Translations of GNOME manuals are made in the same way than translation of
applications, using .po files based on gettext system.
In order to translate a manual to a new language you have to follow the next steps:
Create a folder inside help directory called as
the language code.
mkdir help/<langcode>
Create a figures folder (this is only needed if it
exists a figures folder inside
help/C).
mkdir help/<langcode>/figures
Add the new language code to DOC_LINGUAS in
Makefile.am.
DOC_LINGUAS = es, fr, it, <langcode>
Use make inside the folder
help, this will generate a file
<langcode>/<langcode>.po.
make
Now, you should translate the new .po file using
some translation tool, or manually editing the file. However, it is
strongly recommended to use some translation tool, because of this kind
of applications will help you a lot during the translation process.
Once the translation is done, the last step should be prepare a patch to
be sent to the translation team of this language, or directly to the
developers, depending on the situation. You should not forget to update
the ChangeLog file inside the
help folder.
This way to do the translations, using gettext as translation system, has a big
advantage, because of people used to translate applications can translate
tutorials without any extra effort, just using the same tools and translating a
new .po file. The translation process of a manual is
transparent for them.