Wiki with translations to use in Postcrossing

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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A post was split to a new topic: Dictionaries for Postcrossers

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. :slight_smile:

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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! :+1:

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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.)

Okay, here’s goes! Thanks!

I wasn’t expecting to hit the limit so far. This limit is per post (which a wiki is one). We have also hit this limit on the prices of stamps wiki. While it’s technically possible to increase, we prefer to avoid doing it. For the moment let’s keep going with the two wikis solution — not ideal, but it works — to see where we land in the end in terms of volume.

@LC-Canada: Thank you for all the work in copying things over — looks pretty good!

I’m divided on whether to include the credits for the original contributions: on one hand, I think that’s nice (and what the author of the original idea would like), but in a wiki format, I fear when other members start making edits/contributions, they will perceive that the correct thing to do is to add their username there when they make an edit (which is superfluous since a wiki already keeps track). What if we would append all those references to the existing credit to bluejay, perhaps as a summary block (that hides/closes)?

Oh, and when you are done copying everything, please don’t forget to remove my note!

Hi Paulo, well I gather from @reisegern & @Norway_girl that each post is a wiki - who knew? So the limit is per post.

I was thinking to add a sentence in the 1st post, something like: “See the next post for the continuation of the dictionary”, so we don’t get people not reading & assuming we’re missing a whole bunch of languages.

Yes, I think a summary post is good way to handle the credits - that’s the work I still have to do.

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Sebastian asked said to mention his name on the credits, so I have updated.

I have moved the credits section to the end (of the second post) was it reduces the gap between the two wikis and is a more logical place for it.

When including the credits, please try to keep the link to their profile (when there is one). But, don’t copy the one from the web archive page (because it links to profile on the web archive page) but the actual profile. For example,

instead of the original link to

https://web.archive.org/web/20151108142033/http://www.postcrossing.com/user/adolescent

you can replace it with

https://www.postcrossing.com/user/adolescent

Or, even better, if the person happens to have a forum account, you can use @mentions which may be simpler.

Sounds like a good idea — maybe at the end of the 1st wiki? Perhaps throw in one of these :arrow_double_down: :arrow_down: :arrow_down_small: to call attention.

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