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 "commyn leids" fer ae kintra ar haurd tae determine aes weell. Fer this raison, thay come fae the Milkshake lybries that we aim to maintain wi ither interestit saffware waurks ayont MediaWiki/Wikimedia. Essentiallie, houever, maist o the data fer it comes fae Unicode (see CLDR fer mair info) n can be seen oan the Territrie-Leid Information buird. Gif ye hae suggestions tae impruiv the leids suggestit til ye the nou bi the ULS, first check gif that buir haes the best data; gif it can be impruived, than clap "eik new" fer yer kintra/leid n propose chynges. Unicode maintainers ar heelpfu n nae registration is needit.

Whaur's the Universal Leid Selecter available
The ettle the nou is tae mak the Universal Leid Selecter available oan aw Wikimedia wikis aes suin aes possible. Check the deploymant plannin fer 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 the "Location fer the Selecter" tae learn mair aneat the choice o 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 m 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.

Bit tae hinder ae siclik proablem in futur we'd lik tae ensair that oor wab-fonts lybrie haes fonts fer yer leid.

Please lat us ken, preferablie throoch 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 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 oan the Universal Leid Selecter nou haes event loggin, see the queries data. This will permit deveelipers tae analyse uiser behavier n chynges in settins. Based oan uiser behavier n ither metreecs, certain futur chynges micht surface.

This means that the inpit tuil n font support in the WMFs tuils need tae be integratit wi the eventloggin system. Onie chynge in the defaut inpit methid or fonts maun be supportit bi the uissage stateesteecs: oot o FontA, FontB, fer ae leid LANG, gif the FontA uissage is muckler than FontB, FontB shid be the defaut font fer LANG. Gif system font is maistlie preferred fer that LANG, than bi defaut we need tae disable the wabfont. The same logeec applies fer inpit methids.

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

If the language is well supported by Grade A browsers and operating systems, default option for fonts, input methods may be the ones provided by the system. Well supported means, the browsers and operating systems provide a bug free font and input method for that language by default (bundled with OS, not requiring special steps to install).

There does not seem to be a font for my language. How can I request for a new font to be included in ULS
You can file a bug on Bugzilla requesting for a font to be added for your language.

It is expected that you will also provide suggestions about the fonts and point us to where we can find them.

It is advisable to also seek consensus from other members of your language community about inclusion of the new font.

What information will be necessary for a new font to be included into ULS

 * 1) The name of the font
 * 2) URL to the source of the font
 * 3) License for the font that allows it to be freely used, distributed and modified.

This information can be mentioned in Bugzilla when requesting for a font to be included.

I would like to write in a different language. How can I change the settings to do so

 * 1) Sidebar: You can go to the 'Input Settings' section in the Language Settings panel and select a language displayed on the buttons or from the 'Language Selection' popup.
 * 2) Keyboard menu: The languages are displayed as a list and a selection can be made from here.

I have chosen a language, but I still cannot write in that language. What could be wrong
When you select a language, you will be presented with a list of input methods for that language. If no input methods exist within ULS for that language the native keyboard on your local computer will be used for input. If input methods are not available through either of the two options, then you will not be able to write in the selected language.

I would like to change the keyboard for the language that I have chosen. How can I do that
The input method/keyboard options within ULS for a language are displayed as a list in both the Language Settings panel as well as in the keyboard menu from a text input box.

A default keyboard is selected for each language. To use a different keyboard, you can make a selection from this list.

I have a keyboard on my computer and I do not want to use the keyboard in ULS. Can I disable the ULS keyboard completely
The ULS input methods can be disabled in 2 ways:


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

Can I disable the ULS keyboard for only 1 language, without disabling the ULS keyboard completely
Yes. To do so, please select 'Use Native Keyboard' from the drop-down menu that is displayed in the list of keyboards available for that language.

How do you decide what is the order of input methods?
We assess this for each language separately. Preferably it is the most practical and useful for that language, according to a consultation with potential users, to be the first one. If the default input method has a bug that prevents users from using it, it will be disabled as preferred or default input method. For this a valid bug report is needed in bugzilla with high impact. Until the bug is resolved, the next available input method will be presented on top of the list.

What if the default input method is not the best one for the language? Can this be changed?
Any change in default input method or fonts must be supported by the usage statistics. See similar question up page.

Can I set all the Language Settings from within my user preference page
Yes. To configure the language settings, navigate to your user preference page and click on the 'More language settings' option in the 'Internationalization' section under the 'User Profile' tab.

Why can anonymous users not use Universal Language Selector to change their interface language
This option is disabled on Wikimedia wikis, because the Wikimedia cache infrastructure currently does not support this. We are looking into making this possible in the future. There is no timeline for this.

How can I disable Universal Language Selector
Only part of the functionality can be disabled.

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

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

Can I translate the interface of Universal Language Selector in my language
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

Where can I report a problem
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.