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<article id="Locales">
  <title>Locale support<indexterm>
      <primary>localizing WinMerge</primary>
    </indexterm></title>

  <para>The WinMerge user interface is in English by default, but you can
  localize your installation to other languages for which translations have been
  contributed. Localizing WinMerge changes text strings that are displayed in
  the interface, including menus, dialogs, tooltips, and messages, to the
  language you choose.</para>

  <para>Note that localization does not extend beyond the translation of
  strings. For example, it does not affect how numbers are divided or how words
  are alphabetized. (Those issues should be addressed in the conventional
  Windows manner by using the Regional settings in the Control Panel.)</para>

  <para>Localizing your WinMerge installation involves these two basic
  steps:</para>

  <orderedlist>
    <listitem>
      <para><xref linkend="Locales_config_files" />: Make one or more language
      files available to WinMerge.</para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para><xref linkend="Locales_changing" />: Choose one of the configured
      language files.</para>
    </listitem>
  </orderedlist>

  <section id="Locales_config_files">
    <title>Configuring the localization</title>

    <para>Configuring a localization simply involves making its translation file
    available to WinMerge, either during or after the installation.</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>It's easiest to configure a language file during WinMerge
        installation. The instructions in <xref
        linkend="Installing_usinginstaller" /> describe how to use the Select
        Components page to install one or more translation files.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>If you did not configure a language file when you installed
        WinMerge (or did not use the installer at all), there is no need to
        re-install WinMerge. You can get the latest translation files from the
        WinMerge site and configure it yourself:</para>

        <orderedlist>
          <listitem>
            <simpara>Create a folder named <filename class="directory"
                >Languages</filename> under the WinMerge installation directory
              (where <filename>WinMergeU.exe</filename> is located), if it does
              not already exist.</simpara>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <simpara>Go to the <ulink
            url="https://winmerge.org/downloads/">WinMerge download</ulink> site.
            Download one of the archived binary files (either Zip or 7z format)
            for the current WinMerge version, and save it to your file
            system.</simpara>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <simpara>Open the downloaded archive, and locate the
            <filename>*.po</filename> files, where * is a language (for example,
            <filename>Swedish.po</filename> for the Swedish translation).
            Extract the language files you want to the
            <filename>Languages</filename> subfolder in your WinMerge
            installation directory.</simpara>
          </listitem>
        </orderedlist>

        <para>The language files are now available the next time you run
        WinMerge.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </section>

  <section id="Locales_changing">
    <title>Changing the WinMerge interface language</title>

    <para>If you have configured one or more translation files, as described in
    the preceding section, you can change the localization of WinMerge to any of
    them:</para>

    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <simpara>Run WinMerge.</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Select <guimenuitem>Options</guimenuitem> from the
        <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu.</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Select your language and click
        <guibutton>OK</guibutton> in the Options dialog General page.</simpara>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>

    <para>The language of the WinMerge user interface is instantly
    updated.</para>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Available WinMerge localizations<indexterm>
        <primary>localizations, available</primary>
      </indexterm></title>

    <para>WinMerge localizations contributed to date include the following
    translations:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <simpara>Arabic</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Basque</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Bulgarian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Catalan</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional)</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Croatian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Czech</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Danish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Dutch</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Finnish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>French</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Galician</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>German</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Greek</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Hungarian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Italian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Japanese</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Korean</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Lithuanian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Norwegian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Persian</simpara>
      </listitem>
	  
      <listitem>
        <simpara>Polish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Portuguese</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Portuguese (Brazilian)</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Romanian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Russian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Serbian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Sinhala</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Slovak</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Slovenian</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Spanish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Swedish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Turkish</simpara>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <simpara>Ukrainian</simpara>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Reporting errors in translation<indexterm>
        <primary>translations, reporting errors</primary>
      </indexterm></title>

    <para>Please submit any errors you find in translations as bugs to our
    <ulink
    url="https://github.com/WinMerge/winmerge/issues">bug-list</ulink>.
    It would be great if you also provide a corrected version of the translated
    text.</para>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Submitting a new translation<indexterm>
        <primary>submitting translations</primary>
      </indexterm></title>

    <para>If you would like to add your language to the list, then please read the <ulink
    url="https://winmerge.org/translations/">translation documentation</ulink>
    on the WinMerge Web site to learn how. Most of the translations are incomplete,
    so your help improving them would be appreciated. Translating (or improving
    translation) does not require you to have all the compile tools or to know
    about WinMerge internals. You just need to follow the instructions in the preceding
    link. And if you have problems, ask for help from us in one of the <ulink
    url="https://forums.winmerge.org/">WinMerge forums</ulink>.</para>
  </section>
</article>
