[Fwd: Online Help]

[Gervase Markham]

Matthew P. Barnson wrote:
> Well, I hadn't really given that much thought, but it looks like the KDE
> guys have already figured this out. 
> http://i18n.kde.org/translation-howto/index.php .  It seems to be a
> pretty comprehensive how-to, and I don't think we'd go wrong emulating
> it, since the standards involved are fairly universal and becoming
> better understood in the UNIX community these days.
> 
> Basically, if I understand correctly, we need to generate "empty" files
> which contain the bare structure of the Guide for translations.

The problem with this approach is that we then have two different 
translation mechanisms.

I think it's fair to say that translators will not want to bother with 
90% of content in the Bugzilla Guide - the admin either speaks English, 
or knows someone who does. More important is interface localisation (for 
which we already have a mechanism) and localisation of help.

Now, it's my assertion that the in-app help for Bugzilla is a different 
thing to the user section of the Bugzilla Guide, and that even if they 
share concepts, the text of one would not be suitable for direct use in 
the other.

I believe it would be easier all round if we use the normal Bugzilla 
localisation mechanism for all of Bugzilla, including its help. Then, if 
someone turns up with a completely translated Guide, we can cross that 
bridge at that point.

Gerv