In this article, we will cover which projects represent good candidates for new locales, and which aren’t a good fit.
For each project there’s a rough indication of size (number of strings), and if it’s a good pick for new locales. If your team is small and just started working on Mozilla localization, picking the smallest project would be the best approach.
General Notes
Mobile projects
Mobile projects are usually good candidates for new locales, since they have less content to translate, and less technical overhead when it comes to setting up and removing locales.
When thinking about these projects, you should keep in mind a few things:
- Is your language spoken in markets predominantly using Android or iOS devices? If so, you should choose accordingly.
- If you want to localize iOS products, make sure that your locale is available from the iOS Language Settings (see here for more details). Unlike Firefox for Android, there’s no locale switcher included in the app, and it’s possible to ship only locales that are supported by iOS itself.
- Make sure to check the minimal requirements for testing.
Add-ons
Projects like Facebook Containers or Firefox Relay Add-on can only be enabled for locales that already ship in Firefox, since they will be using the same language as the main UI.
Websites
Stand-alone websites can be localized without localizing products like Firefox or Firefox for Android, but they are a good fit only if there are already browsers in the market requesting your locale by default. Without that, most users will land on the page for another language and might not be able to switch locale, or won’t know that your locale is available.
Process
Once you have decided which project makes the most sense, you can request it directly through the Pontoon interface. Simply click on the link to the Pontoon product page, and then click on the button to request a new language.
In case you have questions or doubts, in the same page you can also find the contact information for the localization PM in charge of the project.
Note that each request is manually checked by the l10n team, and we always wait for the locale manager’s approval before adding new projects (they’re automatically CCed to each request for their locale).
Good fit for new/smaller locales
Firefox for Android
Size: MEDIUM (>1k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
Firefox for iOS
Size: MEDIUM (>800 strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
Note: pending support in iOS
Firefox Relay (Website, Add-on)
Size: MEDIUM (<1k strings)
Links: Pontoon product page
Focus for Android
Size: SMALL (<500 strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
Focus for iOS
Size: MEDIUM (<500 strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
Note: pending support in iOS
MAYBE a good fit for new/smaller locales
AMO Frontend
Size: MEDIUM (<1k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
This project is user facing. Among the trio of AMO projects, this is of higher priority and a good candidate to start with.
Firefox Accounts
Size: MEDIUM (>1k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
This is one of the supporting products used across the Firefox ecosystem. At least one of Firefox products (mobile, desktop) should be localized before requesting to add a new locale to this project.
Mozilla.org
Size: LARGE (>3k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
The site is content heavy and full of marketing expressions. Each string contains a lot more words than the average string in a typical product. However, each page can be independently enabled on production as it is not tied to a release cycles or sprint.
Mozilla VPN Client
Size: MEDIUM (<1k strings)
Links: Pontoon product page
This might not be a good fit for new locales, since the product itself is only available in a few countries. It also has dependencies on other large projects, like Firefox Accounts.
NOT a good fit for new/smaller locales
AMO
Size: LARGE (<2k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
AMO Linter
Size: SMALL (<200 strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
Not a good fit for a new locale. It is developer-facing with a small user base. This project hasn’t received content updates over the past two years.
Firefox (desktop)
Size: LARGE (>12k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
See this post for more details on the requirements for new locales in Firefox desktop.
Firefox Monitor Website
Size: MEDIUM (<1k strings)
Links: Pontoon product page
The content of the website hasn’t been updated in a long time, and might receive consistent updates in the near future. Since the website doesn’t have a language switcher, it’s a good fit for locales that already ship in browsers, so that users visiting the pages will actually request localized content in that language.
Firefox Profiler
Size: MEDIUM (<300 strings)
Links: Pontoon product page
This isn’t a good fit for new locales, as the content is extremely technical, and the target audience small.
MDN
Size: MEDIUM (>1k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page
The product development has paused until further notice. Only a subset of locales are supported.
Mozilla VPN Website
Size: SMALL (<100 strings)
Links: Pontoon product page
This project makes sense only for locales that have the full VPN experience localized, since it’s used by paying customers to complete the sign-in process.
SUMO
Size: MEDIUM (>2k strings)
Links: Documentation, Pontoon product page