470764 - [cy] Search engine setup for Firefox 3 for Welsh (for de-beta'ing)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Mozilla Localizations :: cy / Welsh, defect)

Description

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

In bug 454174 an initial set of search plug-ins was chosen (google, wikipedia), which allowed us to release Welsh in beta for 3.0.4. 

We would now like to extend the list of search plug-ins in preparation for the de-beta'ing.

For en-US, we currently use this set, to which we can fall back in the case of
lacking localized alternatives:
Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Answers, CC, eBay, Wikipedia

In bug 454174 comment 2, David suggested Palas Print:
"Unfortunately, though Amazon lists some Welsh-language books, it often cannot
deliver them or is very slow. Palas Print would be a good alternative -- it has
a good range of Welsh- and English-language books and products available for
delivery throughout the UK.  The search URL is:
http://palasprint.com/siopa/search_all.php?keywords=<foo bar baz> "

This looks like a good suggestion to me. Any other ideas? The main criterion for choosing the search plug-ins should be the usefulness to the users so I would guess that eBay.co.uk for example adds good value for Welsh speakers as well (even though it's not in Welsh).

Comment 1

[Dewi Jones]

As suggested by Stas in 464469, we could add a search plug in for the following online dictionary :

http://geiriadur.bangor.ac.uk/termiadur/

This dictionary is used (though not exclusively) and is standard in all Welsh schools (especially where subjects are all taught through the medium of Welsh). It is available on paper, CD, website and recently mobile phone. Available via a Firefox search plug in would be an excellent addition.

Comment 2

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Dewi, is it you mentioned i the first paragraph on http://geiriadur.bangor.ac.uk/termiadur/index_en.html ? :)

Comment 3

[Dewi Jones]

Hi, Yes it is. Is that an issue? I only suggested it really would be of most use to Welsh language Firefox users. 

Plus, a lot of the Welsh terminology used in Welsh Firefox came from this dictionary. It's also used in localising OpenOffice (and others) at meddal.com/swyddfa.html. 

A plug in would be to this site would be really great to some Welsh learners who can use this to get familiar quicker with the Welsh language interface.

Comment 4

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

No, it's not an issue. I'm sorry, I didn't want to imply anything. I was simply looking for contact information in the dictionary's website and was happy to see your name (hence the smiley in my previous comment).

I think this will be a great addition to Welsh Firefox. We will need to work on the actual implementation of the plug-in. I looked at the source of the search form and it seems to use POST to send the query word, together with a couple of other parameters, like the direction of translation (cy->en or en->cy). There's also a parameter called "__VIEWSTATE", which seems to be required for the search to work, and I'm not sure if it changes between searches/sessions. It had the same value for all searches when I tested, though, so maybe it's not a problem.

Some docs on creating the plug-ins are available here: https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Creating_MozSearch_plugins. I'll be happy to help with that, too.

Dewi, we will also need a written permission (an e-mail will do) to include the search plug-in in Firefox. Should I talk to you about that? If not, can you point me to a person I could contact?

Thanks a lot!

Comment 5

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

I sent an e-mail to Palas Print asking for their permission and technical details. Dewi, how can we proceed with the Termiadur plug-in? Whose permission do we need? Can you help me get it, please?

Do you have any other suggestions? Right now, the proposed changes are as follows:

general search: 
* google 
* yahoo

e-commerce:
* Amazon --> Palas Print
* eBay

specific interest search:
* wikipedia --> wikipedia (cy)
* CC
* Answers --> Termiadur

How do you like this list?

Comment 6

[Dewi Jones]

The list looks ok to me. If it's possble for Welsh language interfaces (where available) to appear as well then even better. e.g. http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=cy

I can ask some people next week (when they're all back in the office after the Christmas and New Year break (apart from me :) ) about the Termiadur plug in. 

Let me know if you still need a response from Palas Print.

Comment 7

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

(In reply to comment #6)
> The list looks ok to me. If it's possble for Welsh language interfaces (where
> available) to appear as well then even better. e.g.
> http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=cy

Google does a pretty good job detecting the language of the user so we normally use the default plug-in (as found in en-US) and let Google determine the locale on their side. I tested this with the 3.0.5 beta Welsh build and the plugin gave me results in Welsh, with Welsh interface, so I think we're good here.

> I can ask some people next week (when they're all back in the office after the
> Christmas and New Year break (apart from me :) ) about the Termiadur plug in. 
> 
> Let me know if you still need a response from Palas Print.

Do you think we can make it before Tuesday, January 6 (codefreeze for 3.0.6) for both plug-ins? I'll work on the Palas Print plug-in today. For Termiadur, we need permission and technical details about which parameters to use (see my comment 4).

I was also thinking about one more thing. Palas Print is a great addition for the Welsh version of Firefox, but it is my understanding that Welsh speakers using Firefox would also be interested in English books. Maybe we should consider having both Palas Print and Amazon.co.uk?

Comment 8

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Attachment: Palas Print search plug-in

Here's the plug-in for Palas Print search. We probably need something more verbose than this:
<Description>Palas Print</Description>
Dewi, can you help, please?

Also, the source parameter is optional:
<Param name="source" value="mozilla"/>

I already asked Palas Print if they wanted it.

I tested the plug-in and it worked. In a Welsh build, the site correctly defaults to the Welsh interface.

Comment 9

[Dewi Jones]

Attachment: Y Termiadur search plug-in

Here's the plug in for Y Termiadur. 

The website has changed to support searching via HTTP GET, so the plug in is a lot more straightforward. 

I'll ask around on Monday to get an official go ahead on including Termiadur search plug in. 

To answer on Palas Print. 

1 - The description could be their motto, so that its :
<Description>Palas Print - Heb Ffiniau</Description>

2 - I have no thoughts on including Amazon or not. But as David mentioned however, Palas Print sell both Welsh and English language books.

Comment 10

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Attachment: Patch

This patch uses the plug-ins attached to this bug. I used the Amazon, eBay and Yahoo plug-ins from the en-GB build. I also edited region.properties to make sure Yahoo is on the second position.

This patch includes the following search engine plug-ins:

general search: 
* google 
* yahoo -> yahoo.co.uk

e-commerce:
* Amazon --> Amazon.co.uk
* Palas Print
* eBay --> eBay.co.uk

specific interest search:
* wikipedia --> wikipedia (cy)
* CC
* Answers --> Termiadur


The plug-ins will be listed in the following order:
* Google 
* Yahoo.co.uk
* Amazon.co.uk
* CC
* eBay.co.uk
* Palas Print
* Termiadur
* Wikipedia (cy)

We still need permissions from Palas Print and Termiadur, so please don't land this yet. 

As you can see, I included Amazon next to Palas Print. I believe that this will improve the user experience for the Welsh users, who live in the UK and for whom Amazon is still a good bookstore.

Comment 11

[Dewi Jones]

There is an e-mail on its way directly to you Stas giving permission for the Termiadur search plug in. I'll try and ping some people for the Palas Print permissions.

Comment 12

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Great! Thanks so much Dewi. I received an e-mail from Delyth Prys and we are now ready for shipping with the Termiadur plug-in.

Thanks in advance for your help on Palas Print. If you wish, I can try to call them tomorrow.

Comment 13

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Permission received from Eirian James, the owner of Palas Print bookstore. I just need to confirm the search params with David now.

Comment 14

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

I got a reply from David, who says: "we should use http://palasprint.com/siopa/search_all.php as this is intended for search requests coming from external sites." I'll attach an updated patch.

Comment 15

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Attachment: UPdated patch

Updated patch. Asking a sanity-check review from Axel.

Comment 16

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Comment on attachment 355669 [details] [diff] [review]
UPdated patch

Thanks Axel!

This patch need to land on all three branches, i.e. trunk (3.2), 1.9.1 (3.1) and when the approval is granted, on 1.9.0.x (3.0.x).

Please use a verbose check-in comment, e.g. "Bug 470764: Search engine setup for Firefox 3 for Welsh, r=[e-mail]" and the fixed1.9.1 and verified1.9.1 keywords in this bug to track landing and verification of the change on the 1.9.1 branch.

Comment 17

[Axel Hecht [:Pike]]

Comment on attachment 355669 [details] [diff] [review]
UPdated patch

a=me for landing today.

Comment 18

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Fixed on trunk:
http://hg.mozilla.org/l10n-central/cy/rev/c12d41088009

Fixed on 1.9.1:
http://hg.mozilla.org/releases/l10n-mozilla-1.9.1/cy/rev/c12d41088009

Fixed on 1.9.0.x:
Checking in chrome/browser-region/region.properties;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/chrome/browser-region/region.properties,v  <--  region.properties
new revision: 1.4; previous revision: 1.3
done
RCS file: /l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/amazon-en-GB.xml,v
done
Checking in searchplugins/amazon-en-GB.xml;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/amazon-en-GB.xml,v  <--  amazon-en-GB.xml
initial revision: 1.1
done
RCS file: /l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/eBay-en-GB.xml,v
done
Checking in searchplugins/eBay-en-GB.xml;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/eBay-en-GB.xml,v  <--  eBay-en-GB.xml
initial revision: 1.1
done
Checking in searchplugins/list.txt;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/list.txt,v  <--  list.txt
new revision: 1.3; previous revision: 1.2
done
RCS file: /l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/palasprint.xml,v
done
Checking in searchplugins/palasprint.xml;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/palasprint.xml,v  <--  palasprint.xml
initial revision: 1.1
done
RCS file: /l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/termiadur.xml,v
done
Checking in searchplugins/termiadur.xml;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/termiadur.xml,v  <--  termiadur.xml
initial revision: 1.1
done
RCS file: /l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/yahoo-en-GB.xml,v
done
Checking in searchplugins/yahoo-en-GB.xml;
/l10n/l10n/cy/browser/searchplugins/yahoo-en-GB.xml,v  <--  yahoo-en-GB.xml
initial revision: 1.1
done

Please verify the change in nightly builds and change the keywords in this bug accordingly.

Comment 19

[Staś Małolepszy :stas]

Updated https://wiki.mozilla.org/L10n:Firefox_web_services_status:cy.