English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by Stamos A. Spiliotis -
Number of replies: 7

I need to change the english string "Save filter settings" into "Search" in the local_amos. I try language en_fix but it says 'English fixes allowed for standard plugins only'.

In reply to Stamos A. Spiliotis

Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by koen roggemans -
Picture of Language pack maintainers

To explain why it says  'English fixes allowed for standard plugins only':

English strings in non-standard plugins are embedded in the lang/en folder of the plugin. They get pulled in from there in to Amos.

If something is wrong there, it is up to the developer to change the string in his/her code tree. So filing a bug for a change like that is the way to go.

Usually plugins are linked in https://moodle.org/plugins/ and they all have in the "usefull links" section some way how you can report bugs. 


And how it goes for Amos:

Amos is a bit different in that, because it's actually a plugin that creates a community site. So I had trouble finding where to file a bug for it. Eventually I found the code on https://github.com/moodlehq/moodle-local_amos, but the issue link there is dead, which I reported.

You can create a bug for Amos on https://tracker.moodle.org, select "Moodle community sites" as project and "lang.moodle.org" as component



In reply to koen roggemans

Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by Mohammad Ali -

Hi Koen,

Thanks for explaining why corrections in English strings in non-standard plugins should be reported outside AMOS, but may I suggest using AMOS to report these corrections to the developers of non-standard plugins in a way or another.

Previously, I tried to report a typo in English in one of these plugins, and my pull request is still waiting to be reviewed since Oct 26, 2020!

When I look back to the list of corrections in English strings I had accumulated for non-standard plugins, I feel somewhat depressed because they are nearly 150 in number!

Maybe there is a way to invest AMOS to efficiently report those corrections. Sometimes, software quality is judged by these small gestures.

With regards.

In reply to Mohammad Ali

Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by koen roggemans -
Picture of Language pack maintainers
May be my explanation was not clear: the code of a non-standard plugin is the responsibility of its developer. The code is in his/here repository. Moodle cannot accept pull requests in the repository of someone else by the lack of rights.
The English strings are pulled out of those repo's for translation. Merging back in is not possible.
In reply to koen roggemans

Απάντηση: Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by Stamos A. Spiliotis -
Just trying to give ideas...
We could introduce a "new" language and name it "original". Authors can write in any language they prefer and their strings can go to this "original" language.
Then through AMOS we translate (or just copy if in english) "original" to English.
And all other languages use English as their source for translation.
When authors/programmers agree that their code
will be used with Moodle, they need also to agree
that their original will be translated by others
(even in english).
Again... just trying to find... think of... any idea.
In reply to Stamos A. Spiliotis

Re: Απάντηση: Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by Mohammad Ali -

This is a good idea!

May I bake it as follows:

Instead of using the "English" version delivered by the developers of non-standard plugins, let Moodle have its own "English" or we may call it "Original" language, that is used as the English language package embedded in Moodle, so this package will not be collected directly from the repositories of others for every new release, and let this "intermediate English version" be maintained by Moodle HQ, corrected and revised by the community of translators...
In that way, Moodle does not need permissions to write back in others' repositories and get a chance for Moodle HQ to have a saying about the quality of the "English" version created by developers outside Moodle.

As you said, Stamos, "Just trying to give ideas..."

In reply to Stamos A. Spiliotis

Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by David Mudrák -
Picture of Language pack maintainers

Thanks Stam for the suggestion and thanks Koen for the good and detailed explanation.

Stam, can you please elaborate more on why you need to change that string? I am not against it as it will actually make perfect sense. I am just wondering if there was some particular problem with the current wording.

In reply to David Mudrák

Απάντηση: Re: English fixes allowed for standard plugins only

by Stamos A. Spiliotis -

Thanks for the question! I also needed to explain why and propose some changes to the AMOS toolkit.

First, I think this is all about a search page "view.php". Search pages of cource have filters but the main thing when you finnish setting the filters is not to save them but to apply them, namely to "Search". Of cource saving of filter settings is quite usefull but it could/should be a separate option e.g. "Save filter settings" check box under Miscellaneous.

When I first show the page I really could n't find where to put the text I was looking for and where to click to see the results.

To make it worse, the word Search appears on the page in a text field for a different task.

So, I propose that the Substring text field should always be visible.

The Navigation menu on the right has not enough space. The Components frame overlaps it so I needed to place it as a button on the left side of the page. I think a horizontal scroll bar is needed here to allow for smaller width.

Last, I think we need a new column in "contrib.php" for the number of comments. Bold if new unread comments exist. Now I need to check my email to see if any of my contributions or comments has new unread comments.

Thanks again!