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+# Translations
+Please read this document before working on any translations.
+
+## Getting Started
+Advtrains uses `.po` files for localization. These can be edited with
+a regular text editor or with specialized programs (e.g. Poedit).
+
+If the translation file for your language does not exist, you can
+create it using:
+
+`msginit -l LL -o <domain>.LL.po`
+
+where `LL` is the language code and `<domain>` is the "domain" of the
+translation file (which, for the Advtrains modpack, corresponds to the
+name of the mods, e.g. `advtrains_interlocking`).
+
+Feel free to use the [discussion mailing list][srht-discuss] if you
+have any questions regarding localization.
+
+You can share your `.po` file directly or [as a patch][gsm] to the [dev
+mailing list][srht-devel]. The latter is encouraged, but, unlike code
+changes, translation files sent directly are also accepted.
+
+[srht-discuss]: https://lists.sr.ht/~gpcf/advtrains-discuss
+[srht-devel]: https://lists.sr.ht/~gpcf/advtrains-devel
+[gsm]: https://git-send-email.io
+
+## Translation Notes
+* Translations should be consistent. You can use other entries or the
+translations in Minetest as a reference.
+* Translations do not have to fully correspond to the original text -
+they only need to provide the same information. In particular,
+translations do not need to have the same linguistical structure as the
+original text.
+* Replacement sequences (`@1`, `@2`, etc) should not be translated.
+* Certain abbreviations or names, such as "Ks" or "Zs 3", should
+generally not be translated.
+
+### (de) German
+* Verwenden Sie die neue Rechtschreibung und die Sie-Form.
+* Mit der deutschen Tastaturbelegung unter Linux können die
+Anführungszeichen „“ mit AltGr-V bzw. AltGr-B eingegeben werden.
+
+### (zh) Chinese
+(This section is written in English to avoid writing the note twice or
+using only one of the variants, as most of this section applies to both
+the traditional and simplified variants.)
+
+* Please use the 「」 quotation marks for Traditional Chinese and “”
+for Simplified Chinese.
+* Please use the fullwidth variants of: ， 、 。 ？ ！ ： ；
+* Please use the halfwidth variants of: ( ) [ ] / \ |
+* Please do not leave any space between Han characters (including
+fullwidth punctuation marks).
+* Please leave a space between Han characters (excluding fullwidth
+punctuation marks) and characters from other scripts (including
+halfwidth punctuation marks). However, do not leave any space between
+Han characters and Arabic numerals.
+
+## Notes for developers
+* The `update-translations.sh` script can be used to update the
+translation files.
+* Please make sure that the first argument to `S` _only_ includes
+string literals without formatting or concatenation. This is
+unfortunately a limitation of the `xgettext` utility.
+* Avoid word-by-word translations.
+* Avoid manipulating translated strings (except for concatenation). Use
+server-side translations if you have to modify the text sent to users.
+* Avoid truncating strings unless translations and multibyte characters
+are handled properly.