Universal Language Selector/FAQ/sco

Whit is the Universal Leid Selecter
The Universal Leid Selecter is ae MediaWiki extension that permits uisers tae chynge thair leid settins n confeegurations aes thay prefere. It uises the jQuery lybries fae the Milkshake Waurk.

Whit ar the leid settins that Ah can modeefie uisin the ULS
The Universal Leid Selecter affers the follaein featurs oan Wikimedia wikis:


 * 1) Uiser interface leid selection fer loggit in uisers.
 * 2) Wab fonts
 * 3) Inpit methids

Hou dis the Universal Leid Selecter determine whit leids that Ah micht unnerstaund
The ULS queries ae service that determines yer oreeginatin kintra based oan yer IP address. This is onaccurate in some cases. Based oan the kintra code, the maist aften spoken leids ar suggestit fer ye.

The "common languages" for a country are hard to determine as well. For this reason, they come from the Milkshake libraries which we aim to maintain with other interested software projects beyond MediaWiki/Wikimedia. Essentially, however, most of the data for it comes from Unicode (see CLDR for more info) and can be seen on the Territory-Language Information table. If you have suggestions to improve the languages currently suggested to you by ULS, first check if that table has the best data; if it can be improved, click "add new" for your country/language and propose changes. Unicode maintainers are helpful and no registration is required.

Keep in mind the CLDR definitions and remember to mention reliable sources for the specific data you propose, like for instance an official statistics bureau or a scientific survey (for literacy figures), or national and local laws (to prove a language can be used to communicate with a national/local administration).

Whaur's the Universal Leid Selecter available
The current planning is to make Universal Language Selector available on all Wikimedia wikis as soon as possible. Check the deployment planning for details.

Hou can Ah uise the Universal Leid Selecter
Oan Waurks wi leid versions (Wikipædia, Wikibuiks, Wikiversitie, Wiktionair, Wikiquote, Wikivoyage, Wikinews, Wikisoorce) the Universal Leid Selecter is veesible aes ae cog icon in the menu aurie fer interleid airtins. In Wikimedia waurks wioot leid versions (fer example Wikimedia Commons, Meta-Wiki, Wikispecies n this wiki mediawiki.org), ULS is available aes aen icon in the personal tuilbaur at the tap o the page.

Clap the icon, mak the settins n confirm thaim tae hae the settins stay acteeve.

Ae smaw keybuird icon will kith fer aw fields that permit tex inpitin. Select it tae mak chynges til the settins.

See "Location for the Selector" to learn more about the choice of the location.

Hou can Ah chynge the Displey leid
The leid that's uised tae displey the MediaWiki interface messages can be chynged bi uisin the Leid Settins panel o the ULS.

This featur is yinlie available fer loggit-in uisers.

Efter loggin in, ye can apen the Leid Settins panel [oan the sidebaur or at the tap] n naveegate til the Leid tab o the Displey settins.

Fer ae quick selection, the ULS will displey ae leet o possible leids based oan yer location. Ye can clap tae select the leid o yer choice.

Gif the leid that ye'r seekin isna oan the panel, than ye can clap oan the '...' button tae apen the langer leet o leids tae rake n select.

Dae Ah need tae be loggit in tae be able tae chynge the Displey leid
Ay, ye dae. The displey leid can yinlie be chynged bi loggit-in uisers.

Gif Ah chynge the Displey leid, than will this chynge the leid o the content oan the page that Ah'm luikin at
Na, na. The ULS disna chynge the leid o the content oan the page. It can be uised tae yinlie chynge the interface leid o MediaWiki.

Ah see kists in the tex whan Ah select ma leid
We crie thir kists 'tofu' n this happens whan thaur's nae fonts fer the leid that's been selectit.

Ye can instaw ae local font oan yer system tae richt this situation.

But to prevent a similar problem in future we would like to ensure that our web-fonts library has fonts for your language.

Please let us know, preferably through http://bugzilla.wikimedia.org

Can Ah chynge the font fer the leid
The font fer ae leid can be chynged bi the uiser fae the 'Font' tab wiin the Displey settins.

Anonimis uisers can chynge the font yinlie fer the leid that's in uiss.

Loggit-in uisers can chynge the font fer aw leids.

Hou dae ye decide oan ae defaut font fer ae leid or screept?
Ae defaut font will be set gif ae leid or screept haes ae proablemateec support histerie oan ae wide range o desktap computers n ither devices. Even thooch maist modern operatin systems provide opties tae support ae leid or screept weel, this micht mean that ae uiser haes tae tak action first, lik instawin saffware or chyngin the operatin system settins. Oor expereeance shaws that ae lot o uisers dinna dae this n gie up, n we want tae provide ae quick n autæmateec waa tae mak the tex readable.

The Universal Leid Selecter yinlie provides freelie licensed fonts. We chuise the defaut fonts based oan the popularitie o the fonts (eg: defaut font fer ae screept in Linux distreebutions, widelie uised in portals in the leid, etc.) n based oan inpit fae potential uisers. Gif the defaut font haes ae bug that hinders uisers fae uisin it, than we will ettle tae uise aen alternate font gif yin is available. Fer this ae valid bug report is needit in bugzilla wi hei impact.

Whit gif the defaut font chosen is na the best yin fer the leid? Can this be chynged?
Actions on Universal Language Selector now has event logging, see the queries and data. This will allow developers to analyze user behavior and changes in settings. Based on user behavior and other metrics, certain future changes may surface.

This means that the input tool and font support in WMFs tools need to be integrated with the eventlogging system. Any change in default input method or fonts must be supported by the usage statistics: out of FontA, FontB, for a language LANG, if FontA is usage is greater than FontB, FontB should be the default font for LANG. If system font is mostly preferred for that LANG, then by default we need to disable the webfont. The same logic applies for input methods.

Can Ah disable the defaut font that the ULS haes chosen fer ma leid?
The default font setting can be disabled in the settings.

Gif the leid is weel supportit bi Grade A brousers n operatin systems, defaut option fer fonts, inpit methids micht be the yins providit bi the system. Weel supportit means that the browsers n operatin systems provide ae bug free font n inpit methid fer that leid bi defaut (bundled wi OS, na needin byordinair steps tae instaw).

Thaur disna seem tae be ae font fer ma leid. Hou can Ah request fer ae new font tae be incluidit in the ULS
You can file a bug on Bugzilla requesting for a font to be added for your language.

It is expectit that ye'll provide suggestions aneat the fonts n point us til whaur we can fynd thaim aes weel.

It's advisable tae seek consensus fae ither memmers o yer leid communitie aneat inclusion o the new font aes weel.

Whit information will be necessair fer ae new font tae be incluidit intil the ULS

 * 1) The name o the font
 * 2) Ae URL til the soorce o the font
 * 3) License fer the font that permits it tae be freelie uised, distreebutit n modeefied.

This information can be mentioned in Bugzilla whan speirin fer ae font tae be incluidit.

Ah'd lik tae write in ae differant leid. Hou can Ah chynge the settins tae dae this

 * 1) Sidebaur: Ye can gang til the 'Inpit Settins' section in the Leid Settins panel n select ae leid that's displeyed oan the buttons or fae the 'Leid Selection' popup.
 * 2) Keybuird menu: The leids ar displeyed aes ae leet n ae selection can be makit fae here.

Ah'v chosen ae leid, bit Ah still canna write in that leid. Whit coud be wrang
Whan ye select ae leid, ye'll be presentit wi ae leet o inpit methids fer that leid. Gif nae inpit methids exeest wiin the ULS fer that leid than the nateeve keybuird oan yer local computer will be uised fer inpit. Gif inpit methids ar na available throoch eether o the twa opties, than ye'll na be able tae write in the selectit leid.

Ah'd lik tae chynge the keybuird fer the leid that Ah'v chosen. Hou can Ah dae that
The inpit methid/keybuird opties wiin the ULS fer ae leid ar displeyed aes ae let in baith the Leid Settins panel aes weel aes in the keybuird menu fae ae tex inpit kist.

Ae default keybuird is selectit fer ilka leid. Tae uise ae differant keybuird, ye can select fae this leet.

Ah'v ae keybuird oan ma computer n Ah dinna want tae uise the keybuird in ULS. Can Ah disable the ULS keybuird compleatelie
The ULS inpit methids can be disabled in 2 waas:


 * 1) From the sidebar: by clicking on the "" button within the input settings option in the Language Settings panel
 * 2) From the Keyboard menu: by clicking on "" from the keyboard menu that is displayed when the user clicks on the keyboard icon from an input field (like the search field)

Can Ah disable the ULS keybuird fer yinlie 1 leid, wioot disablin the ULS keybuird compleatelie
Ay, ye can. Tae dae this, please select 'Uise Nateeve Keybuird' fae the drap-doun menu that's displeyed in the leet o the keybuirds available fer that leid.

Hou dae ye decide whit the order o the inpit methids is?
We assess this fer ilka leid separatelie. Preferablie it's the maist practeecal n uissfu fer that leid, accordin til ae consultation wi potential uisers, tae be the first yin. Gif the defaut inpit methid haes ae bug that hinders uisers fae uisin it, it will be disabled aes preferred or defaut inpit methid. Fer this ae valid bug report is needit in bugzilla wi hei impact. Ontil the bug is resolved, the nex available inpit methid will be presented oan tap o the leet.

Whit gif the defaut inpit methid is na the best yin fer the leid? Can this be chynged?
Any change in default input method or fonts must be supported by the usage statistics. See similar question up page.

Can Ah set aw o the Leid Settins fae wiin ma uiser preferance page
Yes. To configure the language settings, navigate to your user preference page and click on the "" option in the "" section under the "" tab.

Why can anonimis uisers na uise the Universal Leid Selecter tae chynge thair interface leid
This optie is disabled oan Wikimedia wikis, cause the Wikimedia cache infrastructur disna support this the nou. We'r luikin intil makin this possible in the futur. Thaur's nae timeline fer this.

Hou can Ah disable the Universal Leid Selecter
Yinlie pairt o the functionalitie can be disabled.

Input methods can be completely disabled by clicking the keyboard icon and clicking "".

Web fonts can only be disabled per language in the settings.

Can Ah Owerset the interface o the Universal Leid Selecter in ma leid
Yes! You can do this at translatewiki.net. Complete translation of the following two message groups once you are a registered translator:
 * MediaWiki extension
 * jQuery plugin

Whaur can Ah report ae proablem
Please report problems and suggestions in Bugzilla. Please ensure to report as much detail as you can.

What fonts are included?
An up-to-date list is in the of Wikimedia’s Git repository (each folder has metadata in the file font.ini). Here is the list, as of 2013-11-22 (v1.4.0-Snapshot):

Are there metrics and statistics on the usage and impact?
Yes. We identified some metrics for the Universal Language Selector and we are now collecting aggregated data with EventLogging for a number of actions performed with ULS: see the queries for ULS usage statistics and some data linked from that page.