Wrong translations are automatically validated

[Chouby]

I recently uploaded a new version of one of my plugin. This new version included a lot of new strings most of them being country names. To my surprise, a lot of these strings were automatically translated and validated in major languages.

I guess that these strings are coming from some sort of translation memory from other projects. While this could be a nice feature, it appeared that 10-15% of these automatically validated translations were wrong in my native language (French).
For example: Austria was translated to Australie (Australia in French), instead of Autriche. Other were just non-existing names.
I noticed the same kind of issue in the other language I can read (German). For example: Germany translated to Germany instead of Deutschland.

Validating strings coming from translation memory may result in propagation of wrong translations as translation editors are unlikely to review validated strings.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Noticed this with core strings too: ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/polyglots/p1448062794000775.

I'd prefer if matches from other projects were added as Waiting instead of being auto-approved, otherwise, we'll have to double-check all new strings.

We'll also need global cross-project search (#1351), since currently there's no way to know where these translations originated from.

[Chouby]

I'd prefer if matches from other projects were added as Waiting instead of being auto-approved,

Yes at least in a first step. We could imagine auto validation in a future step if there was a way to create a trusted source.

otherwise, we'll have to double-check all new strings.

That's what I did for French (> 30 wrong translations detected) and German (> 100 wrong translations detected). I informed the plugin translations editors so I expect a few other languages will be double checked. But maybe 50+ other languages have received these auto-validated strings.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Related: #1446

[pedromendonca]

Hi'
I've been across this problem too, a lot. It's a problem because is not just the core, different projects/developers use different aproaches in their coded strings, and very often a short word string like "No" or "None" have different context and meaning across different plugins, and it's bad if it gets imported as *current* in the first place. So I think it might work better to just mark as fuzzy, as waiting, or even add a context.

Please add some plugin context or at least mark as a waiting/fuzzy suggestion for other projects, EVEN if the use who imports/adds it have permissions to edit/validate other projects. He is importing in a specific context, not all.
I've found translated strings by myself in near 0% translated projects that I didn't touch before, those strings came from imports I've made in other projects and their contexts.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Seeing some issues with theme names:

• In ru_RU, we generally keep theme titles in English, but the ​Start theme was translated literally as "to start" at some point, which looks weird. The translation is corrected now.
• Same with ​Professional theme.

On a related note, there's no distinction between nouns and verbs, e.g. if "Redirect" is a verb in one plugin and a noun in another.

[ocean90]

Closing as invalid since this is an issue with GlotPress.

In ​https://github.com/GlotPress/GlotPress-WP/issues/337 the propagation feature will be split into a plugin which will probably not be enabled on translate.w.org.