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Season Data Boxes

I was just thinking, it would be really cool if we had a special data box for each season, similar to the data boxes we have for each episode. We can put in the number of episodes, the release data, dvd information, a season chronology for quick access to other seasons, and even things like SciFi Pulse links to teaser trailers. We could have links to the List of Podcasts page with # signs for each season, as well as the season R&D skit pages, and if we're really ambitious we can create staff pages that list all the various staff for each season and link it there. It could also be a way to bring the links to the episode guides (the list guide and the summary guide) to the top. We could have a spot for promotional materials, such as the webisodes and minisodes, and of course, the trailers. One reason I say this is because page views for Season 3 have topped 124,000! Page views for Season 4 have already reached 45,000. To me, this seems to necessitate a data box for easy interactive access. --OrionFour 01:32, 16 December 2007 (CST)

Sounds interesting! My first reaction was negative, as it sounded like the season templates at the bottom of the episode guides, but now I think I'm tracking with you. I don't think there'd be any harm in going ahead and mocking something up. People usually can provide more concrete critical feedback when there's something actually there for their tomatoes to hit. Do you want to take the lead on this one? I'd recommend taking the episode data template as a base (as far as copying and pasting for formatting purposes), and going from there. Maybe Template:Season Data? --Steelviper 11:32, 17 December 2007 (CST)

Ditto. I don't see any issue with this. Feel free to make something up! -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate - Sanctuary Wiki — New} 11:53, 17 December 2007 (CST)

If it's only displayed on the respective season pages it's a very good idea. In general, it's a good idea to be careful with templates. Sometimes there are huge templates or up to 2 of them displayed below a character article. That's just clutter for little to no gain. But this would work. --Serenity 12:23, 17 December 2007 (CST)

Alright i'll get started! Any other ideas to add to the template? Also does anyone know where I can find old teaser trailers to previous seasons? --OrionFour 14:39, 17 December 2007 (CST)

Finished. See: Template talk:Season Data and User:OrionFour/Sandbox--OrionFour 17:59, 18 December 2007 (CST)

Question about Internationalization

Hi.

First of all, thanks for the welcome yesterday. Catrope was kind enough to direct me to this place, so I can properly ask a couple of questions.

From what I gathered, a Brazilian Portuguese version of this Wiki is already in the works, with a few pages translated and a couple of contributors working on it. Will this be the only Portuguese version of Battlestar Wiki, or can we hope to have a European Portuguese version in the future?

I couldn't find a list of pages that have already been translated into Brazilian Portuguese (if there is such a list), so I'm guessing here, but the translation doesn't seem to be that far ahead. I would like to contribute to this project - as a translator, I'm used to translating texts from English and German into European Portuguese, and as a librarian, I'm used to doing database clean-ups, mile long lists and extensive research - stuff people usually consider boring are run of the mill for me. The problem is: as a native European Portuguese speaker, I can perfectly understand Brazilian Portuguese, but I can't correctly write in it.

Most websites don't have two translations for pt-pt and br-pt, because they consider the two languages to be very similar. That is a fact - the problem is that even though the languages are similar, there are a lot of differences between them, a lot more than, say, between American English and UK English. The differences range from spelling to grammar, syntax and even concept: one word in pt-pt can mean a serious offence in br-pt if we're not careful. A sentence that is perfectly correct in br-pt may look like it's full of mistakes in pt-pt. To top it all - even the name of this show is different in the two countries: BSG is known as 'Galactica, Astronave de Combate' in Brazil, while Portugal came to know the series as 'Galactica - Batalha no Espaço'.

I know portuguese people who edit on Wikipedia, and because the language differences weren't considered relevant, all the pages have to be written in pt-br - a considerable feat for people to whom it might seem weird.

So, to sum it up, I have two question:

1 - Will it be possible to create a pt-pt version of this wiki, with the garanty that I'll devote myself to it's translation?
2 - If the pt-pt version isn't possible, will I be able to help with the br-pt version, but still write in my own language, keeping in mind that only the grammar and syntax will be different and that I'll respect the names and titles of the brazilian version? And if this is the only option, is there a place where I can see which pages have already been translated (so far, I've only been able to find the page for '33'). I hate databases and sites that aren't coherent in their use of terms and designations, and always try to keep every website clean of that type of ambiguity - a case of professiona hazard, I guess - but I'd really like to contribute to this project in anyway that I can, so if option 2 is the only way to go, that I'm willing to give it a try.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. --Syrin 08:00, 21 December 2007 (CST)

No problem. The only br-pt article we have is 33/pt:33. The translation portion of the project is located here. In response to your question about having two different translations, it's not a matter that it isn't impossible, it's that the media wiki software supports "pt" as the default "Português" version in the "coding". Now the Brazilian Portuguese contributers havn't been heard from in a months, so if you started doing a translation of the wiki in European Portugese, to keep it uniformed, European portugese would be the dominat and required version. In any case, that's the case. As I was writing this, I checked the mediawiki software. It's designed arround Brazilian Portuguese. Is there a sentence in 33/pt:33 that could give us an example of how crazy the change between the two really is? Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 07:27, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Oh boy... I just looked @ Brazilian_Portuguese on wikipedia. :S Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 07:32, 21 December 2007 (CST)

I just looked over the text, and in this particular case the changes wouldn't be that big, but to give you an example: 'A Apresentação exibe a Galactica se preparando para efetuar um Salto com as pistas de pouso estendidas - poir ainda, usando uma cena que foi raproveitada da Minissérie' would be: 'A introdução mostra a Galáctica a preparar-se para efectuar um Salto com as pistas de aterragem abertas e, pior ainda, usando uma cena que foi reaproveitada da Minisérie." Just a few spelling and verb tense structure changes in this case, but as the article you quoted mentions, there are in fact a lot more than between US and Uk English. People always put an emphasis on spelling, but ths syntax and morphological aspects are the big issue. The governments of the 8 portuguese-speaking countries around the world have tried to sign a proposal to make spelling uniform, but they haven't succeded because the cultural differences are much bigger than a simple spelling difference.--Syrin 08:35, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Template:Episode Data (pt) has also been translated. A full list of pages that need to be translated first (i.e. before any articles) is located here. Also, please sign your posts on discussion pages with --~~~~. It'll expand to your username and a timestamp, like this: --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 07:42, 21 December 2007 (CST)

I know, I know, sorry... I was late for work and forgot to sign. --Syrin 08:35, 21 December 2007 (CST)

That's so old with design flaws I might just kill it. They used {{Episode Data}} on the 33 page. :) Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 07:44, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Hmm, the revision history tells me it hasn't been touched since March 2006. Probably best to throw it out and let Syrin translate the current version. --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 07:55, 21 December 2007 (CST)

I just compared the english and brazilian portuguese pages, and apparently the brazilian version is very incomplete. So if this project is on hold, I'll be happy to pick it up in the european portuguese format (starting with the 3 critical pages, obviously). --Syrin 08:35, 21 December 2007 (CST)

As said the version is nearly 2 years old, and the English pages get updated or re-written every now and then. Even old articles can undergo restructuring and additions. Maybe it wasn't a literal translation in the first place (nothing wrong with that), but things probably got added to the English article later. --Serenity 08:53, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Actually, I remember a couple of additions to Template:Episode Data, and I wasn't even around in March '06. The best course of action would probably be to just delete the existing page and start translation anew. Translating templates isn't that much work anyway. --Catrope^{(Talk to me or e-mail me)} 10:41, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Ok, so I've started work on on Standarts and Conventions Page, and I already have a doubt. Should I translate and adapt the english standarts? Or is it better to just give some pointers, and actually wait for the debate before adding anything else to the page? I'm guessing there won't be a lot of people contributing to the translation, but I can always use this as a personal guide...--Syrin 18:19, 21 December 2007 (CST)

It's your choice really. Ideally a debate would be good, but you can also dictate things for now. Also keep in mind that some of those points are specifically related to the English language. You might want to see if the same things apply to Portuguese and if necessary drop or change them. The rules don't have to be the same. --Serenity 18:25, 21 December 2007 (CST)

I would say that there should be a basic set of standards across the wikis, particularly when it comes to citing episodes and how information is presented. However, each language edition should be able to modify its standards and conventions to meet the needs of their audiences, so don't feel that you have to follow each line of the S&C to the letter. As such, I feel that there should be a general guide to start off with, which can be modified over time... just like the English-language's standards and conventions. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate - Sanctuary Wiki — New} 18:27, 21 December 2007 (CST)

All wikis have to conform to the English Wiki, but there are always differences in how one language might do something. i.e. German wiki has the spoiler policy, but they adapted another one because they have a free TV network and a paid network. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 18:31, 21 December 2007 (CST)

Well, he first page is done, and I have a couple of question... is this still the right place to ask them? Or should I post them somewhere else? My doubts are mostly about linking, referals and the dreaded red links. Oh, and if someone who was involved with a translation project wouldn't mind getting a couple of questions about the process every once and again, I'd appreciate the support. --Syrin 16:52, 22 December 2007 (CST)

This is a good place as any to ask them. Most of us here have this on our watchlists, so -- as you obviously know by now -- you're likely to get your quickest response time by simply continuing any necessary conversations here. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate - Sanctuary Wiki — New} 16:55, 22 December 2007 (CST)

OK then, here are my questions:

1. When I click on the Discussion link in the page I just finished translating, it doesn't open anything. Is this because the article has only recently been finished?

1. You save your article, then if people want to comment on it, they will start/open/edit/save the talk page. By default, it's blank and opens to a new "edit" window. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 01:10, 23 December 2007 (CST)

1. Can I translate the contents title menu? I checked the German page, and it was altered, but I couldn't find the code to do it. (Nevermind this one, just answered my own question while reading through the required translations page.)

1. One note, If you were doing the BW:SAC page, it be located at [[Battlestar Wiki:Standards and Conventions/pt:Battlestar Wiki:<Standards and Conventions in portuguese>]]. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 01:10, 23 December 2007 (CST)

Thanks Shane, I've updated all the links. One more question: can I use special characters such as "ç" and "ã" in the page titles, or should I avoid doing it? I checked some other translation projects, and most use these characters, but we try to avoid them in portuguese websites. Do the rules apply here as well? --Syrin 09:22, 23 December 2007 (CST)

1. Linking:

• When creating a link, do I have to make up a new name for the link, or should I keep the original one? For example: on Ellen Tigh I created a regular link, but that way it opens the english bio of the character. Should I write something like [[Ellen Tighpt|Ellen Tigh]] instead, to open the portuguese page?

1. Read above. :) Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 01:10, 23 December 2007 (CST)

• Should I even be making links at all, since all of the pages I refered to haven't been created yet? I read the Think Thank discussion about the Red Links, but actually though this would be an easier way to know which pages haven't been created yet.--Syrin 17:26, 22 December 2007 (CST)

1. When enough pages are created we will import the pages to a new database. If you have your links now, even though they won't exist, it's easier to edit in the end. But link them like above so the only thing you would have to remove is the English translation. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 01:13, 23 December 2007 (CST)

Re-imagined Series definition: Battlestar Group (TRS: "Water"). It also doubles as an acronym for the television series itself.

Re-imagined Series definition: initial skills training; can refer to basic military indoctrination, and arms and ground training (TRS: "Fragged"); and basic flight training (TRS: "Miniseries")