This is a proposal of mine, intended to be part of Meta:Language proposal policy/Community draft, about localisation. Currently people starting a new wiki need to translate way too much messages, and a large part of those will they never see.

Proposal

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What needs to be translated:

  • For each wiki, translate the core messages and extensions marked with the number of the wiki.
    Please reword! I don't know how to explain, but I'll give an example: If you'd start a second wiki in that language, look under 2.
  • For extensions, also special applying to the project in question. Extensions marked with special means they need to translated if it is by default used on the project in question (in bold). For example, if the request is for a Wikinews, the Quiz extension would need to be translated.
  • For artificial languages, the following simple rules apply:
    • First wiki: most used and extensions marked with "1"
  • Second wiki: MediaWiki core and extensions used by WMF

Core

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name wiki ref
MOST USED MESSAGES which are not in this table 1
ALL CORE MESSAGES which are not in this table 2
exif-* not [5] [4]
revdelete-* not [1] [2]
logdelete-* not [1] [2]
mergehistory-* not [1] [3]
userrights-* 3 [2/3]
feed* not [4] [5]
import* not [3] [4]
export* not [5] [4]
right-* not [5]
Developer tools section: lock* and unlock* and databasenotlocked not [2]
version* not [5] [4]
scarytransclude* not [1] [4]
mw_math_* 3 [5] [4]
undelete* 3 [3]
protect* (but not protected*) 3 [3]
delete* (but not deletedarticle) 3 [3]

Extensions

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Double equal signs (==) means it's used everywhere. List of first column is last updated 4 August '08. Column 2 is last updated 18 March '08. See external links.

name usage wiki ref
inputbox == 1
wikimediamessages == 1
cite == 2
citespecial wikipedia + wikisource special
newuserlog == 1
confirmedit == 2
confirmeditfancycaptcha == 2
categorytree == 2
dismissablesitenotice == 2
expandtemplates == 3 [5]
parserfunctions == 2
crossnamespacelinks == 2
ogghandler == 2
imagemap == 2
labeledsectiontransclusion wikisource + enwiktionary special [1]
mwsearch was not included as of March 2
linksearch == 2
sitematrix == 2
gadgets == 2
fixedimage == (this is <foundation/> tag which seems to be not used anymore) not
centralauth == 2
syntaxhighlightgeshi == 2
timeline == 2
wikihiero == 2
oai == 2
poem == 2
universaleditbutton == 2
doublewiki wikisource special
intersection wikinews + wikiquote + wikibooks + wikiversity + some other wikis special [1]
proofreadpage wikisource special [1]
quiz wikinews + wikiversity + some wikibookses special [1]
scanset enwikisource not [1]
skinperpage foundationwiki not [1]
antispoof == 2
spamblacklist == 2
simpleantispam unknown as of March 2
titleblacklist == 2
titlekey == 2
torblock unknown as of March 2
usernameblacklist == 2
deletedcontribs == 2
checkuser == not [2]
nuke 5 wikis not [1]
oversight == not [2]
renameuser == 2
assertedit == not [5]
centralnotice == (Fundraising; may be no longer used) not [6]
parserdifftest == (¿will it be removed?) not [5]
boardvote == 3 [5]

Reasons for exceptions

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[1] These messages of a feature which is disabled by default. This automatically also has reason [5].
[2] These messages are of a feature that is restricted to exceptional user groups (developer, oversight, ...). This automatically also has reason [5].
[3] These messages are of a feature that is restricted to common user groups (sysops, bureaucrats, bots). This automatically also has reason [5].
[4] These messages are (very) hard to translate. This could be messages with technical terms, or messages difficult out of context.
[5] These messages are rarely displayed, so it has a low benefit. For example, a special page which few users would use.
[6] This extension only includes a description on Special:Version, so see [5].

Statistics

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As of 26 July, this are the number of messages:

  • Extensions used by Wikimedia: 666 msgs
    • (Flagged Revs - recently removed & not counted here: 252 msgs)
  • Core: 1946 msgs
    • Only most used: 486 msgs
    • Core without most used: 1460 msgs
    • EXIF: ~ 220 msgs
  • Core without must used and extensions used by Wikimedia (Second wiki currently): 2126
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