Submissions/Wikimedia translation sprint

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2014.

Submission no. 8029
Title of the submission
Wikimedia translation sprint
Type of submission
workshop
Author of the submission
Siebrand Mazeland
E-mail address
siebrand@kitano.nl
Username
Siebrand
Country of origin
The Netherlands
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
translatewiki.net, Wikimedia Foundation
Personal homepage or blog
Kindof profile page, translatewiki.net
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)

This session is a medium length workshop targeted at people that have a good proficiency in a language other than English. You are expected to have a portable computer, capable of connecting to a wireless network with a modern graphical web browser installed on it, to maximise the outcome of this session.

During this workshop you will get a quick introduction to using the Translate extension on Wikimedia wikis and translatewiki.net. This will enable you to start contributing to translations for the project of your choice and to make a difference to open source software users and fellow Wikimedians that speak the same language as you do.

Wikimedia uses many pieces of software and has a lot of documentation and notifications that can be translated, so that every user may able to use that software and consume documentation and notifications in their native language. It is proven that using software in one's native language increases understanding and productivity considerably. Software is ever changing and evolving. It almost goes without saying, that there is also a continuous flow of new and updated user documentation, policy and notifications about the former. There is a continuous need for translators. In the Wikimedia movement, this is done mostly by volunteers.

The MediaWiki extension Translate enhances MediaWiki with essential features needed to do translation work. It can be used to translate the content of pages, the interface of a wiki and other software products. Wiki markup and user interface strings of those products become messages that volunteers can translate. The Translate extension helps those volunteers not only to provide translations for those messages in English but, also tracks and synchronises changes between the source and the translations. This makes is very easy to keep translations up to date, as minor changes are being made to the source text all the time.

Track
  • WikiCulture & Community
  • Technology, Interface & Infrastructure
Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long)
70 minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
yes
Slides or further information (optional)
A similar session was given last year at Wikimania in Hong Kong
Special requests
  • Need video projector for visual support.
  • If a computer lab is present, that would be great to get people to participate that do not have a portable computer with them.


Interested attendees

If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with a hash and four tildes. (# ~~~~).

  1. Nikerabbit (talk) 13:57, 24 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 20:00, 31 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Takot (talk) 17:08, 28 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Add your username here.