Outsourcing Drupal Translation

September 17th, 2008 Amir Posted in CMS, Drupal | 1 Comment »

ICanLocalize is getting ready for full integration with Drupal, which will offer a solution for outsourcing all translation work for Drupal websites.

Updates

1. the ICanLocalize Translator Drupal module is now available. Read the updated post or go to the getting started guide.
2. Drupal Translation is our official guide for building multilingual Drupal sites. It teaches how to setup the Drupal’s i18n module and ICanLocalize Translator.

Drupal, a leading Content Management System, includes comprehensive support for running multi-lingual website. Multi-lingual support recently moved from being a component to Drupal core, making it a standard feature for any Drupal 6 install.

ICanLocalize is working on a solution that will allow complete offload of all language related work, so that writers and editors can concentrate on maintaining contents in their language, while other languages follow. This will include:

• Translation for node contents.
• Translation for blog entries.
• Comment moderation.
• Rapid translation for visitor contacts.
• Translation for texts in themes.

Support for these functions will be available from within the Drupal interface via a module which ICanLocalize is now working on. The module will send new and updated contents to ICanLocalize, where it is translated by professional human translators and then gets posted back to the Drupal system.

This will allow running a multi-lingual website, based on Drupal, without hiring translators, without granting access to their CMS and with no fixed costs.

Costs are further reduced using ICanLocalize’s translation system, which is being used for all website translation work. This system lets translators do website translation without spending time on any technical task. Cost for professional human translation is between 0.05USD to 0.09USD per word, depending on language pairs.

The system is set up so that the website administrator selects translators from ICanLocalize’s pool and approves payment terms. Then, new contents is automatically sent to translation whenever it is approved for release. Translators have an open channel to communicate with writers and editors in order to clarify any context related issues and make sure that the text is translated correctly. Then, translated contents can either be automatically published or help again for review.

The Drupal module, responsible for the interface with Drupal’s core is a crucial element in this new system. It is responsible for much of the functionality, as well as the user experience. This module is developed by Voicehero and with the kind assistance of Robert Douglass from Acquia, who will also be one of the project’s early adapters.

Beta version of the system is expected to be available during October 2008, with full commercial release in November.