1347965 - [li-00139304] A fully operational "Other languages" component that doesn't display en-us for languages not supported by Lithium

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(support.mozilla.org - Lithium :: Feature request, enhancement, P1)

Description

[vesper]

We would like to show a component in the side bar that allows users to easily navigate to other language versions of the visited article (if they exist and if they use the "English Article ID" field).

We had this component enabled once already, but we had problems using it during the testing phase. 

There are two main issues at the moment preventing this from working as expected.

1. Locales that are not enabled for the platform (as UI languages) show as "English (US)" (the default language of the community) in the component.
(SOURCE: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1335749)

Relevant comments from Scott:

A) "There is not a way to hack into the languages of the nodes. New languages can be added to the platform, but it is not trivial/quick process. What could be done in the interim is to make the component not display nodes that don't have the fixed set of lang codes (just the ones supported)."

Hiding "unsupported" languages means we would not be able to point users to existing content, but would allows us to make the component function for now.

B) "Content can still be updated and created in those languages and listed in the Top Level Categories of the "Locale Page" but they would not be connected to the EN parent (at least visually) in that "Other Languages" component until that language is added to the platform."

SOLUTION NEEDED: How to add languages as "supported" to the platform, so that they can appear in the component if a version of the content exists for them?
Initially, it would be OK to add them as "dummy" entries for the sake of this component. The UI would still be served in English, but we could at least point users towards existing content in the "dummy" locale. The next step would include expanding the "dummy" locale into a full locale with UI localization possible.

2. There are strings used in the component that will not display properly in English (US) only.
(SOURCE: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1335761)

Problematic language strings not rendering properly for English (US) only - they work OK in other locales:

profile.language.ar.title                          = ????
profile.language.bg.title                          = ?????????
profile.language.cs.title                          = ?e?tina
profile.language.el.title                          = ????????
profile.language.ja.title                          = ???
profile.language.ko.title                          = ???
profile.language.ro.title                          = român?
profile.language.ru.title                          = ???????
profile.language.sk.title                          = sloven?ina
profile.language.th.title                          = ???
profile.language.uk.title                          = ??????????
profile.language.vi.title                          = Ti?ng Vi?t
profile.language.zh-cn.title                       = ?? (??)
profile.language.zh-tw.title                       = ???? (??)

should be:

profile.language.ar.title                          = عربي
profile.language.bg.title                          = Български
profile.language.cs.title                          = Čeština
profile.language.el.title                          = Ελληνικά
profile.language.ja.title                          = 日本語
profile.language.ko.title                          = 한국어
profile.language.ro.title                          = română
profile.language.ru.title                          = Русский
profile.language.sk.title                          = slovenčina
profile.language.th.title                          = ไทย
profile.language.uk.title                          = Українська
profile.language.vi.title                          = Tiếng Việt
profile.language.zh-cn.title                       = 中文 (简体)
profile.language.zh-tw.title                       = 正體中文 (繁體)

I have tried several times to add them as custom strings in the Text Editor in Studio for English (US), but it never worked as expected. When I switch to any other locale in the same dropdown and try to add those strings, they display properly.

A partial solution for this is possibly found in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1335761#c3 (thanks cor-el)


3. The design of the component should be improved.

Suggested options:

A) A full list of existing locales that does not require scrolling.

B) A clickable element that expands into a full list of existing locales that does not require scrolling.

Comment 1

[vesper]

+NI from Madalina for handling & prioritization.

Comment 2

[Roland Tanglao needinfo please :rolandtanglao, :mohnkuchen, :adobo, :sinigang, :roland]

this part of the broken redirect issue so adding it to the redirect tracker bug 1324400

Comment 3

[Roland Tanglao needinfo please :rolandtanglao, :mohnkuchen, :adobo, :sinigang, :roland]

Setting this to P1 because I think we need this to be done as part of the P1 work for redirects.

Comment 4

[Roland Tanglao needinfo please :rolandtanglao, :mohnkuchen, :adobo, :sinigang, :roland]

I would like Lithium to fix this so we can make it available to all users because it's useful to be able to click on your language (e.g. Arabic and currently showing Arabic as "en-us" is unacceptable) on the right sidebar if you accidentally get to the wrong language (e.g. English). I would like to be done as part of the SOW for redirects.

Comment 5

[vesper]

Progress update: I shared the request formatted for the Lithium Case system with Roland and Madalina for their review before it's requested with the Lithium team.

Comment 6

[vesper]

Submitted to Lithium as case #: 00139304

Comment 7

[madalina]

This will be discussed with Lithium as per SOW.