Categories: Localization

Connecting non-English contributors to their local communities

Since the SUMO project was created, we have been in regular contact with non-English Mozilla communities to unify our support efforts. User support is one of the easiest ways to get involved with Firefox, because there is a direct connection with users. As we get more new contributors in different languages, we need to connect those new contributors to the already existing non-English communities.

In February, we asked support localizers to add links to their local forums when localizing the Ask a question page, which tells users where to go if they cannot find the answer to their question in the knowledge base. We would like to do something similar with the How to Contribute page, which is where users interested in contributing to Firefox Support are directed. In the localized versions of the How to Contribute page, we can not only direct users to the appropriate local community sites, but include info for new contributors to directly contact their community leaders.

We have been working with the Italian locale leader to create a localized version of the How to Contribute page. In fact, it is now up for everyone to see.

We would like to all localized versions of the How to Contribute page to follow the example set on the Italian page. Here are the main points:

  • A note was added after the first paragraph inviting new contributors to their local community site.
  • Links to pages about helping in the support.mozilla.com forum and live chat are marked as English-only.
  • The contact info section is divided into two parts: the first is contact info links for the contributor’s locale, and the second is for the English links.

htc-l10nguide

As usual, if you have any questions, just post in the Contributors forum.