PEP 545 -- (Miscellaneous Updates) Python Documentation Translations

[StanFromIreland]

Dear Steering Council,

I would like to propose three modifications to PEP 545. Their implementations have been split in to separate PRs and should be reviewed separately (so that one rejected suggestion doesn't block the rest), in the event that all are accepted I can merge them into one PR.

The "Previews" have been updated with feedback from the Discuss.

1. Add a section on maintaining translation quality

Preview

Translation Quality

While maintaining translation quality is primarily up to the coordinator, the translation should aim for a similar level of quality as that of the English documentation. Machine translations that have not been reviewed by a human are not allowed.

I believe this is important so that the standards of the Python docs do not degrade, especially with the current developments of AI which may seem temping to use. (It's getting better at translating, but it's still not great, it needs supervision)

2. Add section on management of translations

Preview

Management of Translations

Translations are overseen by the :pep:Editorial Board <732#scope>. but it is intended that each language team remains as autonomous as possible.

Inactive Coordinators

If a coordinator is inactive for a year and does not respond within a two weeks to a check-in issue on their translations issue tracker the coordinator will be marked as inactive.

They will be removed from the table on the devguide translations page and the translation will be free to claim by anyone willing to coordinate by opening a PR in the devguide repository adding themselves as coordinator.

The translation may also be temporarily managed by a user willing to maintain it ideally with previous coordination experience. (propagating translations, managing CI workflows, accepting PRs, etc.)

This addition mainly focuses on what to do when a translation is abandoned and it will be helpful for future additions if other issues arise.

The devguide lists several contributors who have been inactive for well over a year and some who have not made any start to the translation whatsoever! This means the translation is out of date, when it could easily be pushed to newer branches, people are unable to contribute, for who is going to merge prs!, new contributors won't join if there is no promotion and other problems.

For example:

• The Bengali Translation, was claimed several years ago and not a commit in sight! It prevents people who wish to become coordinator and translate from doing so.
• Hungarian Translation, not updated for 7 years, branch well out of date.
• Indonesian translation, a contributor is yet again blocked.
• Russian and others similar thing, you can see the dashboard for inactive translations

3. Add section on improving methods of finding new translators

Preview

Improve Methods of Finding Translators

Finding new translators is difficult. For this reason the devguide's *help-documenting* page <https://devguide.python.org/documentation/help-documenting/>_ will have a section on Translating. On https://docs.python.org when on a translation (/lang) the footer will include the link: "Help Translating" that will link to the translations contributing guide.

I work on the PL translation and it is difficult to get new translators, it is also not easy for people who would like to help to find out how to do so!

There is no direct link to the translation repo in docs and the link that leads you to a page about contributing in the devguide also does not mention it! (And navigating the devguide is not the easiest)

Discuss: https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-545-update-pep/83534

[warsaw]

Thanks for posting this detailed ticket. The SC is reaching out to the Python Docs Editorial Board to get their feedback on this proposal.

[Mariatta]

Cc @python/editorial-board

We're aware of some of the issues mentioned here, but we haven't discussed this specific PEP update yet. I've let the rest of the team know so we can discuss it. Thanks.

[gpshead]

Any updates from the @python/editorial-board ?

[gvanrossum]

~~I don't think so. We've had some outages of our folks, the next meeting is going to be August 12. Sorry!~~

[willingc]

Here's the update @gpshead:

The following documents framed our discussion about the process for addressing PEP 545. At the docs community meeting (June 3, 2025), we discussed at length a process to move forward on revising PEP 545. It was agreed that we would take the next several months to document the desired translation process in the devguide before making changes to PEP 545.

We've successfully unblocked any translations, and things seem to be running smoothly again. There is agreement that multiple coordinators may work together to lead a language translation. This is a change from the existing PEP 545.

References:

• [discuss.python.org post about translations process and next steps](https://discuss.python.org/t/translations-process-pep-545-and-beyond-discussion-at-next-docs-community-meeting/92640
• May 20th Document on Next Steps and Community Discussion

cc @python/editorial-board