In this month's inaugural Localization Lab newsletter you will find information about new projects and events for September, an update on translation progress across Localization Lab projects, urgent translation needs for September as well as a call for Language Coordinators and project maintenance.
We hope you enjoy and let us know what you would like to see included in next month's newsletter!
Announcements
New Projects
Social Media Exchange
In August we welcomed the Social Media Exchange (SMEX) to the Localization Lab hub along with their first project, translation of the How to engage in cyber policy: Tools for human rights defenders series from Global Partners Digital.
From the SMEX website:
Social Media Exchange is a media advocacy and development organization with more than 20 years’ experience in commercial, development, and post-conflict media environments. [They] address urgent needs in the Arab information society through:
Online and offline courses in digital and social media
Peer-to-peer learning events
Planning and implementation of advocacy campaigns
Internet policy and digital rights research
Production and localization of how-to manuals and guides
Visit the SMEX site or follow them on Twitter to keep up with their projects and advocacy efforts!
September Events
Bi-Weekly Community Meeting
When: Friday, September 23rd @ 14:00 UTC
Where: https://meet.jit.si/L10nLab
What: The goal of the community meetings is to offer an open space to discuss all things related to localization and the projects supported the Localization Lab community. All community members are welcome to join and contribute with topics of discussion, questions or concerns.
Please feel free to add the meetings to your calendar and contribute to the meeting Agenda and Notes even if you are unable to attend.
Translators' Corner
August Translation Progress
Not sure which projects could use your help? Take a look at the Translation Progress of Active Projects - Through August 2016 to get a view of translation progress across the most active projects and languages within the Localization Lab Hub in Transifex.
A giant thank you to all translators that have put in endless hours of work to get so many projects fully translated! Across 43 projects, there are roughly 270 translations that are 100% finished, 41 of which are also fully reviewed.
To help keep up this progress, be sure to let us know when you have finished translation of a project! Once we know that a project has been finished, we can recruit reviewers and contact project owners to let them know that new translations are almost ready to release.
September Translation Needs
The following projects are in need of contributors like you for both translation and review. Several of the projects have deadlines to meet, so take a look and start contributing now if you can!
Lantern
Language(s) Needed: Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese
Translation Deadline: As soon as possible
Need Overview:
In the past 6 months Lantern has seen increases in users of its service coming from broad set of regions including the Arabian Peninsula, Russia, Iran and parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Thank you to the help of many in this community, significant work was done to make Lantern fully available in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Turkish and Russian.
More recently Lantern has also seen sustained growth in number of users in India, Thailand and Vietnam. They are currently seeking translators who can assist with translations into Hindi, Thai and Vietnamese to try and make Lantern more accessible for these new users in South and Southeast Asia.
Project Overview:
Lantern is a free, open source Internet proxy tool that automatically detects blocked content and allows you to access it through Lantern servers. When content is not not blocked, your browser can access it directly.
For more information, you can visit the Lantern website. Download Lantern for Windows or Mac OS from the Lantern site and download the mobile app for Android from the website or Google Play.
Translate Lantern here!
F-Droid
Language(s) Needed: Burmese, Shona
Translation Deadline: As soon as possible
Need Overview:
In order to support two upcoming workshops, the F-Droid team is in need of volunteers who can translate the F-Droid interface into Burmese and Shona.
**The training requiring Burmese begins on the 16th of September, so if you are able, please contribute as soon as possible.**
F-Droid strings are hosted via Weblate - not Transifex - so in order to contribute you will need to create a Weblate account. Weblate is intuitive and functions much like Transifex, however if you have any questions you can refer to the Weblate documentation or contact us.
Project Overview:
F-Droid is a community-run appstore for Android devices with a focus on providing Free Software and respecting the privacy of users. F-Droid allows users to “swap” apps, or transfer apps from one device to another without an Internet connection, and also lets users create their own app repositories from which others can install apps.
For more information, visit the F-Droid website.
Translate F-Droid here!
SMEX: Global Partners Videos
Language(s) Needed: Arabic
Translation Deadline: September 30th
Need Overview:
Social Media Exchange (SMEX) is in need of volunteers to help translate the "How to engage in cyber policy: Tools for human rights defenders" series into Arabic. The modules need to be translated by September 30, 2016, so if you can contribute, please get in touch soon! The videos, once translated will be published and shared with SMEX’s Arabic-speaking audience.
Project Overview:
"How to engage in cyber policy: Tools for human rights defenders" is a 15-video series, produced by Global Partners Digital, to help human rights defenders develop the tools, skills and knowledge they need to engage effectively in cyber policy debates. The series is structured around five modules. The first four each focus on a different aspect of cyber policy - human rights, cybersecurity, regulatory frameworks and cyber capacity building - with a final regional module highlighting how these apply in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
All of the modules are not yet available online, however we highly recommend taking a look at the content that is currently on Youtube.
Translate the Global Partners Digital Videos here!
Umbrella
Language(s) Needed: Spanish, Traditional Chinese (review only)
Translation Deadline: N/A
Need Overview:
At a recent Localization Lab supported Localization Sprint held in Bogotá, a group of Spanish-speaking digital security trainers and professionals collaborated and were collectively able to translate 88% of the application into Spanish. The Umbrella team is looking for individuals who can help translate this last chunk of the application so that a full Spanish version of the app can finally be released.
If you are specifically interested in reviewing the Umbrella App, please contact us so that we can coordinate.
Project Overview:
Umbrella is a free, open-source app for Android devices, developed by the Security First team. Umbrella brings together all the latest tools and advice on how to operate securely. Based on your level of ability, it offers simple, practical advice on what to do and what tools to use, reflecting your level of risk.
For more information, you can visit the Security First website. Download Umbrella on Google Play, through F-Droid or Amazon.
Translate Umbrella here!
Call for Language Coordinators
We are currently looking for language coordinators in the following languages to pilot language coordination of projects within Transifex:
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Persian
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
One goal of Localization Lab is to make this community as self-sustainable and effective as possible. In order to do this, we need the help of dedicated individuals who are willing to assist with screening and welcoming new translators, finding translators when a project is in need of translations as well as communicating with Localization Lab staff and project owners about challenges and needs of users and translators.
You can read more about the ideal role that a Language Coordinator would play in the Localization Lab Contributor Roles & Guidelines.
If you are interested in language coordination for one of the above languages or can recommend an individual who might be interested, please contact us.
Project Owners’ Corner
Fall Cleaning
It’s important to keep your projects up-to-date to reduce confusion, keep translation moving smoothly and ensure that the valuable work of translators does not go to waste. Here are some quick things you can do as a project owner to help keep things running smoothly:
Update your list of project Maintainers: Review the individuals that you have listed as project Maintainers in Transifex and remove anyone who is no longer with your organization or who is not active in Transifex. The list of Maintainers is visible to translators who may contact those individuals for assistance. It can be very discouraging if they do not receive any response.
Managing your list of Maintainers and project CollaboratorsCheck out your Transfex Inbox on a regular basis: Translators, in addition to commenting on strings and creating issues, may also contact you via private message to ask questions. Take a look through your inbox by selecting your avatar from the upper right-hand corner of the Transifex main navigation bar and then selecting Messages.
Review Issues filed by translators: Review and respond to the issues that are filed by translators across your projects. If you do not respond to the questions of translators, they not only cannot move forward, but can be deterred from continuing to translate. Additionally, if an issue is filed in one language, chances are the same questions are being asked by translators across other languages as well. Responding to one translator can significantly reduce future support workload.
Viewing all open issues in your project: A link to your project’s open issues is available on your project dashboard to the bottom right of the translation progress line graph. Simply select the link and you will be taken to a list of all strings with associated open issues.Lock or remove unused strings and resources: Check your list of resources and remove any that are outdated and no longer in use. If these resources are not locked or removed, translators will continue to contribute to them unnecessarily, inhibiting progress on needed strings and wasting translators’ time.
Locking strings and resources
Keep in Touch!
Join the Localization Lab Google Group to keep up with announcements, pose questions to fellow translators and project owners and take part in discussions.
Follow us on Twitter
Join the Localization Lab Skype Channel or come chat with us on IRC for quick questions or casual discussion.
Send us an email with any suggestions, questions or concerns you might have.