Behind the scenes: A conversation with Peter, team lead of the TYPO3 Localization Team

“Many people think we just translate texts - but actually, we take care of the entire infrastructure so that translations can work in the first place”, Peter explains.

In TYPO3 Core, developers write XLIFF files with English texts. These files have a predefined format and are sent to Crowdin, a platform for translations. This service is free for open source projects.

“Anyone can register with Crowdin and translate the texts - it's also a great way to get started in the TYPO3 community”, Peter says.

After translation, the content is reviewed. Anyone who wants to, can contact the localization team to carry out the reviews. The approved translations are then automatically transferred to the TYPO3 server and are available for download for both the core and extensions. In total, over 80,000 words are processed for the TYPO3 core alone. Every contribution counts. Even a corrected spelling mistake is very valuable to the team.

Peter has been team lead of the Localization Team since summer 2022. At that time, he was also active on the board of the TYPO3 Association.

“Many had to take a break from their work at that time due to time constraints, and the team became somewhat inactive. Then I took on the position of team lead to bring the team back to life.”

Peter joined in2code in May 2023, and since then, the Localization Team has been his main focus in the TYPO3 community. So for us, it's definitely a perfect match!

The team meets once a month for a meeting lasting around half an hour. In addition, they stay in regular contact via Slack. A particular highlight is the Community Sprint in November in Düsseldorf, where everyone from the TYPO3 community can work together on different topics.

“Different teams from the community come together there, and this sprint reinforces the feeling that something is happening - and you're really productive.”

TYPO3 GmbH provides rooms for this purpose, and many employers cover the costs of their employees' participation.

The team has made a lot of technical and organizational progress in recent months. Peter is particularly proud of the Czech translation:

“Martin Pribyl did 90% of the work there on his own—that's really great!”

The expansion into new languages and initial experiments with AI-supported localization are also among the latest developments.

The localization team is constantly growing.

“We currently have four new interested candidates. Until now, there were only three of us—it feels really good”, reports Peter.

The goal is to strengthen the community, involve more people, and enable translations into even more languages.

Want to make TYPO3 understandable worldwide? Then join the localization team! Whether you translate texts, proofread them, or make minor corrections—every contribution counts!

More information and entry opportunities: https://typo3.org/community/teams/localization