To translate XOOPS in another language the steps are as follow:

Locate the desired original language directory and make a copy of it, after this, rename that copy according to the destination language you wish for the files to be, e.g: ( "Copy of english" directory becomes "dutch" or "italian" , etc.)

Open the renamed folder (e.g: "italian") and there you will find the language files (e.g: "admin.php" , "main.php" , "blocks.php" ) .Choose for example the file "admin.php" and open it with a text editor (I use "Wordpad" for its simplicity and endless back option).

The file contains the .php codes that will tell the language file what line/deffinition to chose e.g:

define( "_AM_H3_FMT_CATEGORIES" , "Categories Manager (%s)" ) ;

all that is requiered to modification is the text in between the " " , as above "Categories Manager (%s)"

so if I'm to translate into italian, the line :

define( "_AM_H3_FMT_CATEGORIES" , "Categories Manager (%s)" ) ;

will become:

define( "_AM_H3_FMT_CATEGORIES" , "Gestione categorie (%s)" ) ;

You will have to be very very carefull not to delete parts of the .php code such as " or ; or () because on load you will get a blank page.

REMEMBER to backup and to KEEP the original language files just in case you delete requiered data and you will need to restore backup.

IF you get a blank page on load , most likely you deleted more than just the translated text, in this case don't panic for a quik retore just ovewrite your translated file with the original.

Good Luck