A mini-update from Translation subcommittee (former Promotion and Translation subcommitee, see below also).

The same content is also available on meta, http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications_subcommittees/Trans/Newsletter...

------------------------------------------- Welcome to issue 1 of The Babylonian, the WMF translation subcommittee update from the month of November, 2006. Thanks to all who cooperated on the latest translation including Wikimania, Board Election and Foundation website update.

=== What's up === i. Coming events ii. Requests ongoing iii. News iv. Thank yous

=== Coming events === / * Transcom Open Meeting */ * We Traslation Subcommittee will hold a public meeting on November 5, 22 UTC at our IRC channel, #wikimedia-translation. ** Agenda: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications_subcommittees/Trans/meeting ** IRC Channel: irc://irc.freenode.com/wikimedia-translation

=== Requests ongoing === /* WMF website: About Wikimedia */ * Original: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/About_Wikimedia * Now available in: Français * Requested in: Deutsch, Español, Italiano, 日本語, Русский, 中文 ... * Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation_requests/WMF/About_Wikimedia (under construction) * Description: General information about Wikimedia Foundation. Latest English version was issued in this month.

/* WMF website: Current staff */ * Original: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff * Now working in: Français, Español, 日本語, 中文, Suomi * Requested for starting in: Deutsch, Italiano, Nederlands, Português, Русский ... * Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation_requests/WMF/Current_staff * Description: Wikimedia Foundation employees. Translation release date is scheduled on November 1.

/* Meta: [[m:Translation]] */ * Original: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation * Now available in: English, 日本語 * Requested in: Français, Español, Русский, 中文, Deutsch ... * Workplace: each language version page. You can reach them from the top of the original document. * Description: General introduction for translators who are willing to help Wikimedia project. It may be helpful for all translators. Lately the English version was broadly updated.

You can find other requests, new and old, on http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/TR

=== News === * [[Transcom]] is launched *: Translation subcommittee (Transcom) is now caring for Translation related to Wikimedia Foundation. It is one of five subcommittee of Communication committee and created in August, split from former Promotion & Translation subcommittee, which issued the first issue of this newsletter. Current members are Aphaia (Naoko), Sabine (User:SabineCretella) and Jd (Jean-Denis).

* [[Translation coordinators per language]] *: A team of volunteering coordinators is now launched. Translation Coordinators per language (TCPL) are approved by and expected to work with Transcom. Instead Transcom, TCPLs, if exists for a given language, will oversee the translation process in their own language(s), more deeply involved into their language community. See further http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/TCPL.

* [[Transbabel]] *: Transbabel template (formally Translator template in the following language combinations) helps you to show your interest to the community. Each template shows a language set of two in ISO 639-3 code with information about source and destination of your translation; for example translator eng->fra means a translator who put English into French language. You can find other translators using it.

* Zocky's machine - "translation request" templates *: Another innovation. User:Zocky created a support system on meta to help translation, specially to organize a massive translation request into numbers. It reduces workload of translation coordinators greatly and helps translators finding where to work with well designed "status" feature. Recently it seems to become de facto standard of translation organizing tool on meta.wikimedia.org. The usage could be seen at [[Election results 2006]]. (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Election_results_2006)

* WMF website overhaul *: Wikimedia Foundation website has not been well maintained at some pages. A massive overhaul attempt has begun to improve this situation. Outdated translation pages were turned into redirect as interim remedy. We hope to set them up again in a foreseeable future. Also we are going to provide translations in major languages for all major contents (See the below, "Core lang list revised).

* Wikimania 2007 website is launched *: The official website for Wikimania 2007 was launched. Hsiang-Tai (User:Htchien) will oversee communications for conference, including translation, in general. No translation requests are found currently. In past two conferences, requests came in the midst of February. You are invited to join relevant discussions at wikimania-l@wikimedia.org.

* Transcom activities *: Besides regular coordination of requests and recruiting people, Transcom has worked to aim to clarify its work flow and prepare the condition which will allow us to work as efficiently as possible. *: ** Core lang list is revised **: [[Communications subcommittees/Trans/core langs|Core language list]] is a list of languages whose translations the current Transcom concentrates its coordination activity. Core lang list is determined considering several aspects, including the size of speaker populations and the activity of its Wikimedia project. It is its first revision since the list was created in April 2006. The major change is addition of Russian language due to its Wikimedia project activities; Russian Wikipedia is now over 100,000 articles and Russian language is spoken/understood in several countries in East Europe and Central Asia. The list will be periodically reviewed and revised, if necessarily. **: ** Transcom Goals 2006/Q4 and more **: Transcom has now trimester goals:(goals description). Having goals aims to make it clear what Transcom is concerned and to help Transcom work efficiently, to concentrate the biggest needs. In 2007, Transcom will have goals in two terms: annual and trimester.

=== Thank yous === From this June to October, many translation efforts have been made for disseminating information across the project, hence the world. Wikimania 2006 websites had contents in over 10 language, including Azerbaijani and Turkish language, when the conference was opened. Board Election held in the early of this fall was informed in over 30 languages and its result are still being translated into new languages weekly even after one month passed. Many editors worked on translation and some of them motivated other editors to join the task on their local communities. And the Foundation website: responding to the need of overhaul, many translators are involved, both veteran editors and newly participating ones.

As well translators, we Transcom would like to appreciate people who are working on helpful tools, editors who create new version of Transbabel, who improve templates used on translated materials. Specially we would like thank Zocky for his invention, a system of templates (sometimes called "Zocky's machine") for creating and maintaining translation platform for a particular topic. He created it for Wikimania translation and it was proved very helpful for organizing translation in occasion of Election result release, and now for Wikimedia:Current_staff translation. Transcom will apply this new system for other translation gradually.

Thank you for your continuous cooperation, it is always our joy to work with you!

------------------------------------------ Editor(s): Aphaia E-mail: translation AT wikimedia DOT org ------------------------------------------

* This is a newsletter of the Translation subcommittee, aiming to help translation effort related to the Wikimedia Foundation. Its content is released into the public domain. It is temporarily called The Babylonian; after the multlilingual nature of sharing and promoting the projects. Other name ideas are welcome! * Editors of this newsletter are subcommittee members though, contributing as individual volunteers and only. This newsletter is not a publication of the Wikimedia Foundation, and any statement on this newsletter shouldn't be taken as official statement from the Foundation. Submissions or notes about related initiatives are welcome on the talk page: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Communications_subcommittees/Trans