Don’t split translatable strings in block templates

[tobifjellner]

WordPress RC 1 contains a couple of strings that are almost impossible to translate well without specifically figuring out how the underlying code is created.

The reason is:
Thou shalt never
split a sentence in two parts and then glue them together again after translation.

But that is exactly what happens now in:
​https://build.trac.wordpress.org/browser/branches/5.6/wp-includes/block-patterns/large-header-button.php?marks=10#L10

Code excerpt:
<strong>" . __( 'Thou hast seen' ) . '</strong><br><strong>' . __( 'nothing yet' ) . "</strong></p>

Some examples of why this is a problem:

• German word order would typically put the verb at the end of the sentence.
• In Swedish, the best translation would split out the negation (from string 2) and put it next to the verb.
• etcetera.

Even if the translator knows exactly how these strings are used, you still have the problem that somewhere else you might have, say, a result of a search operation that says "nothing yet". Imagine the German translation suddenly having an unexpected verb there, or the Swedish translation actually lacking the "no"...

If you necessarily need to split a sentence that should be translated as a whole as two or more separate chunks, then you MUST use _x() and in the context string lock this partial translation to this particular case.
But the best way to handle is to include the whole sentence in the string. If you, due to technical limitations, can't allow tags in the translated string then we need to find a workaround. But a few formatting tags or br-tags in the string to be translated is totally OK, and much-much better than this kind of magical brewery.

H/t @kebbet who alarmed me about this problem. I'll upload his example from his test run of the Swedish translation in use.

During translation, the Victorian-sounding "Thou" prompted me to just keep the English text, since I had no clue how it was to be used. But the other string "nothing yet" is totally normal, and thus got translated...

[tobifjellner]

Swedish test run of WP 5.6 RC1

[SergeyBiryukov]

Thanks for the report!

Looks like this is not a regression in 5.6 RC1 though, the strings were added in [48639] / #50550 for WP 5.5.

I think the string could just be replaced with __( 'Thou hast seen<br> nothing yet' ).

This also needs to be fixed upstream in Gutenberg. Some previous examples:

• #50842, which was a backport of ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/24317 for ​#GB24316.
• #50845, which was a backport of ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/24647 for ​#GB24646.

[hellofromTonya]

As Sergey notes, the strings were added in 5.5.

Looks like this is not a regression in 5.6 RC1 though, the strings were added in [48639] / #50550 for WP 5.5.

[audrasjb]

Oh. Due to a browser bug (?), I didn't see the comments above before uploading my patch.

By the way, the above patch keeps the current markup. The string becomes:

<strong>Thou hast seen</strong><br><strong>nothing yet</strong>

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to audrasjb:

By the way, the above patch keeps the current markup. The string becomes:

<strong>Thou hast seen</strong><br><strong>nothing yet</strong>

Is there a difference in display between that and the <strong> tags outside of the string?

'<strong>' . __( 'Thou hast seen<br> nothing yet' ) . '</strong>'

I'd like to keep the string as simple as possible :)

[mukesh27]

Patch that remove BR tag

[mukesh27]

51893.patch​ patch remove <br> tag from string and change font size to adjust the text in two lines

[audrasjb]

moving <strong> outside of translatable string

[audrasjb]

51893.2.diff

[audrasjb]

@SergeyBiryukov you're right :) 51893.2.diff moves <strong> tags outside of the translatable string.
@mukesh27 the <br /> tag is here by design, I wouldn't touch it without asking the design team. Better to keep it as it is now.

[SergeyBiryukov]

51893.2.diff​ looks good to me :)

Let's also patch this upstream in Gutenberg, the file that needs changing is here:
​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/master/lib/patterns/large-header-button.php

[mukesh27]

Yup. 51893.2.diff​ looks good to me.

Replying to audrasjb:

@SergeyBiryukov you're right :) 51893.2.diff moves <strong> tags outside of the translatable string.
@mukesh27 the <br /> tag is here by design, I wouldn't touch it without asking the design team. Better to keep it as it is now.

[audrasjb]

PR opened upstream: ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27361

[audrasjb]

Merged in Gutenberg: ​https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27361
We're waiting for a second committer sign-off.

[azaozz]

51893.2.diff looks good here too. +1 to commit to the 5.6 branch.

[SergeyBiryukov]

In 49722:

Editor: Don't unnecessarily split a translatable string in block templates.

As a best practice, strings available for translation should contain entire sentences whenever possible.

Splitting a sentence in two parts and putting them back together after translation should be avoided, as the word order in other languages can be different from English.

Props tobifjellner, kebbet, audrasjb, mukesh27, hellofromTonya, azaozz, SergeyBiryukov.
Fixes #51893.

[SergeyBiryukov]

In 49723:

Editor: Don't unnecessarily split a translatable string in block templates.

As a best practice, strings available for translation should contain entire sentences whenever possible.

Splitting a sentence in two parts and putting them back together after translation should be avoided, as the word order in other languages can be different from English.

Props tobifjellner, kebbet, audrasjb, mukesh27, hellofromTonya, azaozz, SergeyBiryukov.
Reviewed by azaozz, SergeyBiryukov.
Merges [49722] to the 5.6 branch.
Fixes #51893.