...Although I also think the idea needs to fit into a bigger picture. Otherwise it will become a technical project for the sake of it, rather than something that's really going to have a social impact.

My take on it would be to keep it as simple as possible - multiple sites, a single server, a single database, simple auto translation, some manual tagging and editing.

I don't think a fully automated site is possible for now, and we shouldn't promise that to anyone.

Functionally I think the different language versions should be independent with some cross-posting. The plan wouldn't be to have all of the content duplicated across all the sites.

Position papers can probably stay in English, although French and German would be useful.

If you tag the auto-translation with a Beta label, no one will expect great things of it, which would help to minimise disappointment.