Duration: 46:57
PART 1 — Analytical Summary: Translations, Odoo, and You! 🚀
Context 💼
This session, led by Tiffany Chang (Developer at Odoo, working across logistics and the i18n team), demystifies how translations work in Odoo: from fundamentals and tooling to developer patterns, translator tips, and version-specific improvements. It matters because multilingual UX, localization compliance, and scalable translation workflows directly impact global adoption, data quality, and user trust.
Core Ideas & Innovations 🧠
Tiffany distinguishes i18n (internationalization) from l10n (localization). i18n is the general translation framework used across modules; l10n handles country- or region-specific logic (e.g., tax codes, payroll rules, official naming). In Odoo, translations are powered by POT/PO files: the POT gathers all source strings; per-language PO files provide the translations. Odoo typically translates into a “base” language variant (e.g., generic French), then applies country-specific overrides (e.g., Belgian French credit-note terminology). Exceptions include script or dialect differences that require separate handling (e.g., Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese, Spain vs. LATAM Spanish, Serbian Latin vs. Cyrillic).
Odoo’s translation platform moved from Transifex to Weblate, enabling community and partner involvement. Translators often lack context, so understanding module hints and message locations is key. Gendered nouns, ambiguous words (e.g., “table”), and auto-translator pitfalls (unit “PA” becoming “dad”) require human review—especially where code is embedded in templates. Care is needed not to translate code placeholders like “%s”, “%(name)s”, or “{name}”, while still localizing visible text (e.g., “N/A”).
On the developer side, Odoo recognizes three translation “families”:
- Model translations (database-backed: field labels, help, record names, email templates)
- Code translations (Python via () / env.(), JS via _t in Owl)
- Model terms (XML/HTML like reports, website pages), matched by source HTML fragments
Each has its own semantics and caveats. For example, changing a model term source breaks existing matches (useful for invalidating out-of-date website content), and overwriting a database record only leaves the last inherited version translatable.
Recent versions bring meaningful improvements:
- v19: JavaScript translation namespacing by module prevents collisions (“table” in Inventory vs. Spreadsheet). ⚙️
- v18: Introduced env._() to preserve language context (fixes common “why isn’t this translated?” issues in generators or threaded calls).
- v18.2: Inline translations inside XML data for l10n modules—crucial for government-mandated wording that must not change.
- v18.3: Localized list joining (commas, “and” in the right language), and QWeb attribute translation for static strings.
- Owl templates: Add the translate attribute to props to export front-end strings.
Odoo also expanded partial support for industry data module translations (v17), with the caveat that translations import only for installed languages at load time.
Limitations, Trade-offs, and Practical Pitfalls 💬
For performance and simplicity, Odoo does not yet support translation context (same string across contexts) or advanced pluralization rules (e.g., Arabic’s plural forms). Chatter stays in the author’s language and isn’t translated (cost and complexity reasons). Pre-v19 JS loaded all terms into a single dictionary, causing wrong-word choices across apps. Model overwrites can constrain what’s translatable. Code-generated records translate only in the language present at creation unless extra steps are taken.
Common code-level anti-patterns include split sentences (hard to reorder in languages like German), unnamed placeholders (“%s %s”), hardcoded list joiners (commas/“and”), non-translatable inline strings, missing _()/translate markers, ignoring date formats, and not testing right-to-left layouts. The remedy is to use named placeholders, centralize sentences, add translate in JS/Owl/QWeb, use env._(), format dates by language, test RTL, and keep POT/PO files in sync. Importantly, Odoo doesn’t auto-update translations on customer DBs to avoid overwriting customizations; reloading a language is a deliberate action.
Impact & Takeaways 💡
This talk clarifies how Odoo balances simplicity, speed, and localization depth. The shift to Weblate, namespaced JavaScript translations, env._(), and richer XML/QWeb tooling meaningfully reduce translation bugs and mismatches. Translators gain transparency and better patterns; developers get a clearer path to internationalized code. The big takeaways:
- Use env._() and JS translate attributes; avoid split strings; prefer named placeholders.
- Keep POT/PO files clean and updated; don’t manually hack them.
- Respect language context for partners in emails and documents; test RTL and region-specific formats.
- Expect trade-offs: no chatter translation, limited plural/context support—for now.
- For untranslatable terms, submit a PR or use official feedback channels; for missing languages, request activation on Weblate.
Net result: more predictable translations, fewer collisions, and better multilingual UX across the stack. 🧩
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo’s vision.
Our goal has always been to make business software simple, integrated, and delightful. Translations are no exception. We chose a path that keeps performance high and the developer experience straightforward, while empowering our community through Weblate. Where we see friction—JavaScript namespacing, language context with env._(), inline l10n data—we iterate to remove it.
We won’t chase every feature at the expense of reliability. Context and pluralization are important, but we’ll add them when we can do so without compromising maintainability. In the meantime, we invest in better defaults, clearer patterns, and community collaboration. That balance is how Odoo scales to more countries, more users, and more contributors—together.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
Odoo’s velocity and community-led translation model are impressive, especially the practical improvements in v18–v19. The focus on developer ergonomics and a lean i18n pipeline aligns well with mid-market needs and rapid deployments. Namespaced JavaScript translations and env._() are smart steps that reduce real-world defects.
At large-enterprise scale, gaps remain: no translation context or advanced pluralization, limited chatter localization, and nuanced compliance expectations across regions (e.g., statutory phrasing, e-invoicing variants, audit trails). Enterprise buyers will compare translation memory workflows, governance (approvals, QA), and consistency controls across thousands of modules and integrations. Odoo is moving in the right direction, but the challenge is translating its UX strengths into enterprise-grade globalization depth without losing simplicity.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.