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1 | Translating the help files. |
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2 | =========================== |
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3 | |
4 | I have tried to write the help files in plain english with good grammer. |
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5 | Since English is not my strong point you probably can't tell, but I hope it |
6 | helps. |
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7 | |
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8 | The help files, at this point, are divided into functional areas. Each .hlp |
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9 | file represents a different functional block of how the program looks to the |
10 | user. |
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11 | |
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12 | Hopefully as SquirrelMail gets more widely used, non-english translations will |
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13 | be used to make other non-english translations. You might want to keep this |
14 | in mind when writing yours. Remember that these will be used all over the |
15 | world and in many different environments so local language dialects might |
16 | confuse someone else. |
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17 | |
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18 | File Structure |
19 | ============== |
20 | |
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21 | All translated files should be placed under the help directory. Under the |
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22 | help directory create another directory. This directory MUST be named in the |
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23 | two letter standard abbreviation for the language. English is "en" and Polish |
24 | would be "pl" for example. |
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25 | |
26 | The help files are written in a basic xml format. Don't worry, XML isn't hard |
27 | at all. All it does is contain values inside tags like <start> and </start>. |
28 | For these help files, the tags must be on their own line like this: |
29 | <tag> |
30 | Value for this tag |
31 | </tag> |
32 | |
33 | There are two types of main tags: <chapter> and <section>. There can be only |
34 | one <chapter> tag in a .hlp file. However, there can be many <section> tags. |
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35 | Inside each of these tags, there can be any combination of any of the following |
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36 | tags: <title>, <description>, <summary>. Here is an example: |
37 | |
38 | | <chapter> |
39 | The title can only | <title> |
40 | be one line long | My first chapter |
41 | | </title> |
42 | Summary may be many | <summary> |
43 | lines, but is short | Just a brief summary |
44 | | </summary> |
45 | | <description> |
46 | Description can be | This is a more detailed description that |
47 | very long. It is | can span many lines. Usually this is the |
48 | the main part of | bulk of the help section or chapter description. |
49 | the help section. | </description> |
50 | | </chapter> |
51 | |
52 | |
53 | Translating |
54 | =========== |
55 | |
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56 | To translate, just copy all the .hlp files from help/en into the new directory |
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57 | that you created for this language (i.e. help/pl). You only need to translate |
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58 | what is between the tags. Do not translate the actual tags such as <chapter> |
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59 | or <summary>. The tag names need to remain in English. You should only translate |
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60 | the text between tags. |
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61 | |
62 | Often there may be other HTML tags such as <b> for bold or <a href...> to make |
63 | a link. If you see any of these tags, just leave them and don't translate |
64 | them either. Only what is contained inside them if needed. |
65 | |
66 | That should be all!! |