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Localization and Translation

This page is the workflow behind the short translation note on the Community page. It explains how the three editions relate, what "helping" means for each, and the practical steps for a localization pull request. If you want the bigger picture of who maintains the site, the About page covers governance and partnerships.

How the three editions relate

anoni.net runs three editions, and they do not all stand in the same relationship to one another.

  • Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) is the source of truth. New material is written here first. Most of the conceptual and regional content originates in zh-TW and flows outward.
  • Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) is a near one-to-one re-localized projection. It tracks zh-TW closely, with two adjustments: script and vocabulary conversion (Taiwanese term usage to mainland usage), and a de-geographized framing that treats Taiwan as one case among a wider Simplified-Chinese readership rather than the default standpoint.
  • English (en) is a curated, original regional track. As the About page states, the English edition is being rebuilt as a regional observatory for international readers, not as a one-to-one translation. Pages exist in en when they say something an international reader cannot already get more authoritatively from EFF, the Tor Project, OONI, or similar. Where those sources do it better, we link out instead of duplicating.

The practical consequence: zh-CN work is recognizably translation, while "helping with en" usually means regional re-framing and original English writing, not translating a zh-TW page line by line.

What "helping with en" actually means

Because en is curated and original, the most useful contributions are not page-for-page translations. They are:

  • Refining the regional English voice. Sharpening existing en pages so they read for an international audience, with the right amount of regional context for someone who has never followed Sinophone Asia-Pacific Internet-freedom work. This includes choosing reference links an international reader already trusts.
  • Bridging long-form regional research between Chinese and English. Substantial reports that do not yet exist in both languages are the highest-value target. Public research from groups such as Citizen Lab, Article 19, or regional human-rights organizations is a typical candidate. We do this independently and with attribution, and we do not claim a formal arrangement with any such organization unless one exists.
  • Building curated indexes. Short, well-organized English entry points that route readers to long-form research, with a sentence or two of context each, rather than a full re-translation.

If you want to help with the Chinese editions instead, zh-CN follows the closer translation path described above, and zh-TW is where original Chinese writing begins. Both are coordinated the same way through the channels below.

Terminology and glossary consistency

Across all three editions, a few rules keep terminology stable:

  • Technical terms stay in their original form. Tor, Tails, OONI, ASN, VPN, E2EE, relay, and similar terms are not forced into translated equivalents, since the English form matches how people actually use them.
  • The brand name is always written anoni.net in lowercase, including inside English sentences.
  • Within a single page, keep a term consistent once you have chosen it. When several people work on the same area, agree a small glossary up front (a shared note or an issue thread is enough) so the same concept does not appear under three different words.

The pull-request workflow

Localization changes go through the same repository as the rest of the site, github.com/anoni-net/docs.

  1. For anything non-trivial, say hello first. A short message on Matrix or an email avoids two people rebuilding the same page in different directions. Typo fixes and small corrections can go straight to a pull request.
  2. Edit one edition per change where possible. Each edition lives under its own directory (docs/zh-TW/, docs/zh-CN/, docs/en/). Keep internal links relative and external links opening in a new tab, matching the existing pages.
  3. Note what is still out of sync. The three editions do not have to ship together. When you change one edition and leave another behind, say so in the pull-request description (for example, "zh-CN / en still to follow"). This is normal here and helps the next contributor pick up the rest.
  4. Expect a review on wording, not just mechanics. For en in particular, reviewers look at whether the regional framing reads correctly for an international audience, not only whether the prose is grammatical.

We also do upstream localization work for the tools the community relies on, such as Tor, OONI, and CryptPad. That work happens on each project's own platform (Weblate or Transifex) rather than in this repository. If that interests you more than the docs site, ask on Matrix and we will point you to the current efforts.

Proposing a new language

The editions are currently zh-TW, zh-CN, and en. There is no Southeast-Asian-language edition yet, and we are honest that adding one is a real commitment rather than a quick win.

A new edition needs sustained maintenance. A single large translation dump that no one keeps current ages badly and can mislead readers who assume it is up to date. So the starting point is a conversation, not a pull request:

  • Bring it to the community on Matrix (or email [email protected]) and describe the language, the readership you have in mind, and who could help keep it current.
  • Expect to start small. A focused set of pages that genuinely serve that readership is more useful than a full mirror that drifts out of date.
  • We would rather grow a new edition deliberately, with people committed to maintaining it, than launch one that quietly goes stale.

If you can read this region's situation from inside a Southeast-Asian jurisdiction and want to help in your own language, that is exactly the kind of contributor we hope to find. Reach out first so we can plan it together.

Where to go from here