L10n:Official Localized Releases

Official Build

An official build means that:

1- Mozilla Corporation resources handle minor updates, etc and may collaborate with the you to complete a release. More specifically,

An approval for change requests is led by Axel
Code/string/catch ups are also approved by Axel
Branding changes (e.g., search, RSS, content handlers) are approved by Mic
Changes to in product web pages are approved by Pascal

2- Your team may not have a what we call a "full-skills team". Meaning all the building blocks for supporting your localization. [mic note insert note to get to Building blocks]. Mozilla is working to develop more ways to support you to develop your building blocks. Check out Seth's blog to hear more about our ideas.

3- Major updates are done by you. Our next major update is Firefox 3

Here are some tools that are likely going to be useful for you in this stage.
There are occasions when localizers don't meet the ship deadlines, we try to do everything we can to support you to meet the release dates. Mozilla (we) does this by communicating well in advance of deadlines and being clear about module owners and the like. In the case where a deadline is going to be missed, we've considered these as our suggested options:
next release as acceptable
special cases we may create a delay on being official build status

We're working on better understanding the state of your building blocks, meaning the size of your team (if you have one), where you might need help so that we can better support you. We've recently invested more resources to better support your community development efforts. If you feel your team is need of this type of support please email us.

[Mic note: insert how do we assess the "health" of a localization team and how we could better support them to develop their team or their skills].

4-Mozilla supports testing

TO DO: get more transparent on our requirements and the process

definitive tests, etc.

We also have a new feature you may or may not be aware of, you can check how you're localization is [insert link|performing]. We would like to help you continue to do well or do better at letting users know that your build is available to them. One thing we're committed to do this year generally to help is creating an easier way for users to find your build from our most trafficked pages. We also think expanding your community is helpful to you and so we've developed some tools with the help of some of the larger communities like Poland. Check out Seth Bingernagel's blog to read about what they're up to. The Japanese team has done an amazing job at this and between them and Paris I hear they have the best launch parties ;-).