I've been dreading filing this bug because there are a bazillion instances of this, but it's gotta be collated and analysed eventually, right?

My American ignorance of other languages is going to come across here, but I'm assuming that in other languages, one finds spaces before punctuation? I'm assuming this because I see it in a great many apps. Problem is, in English, spaces appear after punctuation, but never before. For example:

Right: Hello, world!
Wrong: Hello, world !

Right: Hat: goes on head. Shoes: go on feet.
Wrong: Hat : goes on head .  Shoes : go on feet .

etc.

Here is a list of strings that offend this rule in nautilus-actions. I've probably missed some, but this should at least be a good starting point. Please note that some of them are wholly illegible, as they need linebreaks as well as spacing fixes (I'll point them out). I've also put notes in parenthesis after some of these when there are other errors present.

Note also that you apologize to translators in every string that is formatted correctly. Those are the good strings... they should all be that long! When you put a list into one paragraph, the user and the translator won't be able to make sense of it without staring at it. Keep those newlines in, and add them to the rest of the strings!


#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:5
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%%</b> : a percent sign"
(should be "<b>%%</b>: a percent sign")

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:7
#, no-c-format
msgid ""
"<b>%M</b> : space-separated list of the selected file(s)/folder(s) with "
"their full paths"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:9
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%U</b> : username of the gnome-vfs URI"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:11
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%d</b> : base folder of the selected file(s)"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:13
#, no-c-format
msgid ""
"<b>%f</b> : the name of the selected file or the 1st one if many are selected"
(note that "1st" is not a real word, and should be changed to "first")

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:15
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%h</b> : hostname of the gnome-vfs URI"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:17
#, no-c-format
msgid ""
"<b>%m</b> : space-separated list of the basenames of the selected\n"
"file(s)/folder(s)"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:20
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%s</b> : scheme of the gnome-vfs URI"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:22
#, no-c-format
msgid "<b>%u</b> : gnome-vfs URI"

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:31
msgid ""
"A string with joker ? or * that will be used to match the files. You can "
"match several file patterns by separating them with a semi-colon ;"
(It's probably better to call it a wildcard than a joker. I'd also put parentheses around (? or *) and (;). )

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:69
msgid ""
"Select the configurations you want to export. Use Shift or Ctrl key to "
"select multiple one."
(one is singular, and multiple is plural. Say "multiple configurations" instead)

#: ../nact/nautilus-actions-config.glade.h:71
msgid ""
"Select the folder you want your config to be saved in. This folder must "
"exists."
(exist, not exists)

#: ../config/config_newaction.schemas.in.in.h:4
#: ../libnautilus-actions/nautilus-actions-config-gconf-private.h:79
msgid ""
"A list of strings with joker '*' or '?' to match the selected file(s)/folder"
"(s). Each selected items must match at least one of the patterns for the "
"action to appear"
(Change joker to wildcard. Here, you have single quotes around * and ?, but you don't in the string referenced above. Also, use "item" not "items".)

#: ../config/config_newaction.schemas.in.in.h:5
msgid ""
"Defines the list of valid GnomeVFS schemes to be matched with the selected "
"items. The GnomeVFS scheme is the protocol used to access the files. The "
"keyword to use is the one used in the GnomeVFS URI. Example of GnomeVFS "
"URI : file:///tmp/foo.txt sftp:///root@test.example.net/tmp/foo.txt The most "
"common schemes are : 'file' : local files 'sftp' : files accessed via SSH "
"'ftp' : files accessed via FTP 'smb' : files accessed via Samba (Windows "
"share) 'dav' : files accessed via WebDav All GnomeVFS schemes used by "
"Nautilus can be used here."
(Here's where the bad part comes in. There is nothing showing you where one scheme ends and the next begins. Also, there are spaces before almost every piece of punctuation in here. I would suggest:

"Defines the list of valid GnomeVFS schemes to be matched against the selected items. A GnomeVFS scheme is the protocol used to access the files. The keyword to use is the one used in the GnomeVFS URI. Examples of GnomeVFS URIs include: file:///tmp/foo.txt, and sftp:///root@test.example.net/tmp/foo.txt.\n
\n
The most common schemes are:\n
'file': local files\n
'sftp': files accessed via SSH\n
'ftp': files accessed via FTP\n
'smb': files accessed via Samba (Windows share)\n
'dav': files accessed via WebDAV\n
\n
All GnomeVFS schemes used by Nautilus can be used here."

Try something like that, and use a similar setup for the other strings like it.)


#: ../config/config_newaction.schemas.in.in.h:17
#, no-c-format
msgid ""
"The parameters of the command to start when the user selects the menu item "
"in the Nautilus popup menu. The parameters can contain some special tokens "
"which are replaced by Nautilus informations before starting the command : %"
"d : base folder of the selected file(s) %f : the name of the selected file "
"or the 1st one if many are selected %m : space-separated list of the "
"basenames of the selected file(s)/folder(s) %M : space-separated list of the "
"selected file(s)/folder(s), with their full paths %u : gnome-vfs URI %s : "
"scheme of the gnome-vfs URI %h : hostname of the gnome-vfs URI %U : username "
"of the gnome-vfs URI %% : a percent sign"

(Same thing here. You need to remove the spaces before punctuation, put newlines before each parameter example, change "1st" to "first", and spell GnomeVFS like you do in the rest of the program)

#: ../config/config_newaction.schemas.in.in.h:24
msgid ""
"This setting is tied with the 'isdir' setting. Here are the valid "
"combinations : - 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is 'false' : the selection "
"must holds only files - 'isfile' is 'false' and 'isdir' is 'true' : the "
"selection must holds only folders - 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is "
"'true' : the selection can holds both files and folders - 'isfile' is "
"'false' and 'isdir' is 'false' : invalid combination"

(Same thing here, but with other grammar errors. I'd suggest:

"This setting is tied in with the 'isdir' setting. The valid combinations are:\n
\n
isfile=TRUE and isdir=FALSE: The selection may hold only files\n
isfile=FALSE and isdir=TRUE: The selection may hold only folders\n
isfile=TRUE and isdir=TRUE: The selection may hold both files and folders\n
isfile=FALSE and isdir=FILE: This is an invalid combination (and will be ignored? and will cause an error? and will cause your computer to explode?"
)

#: ../config/config_newaction.schemas.in.in.h:25
msgid ""
"This setting is tied with the 'isfile' setting. Here are the valid "
"combinations : - 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is 'false' : the selection "
"must holds only files - 'isfile' is 'false' and 'isdir' is 'true' : the "
"selection must holds only folders - 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is "
"'true' : the selection can holds both files and folders - 'isfile' is "
"'false' and 'isdir' is 'false' : invalid combination"
msgstr ""
(Same as last one)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-convert.c:41
msgid "The old xml config file to convert"
(XML, not xml)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-convert.c:43
msgid "Convert all old xml config files from previous installations [default]"
(XML, not xml)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-convert.c:115
#, c-format
msgid "Converting %s ..."
(More punctuation spacing fix stuff)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-convert.c:135
#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-new-config.c:152
#, c-format
msgid " Failed: Can't create %s : %s\n"

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-convert.c:143
#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-new-config.c:160
#, c-format
msgid "  Ok, saved in %s\n"
(Use OK: saved, not Ok, saved)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-new-config.c:50
msgid "The icon of the menu item (filename or Gtk stock id)"
(GTK, not gtk; ID, not id)

#: ../utils/nautilus-actions-new-config.c:53
msgid ""
"A pattern to match selected files with possibility to add jokers ? or * (you "
"must set it for each pattern you need)"
(This sentence makes no sense. I'd try something like:
"A pattern to match selected files against. May include wildcards (* or ?)"
I have no idea what "with possibility to add jokers" means, and I have no idea what "you must set it for each pattern you need" means --- you must set *what* for each patter you need?)

#. i18n notes : Sorry for this long paragraph, will try to fix it the next release
#: ../libnautilus-actions/nautilus-actions-config-gconf-private.h:77
msgid ""
"The parameters of the command to start when the user selects the menu item "
"in the Nautilus popup menu.\n"
"\n"
"The parameters can contain some special tokens which are replaced by "
"Nautilus informations before starting the command :\n"
"\n"
"%d : base folder of the selected file(s)\n"
"%f : the name of the selected file or the 1st one if many are selected\n"
"%m : space-separated list of the basenames of the selected file(s)/folder"
"(s)\n"
"%M : space-separated list of the selected file(s)/folder(s), with their full "
"paths\n"
"%u : gnome-vfs URI\n"
"%s : scheme of the gnome-vfs URI\n"
"%h : hostname of the gnome-vfs URI\n"
"%U : username of the gnome-vfs URI\n"
"%% : a percent sign"

(This string is better, in that it has the proper linebreaks. However: "Nautilus information", not "Nautilus informations", remove the spaces before the punctuation, "first" not "1st", and use "GnomeVFS" like in the rest of the program)

#. i18n notes : Sorry for this long paragraph, will try to fix it in the next release
#: ../libnautilus-actions/nautilus-actions-config-gconf-private.h:81
msgid ""
"Here are the valid combinations :\n"
"\n"
"- 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is 'false' : the selection must holds only "
"files\n"
"- 'isfile' is 'false' and 'isdir' is 'true' : the selection must holds only "
"folders\n"
"- 'isfile' is 'true' and 'isdir' is 'true' : the selection can holds both "
"files and folders\n"
"- 'isfile' is 'false' and 'isdir' is 'false' : invalid combination"
(Remove the space before the punctuation, and format it as I've suggested above, or at least consistent with the other ones)

#. i18n notes : Sorry for this long paragraph, will try to fix it in the next release
#: ../libnautilus-actions/nautilus-actions-config-gconf-private.h:90
msgid ""
"Defines the list of valid GnomeVFS schemes to be matched with the selected "
"items. The GnomeVFS scheme is the protocol used to access the files. The "
"keyword to use is the one used in the GnomeVFS URI.\n"
"\n"
"Example of GnomeVFS URI : \n"
"file:///tmp/foo.txt\n"
"sftp:///root@test.example.net/tmp/foo.txt\n"
"\n"
"The most common schemes are :\n"
"\n"
"'file' : local files\n"
"'sftp' : files accessed via SSH\n"
"'ftp' : files accessed via FTP\n"
"'smb' : files accessed via Samba (Windows share)\n"
"'dav' : files accessed via WebDav\n"
"\n"
"All GnomeVFS schemes used by Nautilus can be used here."

(This string is great! All that it needs is for the spaces before the colons to be removed.)