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Macrons required to represent Maori text/language (NZ's native language)

maria

July 30, 2020 01:10

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Macrons are used in written Māori to indicate the correct pronunciation of the vowel, and to better reflect the bi-cultural nature of New Zealand and Te Reo Māori.

Macrons in the Maori language can change the entire meaning of the word in which it is used. Our (and other NZ sites), need for this ability will only increase - to the point where it will become imperative (and likely required by 'All of Government for Councils') that this feature/functionality be available on the OpenCities platform.

We have recently undergone a branding change that includes Maori translations for each of our websites (Council, Pool, Library). OpenCities have recently assisted us with change of logo (to the NZ Govt - Maori version), and will assist again in the next couple of weeks as we replace our logos over all sites with the new Maori/English versions.

Currently, we can copy and paste text with macrons into OpenCities as and where required BUT when we search for a page that includes a macron in the title - it is unable to be found. We have to navigate through the Pages tree to the page we want.

9 comments

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  Yamini Pant October 09, 2020 02:02 Official comment

  Hi @..., Joanna Cooney and Leanne Clark,

  With next week's release, we're introducing the ability to search for a page that includes a macron in the title in admin and site search. Here's a sneak peek of the search function in action in OpenCities admin:

  

  Also coming next week is the Māori language pack to add manual translations of your most important pages into te reo Māori. Super keen to hear your feedback on these updates, so please do drop us a line in this post.

  Thank you, Maria, for keeping us in the loop about changing requirements of sites in NZ. We look forward to working with our friendly councils in New Zealand, to bring you functionalities that better reflect the bi-cultural nature of New Zealand and te reo Māori.

  Edited by Yamini Pant October 09, 2020 02:03
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  Joanna Cooney July 31, 2020 03:52

  Thanks Maria, this would be great for us too.

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  Leanne Clark August 10, 2020 20:49

  Would be good for us also. 

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  Joanna Cooney October 14, 2020 22:42

  Hi Yamini

  This is fantastic news, thanks.  We are definitely keen to have the Māori Language Pack, shall I pop in a ticket for this?

  Cheers
  Jo

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  Yamini Pant October 25, 2020 22:48

  Hi Joanna Cooney,
  
  I'll raise a ticket on your behalf and for all Community members wanting the  Māori Language Pack installed, please let us know in a support ticket. 
  
  And forgot to add the best bit...the ability to search for a page that includes a macron in the title in admin and site search has been shipped. So please let us know how you're finding this improved search function when looking for pages with a macron in the page title. 

  Edited by Yamini Pant October 26, 2020 00:04
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  Joanna Cooney October 27, 2020 01:05

  Great, thanks Yamini :) We may need to go back and look at our web pages whcih need the macron added back to the page titles and then we can keep you guys posted on how things are going. 

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  maria October 27, 2020 22:55

  We can now successfully search for 'pages' that have macrons in the title 'surface in the results' - fab!

  We are interested in the package and will log a ticket, however we have concerns about 'referencing Google' as we don't believe this to be a reliable source for translation of Maori language. There are also differences in dialect depending on the 'location'.

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  Joanna Cooney October 27, 2020 22:59

  That's fabulous Maria.  

  We share the same concerns and are hoping to test it out on our intranet first.  Also, we may stick with the more static pages on our public site for this reason as there's a cost to getting content translated through official translators, as opposed to Google.

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  maria October 27, 2020 23:04

  Hi Jo, Agreed, we will probably only use them for top level (T1) translations to start, and even then - all our translations will require input and approval from a 'trusted' local source (kaumatua or similar) before we finalise anything.