[Foundation-l] [Wikitech-l] FlaggedRevs status/news?

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
It is because of the "qqq" messages that there is such a great reason to
localise at Betawiki. When you are one of the first to localise a message,
it can take a considerable amount of effort to learn what a message is
about. Much of this pain is taken away by the Betawiki developers, but there
is still a fair amount of documentation that needs to be done.

The person best situated to create the help text is the developer of the
software; he/she knows best what the message is there for. It is also an
excellent investment in time as it will benefit the 298 languages that we
currently support.

When you localise, there are indeed two parts to it; there is the general
localisation that is done best at Betawiki and there are the adaptations
that are the result of project specific needs. I am of the opinion that it
is best to first get the standard localisation done because it makes it much
easier for the whole of the community to understand what specific changes
are needed.

I am quite happy to state that this is my strong opinion. I disagree however
that a community always has primacy in considerations like this. Most
relevant are the arguments behind the opinions expressed. When the community
has good arguments they can get their way, when they do not they should not.
The notion that I am not a member of the requesting community is irrelevant
to the quality of my arguments.

NB I blogged about the "qqq" messages today and included a screen dump.
http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.com/2008/11/providing-context-to-localisers_18.html
Thanks,
       GerardM

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 7:54 AM, Dovi Jacobs <dovijacobs at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Gerard, thank you for your kind comments. I think the system you have set
> up at Betawiki is extraordinary, and is a fantastic tool for helping people
> access "the sum of all knowledge" in their own languages.
>
> The "qqq" messages are a fantastic idea (though I can't quite see where to
> find them of Betawiki...)
>
> For Hebrew we would like the extension set up with due haste. We prefer
> translating the messages when we can test their meanings in context and
> revise our translations accordingly. We also plan to make some important
> local modifications to the interface that are Wikisource-specific (such as
> the parameters for defining the quality of a page), but we cannot even begin
> to do so until the extension has been installed!
>
> This last factor is a need that Betawiki, outstanding as it is, cannot
> provide for.
>
> A good part of the interface has already been translated in any case. It
> would reflect good will on your part if you clarified that while your
> suggestions are personal recommendations, you nonetheless understand that
> the decisions of communities with other views should be honored and
> implemented.
>
> I ask the developers to implement the decision of the Hebrew Wikisource
> community as found in Bug 14648, along with the other languages that they
> have kindly implemented recently. We have been waiting for this for quite a
> long time, and will provide a quality localization of the system messages.
> While Gerard's views on localization-as-prerequisite-in-every-case are
> important to consider, he is not a member of the community that has
> requested the extension.
>
> Link: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14648
>
> Dovi
>
>