Can you rename "table of contents" in the Sphinx sidebar?

Here is how you could change "Quick search" to something else by overriding a template:

  1. Create a folder called templates in the Sphinx project directory.

  2. Copy <Sphinx install dir>/themes/basic/searchbox.html to templates.

  3. In conf.py, add

    templates_path = ["templates"]
    
  4. Rename 'Quick search' to whatever you want in the copy of searchbox.html.

But I would not do it this way.

A more flexible approach is to create a gettext MO file and set up the configuration as described in the documentation for locale_dirs. Like this:

  1. The template file <Sphinx install dir>/locale/sphinx.pot contains all the strings that can be translated. Copy that file to a local sphinx.po file.

  2. Add your changes to sphinx.po.

  3. Use msgfmt.py to compile sphinx.po into sphinx.mo.

  4. Put sphinx.mo in the proper directory (<your_locale_dir>/en/LC_MESSAGES for English).

See also http://docs.python.org/library/gettext.html#internationalizing-your-programs-and-modules.