Idea: Polyglots Monthly Updates (+ Newsletter)

Are you having a hard time keeping up with what’s happening around the Polyglots TeamPolyglots Team Polyglots Team is a group of multilingual translators who work on translating plugins, themes, documentation, and front-facing marketing copy. https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/.?

Have you missed a polyglots blog post and wished you had read it in time?

Because of the unique nature of our P2p2 "p2" is the name of the theme that blogs at make.wordpress.org use (and o2 is the accompanying plugin). When asked to post something "on the p2" by a member of the Polyglots team, that usually means you're asked to post on the team blog https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/. (https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/) – it’s used both as a request and project update platform – I feel that many of us would answer “Yes” to the questions above.

The other day, I was talking with some folks from the Community Team about something else, and the topic of a monthly newsletter came up in our discussion. The team sends out a monthly WordPress 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. Newsletter to event organizers and posts the same content to their P2 (examples).

This got me thinking: Can we also try sending out a monthly Polyglots Newsletter to translation contributors on an opt-in basis? The Community Team offered to let us use the system they are on (Mailchimp) if we’d like to start this.

Benefits

• Subscribers can receive important news such as upcoming releases and tool/process changes without keeping a close eye on the P2, 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/., or RSS feedRSS Feed RSS is an acronym for Real Simple Syndication which is a type of web feed which allows users to access updates to online content in a standardized, computer-readable format. This is the feed..
• We could engage more translators and inspire them to stay active.
• The newsletter can build engagement around Polyglots Team projects (such as the upcoming Polyglots Training).

Concerns & things to consider:

• We need someone to write the contents and administer the list
  • Erica & I can make a commitment so that the newsletter is sent out regularly
• Fewer people may be engaged in the P2 or Slack
  • Yes, but the opposite effect is also be possible – more people will catch news in time and join the discussion
• Will it be English only?
  • Maybe, but it doesn’t have to be. It is possible to collect users’ language information at newsletter sign-up and send different contents based on the segmentation in the future if the project grows. If localesLocale 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/ are interested, someone from a 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/ could translate the contents of the newsletter and post it in their RosettaRosetta The code name of the theme for the local WordPress sites (eg. bg.wordpress.org is a “Rosetta” site). All locale specific WordPress sites are referred to as “Rosetta sites.” The name was inspired from the ancient Rosetta Stone, which contained more or less the same text in three different languages. site too.

Feedback Requested

Is this worth a try? Would love to hear what you all think. Please leave general feedback, or you can answer these questions.

1. Do you think monthly updates and/or newsletter can help you or other polyglots stay informed about important things happening in WordPress?
2. Have you seen any other good practice (by an OSS or non-commercial organization) for keeping you informed and engaged? (e.g. https://www.painelwp.com.br/, Mozilla L10N report)
3. Would you be interested in contributing content for future newsletters?

Thanks @harishanker, @evarlese, @tobifjellner and @andreamiddleton for reviewing the post.