Add Translation Key

Add a translation key

baca-quran.id ships two locale files. Indonesian (id) is the fallback — if a key is missing in en.json, the runtime falls through to id.json, then to the literal key. That fallback is silent, so it's easy to ship English UI with Indonesian text leaking through.

1. Decide on namespace + key

Open src/lib/translations/id.json and find the existing namespace that fits, e.g.:

• common.* — generic UI verbs (save, cancel, loading, …)
• navigation.* — drawer / menu labels
• surah.* — Qur'an reader strings
• prayer.* — prayer-time strings
• settings.* — the settings page
• <feature>.* — feature-specific (e.g. hijri.*, ayahOfTheDay.*)

If none fits, create a new namespace named after the feature (camelCase).

Key naming: camelCase, descriptive but short. Avoid sentence-shaped keys — they break when copy is tweaked.

2. Add to BOTH files

src/lib/translations/id.json

"<namespace>": {
	"<key>": "<Indonesian text>"
}

src/lib/translations/en.json

"<namespace>": {
	"<key>": "<English text>"
}

Same path, both files. Both are valid JSON — no trailing commas, no JSONC comments.

If the string has variables, use {{name}} interpolation:

"welcome": "Selamat datang, {{name}}!"

Then call: t('common.welcome', { name: 'Irfan' }).

3. Use it in a component

Reactive (preferred for UI) — updates when the user switches language without a reload:

<script lang="ts">
	import { t } from '$lib/translations/store';
</script>

<h1>{$t('namespace.key')}</h1>

Imperative (one-shot, non-reactive) — for module-init code, constants, etc. Won't update on language change:

import { t } from '$lib/translations';

const TITLE = t('namespace.key');

For dynamic text that depends on locale at render time, prefer deriving from $languageStore directly when you need per-render branching that the t function alone can't express:

<script lang="ts">
	import { LANGUAGE_OPTIONS, languageStore } from '$lib/checkLanguaguage';
	const isEnglish = $derived($languageStore === LANGUAGE_OPTIONS.ENGLISH.locale);
</script>

4. Verify

pnpm check     # JSON parse + svelte-check; catches typos in $t() keys
pnpm lint      # prettier reformats id.json/en.json on save

Manual: pnpm dev, toggle the language switcher in the header, confirm both versions render correctly. If switching to English and the string still appears in Indonesian, the en.json entry is missing or misnested — check the path with the dot-notation key.

5. Anti-patterns

• ❌ Adding the key to only one file. Always both.
• ❌ Hard-coding the string in JSX/Svelte and translating later.
• ❌ Concatenating partial strings in code ("Halo, " + name). Use {{name}} interpolation in the locale value.
• ❌ Reusing a key with different meanings across screens. Make a new one — keys are cheap.
• ❌ Putting locale-dependent UI logic in src/lib/utils/* modules by importing the t function at module load. Always call t() inside the consumer at use-time, or accept a translated string as a parameter.

Source: mazipan/baca-quran.id — distributed by TomeVault.