Sharing common translated strings across apps to reduce redundancy

[Albert Astals Cid]

El dilluns, 12 d’octubre del 2026, a les 15:34:03 (Hora d’estiu d’Europa 
central), Guo Yunhe va escriure:
> Currently, every time a new app is developed, translators have to
> re-translate common UI strings—such as "OK", "Cancel", "Edit", and
> "Delete"—over and over again. This creates a few noticeable issues:
> 
> 
> Wasted translator effort: Localization contributors spend time on duplicate,
> repetitive work.

Using a lokalize or some other translation software with some sort of auto-
translation should alleviate this.

> Redundant storage: End users waste storage space carrying duplicate
> translation catalogs across multiple packages.

This is neglegible.

> Inconsistent UX: Translation consistency across KDE apps is harder to
> maintain and track.

Using a lokalize or some other translation software with some sort of auto-
translation should alleviate this.

> 
> 
> To address this, I propose establishing a minimal shared text domain for
> common strings used across multiple KDE applications.

As Alvin says this already exists. Can it be extended? Maybe/Probably. But 
this is not really a translations issue, it is a development discussion. There 
needs to be a library/class/function for it and a process for developers to 
use it.

I understand you have found enough duplicate strings that bother you that you 
sent this email.

If you could find in which applications these duplicate strings appear and 
write a list of the most "important" ones, one could contact the developers 
and ask them if they could have used existing kstandarditems or qt text 
instead of hand rolling things.

Can you read C++ code a bit?

Cheers,
  Albert

> 
> 
> One possible approach is to reuse an existing domain like ki18n6 (or create
> a dedicated shared domain). Applications could then call i18nd("ki18n6",
> "OK") instead of i18n("OK"). These common strings would no longer pollute
> individual app text domains, leading to smaller PO files, less translation
> workload, and natural UX consistency across our ecosystem.
> 
> 
> What are your thoughts on this? Suggestions and alternative ideas are very
> welcome!
> 
> --
> Guo Yunhe / @guoyunhe / guoyunhe.me