How GitLab empowers translators with more context

GitLab is translated into 78 languages by a global community of volunteer translators and proofreaders through the Crowdin platform. These translators face the challenge of understanding the full context of the text they are translating, as great translation requires preserving meaning, intent, and usability in the target language. Translators need to have a blend of linguistic and technical skills, and they spend a lot of time researching context and reading product documentation. GitLab's open-core model allows translators to access most of the product development context directly, empowering them to contribute as co-creators of the global product. To support translators, GitLab has developed a new feature that embeds a contextual link into each translatable string, allowing them to locate all instances of that string in the codebase. This feature enables translators to rely on Git blame to trace every string's history and understand the context of the text they are translating. With this feature, translators can research the technical concept behind a string, understand how it works, and provide a technically accurate and linguistically correct translation. This approach goes beyond traditional translation aids and allows translators to derive context from code paths and naming conventions, view screenshots or video recordings, and read original planning and development discussions. The GitLab Localization team is working on more context-enhancement features, including AI-powered tools to help translators understand string usage and placement. By joining the community on Crowdin, translators can try these new context features and help make the translation experience and the product even better.