Create a Language File

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Create a Language File

A number of Easyslides users have translated the English-language interfaces to another language and have offered them freely for use with Easyslides.  If the language you want to use for the easyslides interface is not available, you can create one yourself and optionally make it available for other easyslides users to use.

To Create a New Language File

A. Export Language

  1. You will need to export a language file first which you can then use as the template for your new language file
  2. Your template must have all the interface texts available for translation and so you need to make sure you set the current language to the default English:-
    1. Select Menu->File->Select Interface Language
    2. When the “Select Interface Language” window opens, select the “English” language (the default English will have not date beside it on the list) and click OK.
    3. The “Select Interface Language” window will close and you will see the label “English” at the top right of the easyslides main window.
    4. English is now your selected language
  3. To export the current selected language, select Menu->Tools->Export Language File.
  4. The “Export Language File” window will open.
  5. Change the output folder if so desired
  6. Click “Export”.
  7. When the export is completed:-
    • The name of the exported language file will be displayed in the “Select Interface Language” window
    • The folder containing the exported language file will open in a new window
    • The exported language file will be open as a text file for you to view and/or edit
    • Note that exported language file is a double-byte tab-delimited text file which can hold double-byte Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) characters.  Other text format files may not work properly in easyslides.
  8. Close the “Export Language File” window and the exported language file.

B. Create your new Language File

  1. At the folder containing the newly exported language file, rename the file to the language name you want, eg. english-us.
  2. Start Excel and create a new blank spreadsheet (You can use a different spreadsheet software but these instructions will only apply to Excel).
  3. Drag and drop the renamed language file into the blank Excel spreadsheet you had just opened. This effectively means you are editing the renamed language file.
  4. There will now be 3 columns of text in the spreadsheet:-
    1. Column 1 is the index key used by easyslides to map the language – Do Not Change any data in this column
    2. Column 2 is the English interface language which you will translate from
    3. Column 3 is the translated text.
  5. The first 5 rows are used by Easyslides and you must not delete any these 5 rows:-
    1. First row identifies the file for easyslides. Don’t adjust the Column 3 value for this row.
    2. Second row is the version of the translation. Don’t adjust the Column 3 value for this row.
    3. Third row is the language. Column 3 will be the text of the translated language displayed for a user to select, eg. if it is Simplified Chinese for v5.1 you should change the text in Colum 3 for this row to “中文”.
    4. Fourth row Column 3 is optional and is used to acknowledge the people who provided the translation.
    5. Fifth row Column 3 is the date of the translation in DD-MM=YYYY format, eg 15-03-2023.
  6. After the first five rows, work through each row and translate English from Column 2 into your language in Column 3, but taking these into account:-
    1. If there is a colon at the end of the English, do the same for your translation
    2. If there is a “&” you can ignore them as they might not be applicable in your language, just simple do your translation without the “&” in it.
    3. If there is a “%” please keep it in the same position in your translation. The “%” is used as a replacement. For example if the text was “The filename is %”, then easyslides will replace the % to something like: “The filename is sample.txt”.
    4. You don’t have to translate all the rows in one go, you might find it easier to sort column 2 with A-Z which means you can use cut and paste similar translation together.
    5. If you sort Column 3 A-Z, all missing translations will be grouped at the bottom of the list which will help you to find missing translations faster.
    6. When you have finished all the translations, remember to sort Column 1 A-Z so that the index for rows 1-5 are in the right order.
  7. You can save the file, and edit again later. It is best to use excel as it keeps the tab-delimiter in place.  If you use the notepad editor, make sure you use a tab space between the columns
  8. When you have completed the translation, save it and exit out of Excel.

C. Use the New Language File

  1. To use the new language file, simply copy it to the easyslides language folder at EasyslidesData\Admin\Languages
  2. Select Menu->File->Select Interface Language, or click on the top right label which is displaying the name of the current language.
  3. Your new language file should be listed but if not, click the refresh button.
  4. Click on your new language and press OK (or double click on it).
  5. Your language is now selected and the easyslides user interface will now display the language you have selected.
  6. To ensure all your translations are done:-
    1. Follow the above instruction in “A. Export Language” steps 3-6 to export your language file.
    2. Follow the above instruction in “B. Create your new Language File” steps 1-3 to edit your language file.
    3. Sort Column 3 A-Z and all missing translations will be grouped at the bottom of the list which will help you to find missing translations faster.
    4. If there are no missing column 3 entries then your translation file is complete.
    5. When you have finished all the translations, remember to sort Column 1 A-Z so that the index for rows 1-5 are in the right order.

D. Let other users use your translation

  1. You can help easyslides users around the world by letting them use the translation you have created.
  2. You can do this by emailing it to others who can make use of it by following the above steps in “C. Use the New Language File”.
  3. Alternatively, you can email the file to info@easyslides.com and after some compatibility checks, it will be available for users to download within easyslides.
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