Template talk:Template translated by copying

What does it mean

I do not understand of what "Template translated by copying" means and why this message on the bottom of some templates is useful. What is the purpose and how should we use this information? --Jarekt (talk) 12:59, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Well there are various forms of Commons:Localization, and merely copying the entire template (including all formatting) is the weakest form in terms of ensuring consistency of content and display, and appropriate language switching for the viewing user. Sometimes it's the most appropriate method, other times not. It does make it more likely templates will diverge over time, which we ought to keep an eye on. The usefulness of the template is clearest for the |autotranslate parameter. Rd232 (talk) 13:39, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Ok, I looked at the templates flagged with this template and I think I see what you are talking about. By template translated by copying you mean someone takes a template, copies it "as is" into a new template (or a sub template) and translates text to their language. All of it without changing the original template to switch to a proper language based on user language. I would not call it "the weakest form" of translation, but a botched/incomplete translation. And agree that those should be tagged and fixed. --Jarekt (talk) 14:19, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, that's the problem that motivated me to create the template. My understanding of internationalisation is still less than perfect though, and it may be that in some cases templates are using non-standard forms of language switching which do kind of work with the copy-entire-template approach, albeit not as well as the standard forms. Either way, improvements can be made. And I don't rule out that in some cases the copy-entire-template approach may be justified; but then they should still be monitored. Rd232 (talk) 14:51, 16 June 2011 (UTC)