff --git a/doc/development/i18n/externalization.md b/doc/development/i18n/externalization.md
index c0a325a83e9..c0ce49eb40b 100644
--- a/doc/development/i18n/externalization.md
+++ b/doc/development/i18n/externalization.md
@@ -107,104 +107,28 @@ You can mark that content for translation with:
 
 ### JavaScript files
 
-In JavaScript we added the `__()` (double underscore parenthesis) function
-for translations.
+In JavaScript we added the `__()` (double underscore parenthesis) function that
+you can import from the `~/locale` file. For instance:
 
-In order to test JavaScript translations you have to change the GitLab localization to other language than English and you have to generate JSON files using `bundle exec rake gettext:po_to_json` or `bundle exec rake gettext:compile`.
-
-## Updating the PO files with the new content
-
-Now that the new content is marked for translation, we need to update the PO
-files with the following command:
-
-```sh
-bundle exec rake gettext:find
-```
-
-This command will update the `locale/gitlab.pot` file with the newly externalized
-strings and remove any strings that aren't used anymore. You should check this
-file in. Once the changes are on master, they will be picked up by
-[Crowdin](http://translate.gitlab.com) and be presented for translation.
-
-If there are merge conflicts in the `gitlab.pot` file, you can delete the file
-and regenerate it using the same command. Confirm that you are not deleting any strings accidentally by looking over the diff.
-
-The command also updates the translation files for each language: `locale/*/gitlab.po`
-These changes can be discarded, the languange files will be updated by Crowdin
-automatically.
-
-Discard all of them at once like this:
-
-```sh
-git checkout locale/*/gitlab.po
-```
-
-### Validating PO files
-
-To make sure we keep our translation files up to date, there's a linter that is
-running on CI as part of the `static-analysis` job.
-
-To lint the adjustments in PO files locally you can run `rake gettext:lint`.
-
-The linter will take the following into account:
-
-- Valid PO-file syntax
-- Variable usage
-  - Only one unnamed (`%d`) variable, since the order of variables might change
-    in different languages
-  - All variables used in the message-id are used in the translation
-  - There should be no variables used in a translation that aren't in the
-    message-id
-- Errors during translation.
-
-The errors are grouped per file, and per message ID:
-
-```
-Errors in `locale/zh_HK/gitlab.po`:
-  PO-syntax errors
-    SimplePoParser::ParserErrorSyntax error in lines
-    Syntax error in msgctxt
-    Syntax error in msgid
-    Syntax error in msgstr
-    Syntax error in message_line
-    There should be only whitespace until the end of line after the double quote character of a message text.
-    Parseing result before error: '{:msgid=>["", "You are going to remove %{project_name_with_namespace}.\\n", "Removed project CANNOT be restored!\\n", "Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?"]}'
-    SimplePoParser filtered backtrace: SimplePoParser::ParserError
-Errors in `locale/zh_TW/gitlab.po`:
-  1 pipeline
-    <%d 條流水線> is using unknown variables: [%d]
-    Failure translating to zh_TW with []: too few arguments
+```js
+import { __ } from '~/locale';
+const label = __('Subscribe');
 ```
 
-In this output the `locale/zh_HK/gitlab.po` has syntax errors.
-The `locale/zh_TW/gitlab.po` has variables that are used in the translation that
-aren't in the message with id `1 pipeline`.
-
-## Working with special content
-
-
-### Just marking content for parsing
-
-- In Ruby/HAML:
-
-    ```ruby
-    _('Subscribe')
-    ```
-
-- In JavaScript:
-
-    ```js
-    import { __ } from '../../../locale';
-    const label = __('Subscribe');
-    ```
+In order to test JavaScript translations you have to change the GitLab
+localization to other language than English and you have to generate JSON files
+using `bin/rake gettext:po_to_json` or `bin/rake gettext:compile`.
 
+### Dynamic translations
 
 Sometimes there are some dynamic translations that can't be found by the
-parser when running `bundle exec rake gettext:find`. For these scenarios you can
-use the [`_N` method](https://github.com/grosser/gettext_i18n_rails/blob/c09e38d481e0899ca7d3fc01786834fa8e7aab97/Readme.md#unfound-translations-with-rake-gettextfind).
+parser when running `bin/rake gettext:find`. For these scenarios you can
+use the [`N_` method](https://github.com/grosser/gettext_i18n_rails/blob/c09e38d481e0899ca7d3fc01786834fa8e7aab97/Readme.md#unfound-translations-with-rake-gettextfind).
 
 There is also and alternative method to [translate messages from validation errors](https://github.com/grosser/gettext_i18n_rails/blob/c09e38d481e0899ca7d3fc01786834fa8e7aab97/Readme.md#option-a).
 
+## Working with special content
+
 ### Interpolation
 
 - In Ruby/HAML:
@@ -216,7 +140,7 @@ There is also and alternative method to [translate messages from validation erro
 - In JavaScript:
 
     ```js
-    import { __, sprintf } from '../../../locale';
+    import { __, sprintf } from '~/locale';
     sprintf(__('Hello %{username}'), { username: 'Joe' }) => 'Hello Joe'
     ```
 
@@ -228,24 +152,30 @@ For example use `%{created_at}` in Ruby but `%{createdAt}` in JavaScript.
 - In Ruby/HAML:
 
     ```ruby
-    n_('Apple', 'Apples', 3) => 'Apples'
+    n_('Apple', 'Apples', 3)
+    # => 'Apples'
     ```
 
     Using interpolation:
     ```ruby
     n_("There is a mouse.", "There are %d mice.", size) % size
+    # => When size == 1: 'There is a mouse.'
+    # => When size == 2: 'There are 2 mice.'
     ```
 
 - In JavaScript:
 
     ```js
-    n__('Apple', 'Apples', 3) => 'Apples'
+    n__('Apple', 'Apples', 3)
+    // => 'Apples'
     ```
 
     Using interpolation:
 
     ```js
-    n__('Last day', 'Last %d days', 30) => 'Last 30 days'
+    n__('Last day', 'Last %d days', x)
+    // => When x == 1: 'Last day'
+    // => When x == 2: 'Last 2 days'
     ```
 
 ### Namespaces
@@ -267,12 +197,15 @@ Sometimes you need to add some context to the text that you want to translate
     s__('OpenedNDaysAgo|Opened')
     ```
 
+Note: The namespace should be removed from the translation. See the [translation
+guidelines for more details](./translation.md#namespaced-strings).
+
 ### Dates / times
 
 - In JavaScript:
 
 ```js
-import { createDateTimeFormat } from '.../locale';
+import { createDateTimeFormat } from '~/locale';
 
 const dateFormat = createDateTimeFormat({ year: 'numeric', month: 'long', day: 'numeric' });
 console.log(dateFormat.format(new Date('2063-04-05'))) // April 5, 2063
@@ -282,6 +215,100 @@ This makes use of [`Intl.DateTimeFormat`].
 
 [`Intl.DateTimeFormat`]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/DateTimeFormat
 
+## Best practices
+
+### Splitting sentences
+
+Please never split a sentence as that would assume the sentence grammar and
+structure is the same in all languages.
+
+For instance, the following
+
+```js
+{{ s__("mrWidget|Set by") }}
+{{ author.name }}
+{{ s__("mrWidget|to be merged automatically when the pipeline succeeds") }}
+```
+
+should be externalized as follows:
+
+```js
+{{ sprintf(s__("mrWidget|Set by %{author} to be merged automatically when the pipeline succeeds"), { author: author.name }) }}
+```
+
+When in doubt, try to follow the best practices described in this [Mozilla
+Developer documentation][mdn].
+
+[mdn]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Localization/Localization_content_best_practices#Splitting
+
+## Updating the PO files with the new content
+
+Now that the new content is marked for translation, we need to update the PO
+files with the following command:
+
+```sh
+bin/rake gettext:find
+```
+
+This command will update the `locale/gitlab.pot` file with the newly externalized
+strings and remove any strings that aren't used anymore. You should check this
+file in. Once the changes are on master, they will be picked up by
+[Crowdin](http://translate.gitlab.com) and be presented for translation.
+
+If there are merge conflicts in the `gitlab.pot` file, you can delete the file
+and regenerate it using the same command. Confirm that you are not deleting any strings accidentally by looking over the diff.
+
+The command also updates the translation files for each language: `locale/*/gitlab.po`
+These changes can be discarded, the languange files will be updated by Crowdin
+automatically.
+
+Discard all of them at once like this:
+
+```sh
+git checkout locale/*/gitlab.po
+```
+
+### Validating PO files
+
+To make sure we keep our translation files up to date, there's a linter that is
+running on CI as part of the `static-analysis` job.
+
+To lint the adjustments in PO files locally you can run `rake gettext:lint`.
+
+The linter will take the following into account:
+
+- Valid PO-file syntax
+- Variable usage
+  - Only one unnamed (`%d`) variable, since the order of variables might change
+    in different languages
+  - All variables used in the message-id are used in the translation
+  - There should be no variables used in a translation that aren't in the
+    message-id
+- Errors during translation.
+
+The errors are grouped per file, and per message ID:
+
+```
+Errors in `locale/zh_HK/gitlab.po`:
+  PO-syntax errors
+    SimplePoParser::ParserErrorSyntax error in lines
+    Syntax error in msgctxt
+    Syntax error in msgid
+    Syntax error in msgstr
+    Syntax error in message_line
+    There should be only whitespace until the end of line after the double quote character of a message text.
+    Parseing result before error: '{:msgid=>["", "You are going to remove %{project_name_with_namespace}.\\n", "Removed project CANNOT be restored!\\n", "Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?"]}'
+    SimplePoParser filtered backtrace: SimplePoParser::ParserError
+Errors in `locale/zh_TW/gitlab.po`:
+  1 pipeline
+    <%d 條流水線> is using unknown variables: [%d]
+    Failure translating to zh_TW with []: too few arguments
+```
+
+In this output the `locale/zh_HK/gitlab.po` has syntax errors.
+The `locale/zh_TW/gitlab.po` has variables that are used in the translation that
+aren't in the message with id `1 pipeline`.
+
 ## Adding a new language
 
 Let's suppose you want to add translations for a new language, let's say French.
@@ -300,14 +327,14 @@ Let's suppose you want to add translations for a new language, let's say French.
 1. Next, you need to add the language:
 
     ```sh
-    bundle exec rake gettext:add_language[fr]
+    bin/rake gettext:add_language[fr]
     ```
 
     If you want to add a new language for a specific region, the command is similar,
     you just need to separate the region with an underscore (`_`). For example:
 
     ```sh
-    bundle exec rake gettext:add_language[en_GB]
+    bin/rake gettext:add_language[en_GB]
     ```
 
     Please note that you need to specify the region part in capitals.
@@ -321,7 +348,7 @@ Let's suppose you want to add translations for a new language, let's say French.
    containing the translations:
 
     ```sh
-    bundle exec rake gettext:compile
+    bin/rake gettext:compile
     ```
 
 1. In order to see the translated content we need to change our preferred language
diff --git a/doc/development/i18n/proofreader.md b/doc/development/i18n/proofreader.md
index ece9a9bc0fe..9aa3fb07abf 100644
--- a/doc/development/i18n/proofreader.md
+++ b/doc/development/i18n/proofreader.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ are very appreciative of the work done by translators and proofreaders!
 - Dutch
 - Esperanto
 - French
+  - Rémy Coutable - [GitLab](https://gitlab.com/rymai), [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com/profile/rymai)
 - German
 - Italian
   - Paolo Falomo - [GitLab](https://gitlab.com/paolofalomo), [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com/profile/paolo.falomo)
diff --git a/doc/development/i18n/translation.md b/doc/development/i18n/translation.md
index b34ec754742..99c0fe6db1d 100644
--- a/doc/development/i18n/translation.md
+++ b/doc/development/i18n/translation.md
@@ -37,33 +37,43 @@ Comments can be added to discuss a translation with the community.
 
 Remember to **Save** each translation.
 
-## Translation Guidelines
+## General Translation Guidelines
 
 Be sure to check the following guidelines before you translate any strings.
 
+### Namespaced strings
+
+When an externalized string is prepended with a namespace, e.g.
+`s_('OpenedNDaysAgo|Opened')`, the namespace should be removed from the final
+translation.
+For example in French `OpenedNDaysAgo|Opened` would be translated to
+`Ouvert•e`, not `OpenedNDaysAgo|Ouvert•e`.
+
 ### Technical terms
 
-Technical terms should be treated like proper nouns and not be translated.
-This helps maintain a logical connection and consistency between tools (e.g. `git` client) and
-GitLab.
+Some technical terms should be treated like proper nouns and not be translated.
 
-Technical terms that should always be in English are noted in the glossary when using
-[translate.gitlab.com](https://translate.gitlab.com).
+Technical terms that should always be in English are noted in the glossary when
+using [translate.gitlab.com](https://translate.gitlab.com).
+
+This helps maintain a logical connection and consistency between tools (e.g.
+`git` client) and GitLab.
 
 ### Formality
 
 The level of formality used in software varies by language.
-For example, in French we translate `you` as the informal `tu`.
+For example, in French we translate `you` as the formal `vous`.
 
-You can refer to other translated strings and notes in the glossary to assist determining a
-suitable level of formality.
+You can refer to other translated strings and notes in the glossary to assist
+determining a suitable level of formality.
 
 ### Inclusive language
 
 [Diversity] is one of GitLab's values.
-We ask you to avoid translations which exclude people based on their gender or ethnicity.
-In languages which distinguish between a male and female form,
-use both or choose a neutral formulation.
+We ask you to avoid translations which exclude people based on their gender or
+ethnicity.
+In languages which distinguish between a male and female form, use both or
+choose a neutral formulation.
 
 For example in German, the word "user" can be translated into "Benutzer" (male) or "Benutzerin" (female).
 Therefore "create a new user" would translate into "Benutzer(in) anlegen".
@@ -74,3 +84,14 @@ Therefore "create a new user" would translate into "Benutzer(in) anlegen".
 
 To propose additions to the glossary please
 [open an issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues).
+
+## French Translation Guidelines
+
+### Inclusive language in French
+
+In French, we should follow the guidelines from [ecriture-inclusive.fr]. For
+instance:
+
+- Utilisateur•rice•s
+
+[ecriture-inclusive.fr]: http://www.ecriture-inclusive.fr/