Add steps for syncing releases with Transifex

[mkllnk]

What? Why?

We have been experimenting with new ways to sync translations with the current release. The main problems were:

• Translations are often not ready by Thursday, when the release is drafted. Last minute merges can make this impossible.
• Merges to master after the release has been drafted can throw the translations out of sync with the release. Translation updates after Thursday can't always be included in the release because they relate to master, not the release.
• And sometimes we would like the option to fix translations in the current release after it has been deployed on Tuesdays.

So we said that we don't want Transifex to update the source file automatically while a release is drafted and deployed. Maybe not even after the deploy.

Here I'm documenting my proposed solution of uploading the source file to Transifex manually when drafting the release.

What should we test?

No tests needed.

Release notes

Changelog Category: Technical changes

Updated our release process.

Documentation updates

If this is accepted, we should also update https://github.com/openfoodfoundation/openfoodnetwork/wiki/Releasing.

[sauloperez]

Where can I see that? where is it supposed to be? I guess it's already disabled

[mkllnk]

If you go to that URL, there is a button at the top right (maybe you need to be logged in) to configure the auto-update. It was disabled, yes. But Luis' process was to enable it after the release has been completed and disable it again when starting to draft the release. So while some people may use that process, we need to double-check this here.

[sauloperez]

So, just for me to understand, with what you suggest new copies become available in Transifex when drafting the release on Thursday? Let's say today is Thursday. What happens to all the new copies from PRs merged since last Thursday? as they weren't available in Transifex up until now, there won't be any translations. Do we expect translators to their job between Thursday and Tuesday and the release manager to patch the release when done? I might be missing a few details.

[mkllnk]

Good questions.

new copies become available in Transifex when drafting the release on Thursday?

Yes, that's what I'm suggesting.

Let's say today is Thursday. What happens to all the new copies from PRs merged since last Thursday? as they weren't available in Transifex up until now, there won't be any translations.

Correct, they were not available. While the release is drafted, we don't want new translations to be available because they could override translations for the current release. We could make the new translations available on Tuesday, after the release, which would be ideal, but that would need additional automation or more manual steps and I'm not sure if that's worth it. So the ideal syncing window is between the old release publication and the new release draft (Tues to Thurs).

Do we expect translators to their job between Thursday and Tuesday

Yes, that's most of the week.

and the release manager to patch the release when done?

The draft release should be patched before it's published. So the release test would have been done without the translations but that is already the case for most PRs merged on Thursdays. It gives us a chance to include all those translations of PRs that were merged last minute. And not syncing in that time allows us to rely on those translations and not lose any because of newer merges that are not included in the release.