I have been working with freelance translators in Dhivehi, Somali, Burmese, and other underserved languages to translate the OpenStreetMap homepage map and About page.
For Dhivehi (and eventually others) I have requested an additional 1,100 words across the OpenStreetMap registration, login, password reset, and mapping process, as well as common iD editor UI and preset words. Dhivehi was a particular interest for me because the Thaana script was not being used in labels in the Maldives, even as a bilingual option, though it is now supported by most renderers.
This repo serves as a 'global' repo for the multiple translations. Also it offers the basic set of translations which you can use to make the biggest impact in your language.
If you can verify existing translations for Dhivehi, Somali, or Burmese, please contact me ( NDoiron mapmeld com ).
Translations for Dhivehi have been waiting months for approval before they can be added to the OpenStreetMap site.
Unlike WikiMedia, the OpenStreetMap Foundation has no central effort around translation and representation. The OpenStreetMap website language is crowdsourced on TranslateWiki, and iD Editor is crowdsourced on Transifex.
I personally believe that TranslateWiki makes it difficult to commission translations or to organize volunteer translators. When I submit a translation for the website, it cannot appear until a second account has approved it, and there is no marking for official translators. A volunteer who registers will be asked to make some unrelated translations. Then those translations are manually reviewed before real edits or approvals can be made. This process takes 24+ hours, so it is difficult to hold a 'translate-a-thon' or send a quick sign-up link to volunteers... they have to be committed to follow a task and return to the site later on.
- made layout for iD Editor and right-to-left languages
- fixed bug on the About page affecting all right-to-left languages
- Dhivehi translations appear in iD Editor (put "dv" in your user preferences languages)
- Maldives orgs are interested in using OpenStreetMap and Thaana script more
- mock-up maps to explain process in other languages
Public domain