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Meeting Details

• 9:00am Pacific, 12:00pm Eastern
• 650-215-1282 x91 Conf# 206 (US/INTL)
• irc.mozilla.org #L10n for backchannel

Attendees

Mic, Axel, TimR, WilC, Choffman, TonyC, (Seth in Japan)

QA next steps

• many action items of which some are registered as a bug [1]
• context: want to add run time checks to our existing compile checks is objective so question is how do we do this and in a way that gets feedback to localizers in a way they can utilize
• ongoing discussion; in flux don't know how much we can rely on build bot and how much we need to keep inside tinderbox; we will decide this by the last alpha of Firefox 3 so avoid major infrastructure changes in Beta cycle especially those we don't know for sure will succeed
• RobC will set up test infrastructure based on existing infrastructure he uses to test any kind of builds that pop up from l10n tinderbox which we'll do on trunk only for now
• Alice and Axel will feed extensions to RobC to run tests (extensions and url which would run these)
• Axel and RobH will set up a build bot on l10n server to do incubator repackaging; will test how easy and efficient Bonsai puller and distribution, etc can be in an l10n repackaging scenario
• build bot is currently set up on l10n server; will use build bot version in CVS that we already have
• Axel and Preed will review tinderbox scripts, not as bad as thought they might be, (Apple builds installer twice cause it can, Linux and Windows build installer once and installer knows it supposed to do language packs) so it's ok although Mac just does weird things
• last progress report on build side is seem to have tree for repackaging: this will reduce time in repackaging locales once changes land (we hope for the day when we drop 1.0 repackaging tinder boxes ;-)
• Tim and Axel will meet again to get closer to what we want to test and when (Tim needs something for release 2004; what can we do to reduce load on minor updates for QA)
  • Tim on RobC is going great (clear what we're looking for; need test master and slave to fire off tests on different builds)
  • Alice not seeing clear definition; also need process for creating machine readable output
  • first step for this testing - need to know first step to meet partner needs and core branding requirements for l10n; get small set of things to test ot meet these needs (had Graydon lists, property lists, etc); proves concept and get valuable results (then can add more) for next 3 months
  • suggested to talk with Mic and KevN (Kev should have partner requirements, also possibly Thunder - Dan Mills)

AMO requirements for l10n

• WilC will join driver team to represent AMO for L10n
  • Expectations are to get a better understanding of load balancing with localizer community = who is doing what
  • There may not be lots of input every week but the expectation is to learn and gain insights by coming/listening

Overview of l10n process for AMO

Interface localization

• meaning, the titles on the pages, text in menus, etc.
• Uses .po files and form fields (text boxes) on the site
• Only people marked localizers have access.
• There is no review of translations before going live

Add-on meta-data localization

• meta-data means the stuff on the webpage like description, homepage, summary, etc.)
• Uses form fields on the site to update (has a separate form for each language we support)
• Only add-on authors have access
• There is no connection between authors and localizers right now (an issue we're trying to solve)
• There is no review of translations, the author is responsible for what they put on the site

Add-on localization

• meaning the strings in the add-on itself - this is not a part of the AMO site
• Uses files inside the add-on .xpi
• There is no way to edit this on the AMO site
• Author is responsible for contacting localizers, etc. (this is something we're trying to assist with)

Tools

• There are no tools to give reviewers a diff between extension and previous version of it; localizer can view files in extension but there is no diff
  • There is not a separate extension for each locale; we do 40-50 languages at once

Scalability issues

• Add-ons and meta data about add-ons, this is not that scalable to get to as many languages as possible, Wil posted note to l10n-amo list about where to go from here
• Babelzilla.org is a forum for authors to submit extension, parses out all strings and allows localizer to translate them; using their system would be great
• Suggestion to put a wiki link on add-ons site that says get help localizing extension here's what you do and lists the tools that are available including http://babelzilla.org/ and http://extenzilla.org/
• Localizers can then use Babelzilla to get localization strings from their site and then they can copy and paste into our system
• Babelzilla seem to have a fairly rich community
• Extenzilla is specifically accounting but do same thing (we don't know much about Extenzilla other than they claim to localize add-ons)
• Second suggestion; can also create joint page on MDC between AMO and l10n pages

RSS reader for Fx3

• Within the forums it's been suggested that Netvibes might be another option for localizers as it has more localized languages relative to the current default set of Yahoo, Google and Bloglines
• Mic checked in with Lilly on this, ok to accept Localizer requests for NetVibes in their language, need a more proactive stance for Fx3
• Plan is to conduct some research into RSS readers for Fx3, specifically (consider these Mic's TO DOs)
  • talk to Betlzner about this; may be more a UE question than product question
  • Get RobSayer to look at technical aspect and how compatible we are or will be with readers
  • Need to gather information on how well the service and reader works internationally; specifically determine from forums what the feedback is, how much testing has been done if any, how broad international support is and how consistent it is for locales they support now
  • Get a comprehensive list of RSS Readers available
  • The intent is to create a proactive position well before Fx3 release e.g., yes, use NetvBives or other position
  • Mic has not contacted Netvibes directly to ask if we have their permission to widely distribute their reader, over Fx2 release Netvibes did indicate they were very interested in broad distribution; Mic won't contact them until the research has been done and we're more informed

Consolidating email distribution lists

• Discussion about possibly consolidating our L10n regular and L10n-AMO mailing lists into one list

Documentation next steps

• Following from summit last week, many items were documented including the end to end localization process
• In addition, weekly meeting notes will be posted on same wiki

Marketing buffet for localizers

• Agenda item for next week

Action items

• AMO: Will create wiki page; ask Babelzilla (Goofy) to describe themselves there
• RSS Reader options for Fx3: Mic to conduct research to inform a decision
• Email lists: Mic to list pro's/con's points from meeting and post to intranet forum for review
• Documentation: Mic to take a crack at posting content on wiki.org.l10n and get feedback that way
• Marketing buffet: Seth to present rough ideas next week