In order to use the same translation workflow as the [Monero Core GUI](https://github.com/monero-project/monero-core), they use Qt Linguist translation files. However, to avoid the dependencies on Qt this normally implies, they use a custom loader to read those files at runtime.
### Tools for translators
In order to create, update or build translations files, you need to have Qt tools installed. For translating, you need either the **Qt Linguist GUI** ([part of QT Creator](https://www.qt.io/download-open-source/#allDownloadsDiv-9) or a [3rd-party standalone version](https://github.com/lelegard/qtlinguist-installers/releases)), or another tool that supports Qt ts files, such as Transifex. The files are XML, so they can be edited in any plain text editor if needed.
### Creating / modifying translations
You do not need anything from Qt in order to use the final translations.
Use the `tr(string)` function if possible. If the code is in a class, and this class doesn't already have a `tr()` static function, add one, which uses a context named after what `lupdate` uses for the context, usually the fully qualified class name (eg, `cryptonote::simple_wallet`). If you need to use `tr()` in code that's not in a class, you can use the fully qualified version (eg, `simple_wallet::tr`) of the one matching the context you want. Use `QT_TRANSLATE_NOOP(string)` if you want to specify a context manually.
