Weblate for translation

[carschno]

In order to involve a larger community for tackling #41 , how about setting up Weblate for that?
It allows adding translations through a web UI, and can be integrated through the standard Github workflow.
I think there are many non-technical Voyager users in the community who would be happy to contribute to translations, but do not have the skills to use Git/Github.

Weblate is used by various open-source projects. I would be happy to set it up, if we want to go for it.

[carschno]

I have started to explore Weblate for dpo-voyager here, preliminarily using our own fork, and requested the Libre plan (applicable for open-source projects): https://care.weblate.org/#ticket/zoom/12146

[carschno]

This is an example pull request made by Weblate: Dynamic3D-Project#29

[gjcope]

@carschno I think this is a great idea and would hugely help language efforts but I would need a little bit more information to get approval on my end. It's unclear to me, is the translation here being done by people or is it automated? Do you know if AI is being used in some way?

[carschno]

Hi @gjcope,
the translations are done by users manually. The workflow I have set up for testing is:

1. filter for missing/unfinished translations in a language, e.g. for Hawaiian
2. fill in missing translations one by one
3. (project admin, or whoever has permission) creates a commit of newly made translations, and pushes it to the Github repository -> pull request

There are multiple configuration options especially aiming at larger communities, for instance for marking translations as "needs check" or for investigating conflicting suggestions.
Of course there are also various views and filters for checking, editing, adding translations etc.

On the repository admin side, it requires

1. adding for the weblate user to the repo (for creating PRs) and
2. setting up web hooks (for syncing the weblate data)

I have done both for our fork in less than 5 minutes.

Automatic Suggestions are optionally available too, but not used by default.
This is really a specialized web interface for (collaboratively) editing translation files in a UI.

[gjcope]

@carschno That sounds great, thanks for the extra context. I think it sounds like a good solution for the main repo as well, but I'll have to get approval on my end. But I think knowing that they are human-translated will make a difference. I will update hear when I get a decision.

[gjcope]

@carschno I received official approval to integrate Weblate. Do you have any suggestions on how to proceed? Can we work off of what you have done for your fork or would it need to be a new setup for the main branch?

[carschno]

That is great news!
Sure we can keep the Weblate project I have created. It seems, however, that I cannot add another admin yet presumably because the request for Libre billing is still pending. If you have created a Weblate user, let me know and I can try again with your username.
In the worst case, I will delete the existing Weblate project, and you need to set it up from scratch. But I hope that the open-source billing is confirmed soon so that we can move on with the existing setup.

Anyway, I have now already changed the pointer to the Github repo setting to point to the Smithsonian instead of our fork. Furthermore, I have created this PR to refer to Weblate in the README.

What you as admin need to do is essentially:

1. Add the Weblate user to the project
2. Set up the automated workflow

[gjcope]

Looking at this documentation do I actually need to add the Weblate user to do the pull request workflow? It looked like adding the user was required for directly pushing.

[gjcope]

Just realized I forgot to send you my username but looks like you figured it out. Thanks!

[carschno]

Looking at this documentation do I actually need to add the Weblate user to do the pull request workflow? It looked like adding the user was required for directly pushing.

Yes, I think you are right. It can open a PR for manual review like #443 already, so adding the user is not required.

[carschno]

I realized there are a few steps missing required for the Libre license, including adding the webhooks

Here is the full list: https://hosted.weblate.org/guide/dpo-voyager/dpo-voyager/
I am not sure how to handle the action points that require changes to the repository -- it is a bit circular because we might just want to add them once we actually get the Libre license approved. Anyway, I can change them to the Weblate-related PR #444 and we can point them to it.

[gjcope]

Sounds good to me. As long as we aren't introducing some sort of security issue or automating something that needs review we are all good. The 'avoiding merge conflicts' part is interesting. It seems like they don't support just resolving them as they come?

[carschno]

Quick update: my request for the Libre license from March 5 is still pending. I asked for an update last week, but no reaction either. I will update here once I get any news.

[carschno]

Another update already: our request has just been granted, so we can continue with the Libre license. They have asked us to refer to Weblate (part of the guidelines for the Libre license), which is done in #444 when merged.

[gjcope]

Great news. I've merged #444 with rc-60 for release later this week.

[carschno]

I had a quick call with Benjamin from Weblate today. He asked whether they can use Voyager as a reference, and I did not have any objections. @gjcope in case you do mind, please let me know.

[gjcope]

I don't have an issue with it, but it depends on the use whether institutionally they will or not. There are restrictions on the use of the Smithsonian logo, endorsement, etc.