In addition to giving you the ability to customize words and phrases on your network, the Language Editor also enables you to import and export translation files.
Import a Translation File
You might find that you want to use an existing translation file. If you already happen to have one handy, and it’s based on Ning 3.0 language strings, head over to the Social Site Manager panel.
1. Click on the “Language Editor” link, then click on “import your language file” at the bottom of the page.
2. Choose which base language you want to add your translation file to. Any strings that exist in your translation file will replace the base language’s strings. Likewise, any strings that have been left out of your translation file will display in the base language.
3. Click on the “Browse” button to choose which file you want to import and click “Open” after you’ve selected it.
If you don’t see a base language that makes for a good starting point or would prefer to create a translation instead, click on the “It’s easy to add a new one” link. See “Create a New Translation” for more information.
Make sure the translation file you’re uploading only contains strings which already exist in Ning 3.0. Because of the differences between language strings that exist in Ning 3.0 Networks and those which exist in Ning 2.0, the network won’t be able to process a file that contains irrelevant strings from a Ning 2.0 translation file.
That’s it! Your exported language file should be loaded into your Ning Network now. To make sure that your translation is visible to the public, head over to the Language Editor’s main page. You’ll see a message stating, “The active language for your Ning Network is…”. If your exported language file isn’t the active language, you can set this in the General Settings page of your dashboard.
Export a Translation File
You may want to export your translation to share with another Network Creator or to use on one of your other Ning Networks. Follow these steps:
1. Sign in to your Ning Network as the Network Creator.
2. Head over to the Social Site Manager panel and click on the “Language Editor” link.
3. Click on the “Export” link next to the language you want to download. This link will be available for any language that exists on your network.
4. The file should begin downloading automatically, otherwise a window will prompt you to save this file to your computer.
Translation files are stored and saved as .txt files. Save the file to your computer, and you’re done!