Suggestion for the improved Language Management in IPB 3...

[Quillz]

I'm glad to be reading about all the improvements coming to the Language Manager in IPB 3. However, a quick suggestion. When searching for words, phrases or any other type of language string, please be sure the system only searches the text that will be explicitly displayed either on the Admin CP or the board. One of the problems with the Phrase Manager in vBulletin is that it also searches all the PHP strings as well. (For example, on vBulletin, if you search for "thread," it will find the PHP string "showthread.php.") Obviously, if a PHP string name is changed, it will corrupt your installation.

Another quick suggestion is global find/replace. Improvements were hinted, but is a total find/replace going to be implemented? I can't even begin to tell you how time saving it would be if in one simple step, I could change all instances of say, "smilies" to "emoticons," including all references within the Admin CP. But again, if something like this is implemented, it needs to only change the displayed text, and no internal file names.

[Trialgan]

I would imagine it'll only search what you'd currently expect to see in the cache/lang_cache/en/lang_*.php files.

[Morrigan]

I think they specified that it is only going to search the Language table because they are making it all database oriented.

[Quillz]

I think they specified that it is only going to search the Language table because they are making it all database oriented.

Good, I do hope this is the case. Because that's the problem with vBulletin. Whether or not it's based on a database, it often flags PHP string names, so if you do a global find/replace, you'll end up accidentally renaming important board files.

[Josh]

The search will not bring up anything except language strings, there's no way to rename any important board files or data. As for a search and replace, currently it only searches, but we may still add in replace functionality before final :)

[Quillz]

The search will not bring up anything except language strings, there's no way to rename any important board files or data. As for a search and replace, currently it only searches, but we may still add in replace functionality before final :)

Glad to hear that, so it sounds like my potential fear has been quelled. ;)

But do please consider find/replace. It'd be extremely useful, and would make translations quicker, too. There are people such as myself who have tons of little pet peeves, such as renaming "email" to "e-mail," so being able to do it all in one quick step would be amazing.

[Morrigan]

We've also added a search feature to the language system, that will make it easy to find specific text within the language packs. For example, if you wanted to replace all instances of the word 'forums' with 'boards', you can search for 'forums' and the system will show you everywhere that word is used.

It won't replace it for you but it will show you all instances instantly. ;)

[Quillz]

It won't replace it for you but it will show you all instances instantly. ;)

True, but it could still take a good deal of time, especially if the instance you're searching for is repeated many, many times. I really hope a find/replace option is added. (w00t)

[bfarber]

While it may be added, I personally get scared by search and replace - I always prefer to do the mass-search, then make individual replacements just to be safe. But that's just me personally :P

[Jaggi]

While it may be added, I personally get scared by search and replace - I always prefer to do the mass-search, then make individual replacements just to be safe. But that's just me personally :P

that way does have it uses but immunity to chronic hand seizures and repetitive strain injuries isn't one :P.

[EliteKiller]

While it may be added, I personally get scared by search and replace - I always prefer to do the mass-search, then make individual replacements just to be safe. But that's just me personally :P

Oh well, search and replace is really nice, if there is an excellent undo function

[Luke]

The search and replace function in the template system never really worked very well. So I am a bit nervous about doing the same thing here. But if such a thing were added, this is what I'd like to see, in both the template system and language pack system:

When you do a search and replace, list each instance out individually and highlight the change in that instance. Have the ability to select/de-select each item highlighted and be able to over-ride a single replacement (like in spell check, kind of).

So you have

Item 1:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, [b]cheese[/b] consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nunc congue dui vitae enim.

Item 2:

Nunc felis. Quisque in nisl at dui [b]cheese[/b] consequat mattis. Etiam auctor aliquet libero.

Item 3:

Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique [b]cheese[/b] senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.

In this example I'm replacing cheddar with cheese. I could click "cheese" in Item 2 and either deselect that change and continue to make the change to Item 1 and 3, or I can substitute another work like "crackers". Maybe have the ability to edit the whole Item like you can a post with quick edit.