Select a project language You can start a new project in various ways (e.g., by creating one from scratch
The project language that you select is used in a couple of ways.
- Spell check First, whenever you access the spell check features in Flare, your project language is used.
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Language skin for WebHelp outputs Second, the project language affects the skin used for the output if you are generating WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, WebHelp AIR, or WebHelp Mobile. A regular skin controls the interface that users see for online outputs. They are stored in the Skins folder of the Project Organizer. By default, the text in these skins is in English, and they are used not only for editing text but also to control the look of the skin in the output (e.g., color, navigation elements)—see About Skins. On the other hand, a language skin can be used to display the interface in a different language for WebHelp outputs. Language skins hold only text used for the output; they do not control the look of the output. To control the appearance of the output, you must use a regular skin in addition to the language skin. But if you select a language other than English for your project, that language skin will be used instead for the output. Flare provides completed language skins for certain languages, such as French, German, and Spanish. For other languages, you can create language skins (see Creating User-Defined Language Skins).
example
Let's say you select French as the project language. If you generate WebHelp, the French skin is automatically used, so the output looks something like this:
If you create a new user-defined language skin, you need to edit it to make sure it provides all the correct translations. You can also open a completed language skin to edit the translated text if you want. See Editing Language Skins.
What if you have multiple WebHelp targets in your project and you want each one to use a different language? In that case, you can override the project language and set it for the individual WebHelp targets. See Selecting a Language for the Target.
For more information see About Language Skins.
Note: For the most part, language skins are designed for WebHelp outputs only (WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, WebHelp AIR, and WebHelp Mobile). However, if you are editing text strings in a language skin for toolbar items, those strings will be translated in DotNet Help and HTML Help outputs as well (see Specifying Custom Toolbar Settings for HTML Help Output and Specifying Custom Settings for Topic Toolbars). In addition, the "Formats/Cross-Reference" items in the Language Skin Editor are used for print-based outputs (Adobe PDF, XHTML, Microsoft XPS, Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker), not for WebHelp or the other online outputs. Those items are intended to set text for context-sensitive cross-references in print output (see Creating Context-Sensitive Cross-References and Editing Text for Context-Sensitive Cross-References).
MadCap Lingo One of the easiest ways to translate a Flare project is for a translator to open that project within MadCap Lingo, which is tightly integrated with Flare. Because of this integration, there is no need to transfer localized files outside of the actual project, which helps prevent content and formatting corruption. In addition, translators can leverage all previous translations created in other tools by importing Translation Memory eXchange (TMX) files.
After opening your project in Lingo, a translator can immediately see a list of all of the files (e.g., topics, snippets, variables), index markers, and concept markers than need to be localized. Then, after translating the content in the Lingo interface, the translator can export the results to a new Flare project in that language. For more information, please refer to the documentation provided with MadCap Lingo.
- Third-party tools Each file in a Flare project is XML-based and accessible in third-party tools. You can even use MadCap Lingo to package your project files and send them to a translator who is using another tool. That way, the translator receives all of the files requiring translation. It makes things easier for the translator, who receives a complete list of files that he or she can import into the third-party tool; no guessing is required. It also makes things easier for you as the author, because you do not need to worry about forgetting to send often-missed Flare project files that require translation and can easily be overlooked. For more information, please refer to the documentation provided with MadCap Lingo.
See Also