Reviving Indonesian on WordPress.org

Hello, world! My name is Devin. I was exposed to the WordPress community in Indonesia for the first time in late 2016 when I joined as a volunteer on the spot at WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Denpasar. Since then, I’ve involved in the WordPress community both in Bali and Jakarta. It began with WordCamp, MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area., and then I’m involved in translation. I was also involved in an initiative called PerempuanWP, which is not exclusively for women but it aims to bring awareness and support women using WordPress in Indonesia.

How it started

It all started in 2019. After contributing to WordCamp, I was asking for more ways to contribute to WordPress. I don’t have an IT background and have only experienced managing a couple of WordPress sites. Then, I was told about translation and how I can help translate WordPress from English to Indonesian. I’ve lived, studied, and worked overseas including in an English speaking country. So although I am not a trained translator, that should be a pretty good reason to join the Indonesian polyglot team.

I was taught how to use Poedit by my husband and assigned as a PTEProject Translation Editor A Project Translation Editor (often referred to as PTE) is a person, who has access to validate strings on a specific project (for example BuddyPress, WooCommerce or Twenty Fourteen) for one specific locale. A project translation editor can approve strings that are added by translation contributors. Per project translation, editors are appointed by a general translation editor after a request by the project author or by the contributors themselves. for his plugins. At the same time, I was reaching out to one of the Indonesian LocaleLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/ Managers. We worked together several times organizing WordCamps, so it was easy to just get in touch with the person. I was then given the access as GTEGeneral Translation Editor A General Translation Editor (often referred to as GTE) is a person, who has global access to validate strings on all projects for a specific locale. and asked to work on WordPress CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. and WooCommerce translation. 

However, not until I went to WCEU in Berlin and met with some people who have been working on WordPress translation that I got more excited than ever. I reached out to some people to learn and ask for guidance. I was told to start reviving Indonesian on WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ by contacting the Locale Managers dan updating Glossary and Style Guide. 

I tried to reach out to the other Locale Managers. Unfortunately, I didn’t get enough support I needed to start reviving Indonesian translation on WordPress.org. Also, there was no documentation or knowledge transfer about Indonesian translation for new contributors. 

So I sat again with the Locale Manager I am in touch with, discussed the plan to revive, and asked for any support I can get. I began to use available platforms to get interests and additional support such as Facebook and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. Luckily, there was already a slack channel called “translation”.

There was only one person who showed interest in translation. It is better than none at all to start. So we started discussing the plan and brainstormed some ideas. Finally, the three of us came up with a brief reviving plan.

Indonesian Translation Reviving Plan

Communication platform to discuss translation

• Website: wp-id.org and Slack channel #translation
• Indonesian Forum on WordPress.com and WordPress.org

Prioritized translation projects

• Finalizing WordPress 5.0 translation
• Finalizing WooCommerce translation

• Building Indonesian Glossary
• Updating the Indonesian Style Guide

To-dos

• Contacting more people who have been involved in translation
• Recruiting more people who are interested in contributing to the translation
• Promoting on social media

Promotion platforms 

• Social Media: FB, IG, and Twitter
• Website: wp-id.org

We drafted an email to reach out to existing GTEs. Basically, we thanked them for their contribution and asked if they are willing to get involved in the reviving plan. We had three people replied, but unfortunately, we still didn’t get the support we want. At the same time, we wrote blog posts, created posters, and shared on social media.

There was an interesting response that we received. Someone got back to us asking if we are official and mentioning about the disappointment that the GTE had as there was never a recognition for the translation work that has been done.

What we’ve achieved

Since around September 2019, we have made some progress and achieved the following: 

1. We activated the translation channel and changed the name into ‘poliglot’. Yes, we do have an official Indonesian word for polyglot. This channel has been the platform to learn as a team, discuss, make decisions, and keep things transparent. 
2. We write blog posts on wp-id.org and created categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging.: https://wp-id.org/category/poliglot/ and subcategories: discussion and guidance as an attempt to document our activities and communicate with interested people. 
3. We use all social media channels to spread the word and invite people to translate. 
4. We created a new Glossary and have a working spreadsheet to keep it updated.
5. We have updated the Style Guide and planned to upload it soon.
6. We wrote a blog post about our own version of measuring success as motivation.
7. We have 100% completed the translation and released WordPress Core 5.3.x and 5.4.x.
8. We are working on completing and reviewing MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. translation.
9. We are working on completing and reviewing WooCommerce and TwentyTwenty.
10. We translated the Code of Conduct as a team and are working on translating Representing WordPress and the Five Good-Faith Rules.
11. We have drafted some terms and conditions for Locale Managers and GTE, as well as considerations for those who are interested to become Locale Managers, GTE, and PTE. 
12. We have three new active Locale Managers and planned to reach out to inactive Locale Managers and GTE, again.

What I’ve learned

We still have a lot to work on, but we have come this far in less than a year. I think we can achieve a lot if we work as a team. 

Translation helps many Indonesians who don’t understand English to conveniently use WordPress in our mother tongue. As the fourth largest population on Earth, Indonesia offers great potentials for WordPress, not only as users but also as contributors. 

However, undeniably language is often the barrier to understand, maximize, and contribute to anything including WordPress. Through language, we can break barriers and stop the ignorance. 

One thing that I learned and should be actively communicated to WordPress users in Indonesia is that translating WordPress is as important as coding.