Welcome to the Mozilla Localization Community
Our mission is to ensure the Internet is a global public resource, open and accessible to all.
Whether you are passionate about language, dedicated to Open Source, or here for the community spirit… If you’d like to get involved, you are in the right place!
Dive right in with our quick guide below, or take a moment to explore the finer details of localization at Mozilla first — whichever suits your style!
Quick guide: getting started with Mozilla localizations
Here is a simplified checklist providing an overview of upcoming steps:
- Take a tour of Pontoon.
- Create an account.
- Choose your preferred language.
- Reach out to your language community.
- Start localizing.
Now, let’s explore all this a bit more.
Understanding Pontoon
Start by taking a tour of our translation system, Pontoon, to get a sense of how things work.
You can also check out our video tutorial, either on YouTube or AirMozilla.
Setting up your account
Log in to Pontoon by using your Mozilla account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free. You can then customize your profile and information here.
Joining a team and selecting your project
Find your preferred language from the team page and from there, pick a project of your choice. You can filter projects based on priorities by clicking on the Priority column of the dashboard (1–5 stars).
The priority of a project is defined based on multiple criteria, like the importance of the product in the Mozilla ecosystem, userbase size, frequency of updates, etc.
Can’t find the project you were looking for? While it’s possible to request a new project, that’s something you should discuss with the language team managers beforehand — they will be the ones reviewing and approving your request. The existing team might not have bandwidth to review and maintain a brand-new project, and you should create trust by working on existing projects first.
Getting in touch
Let us know you’re here!
From your chosen team page, you have several options to get in touch: you can contact language managers directly through their profile in the contributors’ tab, send a message on our localization Matrix channel, or email a Mozilla program manager directly (you can find their profile in the header of each project page). We’re always happy to answer your questions, so don’t hesitate to reach out. If one channel isn’t working, please try another from this list. We’re here to help.
Starting your localization work
In the meantime, you can start localizing! Note that when you are new, someone with “Manager” or “Translator” permissions on Pontoon will have to review and approve your work in order for it to be available in the final product.
Stuck, or not getting any reviews of your work? If language managers are unresponsive, see the other options listed above to get in touch — you’ll get a response.
Staying updated and personalizing your experience
Make sure you subscribe to Pontoon email communications in your settings if you want to keep up with the latest events, features and announcements. You can opt out at any time. This settings page also lets you personalize your profile.
Enhancing your workflow with add-ons
Consider downloading the Pontoon notification add-on (Chrome add-on here), created by Mozilla localizer Michal Stanke. This add-on brings notifications from Pontoon directly into your browser. It also provides features for proofreading, bug reporting and fixing — you will be shown an introduction tour right after installation.
Detailed overview: exploring Mozilla localization
What is localization?
Localization, or l10n for short, is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or region. Translation — converting text from one language to another — is only one of several elements in the localization process.
Localization involves adapting every aspect of your content to fit your target. For example:
- Adapting graphics and content to a specific market or local sensibility.
- Adapting currency, locale dates, addresses.
- Adapting layout (e.g. think about Right-To-Left languages, or languages using a different script).
- Complying with legal requirements or local regulations.
You will also find references to locales instead of languages. Think for example about Spanish: there’s one language, Spanish, but at Mozilla we support 4 different regional variants of Spanish (Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Chile). Besides obvious differences, like the default currency, they may have different expressions or idioms.
How does localization work at Mozilla?
Here at Mozilla, we work with volunteers to localize all our products. Unless there are specific limitations imposed by the platform, as it happens for example on iOS, each community can choose which projects to work on.
There are staff members at Mozilla — sometimes called L10n Team or l10n-drivers — that coordinate the localization effort of the volunteers. These volunteers utilize our internal platform, called Pontoon, to translate products.
For each locale, there is a community of volunteers, and we typically refer to them as localizers.
A few more useful links
Here are some reminders and other useful information:
- Basic documentation on how to use Pontoon.
- Our general localizer documentation.
- Check out the virtual events we’ve done.