The English Translation
In Fluent, most messages are simple text strings identified by an identifier. In the first message in the example, tabs-close-button
is the identifier and Close
is the value.
Sometimes, translations require a little bit of logic to sound right in the target language. In the tabs-close-tooltip
message, the correct variant of the translation depends on the value of the $tabCount
variable. The names of the variants, [one]
and [other]
, are standard names of the plural categories defined by the Unicode in CLDR.
On the other hand, when no logic is required, translations in Fluent stay simple. The tabs-close-warning
message appears in Firefox when the user tries to close a window with more than one tab. The message is only displayed when the tab count is 2 or more, and so in English, the word tab will always appear as the plural tabs.
-sync-brand-name
is a special kind of message in Fluent, called a term. Term identifiers always start with a dash. Terms can be referenced by other messages, but cannot be displayed directly in the app. Referencing terms is a powerful tool for ensuring consistency. Once defined, a translation can be reused in other translations.
The -sync-brand-name
term can be referenced from other messages, and it will always resolve to the same value. Terms help enforce style guidelines; they can also be swapped in and out to modify the branding in unofficial builds and on beta release channels.