doc/translating_help.txt

   1 Translating the help files.
   2 ===========================
   3
   4 I have tried to write the help files in plain english with good grammer.
   5 Since English is not my strong point you probably can't tell, but I hope it
   6 helps.
   7
   8 The help files, at this point, are divided into functional areas.  Each .hlp
   9 file represents a different functional block of how the program looks to the
  10 user.
  11
  12 Hopefully as SquirrelMail gets more widely used, non-english translations will
  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.
  17
  18 File Structure
  19 ==============
  20
  21 All translated files should be placed under the help directory.  Under the
  22 help directory create another directory. This directory MUST be named in the
  23 two letter standard abbreviation for the language. English is "en" and Polish
  24 would be "pl" for example.
  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.
  35 Inside each of these tags, there can be any combination of any of the following
  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
  56 To translate, just copy all the .hlp files from help/en into the new directory
  57 that you created for this language (i.e.  help/pl).  You only need to translate
  58 what is between the tags.  Do not translate the actual tags such as <chapter>
  59 or <summary>.  The tag names need to remain in English.  You should only translate
  60 the text between tags.
  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!!