recently I added some information to already existing entries on Open Products Facts. While doing so I came across a few small hick-ups.
Should categories be named by using singular or plural terms? For example: By viewing an entry of a specific product it will be a single product like soap, but the database as a whole ideally contains multiple entries of similar things like all soaps.
In the page editing section for product characteristics the field for the quantity is not a part of the selected language and can not be seperatly localised. That seems reasonable and probably avoids a lot of additional work for a lot units like Litre for liquids. But when it is more helpful to state the containing pieces/pcs, it will be the same in english as (for example) in german even if its more common to use StĂĽck/St./Stk.
I would like to know how you do adress this in your contributions and if there is any official or mandatory guideline for this. Thank you.
AFAIK (but @stephane knows better) things like this are handled by the server (like adding or removing the last s in english), but the recommendation I would go for is to let the autocomplete help you while you’re writing, as it should suggest existing categories.
If the category you want to use does not exist, try to guess which is the most common form:
seafood, pork, beef, are generally used in their singular form
noodles, mueslis, cakes, are generally used in their plural forms
That’s not very easy sometimes, we should document this. Eg. when you but something that is a part of something bigger, such as pork, beef, etc. There must some formal or informal linguistic rules or practices.