Development

Forum and mailing list

If you have suggestions, comments, patches, questions, problems or whatever please write to the MuseScore forum or on the mailing list.

Code development

MuseScore uses the SourceForge SVN repository.
Track the repository activity RSS feed.

Developer handbook

All information regarding development for MuseScore is gathered in the developer handbook. If you have an account, you can change these pages in a wiki style. Be bold and add your knowledge.

Translating

People all over the world use MuseScore thanks to a vibrant community of translators. If you want to help with an existing translation or start a new translation see the instructions below. Please ask your questions on the forums or developers mailing list. It is better to ask lots of questions and share your work at the beginning rather than work all the way through it and find out that changes are needed afterward.

Handbook and website

If you are interested in translating the website or the software manual then introduce yourself on the Translation forum. We will then give you access to edit and create new pages for your language.

Software

Below are step-by-step instructions for translating the software. The instructions use French as the example language. Every time you come across the two-letter code for French (fr) replace it with the IETF language tags (BCP 47) that correspond to your language.

Add the new language "French" to MuseScore by creating the file mscore_fr.qm. It assumes you have downloaded the latest MuseScore source from the subversion repository and you are using Linux:

  1. Add a new language target by editing the script file
    gen-qt-projectfile. Insert line
    echo " $1/share/locale/mscore_fr.ts \\"
    below
    echo "TRANSLATIONS ="
  2. Enter the build directory and type:
    make lupdate
    This generates the file "mscore/share/locale/mscore_fr.ts".
  3. Edit "locale/mscore_fr.ts" manually or use the Qt linguist tool:
    linguist mscore_fr.ts
  4. Save the edited file "mscore_fr.ts" from linguist and
    then in the build directory type
    make lrelease
    This produces the compressed translation file mscore_fr.qm.
  5. install the *.qm files: as superuser type in the build dirctory:
    make install
    or for all debian based systems type
    sudo make install
  6. Test: set the environment variable LC_ALL to the desired language:
    export LC_ALL=fr
    Start mscore and test your translation:
    mscore

If you are using the windows version please ask me to create and install an mscore_xx.ts file for you to translate. Use Qt Linguist to edit the file.