3rd Anniversary of Mandoa.org!

[Adi'karta]

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Mandoa.org. On 21 January 2011, I brought the first version of the translator app online.

Here are some statistics outlining our glorious three-year history:

• We have seen a total of 296,285 pageviews across 142,840 visits from 51,958 unique visitors.
• We currently average around 400 pageviews across an average of 350 visits from approximately 350 unique visitors per day.
• The vast majority of our users hail from the United States, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. We have visitors from all over Europe and Australia forming a smaller percentage).
• The vast majority of our users access our resources from Windows PCs, followed by mobile devices.
• The most popular browser among our users is Google Chrome.

Those statistics are just from the translator. Here are some statistics from the forum:

• The forums have 82 registered users, though only 15 of us have made 5 or more posts.
• Those 82 users have made 507 posts in 70 topics.

It has been a great three years. I look forward to another three years!

To celebrate our anniversary (though it's really just coincidental timing), I should be releasing some incremental enhancements to the translator over the next few weeks/months. By the end of this upgrade process, the translator should be faster and more responsive, as well as easier to use and easier to find an accurate translation.

Ori'vore, vode, for making this possible. With your continued support and study, I have even more reasons to keep working on this project. Without you, this would just be another side-project hidden away in an archive folder on my webserver.

Oya Manda!

[Raeth]

(Wouldn't you just know I had to work the night of the 3rd Anniversary!)

Adi'karta, I think the first thing I want to say is, ORI'VORE! You are the heart of Mando'a.org. From hosting the forums and translator, to coding all the great features we use, to keeping the light on during the times when I am sure you were wondering, "Is anyone going to drop in and chat?" You, ner vod, are Mandokarla! Don't you ever doubt that!

For all of us, OYA! Whatever brought us here, whatever clicked in our minds, here we are able to come together and pursue one heck of a beautifully fierce and crazy idea. Think about it, every time we speak Mando'a we are speaking in a language that 10 years ago didn't even exist! Every time we have weekly Mando'a chat night, we are communicating ideas in a language that some of us didn't know a year ago. We are making real the culture and language of a people that until recently only existed in the aether of the imagination! Even if it is only for the few minutes spent here or if it is as much as we can carry with us in our hearts and minds throughout the day, we ARE Mando'ade now. And, language is at the heart and soul of any culture.

So, OYA MANDA!, for those brave, stubborn few of us who have thrown their lot in with this language and this website. We are Mando'ade, and I think we should be proud of what we do. And, in three years time from now, just as I look to Adi'karta for stories of how it all began and what it was like in those first days, I want us to be able to share with new generations of eager Mando'ade what it was like when we caught fire and brought Mando'a into broader use around us (I kid you not, at work they are starting to recognize some of the words I use repeatedly, and Lil'ika and I even have brief conversations in Mando'a at work... which means I should probably stop muttering "dikut'la shabuire" before some folks catch on!).

Adi'karta, again - ORI'VORE! I hope we do you proud and make the efforts you've put into this website more than rewarding and worthwhile. I cannot wait to see where we go from here!