IRC office hours/Office hours 2013-04-10

Time: 1700-1800 UTC

Channel: #wikimedia-office

Timestamps are in Indian Standard Time (IST)

[22:33]  <arrbee> Hello, Welcome to the office hour of the Wikimedia Language Engineering Team.

[22:34]  <arrbee> My name is Runa and I am the Outreach and QA coordinator for our team.

[22:34]  <arrbee> The other members of our team present today are: aharoni alolita  Nikerabbit  pginer and siebrand 

[22:35]  <arrbee> Our last office hour was held on 13th March 2013.

[22:35]  <alolita> hi everyone - thanks for joining us!

[22:35]  <arrbee> The logs are at: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours/Office_hours_2013-03-13

[22:35]  <arrbee> Today we will briefly talk about some of the projects that we have been recently working on.

[22:36]  <arrbee> After that we would be happy to answer any questions. :)

[22:36]  <arrbee> If you'd like to send in your questions before the Q&A, please send them to me over a private message.

[22:37]  <arrbee> As I mentioned before, we are the Wikimedia Language Engineering Team and we work on enabling Language tools for MediaWiki and Wikimedia projects.

[22:37]  <arrbee> This ensures that we are never short of challenging work, that will go on to provide support for the way all languages can be used just as well as English.

[22:38]  <arrbee> Presently, our primary focus is on extending our existing tools, adding advanced features for the Translate Extension (TUX) and community outreach.

[22:38]  <arrbee> Since out last office hour we have had some significant accomplishments in our ongoing projects.

[22:39]  <arrbee> We have also made some new beginnings, which we would like to share.

[22:39]  <arrbee> Today we shall be giving an update about:

[22:39]  <arrbee> 1. Translate Extension (TUX) Deployment

[22:40]  <arrbee> 2. MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle (MLEB) Release

[22:40]  <arrbee> 3. Language Maven team - an outreach initiative

[22:40]  <arrbee> Updates from Language Engineering:

[22:41]  <arrbee> The first topic is -- Translate UX - Deployment and Other Updates

[22:42]  <arrbee> Over the past few months, we have been working extensively on building out the new version of the Translate Editor.

[22:42]  <arrbee> This is part of the Translate User eXperience or TUX project.

[22:42]  <arrbee> Details about the design enhancements has been written in our last few blog posts, including one which can be found at: 

[22:42]  <arrbee> http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/03/25/redesigning-the-translation-experience-an-overview/

[22:43]  <arrbee> We are pleased to announce that TUX has now been deployed on WMF sites and is live on translatewiki.net

[22:43]  <arrbee> The announcement was earlier made by Nikerabbit :

[22:43]  <arrbee> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-i18n/2013-March/000626.html

[22:44]  <arrbee> Recently we found that the new translation editor has critical issues with Internet Explorer.

[22:44]  <arrbee> We have fixed those and plan to deploy the fixes tomorrow.

[22:44]  <arrbee> Nikerabbit: anything more to add about this?

[22:45]  <Nikerabbit> yes

[22:45]  <Nikerabbit> there are other smaller bug fixes as well

[22:45]  <Nikerabbit> tomorrow I will also repopulate translation memory database, after which the new special page to search translations should work

[22:45]  <mirontoli> sorry, i had problems with webchat

[22:45]  <Nikerabbit> it's Special:SearchTranslations

[22:46]  <aharoni> hi mirontoli !

[22:46]  <Nemo_bis> This is something translators love!

[22:46]  <Nikerabbit> please help us testing the new editor, especially if you are using less popular browsers and report issues to bugzilla

[22:47]  * James_F|Away is now known as James_F

[22:47]  <arrbee> Thanks Nikerabbit 

[22:47]  * aharoni is very glad to see people from Russia

[22:47]  <Thehelpfulone> Nikerabbit, I remember a while back we talked about CentralNotice translation through the TUX, is that still on the table for development?

[22:48]  <Nikerabbit> Thehelpfulone: as soon as CentralNotice uses Translate, it will use TUX too

[22:48]  <Thehelpfulone> (this can wait for the Q&A too) :)

[22:48]  <alolita> thanks nikerabbit for the update - look forward to everything going well with the upcoming deployment :-)

[22:48]  <arrbee> Thehelpfulone: Thanks.. you get to move to the front of the line for Q & A :)

[22:48]  <mirontoli> hi aharoni ! :)

[22:49]  <arrbee> Moving on to the second topic - MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle (MLEB) Release

[22:50]  <arrbee> We generally have a release every month. The last released version is 2013.03

[22:50]  <arrbee> The announcement and the release notes are at this link: 

[22:50]  <arrbee> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-i18n/2013-March/000631.html

[22:50]  <arrbee> Besides the update to the Translate extension and miscellenous bug fixes, we added 3 new fonts for Arabic, Hebrew and Javanese.

[22:51]  <arrbee> The Javanese webfonts have been deployed to the Javanese Wikipedia by Nikerabbit and can be seen here: https://jv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhiskusi:Joko_Widodo

[22:51]  <arrbee> This removes any dependency on any custom fonts for displaying the script in modern web browsers.

[22:52]  <arrbee> aharoni: Nikerabbit : anything further to add about the new MLEB release?

[22:52]  <Nikerabbit> MLEB is easiest way to get Translate and other language related extensions in versions that work together

[22:53]  <malkum> Should developers always get code updates from MLEB or getting it from individual extension repository is also fine?

[22:53]  <aharoni> We see that people download it, and we really want to hear from our users - is it easy to install, is it useful, are there any bugs, etc.

[22:54]  <aharoni> malkum: if you are a developer, you should probably work directly with Git.

[22:54]  <aharoni> MLEB is for users who want stable versions and don't plan to tinker with code.

[22:55]  <malkum> aharoni: I see thanks , because I found some difficulty to use $ git pull origin master when updated from MLEB

[22:55]  <aharoni> you can, actually, install MLEB from Git. There are instructions at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MLEB .

[22:55]  <aharoni> And then you can upgrade MLEB from Git.

[22:56]  <aharoni> but if you do frequent changes in the code, you should just get MediaWiki directly from Git, according to instructions at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Git .

[22:56]  <arrbee> Thanks aharoni , Nikerabbit . We will be happy to take more questions about MLEB during the Q & A.

[22:57]  <malkum> Thanks

[22:57]  <arrbee> Moving on to the last topic of discussion for today - 'Our new outreach initiative -  Language Mavens'

[22:58]  <arrbee> In our last office-hour we had mentioned about our plans for the Language Suport team.

[22:58]  <arrbee> We are now ready to roll out the pilot phase of the project next week.

[22:58]  <arrbee> The project now also has a name - Language Mavens :)

[22:59]  <malkum> yay I was never called a Maven :)

[22:59]  <arrbee> The details of the project can be found on this page:

[22:59]  <arrbee> http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Language_tools/Language_Team_Plan

[22:59]  <arrbee> The Language Mavens as we would like to call the team members, would be our conduit with the various language communities.

[23:00]  <arrbee> We would be collaborating with them about:

[23:00]  <mirontoli> I didn't know that Maven means expert http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/maven Cool

[23:00]  <arrbee> 1. the internationalization tools, 

[23:01]  <malkum> mirontoli: exactly!

[23:01]  <arrbee> 2. understanding how they are being used,

[23:01]  <arrbee> 3. what can be improved in them,

[23:01]  <arrbee> 4. gathering feedback through constant communication,

[23:01]  <arrbee> 5. supporting them to provide a helping hand to other members of the language communities, and

[23:02]  <arrbee> 6. also being better informed on how we can arrange our priorities for the greater benefit of language (localization and internationalization) related requirements

[23:02]  <arrbee> We are starting the pilot phase with some of our partners from within the language communities.

[23:02]  <arrbee> Some of them are present here today. :)

[23:02]   a_r_n addshore aharoni alolita andre__ andrewbogott APexil arrbee aude awjr

[23:02]   malkum marja marktraceur

[23:02]   mindspillage mirontoli

[23:03]  <arrbee> a_r_n: malkum mirontoli Nemo_bis 

[23:03]  * Nemo_bis raises hand

[23:03]  * a_r_n too :-)

[23:03]  <arrbee> The intent is to also get the program evaluated by them and make it ready for the volunteers.

[23:04]  * siebrand cheers the language mavens on!

[23:04]  <arrbee> The volunteers can now sign up through the on-line form: 

[23:04]  <arrbee> http://hexm.de/LangMavenSignUpForm

[23:04]  <arrbee> We'll also be announcing about this on various mailing lists.

[23:04]  * Nemo_bis constantly reads "maven" as "raven" in his mind

[23:04]  <mirontoli> great

[23:05]  <arrbee> We plan to have our first group of Mavens (post the pilot phase), by the end of April 2013.

[23:05]  <arrbee> That was all the updates we have.

[23:05]  <alolita> arrbee - do you have a session scheduled on hangout with our mavens :-)

[23:06]  <arrbee> alolita: it is being planned for the end of this week. The time specifics are being worked out. 

[23:06]  <alolita> great - look forward to this session

[23:07]  <arrbee> Before moving on to the Q & A, there are a few announcements

[23:07]  <arrbee> 1. The Language Engineering team is participating in Google Summer of Code 2013, as mentors for Wikimedia.

[23:07]  <arrbee> The list for the internationalization projects can be found at this link:

[23:07]  <mirontoli> do we need to sign up at http://hexm.de/LangMavenSignUpForm ? or is allready done for those who are present here today?

[23:07]  <arrbee> http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Summer_of_Code_2013#Championing_i18n

[23:08]  <a_r_n> mirontoli: I guess its for future volunteers

[23:08]  <arrbee> mirontoli: that form is part of the evaluation to be done by you. 

[23:08]   mindspillage mirontoli

[23:08]  <mirontoli> allright

[23:08]  <arrbee> 2. The team would also be hosting an open session for triaging internationalization bugs on 24th April 2013.

[23:09]  <arrbee> We shall be announcing more details about the event very soon.

[23:09]  <arrbee> Questions & Answers:

[23:09]  <arrbee> ================

[23:10]  <arrbee> Thehelpfulone> Nikerabbit, I remember a while back we talked about CentralNotice translation through the TUX, is that still on the table for development?

[23:10]   Nikerabbit Nischayn|Away

[23:10]  <arrbee> Nikerabbit: The first one is for you :)

[23:11]  * sankarshan is now known as sankarshan_away

[23:11]  * IH|away is now known as Ironholds

[23:12]  <siebrand> From what I saw in code changes last week, there was some bit rot in the CentralNotice side of the integration.

[23:12]  <siebrand> That's been resolved.

[23:12]  <siebrand> The FR team is relatively self sustaining in rolling out this feature.

[23:13]  <siebrand> We helped with the initial implantation in September 2012, then there were a lot of distractions, and from what I know, they have already used it at some point, and are planning to start using it a lot.

[23:13]  <siebrand> K4-713 may be able to elaborate.

[23:13]  <Thehelpfulone> I don't recall having ever seen it used siebrand - at least not on Meta

[23:14]  <siebrand> that's possible… As said: we know it can work, the question is when the FR team will start using it.

[23:14]  <siebrand> It's possibly better asked in an FR office hours :)

[23:15]  <alolita> Thehelpfulone: yes that is mostly correct; hopefully it will be used by FR :-)

[23:15]  <siebrand> Best answer I can give is that we are not aware of anything blocking implementation within out realm of responsibility.

[23:16]  <arrbee> Thanks siebrand 

[23:17]  <arrbee> Any other questions? :)

[23:18]  * Krinkle|detached is now known as Krinkle

[23:18]  <alolita> arrbee: do you plan to post the session minutes/ log from the upcoming mavens meeting

[23:18]  <alolita> if so - where should folks look for it?

[23:19]  <arrbee> alolita: yes.. we will have a blog post about the program before that. After the meeting, there is another blog post planned with discussions and initial observations about the program.

[23:20]  <alolita> great - thanks!

[23:20]  <malkum> I have seen some projects regarding i18n in GSoc page. How can we contribute. Is it dicussed in tommrows meeting?

[23:20]  * MelBee_ is now known as MelBee

[23:20]  <alolita> malkum - yes this will be discussed in tomorrow's meeting

[23:21]  <malkum> ok, Thanks

[23:21]  <alolita> however if you're interested in any specific projects already listed in the i18n section - let me know

[23:22]  <malkum> alolita: Yes sure. I already have one in mind :)

[23:22]  <arrbee> We have 10 more minutes. :)

[23:23]  <mirontoli> Regarding the language mavens project, it is very exciting, To me it is not totally clear how it will be organized. But we will have a meeting. And hopefully, I can contribute in some positive way.

[23:24]  <a_r_n> mirontoli: +1 sounds interesting.... but no clear idea as of now...

[23:24]  <arrbee> mirontoli: Yes, that is the idea. :)

[23:24]  <malkum> arrbee: Suspense makes it more interesting.

[23:25]  <arrbee> We would like to hear more from you to better prepare the implementation details. 

[23:25]  <alolita> arrbee will be sending out more details to everyone who's signed up for the first mavens group

[23:25]  <alolita> before the meeting :-)

[23:25]  <arrbee> At this point we do expect to go through a few iterations to fully understand how to organise the basic bits and then tailor them according to the needs of the individual language communities.

[23:26]  <Nemo_bis> Thehelpfulone: the CN-Translate thing is supposed to be working on testwiki, have you tested it?

[23:27]  <malkum> a_r_n: You are the chap who got Wikimania Scholarship right? if so Congratulations :)

[23:27]  <arrbee> aharoni: alolita Nikerabbit pginer siebrand : Is there anything else you'd like to talk about before its time to go? :)

[23:28]  <siebrand> Yes, but my time is up :)

[23:28]  <alolita> i think we covered everything!

[23:28]  <alolita> thanks arrbee

[23:28]  <K4-713> siebrand: Dang, sorry: Missed your ping earlier. We're planning on switching CentralNotice over to the translation extension tomorrow.

[23:29]  <alolita> look forward to seeing everyone who is interested in our gsoc projects participate in our session tomorrow

[23:29]  <siebrand> Thehelpfulone, Nemo_bis ^ ^

[23:29]  <siebrand> K4-713: JIT

[23:29]  <arrbee> Anyways, we have not run out of time

[23:29]  <arrbee> now*

[23:30]  <arrbee> We would like to thank you all for coming by today. 

[23:30]  * andrewbogott is now known as andrewbogott_afk

[23:30]  <arrbee> Unless something changes, our next office hour would be held on 8th May 2013 at 1700 UTC.

[23:30]  <malkum> Thanks arrbee and everyone. Have a great day

[23:30]  <arrbee> Until then we can be reached on the IRC channel #mediawiki-i18n, over email and social media.

[23:30]  <alolita> thanks for joining!

[23:30]  <arrbee> We will also be posting updates about our work through the Wikimedia blog and mailing lists.

[23:31]  <malkum> Nikerabbit: Have a great day :)

[23:31]  <arrbee> The logs from this office hour will also be available on the office-hour page.

[23:31]  <Nikerabbit> thanks

[23:31]  <arrbee> Thank you and see you at the next office-hour