OLPC:Language proposal policy

Please review the full text of this page before submitting a proposal.

Language requests are processed in accordance with the application procedure and prior experience with requests and projects. Xavi or Sj can skip steps in the procedure if they consider a request to have already met the objectives of those steps. Proposals for projects in a language that already has a well-established project may be fast-tracked in this way.

Application procedure

Requisites

The following requirements must be met by requests before they can be approved; although they can be met at any time before or after a request, we recommend fulfilling the basic requirements before making a request. If you need any help or have questions, please ask a subcommittee member.

• Requisites for eligibility
  1. The proposal is to open a new language edition that does not already exist.
  2. The language must have a valid ISO-639 1–3 code (search).

     If there is no valid ISO-639 code, you must obtain one. OLPC does not seek to develop new linguistic entities; there must be an extensive body of works in that language. The information that distinguishes this language from another must be sufficient to convince standards organizations to create an ISO-639 code.

  3. The language must be sufficiently unique that it could not coexist within a more general language wiki. In most cases, this excludes regional dialects and different written forms of the same language.
  4. The proposal has a sufficient number of interested users.

• Requisites for final approval
  1. There is an active test project on main OLPC wiki.

     A project must start on one of these wikis. This will demonstrate that there is sufficient community to build the project. If there is no valid ISO 639 1–3 code, the test project will provide some of the material to present to the World Language Documentation Center.

  2. The MediaWiki interface is available in that language (see localization guide and requirements).

     Localisation statistics are available which describe the current availability of translations for the MediaWiki interface into different languages. The group statistics at BetaWiki are the most up-to-date information.

Initial proposal

1. Read the above requirements. Requests that do not conform to the policy will be rejected.
2. Register an account or log in on this wiki.
3. Go to a page with the name "Requests for new languages/Project Language name", where the language name is English if it exists (for example, "Requests for new languages/OLPC French").
4. Create the page with the following template:

   ==French OLPC==
   {{ls-header|open}}
   {{New language proposal
    |language  = [[metawikipedia:w:French language|French]] (''français'', fr ISO 639-2)
    |links     = [[Main Page/fr|development wiki project]]
    |external  = [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ai-ia/fi-if/index_e.cfm International Francophonie]
   }}
   
   Replace this line with your opening argument in favour of the new project.
   
   ===Arguments in favour===
   * 
   
   ===Arguments against===
   *
   
   ===Other discussion===
   
   

5. Provide the following information (change the example above):
   • language
     • The English language name; if an article about the language exists on the English Wikipedia, link the name to that page.
     • The native language name in italics, if different from its English name.
     • A valid ISO 639 code. You can often find this code in Wikipedia's article on the language, or by searching ISO639DB.
   • Relevant pages and external links.
6. On Requests for new languages, add "{{subst:ls-newrow|Project Language name}}" (for example, "{{subst:ls-newrow|Wikipedia French}}") under "Open". "Project Language name" must match the name of the page you just created; if it adds a red link, check that you spelled it correctly.

Discussion

Users are encouraged to discuss whether it is a good idea to open the new language. However, this is not a vote. The project will be assessed on its linguistic merits and chances of flourishing. Even if there is strong support, the proposal may be denied if there are strong arguments against its creation and insufficiently strong arguments in support as judged by the language subcommittee.

Verification

If the language is suitable for a project but requirements still need to be met, discussion among community members will help determine whether it is suitable to have its own project.

The users should begin writing a test project now, if they haven't already. At least ten active users must edit that language regularly before a test project will be considered successful. You are encouraged to search for interested contributors yourself.

Final approval

If all requirements have been met, a request for a new language project will be posted on OLPC:Requests. Then after a few days for discussion, a developer should add a new language in the database and add the language to the interwiki map.

Users should continue developing the pages in their language on the main wiki while waiting for a separate one to be opened. This may accelerate the process, and pages developed as part of a test wiki will be transferred to the actual wiki once it is opened.

Frequently asked questions

Languages

• How many interested contributors are necessary?

  There should be enough speakers to form a viable community and audience. Whether a particular language qualifies depends on discussion.

Test project

• When and how are test projects created?

  Anyone can create a test project at any time, by creating new main pages and information pages on this wiki in a new language.

See also

• OLPC:Requests#New languages
• Categories