[Mediawiki-i18n] Proposal for documenting use cases to show MediaWiki messages

[Siebrand Mazeland]

Dear all,

I have written a proposal that is online at
http://nike.users.idler.fi/betawiki/User:Siebrand#Use_case_descriptions. It
is also copied here, but because of the many links in it, I recommend
reading it from the link. As far as I can assess, the scope of this proposal
currently does not go outside BetaWiki, as the methods used are not
supported elsewhere.

Feedback is very welcome.

Cheers!

Siebrand

Use case descriptions 
=====================
In few, but important, cases during the translation of MediaWiki messages
from English to Dutch I was wondering: where does this message appear? I am
not able to make a proper translating without having seen the context of
this message. 
To solve this problem I have setup a working prototype to assist in 
*	requesting documentation for a MediaWiki message 
*	documenting a MediaWiki message 
*	announcing availability of documentation for a MediaWiki message 
*	grouping available documentation of MediaWiki messages 
*	centralised talk on documentation for MediaWiki messages 

Please read the proposal below and leave feedback. 

Siebrand 15 July 2006, 12.45 (EEST) 

Requesting documentation
------------------------
A system has been put in place earlier to facilitatie messages being place
on top of each localised page within the MediaWiki namespace. This can be
done by adding text to [[MediaWiki talk:Messagename/info]] I.e. text on this
page will be displayed on top of [[MediaWiki:Messagename/en]],
[[MediaWiki:Messagename/nl]] and all other languages. 
Documentation for a use case can be requested by placing the following text
in [[MediaWiki talk:Messagename/info]]: {{Usecaseneeded|Messagename}}.

An example page of a use case request not filled, can be viewed at
[[MediaWiki:Sunday]]. 

Documenting a message 
---------------------
Once the template Usecaseneeded has been placed, a message appears on top of
all localisations of that particular message stating: "A use case is
requested for this message. Please document it if you can." A link points to
[[Betawiki:UsecaseMessagename]]. 

On this page, the template {{Usecase|Messagename}} should be placed, to mark
the page as a use case. This adds a message on top of the description page
and categorises the page in [[Category:Use cases]]. 

An example page of a use case description can be viewed at
[[Betawiki:UsecaseMonday]].

Announce a use case
-------------------
Once a use case description has been created, the request for a use case is
no longer required. Template [[Template:Usecaseavailable]] has been created
to replace [[Template:Usecaseneeded]] at that time.

Use: {{Usecaseavailable|Messagename}}.

Example: [[MediaWiki_talk:Monday/info]]

Categorisation
--------------
Each use case description page should contain [[Template:Usecase]]. This
automatically adds the page it is used on to [[Category:Use cases]]. This
establishes overview, so that a contributor interested in looking at or
editing use cases has easy access.

Use: {{usecase|Messagename}}. 

Example: [[Betawiki:UsecaseMonday]]

Centralised discussion
----------------------
A discussion page has been instated on [[Betawiki:Usecase]] for facilitating
centralised discussion. 

Pages involved
--------------
Below is a list of all pages involved on BetaWiki in this proposal. In case
the proposal would not be accepted, these pages should be deleted to remove
all impact of the demonstration. 
*	BetaWiki:Usecase
*	MediaWiki talk:Monday/info
*	MediaWiki talk:Sunday/info
*	Template:Usecase
*	Template:Usecaseavailable
*	Template:Usecaseneeded