translation & renovation news entry

1 files changed, 34 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/news.txt b/news.txt
index 9518e7e..0084b81 100644
--- a/news.txt
+++ b/news.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,34 @@
+Name: Translation & Renovation
+Date: March 12, 2021
+Directory: translation-renovation
+Body:
+    <i>Looking for volunteer translators to help bring the wiki to different languages!</i>
+    Hello again! We have a smaller update to share this month - mostly polish and internal restructuring. It's all in the aims of making the site more accessible; we're now <b>looking for translators</b> to help bring the site around the world! Details, as usual, past the split.
+    <hr class="split">
+    <i>As ever, thank you to everyone who sent feedback and kind messages during development! We're also very grateful for all [[static:donate|supporters of the wiki]], including: Nights, enchantingHunter, and leo homestuck!</i>
+    As mentioned in the intro, we're looking for translators to help make the site more accessible for people around the world. We've done our best to streamline and make the process as simple as possible; please visit this <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WLkw1Q-OECXdaNB4LB8neL92F1JNL0q1gGn8zVpZLec/edit">Wiki Localization - Project Outline</a> document for all the info!
+    TL;DR: Join the <a href="discord/">Community Discord Server</a> and drop a message, and we'll give you permission to edit the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BUSanXH5FNU0thJAcW5bw41UuuxKbMHkGsPxt9eyQ4U/edit#gid=0">Working Sheets</a> (plus the team chat, where you can discuss translation and ask any related questions). Enter translated values for the provided reference strings; then, to get a second pair of eyes from another translator, write a sign-off name and mark the row for review!
+    There are currently less than 300 (all very short) messages to translate across the wiki. <b>You don't need prior, professional translation experience to join;</b> anyone who knows another language in addition to English is welcome to contribute what they'd like!
+    Thank you so much for considering, and if you choose to, for joining the project. We aren't too sure where to share this around yet, so for now it'll probably only be regular visitors to the wiki - like you, probably! If you enjoy translating and know friends who might, word of mouth will get the project around; we'd be deeply grateful if you share your experience and help bring the wiki to more translators and visitors around the world. Thank you!
+    <hr>
+    On a streak of visiting existing code and updating it to ready the site for future improvements, this month's update was a particularly code-heavy one to develop! We're happy with the progress and excited for what it'll help bring to the wiki soon, but this month, we (which is to say QN, the developer) ran out of steam towards the end; the only albums newly shared are those added for [[group:psycholonials]].
+    Still, delving back into nearly all build code presented us with a prime opportunity to polish and refine the existing pages. Here's a summary of what's new:
+    - Thumbnails have replaced full-size images embedded on nearly every page! This was actually a very long-standing issue, and made accessing the wiki with slower internet connections or limited bandwidth much more difficult than necessary. So we've finally implemented thumbnails across the site, making media sizes around 20% the original across the whole site!
+    - Artist pages have been refined a significant deal; particularly, we've done our best to reduce visual noise across the whole layout. So, [[artist:michael-guy-bowman|"featured in" links]] have been removed (and placed instead in [[listing:tracks/in-flashes/by-album|this listing]]), and [[artist:aysha-u-farah|flash/game contribution dates]] have been combined into an easier-to-read range. Plus, the total duration of tracks an artist has contributed to an album is now shown next to that album's name and date! Pretty nifty.
+    - We adjusted various strings across the site; a particularly notable example is at the [[commentary-index:_|Commentary index]]! Album lines used to read, for example, "19/20 entries; 8.4k words". That's been simplified to "8.4k words across 19 entries".
+    - We also tweaked strings for [[listing-index:listings|listings]], and added a few new convenience features too:
+        - Before, [[listing:groups/by-name|Groups - by Name]] and [[listing:groups/by-category|Groups - by Category]] would each open a group's Info section and a group's Gallery section, respectively. This was because <em>in general</em> we default to linking to info pages rather than galleries, but <i>Groups - by Category</i> was being linked from gallery pages themselves - via the "choose another group to filter by" button. With this update, group names in both listings link to the info page by default, but we've added adjacent gallery links for that original easy access as well!
+        - As mentioned in the artist page summary, we've moved "featured in" links over to [[listing:tracks/in-flashes/by-album|Tracks - in Flashes & Games (by Album)]]. We feel they fit better here!
+        - And we've done the mirror for [[listing:tracks/in-flashes/by-flash|Tracks - in Flashes & Games (by Flash)]] too, adding the album names into that list. Both these listings should be more fun and interesting to navigate now. :)
+    Of course, there are many internal changes too - enough to come to over two hours a day per sixteen active days of development, according to <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11L4ksnILTNKuLXT5PBIBxr34cZ0wk6P9aZO-vpeSsnU/edit#gid=1993970319">our timetables</a>! We won't bore you with the specifics here... but if they do interest you, particular details are, as ever, [[static:changelog#12-mar-2021|in the changelog]]!
+    <hr>
+    As is probably now regular: the meta around the wiki! :)
+    - Of course, with this news update, we've launched the wiki localization project! If you happen to have read down here <em>and</em> know a language besides English... well, the project is dependent on interested folk like you, so *nudge*? :) Though seriously, we really don't know how far this will go yet - but we're confident it's no pipe dream, and we're excited to see the wiki more accessible across different languages. We don't plan to ever shut the project down, so translators will always be welcome, today and years from now all the same!
+    - Once again, the [[static:discord|Community Discord Server]] grew its own fair share over the month! Actually, we had a curious influx of users over just two days at the beginning of March. That turned out to be completely coincidental! It's really been a joy to chat and work with everyone, new and settled alike. Thank you all for sharing your comments, concerns, and kind messages :)
+    As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, [[static:feedback|our usual channels remain open]], so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
+    <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Name: Retrace, Retexture
 Date: February 12, 2021
 Directory: retrace-retexture
@@ -46,6 +77,7 @@ Body:
     - <a href="https://leo60228.space/">leo homestuck</a> released an awesome tool called <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-automatically-add-track-art-to-id3-tags-including-fan-anthologies-and-post-2019-bandcamp/">hsmusicifier</a>! It adds track art and artist information from HSMusic to your own music library, and has <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-0-2-0-add-track-art-and-artist-info-to-your-homestuck-music-collection-in-any-format/">a bunch</a> of <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-0-3-0-split-up-bundled-albums-with-additional-flexibility-for-art/">other utilities</a> too. Our car dashboard shows track art for what's currently playing; it's been a wonder to have the original art restored, as well as the anthology fanart for albums like [[album:homestuck-vol-5]] and [[album:beyond-canon]] show up there!
     As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, [[static:feedback|our usual channels remain open]], so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
     <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Name: Traversing Fandom
 Date: January 12, 2021
@@ -89,6 +121,7 @@ Body:
     - <b>Updates:</b> Like we mentioned at the top of this news entry, updates for the site will be releasing once a month now, aiming for release every twelfth, provided no (un)natural disasters get in the way! This is kind of experimental, but we figure it'll be fun to have a specific day visitors of the wiki can get excited for.
     As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, [[static:feedback|our usual channels remain open]], so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
     <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Name: Launch of HSMusic.wiki!
 Date: December 12, 2020
@@ -125,3 +158,4 @@ Body:
     As always, complete update details can be found [[static:changelog#12-dec-2020|on the changelog]]! Have fun exploring the site - and of course, any feedback or comments are welcome, and can be sent our way [[static:feedback|via the usual channels]]. :)
     <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
     (PS: Working with everyone on this update has been a joy, so once again, a tremendous thank-you to everyone who offered feedback, resources, discussion and support over the course of development! Tangentially, with permission from Niklink, [[media:misc/changelog/niklink-lyric-shenanigans.txt|here's a transcript of our emails together]] - just for a look into what collaborating on the wiki is like, and to give Niklink's wonderful commentary the light of day.)
+