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Content translation/Section translation

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Section translation is an expansion of the current Content Translation capabilities. Section translation enables users to expand existing Wikipedia articles by translating new sections. In addition, Section Translation is designed to work on mobile devices (in addition to desktop) using a modernized front-end architecture. In this way, users will have new opportunities to translate that were not possible with Content Translation before.

Section Translation Screencast

Section translation is the main project of the Boost initiative which is aimed at expanding the use of translation to help more communities to grow. Below you can find more information about the wikis the project will be focusing on.

Document compiling example scenarios where new ways to contribute with translation can help content to propagate across wikis more fluently

Please, provide any feedback about this initiative in the discussion page. We are interested in hearing your ideas on how to help communities grow by using translation. More details and updates are provided below.

Try the tool

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Section translation is in early development. For now it is available at a test server and Wikipedias in several languages:

Direct access

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Section translation allows to link directly to a pre-selected article or section to translate by defining an appropriate url. This can be convenient for the integration with external tools. For example, you can create a link to translate the Moon article or the "Legal status" section of the same article.

Entry points

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Section Translation is integrated with the Wikipedia language selector on mobile. Searching for a language in which the article does not exist yet lets you create a translation for it. This is only available in the languages where Section Translation is already available (which will expand over time).

Section translation mobile editor
Initial ideas on how to support section translation on desktop and mobile to expand articles
Entry point ideas for Section Translation
Design specification
Section Translation Usability (Bengali) - Final Report

Goals and impact

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Language showcase November 2019, featuring the Boost project and Javanese Wikimedia community feedback about Content Translation

These are the main goals for the project and metrics to measure them:

  • Grow the community of translators. Attract more users to translate (using different devices) that remain active over time and help recruit new translators.
    • Metric: Increase the percentage of new editors that completed their second translation in a month.
  • Grow the content available. Increase the coverage in both the topics available and their depth (information they contain).
    • Metric: Double the number of weekly translations on selected wikis (to create new content or extend existing one).

Boost initiative: communities with potential to grow with translation

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Content translation has been successful in supporting the translation process on many Wikipedia communities. It has already helped to create thousands of new articles while encouraging the creation of good quality translations.

We want to focus on Wikipedias with potential to grow by using translation. Research on Section translation and other initiatives to make translation in general more visible such as providing Content Translation access by default (out of beta) will involve and focus on the needs of these particular group of wikis.

This initiative is part of a long-term vision to support cross-wiki content propagation, and it is aligned with the Wikimedia Foundation plans to "Grow participation globally, focusing on emerging markets" and increasing "Worldwide readership".

Communities to focus on

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Wikipedias with less than 100K articles, a significant editing activity for the size of their wiki (more than 70 active editors), and making little use of translation currently (less than 100 translations per month).

Given the above, we initially selected the following Wikipedias: Malayalam, Bengali, Tagalog, Javanese, Albanian, and Mongolian.

As the project becomes more visible, other communities showed interest in the project, and some initiatives will be applied there too. These Wikipedias are Central Bikol and Arabic.

Additional considerations

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This small group of wikis represents a much larger group of communities that can grow with the proposed improvements. Selecting a small set allows us to focus and collaborate more closely with them. Nevertheless, we expect the improvements to benefit a larger number of wikis, and users from all wikis are definitely welcome to participate.

Provide your feedback

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Please, provide any feedback in the discussion page. We are interested in hearing your ideas on how to help communities grow by using translation and Section translation in particular.

You can also check the project in Phabricator to track the progress of the different tasks and share any comment about them.

Research

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Section Translation Design Research Report

The Language Team is also conducting research to better understand the language-related needs of different wikis. This research also supports the design process by evaluating ideas around new ways of expanding existing articles and contributing from mobile devices.

  • Section Translation Research — The Section Translation Design Research project evaluated current mobile prototypes with two small wikis. The project evaluated not only initial prototypes, but also a number of design changes after each round of testing. The project also supported design exploration by gathering interview data around critical assumptions of Section Translation, including the role of mobile and the relevance of article sections as a meaningful unit of translation.
  • Section Translation Usability TestingThe Section Translation Usability Testing (Bengali Wikipedia) project aimed to learn about the experiences of the first editors using Section Translation on the Bengali Wikipedia.
  • Section Translation Entry Points Design ResearchThe Section Translation Entry Points Design Research project investigated new ways that both experienced and new editors may discover translation opportunities, especially on mobile devices.
  • Section Translation Post-Improvements TestingThe Section Translation Post-Improvements Testing (Thai Wikipedia) project provided usability testing after a number of tool improvements and at a time when it was becoming available in a greater number of wikis, including Thai Wikipedia.
  • Section Translation Feedback SurveySurvey feedback was collected with the goal of learning from the experiences of editors who used Section Translation during a Bengali Wikipedia article quality improvement competition in 2022.

Status updates

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February 2024

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December 2023

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January 2021

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  • After the publication of a proposal for translatable modules, we evaluated the implementation efforts required and developed a plan.
  • Sent recruitment messages and communicated with possible participants to try to identify additional test users who match criteria our criteria (general level of experience with CX, language pairs supported by Apertium, openness to testing on mobile).

December 2020

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December 2019

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July 2019

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