WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/MediaWiki Translation Sprint

Timestamp
23:35, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
Title of the submission

MediaWiki Translation Sprint

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, or presentation)

Workshop

Author of the submission

Siebrand Mazeland, Product Manager Localisation for MediaWiki

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)

smazeland AT wikimedia DOT org

State of your origin (Country, if you are not based in India)

Utrecht, The Netherlands

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)

translatewiki.net, Wikimedia Foundation, board member of Wikimedia Nederland

Personal homepage or blog

translatewiki:User:Siebrand

Abstract (maximum 500 words)

In computing, localization is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text. This concept is also known as Native Language Support (NLS).

NLS is important, because where in many cases within the Wikimedia movement English is used as the lingua franca, our mission is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content [..] and to disseminate it effectively and globally. For this us fortunate speakers and writers of multiple languages have an opportunity to empower those that only speak, read and write one Indic language.

In this workshop, after a short introduction, you will spend your time translating the English user interface of MediaWiki, the software used to build Wikipedia in, into another language that you are proficient in using translatewiki.net. Your translations will then within 24 hours be available in your favorite Indic language Wikipedia and other Wikimedia wikis to be enjoyed by all those that are able to read your language.

The ultimate goal is to get proper and complete Native Language Support for all major languages read and written in India. This will not be achieved in a day, but with your presence in the workshop, we can make a start. With you asking your friends for help, your task will not only get smaller, but your quality will improve and it will be more fun!

Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology)

Outreach or Technology

Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?

Yes. I have not applied for a scholarship.

Slides or further information (optional)
  • Those interested can start now!
  • This workshop requires a working internet connection for all partifipants.
  • I do not expect that every participant has a computer with them. It would lower the participation boundary, if computers with a recent web browser (Firefox 4 and up or Internet Explorer 7 and up) are available.
  • Maximum number of participants would be 20 to 40 depending on the number of people that would be able to provide 1-on-1 support during the workshop to get people going. Every experienced translator at translatewiki.net would be able to provide that type of support (registration, settings language preferences, requesting access rights, selecting the first set of messages to be translated).