Hi folks We started a conversation about fallback…

Hi folks! We started a conversation about fallback languages in core (https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28197), but I’d be really curious to get some feedback from translators here. A couple questions:

1. If your specific localeLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/ didn’t have a translation, would you like WordPress to fallback to a different translation file in the same language if one is available?

For example, if your locale is set to es_MX (Spanish – Mexico), but the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party only has a translation files for other Spanish localesLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/, would you prefer WordPress to use one of the other language files in Spanish (new) or have it display the un-translated stringsString A string is a translatable part of the software. A translation consists of a multitude of localized strings. (current)?

If fallback locales wouldn’t work in your language- please let us know which language/locale and explain it a bit if you can.

2. If you would like a fallback language, how would you like the fallback to work? We’ve discussed a few possibilities on the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. ticket, but other suggestions are welcome as well:

a) Have a generic fallback language file. For example, a plugin might ship with these translation files: file-es_ES.moMO files MO, or Machine Object is a binary data file that contains object data referenced by a program. It is typically used to translate program code, and may be loaded or imported into the GNU gettext program. This is the format used in a WordPress install. These files are normally located inside .../wp-content/languages/, file-es_MX.mo, file-es.mo. If any of the available locales are set (i.e. es_ES, es_MX), those files would load as normal. But in the case of es_CO, it would fallback to file-es.mo.

b) Fallback to the locale with the largest native speaking population (e.g. English > en_US, Spanish > en_MX, Portuguese > pt_BR).

c) Have a defined filterable ordered list of fallback locales for each *language* (ordered by largest native speaking population).

d) Have a defined filterable ordered list of fallback locales for each *locale* (custom defined according to what might make the most sense linguistically).

3. Most of us can make our own translation files, so we might have different personal preferences that non-technical users. Of the above options, what do you think would be best for most users in your language?