0. How to Translate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Install gettext
* get a cvs snapshot of supertux and do the usual autogen.sh, configure.
  Make sure configure can find the xgettext application.
    (ie. "checking for xgettext... xgettext"
     and "checking if xgettext supports Lisp... yes")
* Run 'jam' and let it compile supertux and create all the messages.po files
* Go into data/locale and data/levels/*/ and in each dir do:
     - In case you want to create a new translation do
        msginit -i messages.pot -o $LANG.po
       (where $LANG is the 2character handle of your language)
     - In case you want to update an existing translation do
        msgmerge -U $LANG.po messages.pot

* Edit the .po files with your favourite Editor or with 1 of the GUI tools
  below.
* Send the translated .po files to the supertux-devel mailing list.
* You should also edit the supertux.desktop file and add a comment entry for
  your language

1. Notes for Translators
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* If there isn't a good translation for some term (ie. fullscreen), you might
  consider to just keep it. It's better than making the user confused.

* In English, there is only one singular second person mode (You). If your
  language does have more than one - a personal and impersonal - remember that
  this is a game, so you should use the personal one. And if it is possible to
  ommit it in your language, it might be a good idea.

* Names like SuperTux, Tux, Penny or Nolok should not be translated. If you
  really think one of these to be a too strange word for your people, first
  inform us at our mailing list. Minor characters like Mr. Ice Block can (and
  should) be translated.

A couple of notes:
* If somewhere in the game, after translating a string, it doesn't look well
  (bad aligment, overlaps other text...), let us know - we will fix it.

2. GUI Tools
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 KBabel      - a long dated KDE program that has been maturing over the years,
               and it's really handy by now.
 poEdit      - a multi-platform po editor (runs under Windows and Unix).
               URL: http://poedit.sourceforge.net/
 (X)Emacs    - a commonly used program for translating with the respective
               plugin.
 QTranslator - made by Qt, has the advantage of running in several platforms.
               PO files are written in ASCII and are pretty intuitive, so they
               can be used by any text editor. But it would be wise to use a
               program made for that effect. If not possible, use a text editor
               with highlighting for PO files.

3. Note for developers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Output should not be translated, since their purpose is mainly for debugging.
 However, command description (ie. --help) should obviously be translated.
 Messages that give the user a solution for a problem, might be translatable,
 as well.
 Parametars shouldn't be translatable. It breaks scripting.

The SuperTux Team