Deletion of translations identical to English source

Hi Amire80,

I noticed you have recently deleted several translations that happen to be identical to the English source (such as https://translatewiki.net/wiki/MediaWiki:Visualeditor-key-backspace/da). I wonder with what authority you are doing that?

The thing is that (1) not having a translation, and (2) having a translation that is identical to the source, is not the same situation. When there is a translation, it is stated explicitly that this is in fact the Danish (in this case) translation of the source – which just happens to be identical to the original. Not having a translation means that there is no claim about any translation, and some could see that as if the translation is missing and start translating it, and that translation could very well be faulty, as they might misunderstand what the original means, such as misunderstanding the context. Having a translation already present nudges them in the direction of the correct understanding, and also makes them less likely to even focus on that translation, as it is clear that it has already been taken care of.

So is it some kind of strict policy not to allow translations that simply happen to be identical to the original? And in that case, what is the reasoning behind that, as I would find that quite an odd policy? That a translation happens to be identical to the original doesn't mean that it isn't in fact a proper translation that took knowledge, careful consideration etc. to translate.

You don't need to be concerned that people will see that the translation of these messages is missing and make a faulty translation. By default, people will not see these messages as missing, because they are defined as optional. Messages are defined as optional when their translations are expected to be identical to the original English string in most languages. They may still be translated if they must be different from English, but if they are identical, then keeping an identical string is useless.

The messages I deleted recently are defined as optional because these are labels of keyboard keys, which are the same in almost all countries. I know that they may be different in France, Spain, and a few other countries. I don't know about Denmark; if "Backspace", "Shift", or some other key have a different label on keyboards sold in Denmark, then they should be translated with these names. Otherwise, they should be taken directly from English and not translated.

If a message is not defined as optional, but its translation happens to be identical to English, then it indeed shouldn't be deleted.

Optional messages can be shown in the translation interface by clicking the "..." button at the top of the translation interface and checking "Optional messages" ("Valgfrie beskeder").

Hi Amir,

Thank you for a very thorough and excellent reply, addressing all my concerns and guiding me so nicely. You even stated the translation of the label "Optional messages" in Danish; that's just so excellent and wholesome.

In fact, "Shift" does have a diverging translation in Danish, namely "Skift". But that translation is still perfectly alive and well at https://translatewiki.net/wiki/MediaWiki:Visualeditor-key-shift/da, just as it should be.

Thank you again for such a perfect reply.