Task #2984
openInvestigate German volunteering platforms
Added by Mike Saunders over 4 years ago. Updated over 1 year ago.
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Description
Ilmari has had success using VolunteerMatch to bring new people into the LibreOffice project, so let's try to recreate this on a local level. He has found some German volunteering platforms:
https://www.youvo.org/
https://www.gute-tat.de/
https://vostel.de/de/
https://letsact.de/
As they're in German, I will investigate and see what are usable, taking advice from Ilmari on the way.
Updated by Florian Effenberger over 4 years ago
- Target version set to Q4/2019
Something to tackle in Q4, to start in early 2020, ahead of FOSDEM
Updated by Mike Saunders over 4 years ago
So I started investigating the sites last week, and here's a summary:
- https://www.youvo.org -- Lists very specific projects and the help required (eg designing flyers, or redesigning a website), mainly focusing on social causes. 512 projects listed.
- https://www.gute-tat.de -- Focuses on local (not online) activities, such as helping children and seniors.
- https://vostel.de/de/ -- More local activities (helping refugees, people with limited vision, etc.), narrowed down by city. Over 10,000 volunteers have found projects there.
- https://letsact.de -- Focuses on an app, which puts people in touch with organisations and volunteers. Lots of local events (cooking, painting schools etc.). Claims to have 25,000+ users.
I would suggest trying the first site, youvo.org, as it already has various online opportunities for volunteering. We could post a few projects on there, and I can mentor volunteers (and/or get them on the German mailing lists if they need a lot of help).
Ilmari, any thoughts on ideal projects for newcomers? We'd like to redesign the website at some point, but that's a major job. Otherwise we could talk about:
- Organising local events / giving presentations at schools/universities etc. about LibreOffice
- Updating documentation (making German translations of missing stuff)
Updated by Beluga Beluga over 4 years ago
Mike Saunders wrote:
So I started investigating the sites last week, and here's a summary:
- https://www.youvo.org -- Lists very specific projects and the help required (eg designing flyers, or redesigning a website), mainly focusing on social causes. 512 projects listed.
Ilmari, any thoughts on ideal projects for newcomers? We'd like to redesign the website at some point, but that's a major job. Otherwise we could talk about:
- Organising local events / giving presentations at schools/universities etc. about LibreOffice
- Updating documentation (making German translations of missing stuff)
Ok, so apparently Youvo is like Um sem um tam in Czechia.
Presentations might make most sense, if existing users are found through the site. But if someone has no previous experience and wants to learn by preparing a presentation, why not :)
Translations are certainly straightforward for this sort of thing and that's why raal started with those on Um sem um tam. I guess the wiki might be a place to find relevant content to translate (the UI and help seem to be in a pretty good shape for German). Guide books might be too huge? Or separate them as chapter per challenge.
I also have a script, which allows me to pick groups of bugs that need re-testing. These could be offered as specific efforts. This is being piloted at Um sem um tam currently.
Updated by Florian Effenberger over 4 years ago
- Target version changed from Q4/2019 to Q1/2020
Any update/next steps on this?
Updated by Mike Saunders about 4 years ago
I'll bring up this topic at the DE community meeting in March. Some of the websites require larger, specific projects (rather than just "jump in and give us a hand"), but maybe we can do something with them.
There's also https://jugendhackt.org -- Thorsten may know something about this, so I've pinged him.
Updated by Mike Saunders about 4 years ago
Re: Jugendhackt, Thorsten says:
Yeah we tried once IIRC with Bjoern to land a LibreOffice section there - we could revive that I guess, but it needs mentoring bandwidth and really cool ideas (it's a market of ideas - kids essentially pick their project). I guess the only really viable option is something with Python-Extensions.
Updated by Mike Saunders almost 4 years ago
- Target version changed from Q1/2020 to Q2/2020
Last week I caught up a bit with this task and investigated some of the platforms again. I just sent my ideas to the German community mailing list: http://document-foundation-mail-archive.969070.n3.nabble.com/Engagement-Plattforme-Vorschlage-und-Ideen-td4281506.html -- Quick translation below. Once I get some feedback, I'll try setting up an account on one of the sites, and see if we can reach out to some volunteers.
Hello,
With VolunteerMatch we have won a few new participants for our projects. I would also like to do that here in the German speaking comunity -- that is, using online services that bring volunteers in contact with foundations / projects.
There are several of these websites, for example
Does anyone here have any experience with these, or other ideas? I think the the first page (Vostel) is quite good for us. www.youvo.org also looks promising, but we need to find a specific project and help volunteers to achieve a goal.
Is there such a big project here in the DE project, which we want to implement?
Otherwise we could show via Vostel smaller tasks, like
https://de.libreoffice.org/community/get-involved/
Updated by Mike Saunders over 3 years ago
- Target version changed from Q2/2020 to Q4/2020
Last week, I prepared a few tasks for volunteers, and have now applied to register at vostel.de. They're checking our application, and once that's done, we can start adding tasks. For many tasks, we'll need a contact point, but I'm happy to be that, and point people in the right direction (eg German mailing lists or Telegram) where necessary.
Goal is to have this up-and-running as soon as our application is accepted, and possibly another one or two volunteering platforms by the end of the year (so Q4 as deadline). After that it'll be a recurring task, of course.
Updated by Mike Saunders over 3 years ago
- Status changed from New to In Progress
First tasks online for Vostel:
At the moment, interested volunteers will contact me directly, so I'll get to know them personally, and then lead them in the appropriate direction (eg to the de-discuss@ mailing list).
I'll post this on the German list too, to get feedback and further ideas.
Updated by Mike Saunders over 3 years ago
I got some feedback via the German community, so I've updated our page on Vostel and blogged about it: https://de.blog.documentfoundation.org/2020/09/25/libreoffice-auf-vostel-de/ – Also posted on social media.
Updated by Mike Saunders over 3 years ago
No volunteers from Vostel yet, but Ilmari and I have a call with the team at https://purpozed.org - a new volunteering platform in Germany - next week. So let's see what they offer.
Updated by Mike Saunders over 3 years ago
A couple of updates:
- Ilmari and I just had a call with Simon Kohrs from Purpozed, a "digital engagements" platform focused on corporate volunteering, that's due to launch in January. They are seven people who decided to start a platform because of Corona, and already have some businesses on board. We discussed how this could be a good way to get volunteers in LibreOffice who want to build up specific skills. We explained some of the different tasks we have, and we'll have a follow-up call in December.
- Meanwhile, I've had contact via Vostel -- someone wants to help with translations. I'll start to onboard her and introduce her to the community.
Updated by Mike Saunders about 3 years ago
- Target version changed from Q4/2020 to Q1/2021
Update: the lady we got via Vostel was very helpful with translating blog posts. She also tried to get involved in the LO UI translating project but found it difficult to get support from other EN-DE translators, so that's something we need to improve.
I will look at updating our tasks on Vostel and spreading the word again, and also look at some of the other platforms.
Updated by Mike Saunders about 3 years ago
- Target version changed from Q1/2021 to Recurring
We've had a new contact via Vostel, so I'm talking to the person and will arrange a call/video chat to help onboard him.
This is a long-term task, so setting as recurring for now.
Updated by Mike Saunders over 1 year ago
We get messages every month or two via Vostel, from people who are interested in contributing. I follow up with offers to chat, but so far nobody has turned into a long-term contributor, sadly.