We should improve the list of the external services to take into account the user's (interface) language, as well as the region currently being viewed. For example, maps.yandex.ru shows the map in Russian, whereas maps.yandex.com is in English. Google tries to have a very global coverage, while some services are highly regional. I feel we should move away from "wiki-language"-centric approach, because we are trying to build a global community that speaks many languages, and yet we should take into account that some map services are tailored towards certain languages as well as certain regions. Which means we must:
- show services based on language/region
- prioritize services based on language/region
Also, this is a fully client-side feature, so we have access to the browser language preferences, and could base the list of services on that.
Open questions:
- Do we need a language-neutral "global service" list? Or should all services should have a list of supported language?
- For the languages without as many services as English, should there be a list of languages that are always shown as well? E.g for West African languages also show maps listed as good for French speakers?
See also: T152971: Allow per-wiki customization of the map detail list
