Re: [Wikitech-l] GSoC2013/OPW Proposal: VisualEditor RTL Support

2013-04-29 Thread Amir E. Aharoni
2013/4/29 James Forrester 
> 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.

Thanks a lot for the reply, James.

> 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.

RTL support is one of the cases of language support. That's why there
is also an internationalization requirements document:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor/Internationalization_requirements

The bidirectional requirements document depends on the implementation
of the general internationalization requirements.

> 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).

This is, indeed, something that must be done before starting the
implementation of comprehensive RTL support. If you think that it can
be a good GSoC project or a part thereof, I fully support it.

--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
‪“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore‬

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Re: [Wikitech-l] GSoC2013/OPW Proposal: VisualEditor RTL Support

2013-04-29 Thread Moriel Schottlender

James Forrester  wikimedia.org> writes:

> 
> On 28 April 2013 13:04, Moriel Schottlender  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  wikimedia.org |   jdforrester
> 
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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 he

Re: [Wikitech-l] GSoC2013/OPW Proposal: VisualEditor RTL Support

2013-04-29 Thread James Forrester
On 28 April 2013 13:04, Moriel Schottlender  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.

jforres...@wikimedia.org | @jdforrester

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Re: [Wikitech-l] GSoC2013/OPW Proposal: VisualEditor RTL Support

2013-04-28 Thread Amir E. Aharoni
My first thought is that this would be a fantastic project.

RTL support in the VisualEditor is a must in any case. Getting it done
by a person who knows an RTL language is obviously preferable.

The general RTL requirement are already written (mostly by myself),
and the proposal links to them.

There are several open questions, which should be answered by somebody
who knows the VE (and possible Parsoid) code well:

1. Is the scope of this project appropriate for GSoC? It could be too
small, because maybe the basic infrastructure for adding RTL
attributes is already available through inspectors. It could also be
too large, because maybe the current infrastructure is too rudimentary
and the codebase is too complicated for a new student.

1.a If the scope is too small, one thing to consider would be to add
support for a page language to MediaWiki. I refer to the topic that
was recently discussed in a thread started by Erik Moeller:
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikitech-l/2013-April/068705.html
. This is something that would be very useful for good
internationalization of the VisualEditor.

2. If the scope is appropriate, I would very gladly co-mentor this
project, but another mentor from the VisualEditor team would be
required.

--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
‪“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore‬


2013/4/28 Moriel Schottlender :
> 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
>
>
> --
> No trees were harmed in the creation of this post.
> But billions of electrons, photons, and electromagnetic waves were terribly
> inconvenienced during its transmission!
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