Localization Guidelines

By: Paula R. Stern

Localization is the process of adapting your product for use in a foreign market. Successful localization means producing a high quality, culture-sensitive translation that retains the functionality of the product despite the change in language. Following is a brief overview of the process of localizing printed and online help documentation.

Before Translating:

Agree on a glossary of terms, including:

  • Terms that are to remain in English: These might include the product name, company name, password, interface names (all or some or none), industry terms (for example, Windows, etc.). Example – if you give the user an initial password such as “admin” and it is hard-coded into the application, the translators must know not to translate “admin.”
  • Within each language: Terms that are translated consistently in the documentation as compared to the interface (English example: make sure that if the Edit menu includes a “Delete” option, the documentation doesn’t use the word “Remove.” While they may have the same meaning, the user will look for “Remove” based on the documentation, and not find it).
While Translating
  • Be careful not to disturb coding, format etc.
  • Have a glossary of terms handy so that you carefully and consistently translate interface and other relevant text correctly.
What NOT to Translate

Following is a general list of things that should not be translated:

  • Do not translate the file names. Although the contents of each HTML file, for example, will be translated, the name of the file itself should not be changed in any way.
  • Do not change the HTML tags. Be careful not to remove any as well.
  • Once the list of non-translated words are agreed upon, do not translate any of these. Typically, this might include the product name, company names, interface items (if they appear in English.
Translation Tasks

Following is a list of product elements that will likely need to be considered when localizing:

  • Translation of software strings
  • Online Documentation/Online help
  • Tutorials/Demos
  • Printed Documentation
  • Incorporating target language screen captures
  • Disk labels/Packaging
  • Add-ons 
Online Help Localization

When localizing online help files, it is important to verify that the following files are translated:

  • HTML or XML files
  • TOC (typically .hhc)
  • Index (typically .hhk)
  • Glossary file (e.g., .glo or .flglo)
  • Variable files/Snippet files  (for RoboHelp 6, Madcap Flare, AuthorIT)

The names of the file extensions vary and other files may need to be translated, depending on the application used to create the online help.


Paula R. Stern is the founder/director of WritePoint Ltd., a leading technical writing company in Israel. She is a Moderator of HATT (Help Authoring Tools and Techniques) and List Owner/Moderator of Techshoret (the Israel technical writers' list).