Turkey, now known as Türkiye not only has a large population of 85millio people, but also has a rate of 80% internet usage, probably as a result of its young population. Moreover, WordPress has a good coverage in Turkey as well, like in the overall web. All of this together makes Turkish community a promising market for Plugin and Theme Authors.

If you are from one of these Authors, you may have interest in translating your plugin/theme into Turkish and maybe even more like localizing your marketing efforts for Turkish community. The later, marketing is a huge topic itself, but what I would like to emphasize in this article is “Translating your Plugin or Theme to Turkish”

As a developer myself, as a translator of dozens of themes and plugins, and as a general translation editor in WordPress Turkish polyglots team, I am going to share some tips that is important to know.

Make your theme or plugin easy to translate

In order for community members to be able to translate your plugin or theme, you will need to make sure that it’s set up properly. Your plugin might be ready for translation but following some specific rules and guidelines will make the task easier for translators. This is not specific to Turkish language, but a general rule for making a theme or plugin translation ready. Please follow the Plugin/Theme Authors Guide and make sure that your theme/plugin follows the best practices for being translatable as well. Knowing the context, or description of placeholders really helps translators for easier translation.

How to find Turkish translators for my theme or plugin?

Well, waiting somoene or the community to translate the plugin on their own might take a long time. You may use a professional service -preferably experienced in WordPress- in order to fasten the process. This option may fit well if you require to translate the plugin or theme into batch of languages.

Alternatively, you may hire a free lancer or look for someone who will translate your paid product in return of a free license. However, this option requires dealing with different translators for different languages on your own.

Why an experienced WordPress Translator?

Whatever option you choose, it will be a good idea to work with someone who is experienced in WordPress translation. A translator may end up with a bad WordPress translation even if he/she is native in both languages. It is important to know the WordPress ecosystem, as well as the style and standards of the local community. A developer, or a long term WordPress translator may also understand the context of the texts better and therefore may offer more meaningful translations.

How to make a better Turkish translation for WordPress?

Please ensure that the translations are prepared considering the below information, minor

  • Follow the guidelines available in Translator’s Handbook independent from the language translated
  • If in doubt use translation consistency tool. If you are new to WordPress translation use it almost all the time. You may be confident with your translation, but the community may chosen different word for that term.
  • GlotPress, the official translation tool of WordPress org may emphasize some words available in locale glossary which is maintained by Turkish polyglots team, but most of the time you need to use consistency tool to learn the preference of the general public. If you have any doubt, or have better proposal for a translation, you may contact the Turkish polyglots team on the #ceviri channel on WordPress Turkiye Slack
  • Do not translate name of other plugins or brands
  • The Turkish polyglots team agreed to use capital letters on at the beginning of sentences. Do not capitalize the first letters even if the original language is used in that way. (proper names, brand names, place names etc. are exceptions)

Can I do the WordPress Translation job for you?

Actually I would be very happy to help you on your WordPress translation, but it depends on my availability at the time of your request. If you are in hurry, the answer is “it depends”, if you have the time, the answer is “for sure”. Please feel free to contact me to ask my availability and the rate per word.