Localizing TimeMapper (de-DE)

mhoerz · 2016-01-19 20:08:35 UTC

Hi everybody,

I’d like to provide German as an additional locale for TimeMapper, as I introduced it to some German newsrooms, but they are not so happy with the dates being displayed in US formatting.

The standard process should work with python object files, as far as I know.

However, I only have sort of an end user experience with po files, where I translated files with the help of poeditor.com.

So I’d be grateful if you could briefly explain to me how to use which file, and what else is necessary to get to a working de-DE version.

Cheers,
Michael

mila_frerichs · 2016-01-20 08:27:58 UTC

Hi @mhoerz,

After a bit of research, I suspect that this has nothing to do with the po files. Since they’re only for the TimeMapper website and not for the resulting embeddable TimeMap.

The Timeline is this one: https://github.com/NUKnightLab/TimelineJS3
They have an option for language, but you have to specify that in the configuration which you don’t have access to as an end user.

TimeMapper has a tmconfig which has a timelineJSOptions field, but it does not get populated as far as I can tell.
It seems that this should be created and added to the creation view.

Starting point would be here:

github.com

okfn/timemapper/blob/e0e4cc430228c124e1fc1d61ed06d8060aed1f13/views/dataview/form.html

  <fieldset>
    <div class="control-group">
      <label for="source" class="control-label">{{ gettext('Data Source') }}</label>
      <div class="controls">
        <p>
          <button title="Select from Google Drive" class="gdrive-import btn"><i class="gdrive"></i> {{ gettext('Select from Your Google Drive') }}</button>
          <span class="help-block">({{ gettext('If nothing happens check you are not blocking popups ...') }})</span>
        </p>
        <input
          type="url"
          value="{{dataview.resources[0].url}}"
          name="url"
          required=""
          class="input span6"
          placeholder="{{ gettext('Or paste the Google Spreadsheet URL directly') }}" />
          <span class="help-block"><strong>{{ gettext('Important') }}</strong>: {{ gettext("you must \"publish\" your Google Spreadsheet: go to File Menu in your spreadsheet, then 'Publish to the Web', then click 'Start Publishing'. See") }} <a href="#faq-publish">{{ gettext('the FAQ below') }}</a> {{ gettext('for more details') }}</span>.

      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="stage2">

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You can add a new field and try to add a timelineJSOptions.language field.

I do not have the time right now. Otherwise, I would help, but maybe someone with more knowledge of TimeMapper could help.

mhoerz · 2016-02-10 21:06:16 UTC

Hi @mila_frerichs,

cheers for having a look and clarifying it for me.

(I also notice that I was quite busy the last weeks, as three weeks have passed since you answered. Hmm)

That sounds like a decent approach, as Knight Lab’s Timeline site includes the language option.

As I am not a developer (but rather fiddle around with data), I would be very grateful for the help of the TimeMapper crowd