Polyglots Global Mentors and Team Reps

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The WordPress 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/. consists of culturally and geographically diverse contributors. Sometimes the difference creates misunderstandings or conflicts, that’s why we have a group of mentors to provide support. 

The Polyglots leadership team helps new contributors get started, connects the team to the other contributor teams, pushes development improvements in the tools for translation contributors, and handles various 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/ and editor requests.

What is a lead/team mentor?

Below we will try and define the different roles team mentors have. The terms “global” designates that the role is not limited to a specific local community but aimed at helping anyone who would like to translate WordPress.

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Community leads and team mentors

Essentially, this role is non-technical and involves working with people. Here’s a list of a lot of responsibilities included in this role. (There may be more!)

  • Review and answer “people”-based 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/. comments and requests
  • Answer requests for new locales (research and process requests following the established process) and help create new sites
  • Weekly meetings (organize, take notes, post updates on how 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 doing)
  • Moderate disputes between General 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 and translators
  • Mentorships – Connect GTEs with other GTEs who can help and give pointers
  • Help to expand teams – find and approve GTEs; communicate with current GTEs
  • Interface with the other non-technical teams (community, wordpress.tv, marketing, etc.)
  • Review 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. sites to ensure they meet expectations, and contact locale managers if necessary
  • Help lead the effort to write and maintain documentation
  • Aggregate ideas for new tools and features to help the team
  • Organize events and remote contributor days
  • Create and maintain policies (like the Rosetta expectations; new things may be needed in the future)
  • Compile and post stats (on the P2)
  • Generally, find people to do things

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Technical leads

Technical leads are responsible for doing everything needed technically. Here’s a list of things that they may need to do:

  • Answer technical questions on the P2 on deployment and other relevant topic
  • Create locales (after community lead approves)
  • GlotPressGlotPress GlotPress is the translation management software that powers Translate.WordPress.org. More information is available at glotpress.org. – interface with the GlotPress team, including discussing future needs and helping implement those needs where applicable
  • Interface with the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team about upcoming core changes
  • Interface with the 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. team about necessary 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/ changes
  • Work on technical problems that local translations have
  • Create and compile stats (with community leads)
  • Write and maintain technical documentation

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How do we find/appoint leads?

Because of its global and diverse nature, the Polyglots team doesn’t just have one or two leads. It has a leadership team that helps cover timezones and collaborates for better understanding of issues across languages and cultures. The leadership team can work together to ensure no one gets burnt out and that no knowledge gets lost along the way. 

Team leads are people who are trusted by the global community and have an established history of helping contributors across different channels. The leadership team is open to everyone who would like to join and help on a global level.

For more information around general guidelines and vetting criteria for the various roles within the Polyglots community, please visit the Translation Editor & Locale Manager Vetting Criteria page.

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Polyglots team representatives

Team representatives are different from global mentors, though they can – and often do – overlap with one another. All current Polyglots global mentors have previously been team reps!

A team representativeTeam Representative The Polyglots team rep is responsible for communicating both directions for the polyglots team. That is, they communicate to other teams what’s happening with the polyglots team and communicate back to the polyglots team what’s happening with other teams, especially core is a project-wide role, and reps are typically selected each year. All WordPress contributor teams are required to have a minimum of two representatives who fulfill duties such as:

  • Posting weekly updates to the Make WordPress Updates blog
  • Raising issues or sharing important information across contributor teams and/or with other team reps
  • Leading team meetings
  • Generally acting as a liaison between WordPress contributor teams to represent Polyglots

You can read more about the team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. role and responsibilities on the Team Updates site.

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How are team reps selected?

Each year, around November, a post is published on the Make/Polyglots blog calling for team rep nominations. Any active Polyglots contributor can be nominated, regardless of whether they are active globally or locally.

Depending on the number of nominations, determining the team reps for the upcoming year can be decided by:

  • Selecting everyone, if only two to three of the nominees are interested and able to fulfill the role
  • Creating a poll or survey for global Polyglots team members to cast their vote
  • Allowing Polyglots global mentors to weigh in on results to ensure team reps are diverse, represent the global Polyglots community, and meet the expectations for the role

It is also possible to have multiple people nominated for the role who aren’t available at that time. As needs and availability change throughout the year, it is always an option to request backup from one of the other nominees at a later point. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring the Polyglots team is appropriately and fully respresented across the WordPress community.

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Current Polyglots global mentors and team reps

The following people are responsible for taking care of requests and mentoring and helping new contributors on a global level:

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