965113 - figure out whether syncBrand.fxa-singular.label/syncBrand.fxa-plural.label is OK from an l10n point of view

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Sync, defect)

Description

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

So far these strings are only used as titles, I think.

But maybe they need to be properly plural-formed (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Localization_and_Plurals) so that they can vary depending on context?

(bug 957426 and bug 965016 have some context about where these are used)

Comment 1

[Francesco Lodolo [:flod]]

If they are just generic titles, I would drop those misleading "plural" and "singular" in the string ID and just call them section-header, dialog-title or similar. 

Strings should never be reused anyway in different contexts.

The concept of singular/plural is basically wrong when it comes to l10n (see bug 476833 as a good example, or https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/mozilla.dev.l10n/sN8OfMIVk5A/vw82p1-BvuAJ).

The correct behavior should be: expose the number of accounts in the string, and use a proper plural form. But we shouldn't need that for a title.

Comment 2

[Mark Hammond [:markh] [:mhammond]]

(In reply to Francesco Lodolo [:flod] from comment #1)
> The correct behavior should be: expose the number of accounts in the string,
> and use a proper plural form. But we shouldn't need that for a title.

The idea is that the product name is called "Firefox Accounts" - eg, the signin page has "Firefox Accounts" as a heading.

The singular form is used when talking about *your* Firefox Account - eg, in the Sync Options pane when you are signed in, a heading is titled "Firefox Account".

IOW, it's never used in the context of a number.  So maybe better names would include "-product-name-heading" and "-status-heading" or similar?

Comment 3

[Francesco Lodolo [:flod]]

That's exactly what I meant ;-) Let's see if other people in CC have different thoughts.

Comment 4

[Mark Hammond [:markh] [:mhammond]]

Attachment: 0009-Bug-965113-rename-fxa-plural-and-singular-entities-t.patch

Entities are now:

<!ENTITY syncBrand.fxa-status.heading "Firefox Account">
<!ENTITY syncBrand.fxa-product.heading "Firefox Accounts">

Comment 5

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Comment on attachment 8367615 [details] [diff] [review]
0009-Bug-965113-rename-fxa-plural-and-singular-entities-t.patch

They are indeed only headers/titles, so some of my concerns about this are assuaged.

Comment 6

[Axel Hecht [:Pike]]

My personal gut reaction is to not use the branded form when talking about a single account.

This has impact on localized user experience, as "Firefox Account" won't be in your local language, while "My account" would be.

We should acknowledge that for more than 50% of our users, "Firefox Account" is gonna feel foreign, and using a localized term might increase the bond between the product and the user.

Comment 7

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Got rid of these strings in bug 965117.

There is one remaining reference to "Firefox Account" in prefs. It's a title-cased noun, not a brand, necessarily, so any localization seems like it would work.

Comment 8

[Francesco Lodolo [:flod]]

I see two, not sure which one you're referring to
http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/browser/locales/en-US/chrome/browser/preferences/sync.dtd#51
http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/browser/locales/en-US/chrome/browser/syncBrand.dtd#7

Does the first one need an update?

Comment 9

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Attachment: patch

Comment 10

[Mark Hammond [:markh] [:mhammond]]

Comment on attachment 8369294 [details] [diff] [review]
patch

Review of attachment 8369294 [details] [diff] [review]:
-----------------------------------------------------------------

nice side-step of the problem :)

Comment 11

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/44ba69cacd7e