[Foundation-l] deployment of Vector to other languages -

[Naoko Komura]

Amir E. Aharoni wrote:
> I have a few questions about the deployment of Vector in Wikipedias in
> other languages.
>   
Hi, Amir.

Thank you for your help in contributing testing the beta, providing RTL 
feedback and your active feedback on the recent deployment of the user 
interface change to Commons and English Wikipedia.
> 1. When does the Foundation plan to perform the switch?
>   
I'll be coordinating the deployment schedule for the rest of the 
languages and other Wikmedia projects in coming weeks by monitoring the 
problems reported from Commons and English Wikipedia users, and 
coordinating the schedule with the language community and the chapter 
members.  We do not have a specific date yet, but we hope to be able to 
start migrating the rest of the languages and other projects within next 
four weeks.
> 2. At least two major features which were not included in the Beta,
> were enabled in the English Wikipedia: the new search box with "Go"
> and "Search" buttons and the collapsible sidebar which hides
> interlanguage links by default. A significant number of users in
> en.wikipedia expressed their dissatisfaction with them and with the
> fact that they were introduced by surprise. They are still not a part
> of the Beta in other languages. Will they be enabled in other
> languages when they are switched to Vector?
>   
Yes, these new features will be enabled as a part of beta.  As you 
reported the problems with the new search, we are adjusting the search 
box interaction by expanding the search suggestion field and make 
special search explicit.  We hope to roll out the change later this 
week, if not we revert back to the previous search behavior.  This 
change will be reflected across the beta for other languages.

> 3. Did anyone consider appointing "Vector migration czars" in
> Wikipedias in other languages? Because despite what some people might
> think, quite a lot of speakers of other languages don't bother looking
> at en.wikipedia and WMF blogs and mailing lists. I wrote a little
> about the good (IMHO) and the bad (IMHO) features about Vector in the
> Village Pumps of Wikipedias in languages that i know - Hebrew, Russian
> and Catalan. I can report that there are a couple of JavaScript gurus
> in he.wikipedia who have a positive attitude towards Vector and who
> gradually adapt the gadgets to it, and there are a few other JS gurus
> who hate Vector and who don't want to bother about it and recommend
> everyone to stay with Monobook. (Although my attitude may seem
> negative, i actually belong to the first camp.) The situation is
> similar in the Russian Wikipedia.
>   
As the community in various languages and the translation community have 
been the major force in supporting rolling out major changes to the 
sites, I will be reaching out to the translation community for 
translating the announcements, FAQ, and the feedback page to set-up the 
structure.   Appointing ambassadors (rather than czars :-)) would be a 
great idea, and and it will be crucial for language communities who 
don't have strong presence or the communications channels to meta or to 
the various discussions which are taking place in English.

> 4. Finally, does the Foundation plan to gather any other feedback from
> other language Wikipedias except the "Beta retention rate"?
>
>   
We make decisions and adjustment on new features not only based on the 
beta retention rate[1], but also the feedback submitted from various 
language and project communities[2], and we set-up discussion board in 
Village Pump, Admin' noticeboard, and project specific feedback page 
prior to the switch and for the post-switch support[3].

[1] http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Beta_Feedback_Survey
[2] http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Beta_Feedback_Survey/User_Comments
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:User_experience_feedback

Thanks again for your active involvement and contribution in advocating 
the support for non-English communities and users, especially for 
bringing attentions to right-to-left languages.

- Naoko

User Experience Programs, WMF

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