User blog:WoeisWingbat/Handling name romanizations

Hi all! Over the past few months the admins have been thinking about how the Dubbing Database handles name romanizations for non-Latin scripts.

The way we used to handle it before is that we put a Latin name on the page with nothing else accompanying it. Which system is used for these? Any! Meaning several pages could lead to several inconsistencies since there's not a wrong way to romanize a name. Not to mention, if you don't have context for where the editor received those names and you tried looking that actor up, at least a good 7 times out of 10 you will not find that actor, and will instead receive a bunch of unrelated search results.

Today, I'm proposing a change: Why not put the non-Latin name under the actor's Latin name, while still prioritizing the latter?

This is a system that can work out for everyone. You now have the context for the actor's non-Latin name and can correct either of them anytime you'd like to, without having to wait for an actor page to be created. If you also see a non-Latin name you're unsure of, it's just much easier to look them up using Fandom's search engine and find pages where the name was romanized already.

It's important to stress that the general rules for tackling names still apply:
 * Stage names, pseudonyms, and so forth, when applicable, are prioritized over the birth or full name.
 * If there's a Latin stage name that does not have a non-Latin equivalent, there is no need to force one on the page, just use the Latin stage name.
 * The "official" romanized name, if there is any, must be used over any other way to transcribe them (which is another reason why this system is helpful).
 * You can typically find these on an actor's social media pages, where they will often write out or suggest how you would write their names in a Latin script.
 * We are still prioritizing the romanized names of people in most contexts, other than cast lists.

'''If you have any questions or objections, we would love to hear them. Please leave a reply and tell us how you feel. This will be in effect at least 3 days if there are enough people for it than against it.'''

Examples
I knew that people would, of course, naturally want to have examples about how this should be handled. So me and a few other editors decided to test the waters before fully going through with it on several pages. Of course this applies to any non-Latin script language and not just these, but here are the main examples:
 * Cantonese: 查理布朗的情人節
 * Mandarin: 彩虹小馬大電影
 * Japanese 名探偵コナン
 * Korean: 어린 왕자 (2015)
 * Hebrew: פט שופ - עולם משלנו
 * Russian: Барбапапа и семья
 * Serbian: LEGO Monkie Kid (Serbian)
 * Greek: Το Φάντασμα και η Μόλι ΜακΓκί
 * Arabic: الدببة الطيبة - الدب الأفضل
 * Persian: پونی کوچولوی من: نسل جدید (Homayun)

And below, you will see some of them in picture form:

FAQ

 * Okay. But how come?
 * This is a much easier system that works both ways: it allows for easy correction on helping to romanize any names properly, as well as to easily find any VAs that may have had their names transcribed wrong.
 * Would this apply to all languages that use non-Latin script?
 * Yes.
 * Does this also apply to character names?
 * Not always, no. It is not mandatory as in most cases, the name will be the same as the original version. However, it can be done under certain circumstances (such as Arabic The Simpsons), we will not stop you.
 * However, while not mandatory, we recommended that you provide both Latin and non-Latin names of characters on Serbian pages, considering that they use both scripts.
 * What if I don't know an actor's Latin name?
 * Not a problem. We advise that you put the non-Latin name in plain text, with no page link, so other editors may easily see that you struggled with finding it, and they may pitch in if they know it.
 * ..What if I only know their Latin name?
 * Also not a problem. In that case, just put the Latin name on the page with a link, so that once again, someone may notice and help add it if they know it.
 * What if I need to put a note next to the name?
 * Use "  " in the code after the actor's name for any notes; doing otherwise looks ugly. Doing this is not necessary for references, however.
 * What's the code for this?
 * You use the "Native name" template. It works like so: The "he" part is replaced by the ISO code in the language (unless, of course, you're doing Hebrew).
 * A few days ago, we were intending to do this: Gilan Shahaf גילן שחף . It is recommended to do this in cases where the "Native code" template will not work, but otherwise please stick to using the template.
 * A common mistake I see already, which we would not advise anybody to do, is this: Gilan Shahaf גילן שחף
 * How do you format that on song pages?
 * Like so: Gilan Shahaf / גילן שחף
 * If I have to mention the actor's name anywhere else on the article (such as a Trivia section), do I still need to include the non-Latin name?
 * If the actor is already mentioned on the cast list, then no. If the actor is being bought up for the first time, it would help to include it in parenthesis: "During production, Gilan Shahaf (גילן שחף) was replaced by..", but again, we will not force anybody to do so.