launchpad-translators team mailing list archive

[Lucian Adrian Grijincu <lucian.grijincu@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 9:59 AM, Clint Byrum <clint.byrum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Is a lot more appealing to people, as it has a clear value to anyone who
> sees it. They're really only for the recipient though, as a source of
> pride and instant feedback on what they've accomplished thus far.


Exactly!
I don't know where the others got the whole quality vs. quantity thing.


Launchpad was more fun in the early days because in empowered small
contributors. Some of them stayed along and became big contributors.

In the past, before QA you came, you translated, you were proud.
Quality was not that important.


Now not so much.

Now that QA teams have been enacted, small contributors perceive a
barrier of entry and think their contributions are worth less:
* you only add suggestions
* you have to wait until a QA God reviews your translation
* by the time they review the translation you already forgot about
them and couldn't care less.


I can give the example of the Romanian team. At first we translated as
each saw fit. No emphasis on quality and many contributors.

Fortunately GNOME-RO refused to accept translations without review and
we learned about the conventions/terminology/glossary/etc. used in the
rest of GNOME translations.

We then started talking to other contributors and told them about
those conventions, and they corrected their work.

Then QA teams came in to enforce quality standards. QA team members
are the contributors that applied these conventions and worked
significantly more than other contributors.


But some new contributors have told me that they walked away from
translations with QA towards those that are free for anyone because
they feel empowered there.

I don't believe removing QA teams is a good idea, but I'm thinking
about other ways to make small contributors feel more pride in their
work and keep them more engaged.
And I know badges and other similar non-intrusive notifications can
have such an effect.

Again, maybe the problem is elsewhere and I'm barking on the wrong tree here.

-- 
 .
..: Lucian