James Forrester <jforrester <at> wikimedia.org> writes: > > On 28 April 2013 13:04, Moriel Schottlender <moriel <at> gmail.com> wrote: > > Hello everyone, > > > > This is my second attempt for a proposal, but I think this is a project > > that is *much* better than my previous one, and has a much bigger demand. > > I'd love to work on this as a GSoC project! > > > > Before I submit this as an official proposal, I'd like to ask for your > > thoughts about this. The proposal concentrates on adding RTL support to > > VisualEditor, especially based on this requirements/spec page: > > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor/Bidirectional_text_requirements > > Hebrew is my maiden language, and I'm familiar with a lot of the problems > > that are raised when using RTL, especially when using it alongside a mix of > > LTR and RTL languages. > > > > A first draft of this proposal is available here: > > http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Mooeypoo/GSOC_2013_Proposal:_RTL_Support_ in_VisualEditor > > > > I have experience with Javascript and jQuery, and I'm working on some > > Windows8 Metro apps as side projects, which rely heavily on javascript and > > html5. However, this is my first time applying for GSoC and it's my first > > time contributing to such a big project as MediaWiki and VisualEditor :) > > > > I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas and feedback! > > Thank you again, > > > > Moriel Schottlender > > Moriel, > > Thank you for your proposal. It's a hugely-important area for us, and > having someone come forward to work on it is very welcome. (As Amir > puts it, "getting [RTL support] done by a person who knows an RTL > language is obviously preferable".) It would be really excellent to > have you work on this. > > That said, I worry that this wouldn't be an ideal fit for Google > Summer of Code. The project as a project is as "stand-alone" as they > recommend, and would involve getting very deep into the intricacies of > how the "ContentEditable" area of VisualEditor works. This would be a > huge amount for you to learn - less a learning hill and more a cliff, > and right now this area of the code is changing quite a lot so it > would be difficult to work in RTL changes. Inez (copied), who's one of > our "ContentEditable" leads, has said he'd be keen to mentor you on > this, and I'd love to co-mentor. > > There's also the issue that this is frankly stuff we should be getting > right already. It would be hard for you to "own" the result as > much, and it would be difficult to schedule the work into a timetable > as Google suggests - as we added new features, we would no-doubt > extend your work on indefinitely, and it would be hard to find the > point where you were "done". If you're worried about ownership and > lack of scope, improving language support in the VisualEditor starts > but does not end with the core RTL support outlined in that document. > There are a number of things that you might wish to also do, like add > a "language inspector" that would let a user tag a section of the page > they're editing as in a language (for multi-lingual wikis). > > Just as a reminder, you should put this forward into the GSoC system > (at https://google-melange.appspot.com/gsoc/dashboard/google/gsoc2013 > ) as soon as possible. Happy to answer any questions you have! > > Yours, > -- > James D. Forrester > Product Manager, VisualEditor > Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. > > jforrester <at> wikimedia.org | <at> jdforrester > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l <at> lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Hi again, James, thank you very much for your answer and thoughtful points. I have to admit, I had a feeling this may be something that's not as "easy as it sounds". However, I am *more* than ready for the challenge. I am pretty confident with jQuery and general Javascript, and I consider myself a quick learner. But more than everything, I think I can get into the project if I have a bit of help pointing me in the right direction. The issue of the changing code may be a bigger problem, though; I want to make sure I contribute something beneficial -- do you think it is possible to work on a project that serves as groundwork for later improvement? If we know in advance the code is going through changes, perhaps I can work on a more flexible addition that can be adapted slightly to changes in the underlying system. It's hard for me to recommend the proper strategy at the moment, but I am wondering if this may be a good idea to add or think about when working on the project. I'd love to be able to work on this project, and I think that with a bit of planning, we may be able to find a strategy that can work despite the changing and updating code. Do you think it's realistic? Regarding ownership etc, I want to contribute and help the project regardless. GSoC is simply an awesome entry-point to help me get into the process with the help of a mentor and an organized project, so I'd like to try and see if I can join through the official process.. I submitted the application officially to the GSoC site and updated my status in the general GSoC2013 page. I'm also hoping to update the proposal itself in the next few days based on your recommendations. Thanks again for the input, and let me know what you think of my suggestions, Moriel _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
