Show Thread Enhancements - DJ's Translate a Thread in a Google Pop-Up Window

This template modifications adds a drop-down menu to all your threads which allows users to translate that thread in a new window using Google's Language Tools.

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NOTE: As this is a merely a template edit, vBulletin version isn't really going to be an issue.
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When I first released this for vB 3.6, there seemed to be some confusion as to how this works. Let me clear up any confusion from the start. This is just a simple template modification that redirects you to a translation service from Google.com. It's some links and some pictures designed to help international users communicate more easily. It does not auto-detect what language your forum is in, nor is it a way to browse and post in your forum in another language. It's simply what is described: A way to translate a thread from one base language to another set language. And it also can only support the languages that Google supports, which are the ones listed. Hopefully I've redesigned this mod to be more clear about how it works.


NOTE: In order for Google to translate your threads, they must be able to crawl your forum pages. So Guests must be able to read your forum in order for this mod to work.


Updates
08-19-08 (Updated to include the new languages from Google's Language Tools.


Upgrades
For those upgrading from the vB 3.6 version, click here.


Screenshot



Supported Languages
العربية (Arabic)
Български (Bulgarian)
中国 (Chinese - Simplified)
中國 (Chinese - Traditional)
Hrvatski (Croatian)
Česky (Czech)
Dansk (Danish)
Nederlands (Dutch)
English (This is merely a direct link to the Google Translator)
Suomi (Finnish)
Fran?ais (French)
Ελληνική (Greek)
Deutsch (German)
हिन्दी (Hindi)
Italiano (Italian)
日本語 (Japanese)
한국어 (Korean)
Norsk (Norwegian)
Polski (Polish)
Portugu?s (Portuguese)
Rom?nă (Romanian)
Русский (Russian)
Espa?ol (Spanish)
Svenska (Swedish)


Live Demo
Look for the "Translate" drop-down menu beside the "Display Modes" drop-down.


Installation
Installation is simple. To add this to your forum requires two edits to your SHOWTHREAD template.

Step 1.
To access your SHOWTHREAD template, go to Admin CP >>> Styles & Templates >>> Style Manager >>> "Expand one of your styles" >>> Showthread Templates >>> SHOWTHREAD and look for:

 
 <if condition="$show['popups']"><script type="text/javascript"> vbmenu_register("displaymodes"); </script></if>
 </td>
 </if>

Below it add:

 
        <td class="vbmenu_control" id="languagemenu" nowrap="nowrap">
          <a href="$show[nojs_link]#goto_languagemenu">Translate</a>
        <if condition="$show['popups']"><script type="text/javascript"> vbmenu_register("languagemenu"); </script></if>
    </td>

Step 2. (The following step will add the "English to..." translation links only. For those that want additional language options, see Post 2 of this thread.)
Next find:

    
<script type="text/javascript">
    <!--
    vB_AJAX_ThreadRate_Init('showthread_threadrate_form');
    var threadid = $threadinfo[threadid];
    //-->
    </script>
</if>

Below it add:

<!-- LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR MENU-->
 
<div class="vbmenu_popup" id="languagemenu_menu" style="display:none">
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" border="0">
<tr><td class="thead">English to...</td></tr>
 
<!-- Arabic -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ar&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/ae.gif" alt="Arabic" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Arabic">العربية</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Bulgarian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=bg&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/bg.gif" alt="Bulgarian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Bulgarian">Български</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Chinese (Simplified) -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=zh-CN&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/cn.gif" alt="Chinese (Simplified)" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Chinese (Simplified)">中国</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Chinese (Traditional) -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=zh-TW&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/tw.gif" alt="Chinese (Traditional)" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Chinese (Traditional)">中國</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Croatian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=hr&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/hr.gif" alt="Croatian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Croatian">Hrvatski</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Czech -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=cs&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/cz.gif" alt="Czech" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Czech">Česky</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Danish -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=da&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/dk.gif" alt="Danish" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Danish">Dansk</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Dutch -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=nl&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/nl.gif" alt="Dutch" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Dutch">Nederlands</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- English -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://www.google.com/language_tools','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/us.gif" alt="Open Google Translator" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Open Google Translator">English</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Finnish -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=fi&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/fi.gif" alt="Finnish" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Finnish">Suomi</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- French -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=fr&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/fr.gif" alt="French" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="French">Fran?ais</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- German -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=de&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/de.gif" alt="German" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="German">Deutsch</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Greek -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=el&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/gr.gif" alt="Greek" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Greek">Ελληνική</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Hindi -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=hi&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/in.gif" alt="Hindi" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Hindi">हिन्दी</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Italian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=it&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/it.gif" alt="Italian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Italian">Italiano</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Japanese -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ja&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/jp.gif" alt="Japanese" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Japanese">日本語</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Korean -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ko&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/kr.gif" alt="Korean" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Korean">한국어</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Norwegian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=no&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/no.gif" alt="Norwegian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Norwegian">Norsk</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Polish -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=pl&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/pl.gif" alt="Polish" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Polish">Polski</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Portuguese -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=pt&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/pt.gif" alt="Portuguese" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Portuguese">Portugu?s</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Romanian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ro&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/ro.gif" alt="Romanian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Romanian">Rom?nă</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Russian -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=ru&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/ru.gif" alt="Russian" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Russian">Русский</span></a></td></tr>
 
<!-- Spanish -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinez1=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=es&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/es.gif" alt="Spanish" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Spanish">Espa?ol</span></a></td></tr> 
 
<!-- Swedish -->
<tr><td class="vbmenu_option"><a href="#" onClick="Martinezl=window.open('http://translate.google.com/translate?u=$vboptions[bburl]/showthread.php?t=$thread[threadid]&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=sv&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8','','directories=no,location=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,width=800,height=800')">
<img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/se.gif" alt="Swedish" width="15" height="10" border="0" /> <span title="Swedish">Svenska</span></a></td></tr>
 
</table></div>
 
<!-- / LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR MENU -->

Step 3.
Next thing to do is upload the flag images (in attached zip file) to the buttons folder in your images directory. Make sure you upload them to the right one. For some forums, this might simply be images/buttons/. But if your using a custom skin, this might be in the folder holding your style (skin) images, such as [stylename]/buttons/. It will need to be in that directory for each skin you make the template changes to.

[Digital Jedi]

I'm not sure why it would be gone. Maybe some files accidentally got purged.

[nrms?]

Someone verify for "Portuguese to..."

Thanks...

Ps: It only woks for the public threads...?

[Digital Jedi]

Originally Posted by nrms?

Someone verify for "Portuguese to..."

Thanks...

Ps: It only woks for the public threads...?

Yes, as I mentioned, it Google has to be able to scan your pages. That means if guests can't see it, neither can Google.

I'm working on trying to make this a Plugin rather then a template modification. Google added a whole bunch of new languages, but with the mod as it is, it would be ridiculously code heavy. vB.org wouldn't even let me paste it in because it exceeded the character limit.

This would be the first time I made a modification based on plugins, so it will be a while before that's completed. Until then, I hope you can, as I like to say, bear with me.