Abbreviated font “Autonym” for self-naming in Wikipedia
If the Wikipedia article has versions in other languages, then this list is shown in the sidebar (interwiki links). The name of the language in this list is recorded in the language itself (the term “autonym” is used in the English literature).
This means that for the correct display of self-names of languages, appropriate fonts are needed. For example, the Nobel Prize article is available in 125 languages and requires about 35 different fonts in order to show all their names in the sidebar.
Initially, this problem was solved with the help of system fonts available on the reader device. If the font was not, the user instead of the name of the language saw a set of squares (▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯, ▯▯▯ - ▯▯▯▯▯ ▯ ▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯ ▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯). Such squares are often called "tofu." To solve this problem (not only for the list of languages, but also for display in the articles themselves), an MediaWiki Universal Language Selector (ULS) extension was created that provided a set of fonts to show all the languages used on the page.
This helped to guarantee the correct display of the language, but in return brought another problem: the sharply increased size of the pages, which began to load much slower than before using ULS. As a half-measure, to ensure a normal download speed, web fonts are no longer used for showing interwiki links.
Removing web fonts from interwiki links was a quick and easy solution, but by and large it was not a solution to the problem. Articles started to appear normally, displaying all languages, but due to the curved display of the name of the native language, some users could not find their language in the list of interwiki. (example of "tofu" in the picture on the right).
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Self-names were needed not only for interwiki, but also for language search tools, a drop-down list of the ULS itself, which allows the user to find his language if the page is shown in an unknown language (more precisely, not even a language, but a font).
As a final solution, localization engineers came up with the idea of using a special web font, which will only have the characters necessary to record the self-name of the language on it. All languages supported by MediaWiki were included in the list of languages to be added. This font was named “Autonym”. It will be used in those places where only self-names are shown.
Currently, this font occupies about 50 kilobytes and covers 95% of the languages used (more than 400). The current task is to determine which languages are displayed incorrectly (due to errors or lack of characters). If for a language you know ( in the original it was “your language”, but there is no problem with Russian, approx. Lane ), if for a language you know you see the problem and know some free font that has corresponding glyphs that tell us (Wikimedia Foundation) and we will correct the error.
This font solves a very narrow and specific problem. A proposal to expand the list of glyphs for similar language lists, such as those found on commons, is currently under discussion. Using the Media Wiki features, the font can be easily used using a CSS class called autonym.
Autonym font is published for free use under the SIL license. Open Font License, Version 1.1.
This means that for the correct display of self-names of languages, appropriate fonts are needed. For example, the Nobel Prize article is available in 125 languages and requires about 35 different fonts in order to show all their names in the sidebar.
Initially, this problem was solved with the help of system fonts available on the reader device. If the font was not, the user instead of the name of the language saw a set of squares (▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯, ▯▯▯ - ▯▯▯▯▯ ▯ ▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯ ▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯). Such squares are often called "tofu." To solve this problem (not only for the list of languages, but also for display in the articles themselves), an MediaWiki Universal Language Selector (ULS) extension was created that provided a set of fonts to show all the languages used on the page.
This helped to guarantee the correct display of the language, but in return brought another problem: the sharply increased size of the pages, which began to load much slower than before using ULS. As a half-measure, to ensure a normal download speed, web fonts are no longer used for showing interwiki links.
Removing web fonts from interwiki links was a quick and easy solution, but by and large it was not a solution to the problem. Articles started to appear normally, displaying all languages, but due to the curved display of the name of the native language, some users could not find their language in the list of interwiki. (example of "tofu" in the picture on the right).')
Self-names were needed not only for interwiki, but also for language search tools, a drop-down list of the ULS itself, which allows the user to find his language if the page is shown in an unknown language (more precisely, not even a language, but a font).
As a final solution, localization engineers came up with the idea of using a special web font, which will only have the characters necessary to record the self-name of the language on it. All languages supported by MediaWiki were included in the list of languages to be added. This font was named “Autonym”. It will be used in those places where only self-names are shown.
Currently, this font occupies about 50 kilobytes and covers 95% of the languages used (more than 400). The current task is to determine which languages are displayed incorrectly (due to errors or lack of characters). If for a language you know ( in the original it was “your language”, but there is no problem with Russian, approx. Lane ), if for a language you know you see the problem and know some free font that has corresponding glyphs that tell us (Wikimedia Foundation) and we will correct the error.
This font solves a very narrow and specific problem. A proposal to expand the list of glyphs for similar language lists, such as those found on commons, is currently under discussion. Using the Media Wiki features, the font can be easily used using a CSS class called autonym.
Autonym font is published for free use under the SIL license. Open Font License, Version 1.1.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/199410/
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