Is your Mastodon timeline too empty or too full? Are you seeing stuff you don't want to, and missing stuff you do want to see? Is your timeline overwhelmed by someone who shares too many posts?
These and lots more timeline problems are solved in the "How to customise your Mastodon timeline" guide:
I'd like to be able to follow hashtags without seeing posts in languages I don't understand that also use those hashtags.
#Mastodon language settings don't help with that & after having a timeline 30-35% in languages I don't know, I've ended up muting hundreds (maybe thousands now) of accounts.
In fact, I've started looking at my alt account's timeline (exquisite.social) first because Mastodon's lack of hashtag migration means my timeline there is only people I follow, & only afterwards going to my original account (ohai.social) that includes followed hashtag posts.
Are you sure you've selected the option to filter languages, rather than just setting your own interface language? (More info at https://fedi.tips/setting-your-language-preferences-on-mastodon-and-filtering-out-posts-in-other-languages )
The language filter should help at least somewhat, but by definition you won't notice the posts it is successfully hiding.
There is also an automatic language detector, and it tells people when they've got the wrong post language setting, but it's not reliable for short posts so that's why it doesn't override the person's setting.
Yes, I've set the "Filter" languages, not just "Interface" language.
(Preferences > Other > Public Timelines > Filter languages)
And many of the posts in undesired languages (in my case, 95% German) have been quite long, hundreds of characters.
I wonder if following a hashtag trumps/bypasses the language filter.
Many servers have a translation service in your Home feed, and if your server has it you'll see "translate" below posts in other languages.
However, the admin has to pay the translation service provider a monthly fee to have such a service. Not all admins can afford this, so they don't activate the translation feature. (The reason translations are "free" on commercial platforms is they're paying for the translations by selling your data etc).
I understand this
My instance use LibreTranslate
My issue is remote instances that throw an httpd 404 or httpd 503 at any attempt to translate a post from one of their posters, even when I go to their profile feed and try to translate directly from their home instance, or where posts in my Home feed don't even offer Translate at all
It's really an inexcusable weak point
I remember on Github (where I follow Mastodon development) where quite some time ago Gargron himself blew off the entire auto-translate issue as too marginal to bother addressing programmatically in the distribution itself
His attitude was basically "Meh... they should all be able to read European (meaning German) anyway..."
So here we are: Mastodon as a Tower of Babel
cc @klu9
Are you attempting to use translate on a different server's website?
I am attemting to translate using the Translate text at the bottom of given post
Again my instance uses LibreTranslate
Sometimes I'll click through to the post on the origin instance and try there
Sometimes (when I have a lot of time to waste and I'm in a better mood) I'll open up the instances
/public/local
and see
1) if they have any posts in anything other than their native language, and
2) do they seem to offer any translation at all
And here's the core point:
how much effort should I be expected to expand, to translate a foreign / European/ German post just to read something that ends up being extremely mundane
And how much finite screen space am I expected to give to posts / posters I'll never be able to translate and read?
I've already Muted and Blocked two in the last 15 minutes...
Are you seeing a "translate" button below remote posts you are viewing within your own instance's website?
If you are, what happens when you click it? (Not on the origin instance but when viewed within your own instance's interface.)
JFC...
I have four tabs open, Firefox web browser on Ubuntu, to my home instance
/home
/public/local
my Lists
and my Profile home
I'm on my /home tab viewing posts
I am looking for and using the Translate tag at the lower left of a given post
Do you need a screenshot to understand what I'm saying?
Or do you think I don't know what I'm talking about?
"Or do you think I don't know what I'm talking about?"
Absolutely not! I am the one who doesn't understand, I am trying to get a better picture of what is going on by asking for details 🙂
I'm trying to help.
Fedi.Tips
klu9
FinchHaven sfba
Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱
ts 🚇