Hi Paulo, if someone can start a new wiki, I’d be happy to volunteer to cut & paste those old files to it. Greetings for Postcrossers would be a great resource to have on the Forum for folks, let me know, thanks, Lynn
Well it feels like it needs it’s own wiki - it doesn’t really have anything to do with postal terms or abbreviations eh? And it would really be broken up by the alphabetical set up of the one Ana started.
It’s more a tool for writing postcards don’t you think?
Ah, I see what you mean now. I managed to find a copy of the old content here and it was more centered in translating common sentences than I remembered it to be.
A couple of things come to mind.
First, if we were to try to salvage that content, we should first get an OK from the author to copy it? I think this should be possible if we just ask (contact is still visible). Otherwise, we could still mimic the idea, but start from scratch with the translations.
The other would be how to put it into a wiki format. It used to be a language per page which was neat and organized, but a wiki is a single “page” (and I really don’t want of dozens of different wikis for this).
Initially I thought a table would be a neat, but even if using rows for countries, with just a few sentences (columns) it becomes unwieldy quickly. So perhaps we could put an index at the top, linking to each language entry, like we have on the Forum User Guide?
In any case, it’s likely to become quite long and potentially tricky to manage as sometimes people have different views on how to translate something (depending on the country, the region/dialect, etc). It would be ideal if someone could keep a close eye on organizing it and curating the content that is added.
I can contact him on PC’s behalf or would you rather do that officially?
I think the TOC in Forum User Guide format would work fairly well.
I think a number of folks would need to monitor it given language issues - I’m happy to be one if that’s useful or I can just do the copying once we’ve gotten permission.
I suspect the best way to deal with differences/preferences in translation would just be to list multiple variations or if needed ask for feedback in one of the specific language forums.
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I have in the meantime contacted him and he authorized to use his material! Nonetheless, let’s make sure to give him credit for starting it? I have asked how he would like to be credited.
In the meantime, he has sent me a backup of the original files which may be handy, although since it’s still visible online, maybe there won’t be a need, depending on how we’ll got about it.
I have done some tests and Discourse will make this super easy: copy&pasting directly from the page already formats the output very nicely that requires pretty much no tweaks, so it’s just a matter of copy&pasting and checking that things make sense and look tidy.
One issue with using a TOC is that it implies the whole post is still visible as a whole, making it super long in this case. A TOC helps jumping into it, but it’s long nonetheless: it’s helpful on a user guide where potentially everything is to be read/relevant and helps one know where in the content one is, but this type of content is likely to be consulted on a one language basis, so being able to see just what’s intended seems more tidy.
I’m going to do a test post after this one with 1-2 entries only so that we can see how it can be structured before moving it into an editable wiki. Let me know what you think.
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Looks good to me Paulo - I’m happy to get started on it whenever it’s up.
One thought on the top instructions - maybe one addition:
There are often many ways to say things in a language or there are regional variations. Please add a variation rather than delete the original & replace it with yours.
Do we need this? I was just thinking of what you originally talked about with folks who get intense about what the “correct” version is - maybe we don’t need it, but it’s just a thought.
If I may - yes, that makes sense. And maybe even a kind suggestion not to be too fussy about the translations.
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Regional versions might be alright to have, but allowing to have different ways to say something (on the same language/dialect) can get unwieldy quick — I can quickly think of a dozen ways of saying hello in Portuguese, some with nuanced differences on how/where to use them correctly that won’t be conveyed in this simple dictionary. Usually there’s a generally accepted way and in case of doubts come up, perhaps we can narrow it down a bit on the request of what to enter.
I’m going edit the text and move ti into a wiki in a second. Be right back. 
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Alright, I have moved the post here and turned it into a wiki.
I have added a note that it will be filled it in the short term, to minimize overlapping edits.
@LC-Canada: once you are done with the copying, please remove that note. If you have any questions or need help, please let me know.
Looking forward to seeing it grow! 
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Okay, Paulo, I’ll get started on it tonight! Thanks!
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Hi Paulo, I’ve started to get a message that says I’m going over 32000 character limit and so it won’t let me save any further cut & pastes.
It started with Malay, then Nepali & I tried Romanian just to see - same message - it says I’ve used like 32728 characters for example. Nothing seems to be unusual about the cut & pastes of any of those languages - there are certainly longer entries I’ve already done.
UPDATE: I think I figured it out as it wouldn’t let me even add additional section headings - Is there is a 32000 character limit for the whole wiki with this software?
So we’ll have to do a Part 1 wiki & a Part 2 wiki then I guess?
Hopefully you’ll have figured this out when I wake up if you’re checking the Forum this weekend, otherwise it can wait til Monday.
My only other question was should I add current PC links for the contributors that are still members?
32000 characters is the limit. We discussed that in the Sandbox when I hit the limit…
It will probably not be changed and you have to split your wiki into 2 (or 3, just in case?) posts.
Hi Christine, thanks for the confirmation. Can you or someone else start a 2nd wiki so I can finish the job please?
I’ve only got about 1/3 left to do so one more will do it. And can we label it Part 2 please? Thanks!
Please make a post and mark me in that post with @, I will make the Wiki from your post.
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@Reisegern - Okay, now I’m confused - we need 2 wikis because of the 30000 character limit of one wiki - I still have about 12 or so still to transfer
How can they be the same topic?
There can be more than one wiki post in one thread, as far as I’ve understood it. So if post 1 is a wiki, post 2 or 3 (or another post) can be a wiki as well.
Okay, that’s fine if it works, but I still need someone who can create a wiki to open up a 2nd one please so I can finish the transfers - I can’t do that
You can just start writing in your first post in this thread. The one that says:
It looks like that post has been made into a wiki post already.
(But even if it wasn’t, it would be possible for you to edit the post anyway (since it’s your post) and add information and then get it changed into a wiki later.)