How to Make a Translation Page

This is a guide on how to make a good translation page on JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.

Before Translating New Pages

A common issue with many translation pages is that they are outdated—whether due to obsolete infoboxes or galleries, untranslated sections, outdated information, or poor translation quality. If you would like to support JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia in your native language, we encourage you to explore existing translation pages and help improve them. Many of these pages are in need of updates to bring them in line with their English counterparts.

If you're considering creating a new translation page, be mindful of the ongoing maintenance it may require. When choosing a character or topic to translate, consider how frequently you are willing to update it. For example, pages about major characters like the protagonists tend to be lengthy and are regularly updated with new information, especially if they are characters from The JOJOLands. These pages can be time-consuming to translate and maintain, and often end up abandoned or left incomplete. If you prefer not to deal with frequent updates, we recommend starting with smaller, less frequently updated pages, such as those for minor characters.

When selecting a language to translate into, please choose an actual language, not a dialect or accent. For example, do not create separate pages for British English or regional accents like New Yorker English. If two languages are mutually intelligible, creating separate translations for both is unnecessary. The purpose of translation pages is to make content accessible to those who do not understand English.

Additionally, ensure that all templates used on the page are also translated. Failing to do so will result in large sections of red error text due to missing template translations. You can check out some of the most-used templates here.

It's best to work on characters and topics you're familiar with. This allows you to translate more accurately and naturally, rather than relying on a direct, word-for-word approach. Structural adjustments will occasionally be necessary to produce a coherent and faithful translation in your target language.

ALSO, DO NOT MACHINE TRANSLATE!

See Also

• JoJo Wiki Policies
• Nabu's Guide for New Editors

Short Guide

1. Create a sandbox (https://jojowiki.com/User:YourUserName/Sandbox).
2. Click "Edit" and copy the contents of an English page you want to translate.
3. Paste the contents onto your sandbox.
4. Translate the page.
5. Check what the ISO 639 language code of your language is (like for Swedish, it's "sv" here: Donatello Versus/sv).
6. Make sure to add your language code to all of the categories at the end of the page (like Category:Protagonists/fr).
7. Make sure to add {{PAGELANGUAGE:your language code}} at the bottom of the page (like {{PAGELANGUAGE:fr}} for French).
8. When you're finished translating, copy the contents of your sandbox.
9. Go to the English page you want to translate. In the URL, add "/" followed by the language code.
10. Click Create and paste the translated contents. You're done!

In-Depth Guide

Getting Started

Creating a Sandbox

Considering the length of pages, it's unlikely that you'll finish translating everything in one go. If you would like to save a page as a draft and return to it later, you should create a sandbox. If you would prefer to fully translate pages offline in your own software, then you can skip this step.

You can create a sandbox by clicking your profile, then add "/Sandbox" to the URL after your name. It doesn't have to be called "Sandbox" as you can name it anything and have multiple sandbox pages, but Sandbox is the most common name for it. Example: https://jojowiki.com/User:YourUserName/Sandbox

Getting the English Contents

Next, visit the original English page you want to translate and click "Edit" or "Edit source" (the latter only shows if Visual Editor is enabled). Copy the entire contents of the page and paste them into your sandbox. Now you can begin translating the page. Do not alter or translate the wiki code itself.

Making the Translation Page

The Page Creating Button

You can either create pages by manually entering the name in your address bar or by clicking the pen icon in the top navigation menu and entering the name of the page you plan to translate, followed by a forward slash and the ISO 639 language code. For example: Donatello Versus/sv (sv is the ISO 639 abbreviation for Swedish). Other examples include: Donatello Versus/fr (French), Donatello Versus/ru (Russian) and Donatello Versus/pt-br (Brazilian Portuguese).

If a translated version of a template does not yet exist, you will need to create it using the same method.

Translation Quality

Your translation should be complete, fluent, and faithful to the original content. It must be written in a way that makes sense in the target language, while preserving the intent and meaning of the original text.

Avoid literal, word-for-word translation. This often leads to awkward phrasing or incorrect meanings. It is acceptable to rephrase sentences for clarity or to better suit the grammar and idioms of your language. For example, idiomatic expressions such as those in Ghiaccio’s rants may be adapted to reflect equivalents in your language, as long as the scene's tone and intent remain intact.

Do not modify proper names. However, you can if the official translation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in your language uses different names (assuming they aren't names changed for copyright reasons like the official English manga and subtitles). Also, names of unnamed characters or items, such as Curly-Haired Prisoner, Sandman's Sister, Mukade Shopkeeper, Stone Mask, Bow and Arrow, and Steel Ball—may be translated. Do not use machine translation tools such as Google Translate or AI-based services. These often result in flawed translations. Only translate content if you are fluent in the target language.

The Persian page for Araki is flipped, as Persian is read right-to-left.

For languages that are read right-to-left (such as Arabic, Persian, or Hebrew), the layout of the page is automatically flipped accordingly. This helps the reading experience remain natural for speakers of those languages.

An example of an incomplete translation.

One of the most important (yet frequently overlooked) aspects of translating a page is finishing it. A common mistake is leaving sections such as quotes or galleries untranslated. These omissions make the page look incomplete and unprofessional. Every section, including captions and side notes, must be translated to ensure the page is truly accessible to non-English speakers.

Finalizing and Publishing Your Translation

Before publishing, please go through this checklist:

• Confirm that the ISO 639 language code is correct and lowercase.
• Ensure the entire page has been translated, including quotes and image captions.
• Proofread the text for grammar, accuracy, and fluency.
• Refine the wording as needed for natural flow and consistency.
• Add the {{DISPLAYTITLE:}} magic word at the bottom of the page, using the name of the subject in your language without the language code.
  • For example, for Enrico Pucci, write {{DISPLAYTITLE:Enrico Pucci}}.
  • For common nouns like Stone Mask, write a translated version of the name.
• Add {{PAGELANGUAGE:your language code}} at the bottom.
  • For example, {{PAGELANGUAGE:fr}} for French.
• Update the categories at the bottom to include the language code using this format: [[Category:Main Antagonists/fr]]

Once all of the above is complete, you may publish your page. Congratulations—your translation is now live!

If the page later becomes outdated, please continue contributing by keeping it updated.

This guide was created by Rez and edited by Vish. Thank you for helping make JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia more accessible to fans around the world!