That makes sense. I agree that much of the Foundation's messaging is
English-centric, although I know it is sometimes challenging to
accomodate other languages and cultures, especially on a tight deadline
(speaking from my experiences during the fundraiser). Obviously the
Foundation has room for improvement here, and I agree that giving more
notice would be a good first step. Regarding the Translate extension,
what is the current status of this? Can the Translate extension
interface with MediaWiki messages directly or only via i18n files? Has
there ever been a proposal to turn on the extension for Meta (other than
the Bugzilla bug)? Are there any blocking issues that would prevent this
from being feasible? I'm also interested in improving the translation
system for CentralNotice, so maybe the Translation extension could help.
Ryan Kaldari
On 3/23/11 10:53 AM, Amir E. Aharoni wrote:
2011/3/23 Ryan Kaldari<rkaldari(a)wikimedia.org>rg>:
On 3/23/11 6:17 AM, Amir E. Aharoni wrote:
==WikiLove, Twinkle and Huggle==
Sue mentions the WikiLove gadget in her letter. To the best of my
knowledge WikiLove only works in the English Wikipedia, but the letter
invites all readers to use it. Believe it or not, some Wikipedias
don't even have barnstars.
All of these gadgets, including Wikilove, exist in
other languages. Not
mentioning them because they haven't been ported to every language would
be a bit extreme.
It exists in some languages; I didn't count, but it probably
doesn't
exist in even half of them. Correct me if i'm wrong. The letter is
addressed to community members in all language projects and it
mentions Wikilove as if it was universal.
Consider this wording: "In the English Wikipedia there's a tool called
'WikiLove'; if your Wikipedia has it, try it; if your Wikipedia
doesn't have it, consider adapting it." It's factually correct and
constructive. Just saying "Wikilove" and linking to the English
Wikipedia ignores the existence of other language projects.
In the Hebrew translation i took the liberty to translate it
accordingly and added "this tool works only in the English Wikipedia"
in parentheses. (It works in some others, but i didn't have an easy
way to find out in which ones, and in he.wp we don't hand out
barnstars at all, although we are considering to start doing it.)
Translators to other languages just translated that part
word-for-word, leaving the readers confused.
I also don't really understand your point
about
linking to 'Eternal September'. You say that you aren't suggesting that
people not link to English Wikipedia, but then what is the point of your
argument? Are you suggesting that we pre-translate every linked article
into all 269 languages and then protect them all as well? Obviously that
isn't very practical.
Yes, it isn't practical. I'm not telling anyone
to do that. I'm just
asking people who write something that is supposed to be translated to
keep that in mind. See the subject.
--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
"We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace." - T. Moore
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