Session Themes and Topics
- Theme: Defining our products, users and use cases
- Topic: Localization
Session Leader
- Santhosh Thottingal
Facilitator
- Leszek Manicki
Description
Translation of content between language projects and localization of our products are important for helping new projects add content and for enabling collaboration between cultures. This session looks into the ways we accomplish this now and tries to identify our goals for the improvements we want to make to these processes.
Notes for the session: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQWYAr3JQGp3KctXm_OzZ63vYX_czExxYTtEeugG-gM
Questions to answer during this session
| Question | Significance: Why is this question important? What is blocked by it remaining unanswered? |
| How can localization practices be made consistent and well-integrated with translatewiki and our other language infrastructure? How do we normalize the method of handling multilingual content (different projects vs. single project)? How do we handle variants in a consistent sustainable way? | This will identify the various translation workflows, identifying the necessary elements in the architecture. TranslateWiki is a community maintained project and outside of WIkimedia Infrastructure. This has many impacts (integration and security) that we should evaluate. |
| How do we improve translations and moving content across languages? | This will address changes that need to be made to improve the translation workflow to enable better and faster translations. |
| What are the use cases of machine translation in our current and future projects? Can the machine translation service built for the Content Translation project be used for talk pages, image caption translation in commons, updating existing articles, etc.? | Currently most communication on wikis is within a single language due to how projects are architected. If more collaboration is desired across languages, especially in non-language specific projects, then we need to build tools that support communication including machine assisted translations of conversations. |
Facilitator Instructions
- A one page handout for participants is prepared and available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UGKyCKVLMEzw4ni0T-GwFS9Feq-LFTcq8FJv72Bq66w/edit?usp=sharing This should be distributed in the beginning of the session. It has background information about the topics.
- Time division(total one hour):
- 5 mins to present the topic
- 5 mins to explain the process we follow for the discussion(this is the first session in the tech conf)
- 15 mins each for working out 3 questions, including activity, discussions(45 mins)
- 5 mins for concluding
Facilitator and Scribe notes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rQWYAr3JQGp3KctXm_OzZ63vYX_czExxYTtEeugG-gM/edit
Resources:
- https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Language_goals_and_wishlist
- T121470: Central Global Repository for Templates, Lua modules, and Gadgets An important feature to enable better adaptation of templates between languages
- T206694: Determine desired architecture to update localization strings for Wikimedia
- T158360: RFC: Reevaluate LocalisationUpdate extension for WMF
- T55974: Create a VisualEditor plugin tool to add/edit translations and translation variables (Translate extension)
Session Structure
- Define session scope, clarify desired outcomes, present agenda
- Discuss Focus Areas
- Discuss and Adjust. ''Note that we are not trying to come to a final agreement, we are just prioritizing and assigning responsibilities!''
- For each proposition [add etherpad link here]
- Decides whether there is (mostly) agreement or disagreement and the proposition(s).
- Decide whether there is more need for discussion on the topic, and how urgent or important that is.
- Identify any open questions that need answering from others, and from who (product, ops, etc)
- Decides who will drive the further discussion/decision process (ie: a four month deadline)
- Discuss additional strategy questions [add etherpad link here]. For each question:
- Decide whether it is considered important.
- Discuss who should answer it.
- Decide who will follow up on it.
- Wrap up
Session Leaders please:
- Add more details to this task description.
- Coordinate any pre-event discussions (here on Phab, IRC, email, hangout, etc).
- Outline the plan for discussing this topic at the event.
- Optionally, include what it will not try to solve.
- Update this task with summaries of any pre-event discussions.
- Include ways for people not attending to be involved in discussions before the event and afterwards.
Post-event Summary:
- ...
Action items:
- ...