The Polyglots team is organized into translation teams (locales) focused on specific languages, in addition to the global Polyglots team which organizes translation efforts more generally. Each locale has its own team leads and team reps to oversee and help with the day-to-day work. For more information on the roles within the Polyglots team, see the Roles and Capabilities page.
Communication channels
There are three main types of channels for Polyglots communications: the Polyglots P2, WordPress.org Slack, and locale-based Slack instances. In addition to these communication channels, some locales also utilize their Rosetta Site’s team or O2 to collaborate asynchronously.
The Polyglots P2
The heart of Polyglots communication is our blog. This P2 is the place for all of our asynchronous communication. It is where you’ll find all discussions, announcements, archives from weekly meetings and where you can request a new locale site or new project translation editors for your plugins/themes.
In order to post to this site, you will need to log in with your wordpress.org account. Note that your very first post may take a while to show up, as it is moderated; please don’t create duplicates. Also, make sure to follow our tag policy when posting.
Who can write on the Polyglots blog?
- Members of the WordPress core team and other WordPress projects (Mobile Apps, BuddyPress, bbPress)
- team reps of any locale team
- General translation editors (GTEs), project translation editors (PTEs) and translation contributors
- people, who want to request a new locale site
- people, who want to overtake an existing, but abandoned locale site
- plugin and theme authors
- everyone who needs help getting started with translating WordPress in their own language
What do we communicate on the Polyglots blog?
- Release announcements and notifications for General Translation Editors
- Global announcements
- Meeting summaries
- New sets of strings to translate
- Translation changes and string freeze dates
- General discussions
- Event announcements
WordPress.org Slack channels
Synchronous communication (or, in real time) happens primarily in the WordPress.org Slack. There are three main channels that are relevant for Polyglots contributors:
#polyglots: This is our main channel. This is where we hold our weekly meetings and where contributors can ask general questions. This is a shared channel among all locales, so anyone from anywhere can participate and ask questions in this channel.
#polyglots-events: This is where we post announcements about upcoming events, like Global Translation Days. Contributors can communicate updates, share announcements, and coordinate the organization of events in this channel.
#polyglots-warnings: This channel acts as a log for errors or warnings submitted in translations. This may be helpful for GTEs and PTEs who want to catch errors in their locales quickly.
Locale-based Slack
Many language teams have their own Slack instances for the local WordPress community. It is here that many day-to-day discussions happen around translations. Check this list to see if your language team already has a local Slack and how you can join.
Once you’ve joined your locale’s Slack, check to see where translations take place. Many teams have a #translations or #polyglots channel where you can introduce yourself, ask questions, and coordinate with other volunteers.
Release cycles
Before every new version of WordPress is released (approx. every 4 months), the core team adds a set of new strings for translation to the WordPress, WordPress Administration, and WordPress Network Administration projects. This happens in two main stages – a soft string freeze and a hard string freeze.
After each stage is announced by the core team, the General Translation Editors for all locales get a notification from the Polyglots leadership team with a request to translate the new strings and prepare their locales for the release.