Pootle howto: how to use it

About Pootle

Pootle is powerful web software to empower teams to do translation and translation management. This community tool is Free Software, and any team can use it and contribute to the Pootle community. Read more on the project website.
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Registration

Usually everybody can view the files, and only registered users can edit them and receive credit for their effort, so the first thing you should do in order to translate is to register.
You can register following two simple steps, providing you have a current email address:
1. Fill in your preferred username, password and a valid e-mail address, choose "Register" and an activation code will be sent to the e-mail address you've provided.
2. When you receive the confirmation e-mail, click on the activation link in the e-mail to activate your Pootle account.
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Login and Account Setup

Now that you are a registered user, login to Pootle.
Once you have logged in, you will be presented with your User Page, which includes links to your selected languages and projects. Edit your preferences there.
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Browsing the Files Tree

Now that your User Page is set up, you can reach the desired files for translation directly through the links in it.
Another way to find the file you wish to translate is from the main page.
The main page displays two categories - Languages and Projects. Choosing a language will give you the list of projects available for translation into this language; choosing a project will give you the list of languages to which it can be translated.
Once you have chosen both the project and the language, you'll be presented with the files available for translation.
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Online translating with Pootle

Each file available for translation can be accessible in two ways - "Quick Translate" will show only the entries needing attention, while "Translate All" will show all the entries in the file, translated or not. In both cases you'll be presented with a two-column table, with the strings to be translated on the left, and the current translation on the right.
The current edited entry will appear as of a text box with the options "Skip" and "Submit" below it. Naturally you can enter text in the text box and submit it or skip to the next entry.
You can also directly access any of the other entries presented by clicking the link next to the entry.
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Other aids from Pootle

You can also download the files to translate offline. The upload form allows you to upload the files later.
You should also review the quality checks and suggestions by other team members.
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