Starting a Polyglots Outreach Effort

Summary: I will be starting a Polyglots outreach program. This program will include monthly posts with a call for volunteers to help reach out to a series of 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/ teams. Monthly posts will also have opportunities to develop and share new resources that locale teams can use to build their translation communities or to support new translation teams if a locale is inactive.

Inspired by the Community team’s efforts to reactivate Meetup groups, I’d like to experiment with an outreach effort for the Polyglots community. While reviewing some annual stats for a global 2022 WordPress Translation Day presentation, I noticed something. Compared to last year, five more 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/ have WordPress up-to-date, but there are fifteen more locales that are behind by more than one major version.

All of this got me thinking about our Polyglots community. How do we know if a locale team is active, and what can we do if they’re inactive or need help? How can we better support each other – especially teams with fewer contributors or with more work and fewer people to help?

Starting a Polyglots outreach effort

I began to think about how I could start our own version of outreach efforts in Polyglots. With that in mind, I’ll be experimenting with a new outreach effort beginning this month – and I invite anyone interested to join me!

Every month, I will publish a post on the Make/Polyglots blog with a list of locales for outreach. These locales will initially include:

• Locales that previously had a CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. version release but are behind by more than one version – This is so I can understand how or if global Polyglots can help support these translation communities.
• Locales with a high number of total waiting stringsString A string is a translatable part of the software. A translation consists of a multitude of localized strings. – This is so I can better understand if this is by choice (e.g., the team has set other priorities) or is a side effect of needing more contributors.

I will invite anyone interested to help reach out to each locale team to encourage GTEs to reply to a survey or set up chats to understand the team’s current needs and challenges. Contributors to these locales can also help with outreach! Then we will share updates on each month’s post in the comments section.

These posts will also include finished and in-progress resources that may be helpful to grow locale teams – such as documentation or social media templates – so anyone can help create those.

Why?

I want to post these monthly updates and goals on Make/Polyglots so everything is transparent. We can all learn from each other. 

By posting once a month, I hope it is easier for more people to help. This way, it is possible to contribute for one month or longer. I will also track and publicly share my progress, along with any notes and general findings. 

I have two main goals for this experiment:

• Get a better understanding of which locale teams are active or inactive, which can help new contributors and Global Mentors when helping with requests.
• For inactive teams, help find ways that the global Polyglots community can support current members or help support building a new team.

How to help?

Who would like to join me? I will need help with the following:

• Directly contacting locale teams and their translation editorsTranslation Editor Translation editors can approve translations for projects. The GTE (General Translation Editor) and LM (Locale Manager) roles can add new users with the "Project Translation Editor" role that can approve translations for specific projects. There are two different Translation Editor roles: General Translation Editor and Project Translation Editor each month.
• For inactive locale teams, potentially identifying new contributors – or volunteering for editor roles in your language.
• Helping to write or provide feedback on new resources.
• Sharing (or translating!) this and upcoming posts with your community.

Please comment on this post if you’re interested or have any feedback. There is no deadline, so you’re welcome to join me later!

Thank you to the following people for sharing insightful feedback on this post and an earlier version of this idea: @nao @petya @monchomad @leogopal @_dorsvenabili @annezazu @devinmaeztri @peiraisotta @tobifjellner.

#polyglots-outreach