Scratch
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#1 2008-08-20 07:43:07
Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
Currently the "block" help, when you right-(or control-) click on a block in the block palette, you can click help. These help files (scratchInstallationFolder\help\en for English) are all in the PNG format.
They are meant to provide some sort of translation: putting them in a folder with the same name as the .po language file (nl.po for Dutch, so "nl") results in "translated help": when you select Dutch, it shows the translated PNGs in the "nl" folder.
It's OK for only one language, but almost impossible to translate: it takes an *enormous* time - i tried to translate it to Dutch.
Also, it seems the total Scratch filesize is meant to be low, and only the english help takes 6.3MB of the 44MB total Scratch size. Translations for all 45 languages in the next Scratch release (1.3) would take 284 MBtranslations + 38MB Scratch program = 322MB - which I think is too much for a run-everywhere application like Scratch. 
My suggestion: is it possible to have the help in html format? You could open the corresponding page for each block. That way, people could just translate the text inside the pages, or even better, in the .po language files. I am sure this would take way less space on a hard disk.
Or, as fullmoon suggested:
fullmoon wrote:
That's probably a good idea. I've often wondered why the help cards need to be images, when some text would do and would make the translation a lot easier. I'm all for shrinking the help cards, but it might be best to keep the help files within Scratch, but as text. It would be the same size as an HTML document, and would avoid issues with browsers such as those that might be caused by OLPC laptops or school computers. The problem is that with a hundred-odd languages to translate the help to, that would still be a lot of pngs to make of blocks in different languages. Maybe the help could just draw the blocks dynamically in the current language.
Drawing everything dynamically?
What do you think about it?
Joren
Last edited by JSO (2008-08-20 11:02:07)
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#2 2008-08-20 10:51:27
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
That's probably a good idea. I've often wondered why the help cards need to be images, when some text would do and would make the translation a lot easier. I'm all for shrinking the help cards, but it might be best to keep the help files within Scratch, but as text. It would be the same size as an HTML document, and would avoid issues with browsers such as those that might be caused by OLPC laptops or school computers. The problem is that with a hundred-odd languages to translate the help to, that would still be a lot of pngs to make of blocks in different languages. Maybe the help could just draw the blocks dynamically in the current language.
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#3 2008-08-20 11:00:46
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
fullmoon wrote:
That's probably a good idea. I've often wondered why the help cards need to be images, when some text would do and would make the translation a lot easier. I'm all for shrinking the help cards, but it might be best to keep the help files within Scratch, but as text. It would be the same size as an HTML document, and would avoid issues with browsers such as those that might be caused by OLPC laptops or school computers. The problem is that with a hundred-odd languages to translate the help to, that would still be a lot of pngs to make of blocks in different languages. Maybe the help could just draw the blocks dynamically in the current language.
Hmm... Probably even better.
Just translating the help text messages around it in the .po file, and dynamicallyfrawing the blocks - using the translation file.
Any thoughts?
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#6 2008-09-07 21:55:55
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
coolstuff wrote:
That would be a good idea. Just use some simple HTML and... voil� , it's a simply translated, easier loading page. Great idea!
I was thinking it could be done within Scratch. I've poked around in the source code a bit and it could probably be done by adding another pop-up scrollFrameMorph (the scripts area) with some non-moveable blocks/comments and maybe a few images.
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#8 2008-09-16 19:41:56
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
JSO wrote:
Now it would be good to have some Scratch-team-support. Scratch 1.3's focus is "get scratch everywhere", why are people speaking another language left unsupported?
Well, their language is almost completely supported in the new version. Everything in rtl-based languages is supported... but help.
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#9 2008-09-18 10:44:38
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
coolstuff wrote:
JSO wrote:
Now it would be good to have some Scratch-team-support. Scratch 1.3's focus is "get scratch everywhere", why are people speaking another language left unsupported?
Well, their language is almost completely supported in the new version. Everything in rtl-based languages is supported... but help.
I actually mean people like "my friends" not understanding Scratch
a friend wrote (in dutch) but translated so I wrote:
Uhm nice site but can you please tell me how to download I don't really get the english
Well, You aslo know you have to click only one button on the front page, is huge and blue. you see how important other languages are?
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#10 2008-09-18 11:55:40
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
Hi, JSO.
The Scratch team is small and our resources are limited (partly because we give Scratch away for free), so we rely on help from others to translate both Scratch itself and it's support materials, including the help files.
If you just use a paint editor to translate the help screens it is a huge amount of work. However, the help screens are available in a PNG format that can be read by Adobe Fireworks. When you use Fireworks, the text and image components are are all on separate layers, so it become easier to translate. This also gives the translator fine control over the screen layout and placement, which is important for making help screens readable and easy to understand.
It is an interesting idea to consider other representations of the help screens, ones that might be able to leverage the existing block translation mechanism. Thanks for the suggestion.
-- John
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#11 2008-09-20 13:35:54
- yambanshee
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2007-11-06
- Posts: 500+
Re: Scratch offline "block- help" in HTML?
what if you have to pay for your internet connection, and isint always online?
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