Re: New document required

[Christian Rose <menthos gnome org>]

mån 2003-08-04 klockan 11.18 skrev Malcolm Tredinnick:
> After some conversations a couple of weeks ago with somebody not yet
> involved in GNOME translations, it appears there is a document waiting
> to be written. When an individual or a group of people form a new
> translation team, there must be a number of tasks that they have to do.
> Things like beginning to create a word list of consistent translations
> for particular terms. There must also be a few known tips for people
> coordinating translation teams -- whether everybody is working remotely,
> or periodically meeting and translating around a kitchen table. Many of
> these tasks are common between the teams.

Certainly -- I've had ideas for such a document, primarily aimed for
team coordinators. Basic things to think about, such as:

* Having a webpage. No matter how simple it is it usually tells more
than a hundred mails, and helps gain more interest. The page doesn't
need to be fancy at all, it just needs to provide basic information in
the native language, such as what it's all about, how to join, what work
has to be done (may be as simple as a link to the status pages) and
other resources, such as a page with agreed-upon common terminology
and/or links to other dictionaries. An English version of the page may
also be useful, since other team coordinators can then also use ideas
from it.
* Having a mailing list (for native discussions). Even though the team
may be small it's almost essential to have a mailing list for the team
to be able to expand and still function properly. Communication is key.

Other very useful stuff to have in such a document:
* Translator CVS access policy, and how to apply
* Team coordinator responsibilities -- it's not about just having the
name listed on a page, it's about being able to organize some work (even
as a one-person-only team) and act as a contact person in both ways, for
team members and new volunteers and also the GTP.
Also a (sadly very often forgotten) responsibility is to hand over the
coordinatorship to someone else and announce the change should one
decide to move on to other things in life. I feel we are very much in
need for improvement here, there has been (and probably still is) many
teams that have had absent/unreachable coordinators, and hence probably
many volunteers that have never gotten responses to their enquires, and
as a consequence left us.
It's not a trivial problem to solve; there are many teams and a high
exchange of people in general, but I feel we definately need to push
this and make clear that it's also a part of the responsibilities of
being a team coordinator.

Perhaps someone else has some more ideas for what should be contained?


Christian