Translate a Django App into English

What gets translated in a Django project

Strings wrapped in gettext, gettext_lazy, ngettext, or the {% translate %} and {% blocktranslate %} template tags are extracted by makemessages into a gettext file. Each entry pairs a msgid (the string exactly as written in your code) with a msgstr (its translation). Only the msgstr is written in English; the msgid acts as the key and must stay byte-for-byte identical, or Django will no longer find the translation.

On the English side you may have two files:

• django.po for Python code and templates (models, forms, verbose_name, flash messages, emails);
• djangojs.po, generated with makemessages -d djangojs, for strings served through the JavaScript catalogue.

This page assumes your source strings are in another language, such as French, German or Spanish, for example _("Ihr Warenkorb ist leer"). If your msgids are already in English, Django displays them as they are when no translation exists, and an English file is only needed to adjust wording or spelling.

Into English: plurals, placeholders and punctuation

• Plurals: English has two CLDR categories, one and other, and zero takes the plural (0 orders), unlike French, where zero is singular. Source languages with three or four forms, such as Polish or Russian, collapse to two. The English file header must read Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);, and each msgid_plural entry needs exactly two forms, msgstr[0] and msgstr[1].
• Word order: a German %(count)s Dateien von %(user)s gelöscht naturally becomes %(user)s deleted %(count)s files. Named placeholders can move freely; two anonymous %s in one string lock the order. Name them before extraction.
• Punctuation: French non-breaking spaces before : and ? go, as do « » or „ “ quotation marks; Spanish opening ¿ is dropped. ¿Olvidaste tu contraseña? becomes Forgotten your password?.
• Length: English usually runs 10 to 15% shorter than French, and often shorter than German. Admin columns and buttons gain room, but keep labels clear: Save, not a cryptic abbreviation.

British or American English: a choice Django makes visible

Pick the variant before running makemessages, because it sets the locale folder. makemessages -l en_GB creates locale/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES/, matching en-gb in your LANGUAGES setting. With -l en, Django applies its generic English formats, which lean American.

• Spelling: colour or color, organise or organize, cancelled or canceled, licence as a noun in the UK.
• Dates and numbers: keep them out of your strings. With Delivered on %(date)s, Django formats the date for the active locale (05/03/2025 in the UK, 03/05/2025 in the US). A date hard-coded inside a msgid will not be converted.
• Vocabulary: postcode or ZIP code, mobile or cell phone, VAT or sales tax, depending on your market.

Check the spelling you get on the free excerpt, which shows a passage of your file translated at the chosen level before you pay.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

You upload your django.po (or djangojs.po) and get back the same file, in the same format, ready to drop into locale/. Indentation, entry order, quotation marks, comments (#: references, #. translator notes), line endings, encoding and any BOM are preserved; only the values change.

• %(name)s and {name} placeholders are checked: every translated value is compared with its source, placeholders and tags included. If a mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report says so.
• Not translated: keys, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats, identifiers, and anything marked as non-translatable.
• The report lists strings translated and strings left as they were, with the reason.

Manuce does not run makemessages or compilemessages, does not produce the .mo file, does not mark strings in your code and does not edit settings.py. It does not provide certified (sworn) translation either, which an interface rarely needs. For a customer-facing app, the Professional level, handled by the domain specialist, is the sensible choice.

Preparing the file and checking it afterwards

Before uploading:

• Re-run makemessages -l en_GB (or -l en) so the file matches your current code and obsolete entries are marked #~.
• Add context where a word is ambiguous: pgettext("verb", "Archiv") versus pgettext("noun", "Archiv") tells Archive the action from Archive the place, which matters for labels such as Order or Book.
• Replace multiple %s with named placeholders.

After delivery:

1. Check the Language and Plural-Forms headers.
2. Remove any leftover #, fuzzy flags: compilemessages skips fuzzy entries by default, so they would stay in the source language.
3. Compile, then view a page with a counter at 0, 1 and 2 to test plurals.
4. Read the report and deal with any strings left in the source language.

In practice

1. Run makemessages -l en_GB (or -l en) and take the generated django.po.
2. Upload the file to Manuce and review the quote and the free excerpt.
3. Download the translated django.po and its report, then put it back in locale/.
4. Check the Plural-Forms header, clear fuzzy flags and run compilemessages.
5. Test the English interface, especially plurals and long admin labels.