Talinnilat wrote:I think there should be a difference in categories of Teasers that are finished and new projects that might continue. But, again I see it as potentially a lot of admin work to review it all regularly. And if they are continuing then they will hit the pending tag/full project tag fairly soon.
I'm personally still opposed. xD I've actually never seen a good argument for why "Teasers" (with no TL intending to continue) should be separated from a "New Project" (TL intends to continue). I'd be very enlightened if someone could explain. :3
Here's my view. Suppose, hypothetically, that we had two tags: "New Project" and "Teaser". Both of these projects get approved automatically to "Full Project" after X chapters are translated.
Here's the
administrative nightmare if we try to distinguish between the two, assuming translators somehow categorize their projects correctly and don't automatically put their projects in teaser (currently on the Wiki, most translators voluntarily categorize their projects as teaser, regardless of their future intent, anyways):
- New translator (never worked on BT before) starts a "New Project", thinking he'll be an epic translator and will translate super fast.
- Turns out translating was harder than he thought. Translator takes a break..........
- 3 months later... only 33% of chapter one is completed.
- Now what? Do we recategorize it to Teaser because it looks like the TL is gone?
- Inverse situation. Translator creates a "teaser" thinking he'll never work on it again.
- 3 months later, a new translator joins the project.
- Now what? Do we recategorize it to "New Project" and remove the "Teaser" tag because there's an active TL again?
Why any new translator wouldn't want to tag their new project as "New Project":
- 95% of "Non-Full-Projects" are teasers that aren't actively being translated right now. These projects are all in the same category (~70).
- Since I'm an active translator intending to continue, I wouldn't be allowed to tag my project as a "Teaser".
- I'd be forced to tag my project as a "New Project"
- However, the "New Project" category on the Wiki will always be tiny. Max 3-4 projects, since they must be new AND have an active TL.
- Readers will never check that category, IMO. They're lazy and only check 1 or 2 places. Right now, 99% readers only check sidebar and Category:Teaser. I have never heard of a reader that regularly checks Pending Authorisation or the other small categories.
- My point: My translations will never be read (and readers won't find it) if it's in the "New Project" Category.
In short, that's why I'm so opposed to having a separate category distinction for "Teasers" and "New Projects".
Fewer categories are better. IMO, readers don't care if a New Project is active or inactive. All they know is that "Teasers" and "New Projects" don't have very much translated. Otherwise, they're practically the same thing.
In general, I see nothing wrong with having a huge list of teasers and new projects. All that really matters is that the Full Project Category be populated with projects that at least have enough translations so that a reader can sit down a
read a story. One volume is a story, because one volume is a self-contained work. One prologue and one chapter (a stalled project)
is not a contained story, and as a reader I'd be frustrated to see it along with the Full Projects. It's like watching a quarter of a movie and being forced to stop in the middle.
As was pointed out long ago, we have more than enough Full Projects. Our sidebar is overflowing. Can't we at least cut out items that don't have one volume completed, as suggested by
Cthaeh here. Random quote to support this effort:
cautr wrote:If a one volume rule already scares off translators, then they simply don't qualify for TLing a full project.
@Darklor: I'm in the party that believes "
quantity of full projects" is not better than "
quality of full projects". We already have a good number of Full Projects, and I'd rather raise the requirements and see more dedicated translators on full projects who have the ability to finish at least a volume, than have 200 "Full Projects" that don't have a complete volume and are primarily populated by translators who find translating a 1-2 chapters too hard.
The capability of a translator to finish a volume, imo, is an excellent metric for whether they will continue the project further in the future.
Talinnilat wrote:
I like the clarity in everything else and wish it had been written that way months ago when I was confused.
One thing, can the headers of these be updated when this vote is completed?
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index ... _(English)
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index ... horisation
The Teaser one should explain what the teasers are for readers. There's absolutely nothing there now. Something like 'These novels fall into 2 categories, 1) new projects that haven't completed a minimum size, 2) teasers offered by translators in the past to generate interest or showcase an interesting novel'"
And the Pending project section's text is mostly 'scary' and has no information for readers like 'These are ongoing projects that will be moved to the left bar if they meet the standards, or moved to Teasers if judged to be abandoned', or something.
Added some text to the "Teaser" category for now. We'll deal with the Pending authorization one after this page is approved.