Page MenuHomePhabricator

Show localized language names (when available) for the Explore languages option
Closed, ResolvedPublic2 Estimated Story Points

Description

As part of the work on the MinT for Wiki Readers MVP (T359072), an option to "Explore languages" (T359863) is provided so that users can identify the languages where there is more content available, and which sections are covered. In this way, they can decide which language version to pick to machine translate and learn the most relevant aspects on the topic.

The initial implementation lists the languages by using their name in their own language (autonym). That is, Japanese is listed as "日本語" regardless of the UI language. In the current context, it is likely that people using machine translation may not know the language they are translating from.

This ticket proposes to list languages in the Explore languages view by using their name in the UI language. In this way, a user using the tool in English will see the language listed as "Japanese" instead of "日本語".

Current (for UI in EN)Proposed (for UI in EN)
en.m.wikipedia.org_wiki_Special_AutomaticTranslation_page=%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8&from=ja&to=en&step=confirm(Wiki Mobile).png (320×568 px, 39 KB)
en.m.wikipedia.org_wiki_Special_AutomaticTranslation_page=%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8&from=ja&to=en&step=confirm(Wiki Mobile) (1).png (320×568 px, 39 KB)

In the event of language names not being available in the expected language, a reasonable fallback (by the localization infrastructure or using the autonym) should work.

Event Timeline

Pginer-WMF triaged this task as Medium priority.
Pginer-WMF updated the task description. (Show Details)

Here's the summary of the discussion on Slack

Niklas noted MediaWiki’s localized language name system and API options, while Intl might differ from conventions that has less coverage and not account for our idiosyncrasies.

Pau clarified this content selection case needs localized names for usability. Huei suggested testing Intl, then an API if needed.

Nikerabbit set the point value for this task to 2.Mar 3 2025, 9:14 AM

Change #1124135 had a related patch set uploaded (by Huei Tan; author: Huei Tan):

[mediawiki/extensions/ContentTranslation@master] AX: Show localized language names for the Explore languages option

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1124135

abi_ changed the task status from Open to In Progress.Mar 6 2025, 5:44 AM

Change #1124135 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/ContentTranslation@master] AX: Show localized language names for the Explore languages option

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1124135

abi_ subscribed.

QA Blocked a bit by T389032: Unable to scroll on Special:AutomaticTranslation

I've tested this myself on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:AutomaticTranslation?page=Moon&from=en&to=hi&step=confirm and it looks good

image.png (718×1,183 px, 84 KB)

This is simple enough so I'm confident to mark this as resolved.