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:
p.s. Good grief. I'm trying to help people use this place and just got accused of "disinformation" and "causing harm" because they didn't like the way I used the word algorithm in the guide.
Can we please chill out and be a bit more friendly? The Fedi relies on volunteers helping each other and making suggestions in a constructive way.
If I've done something wrong it is brilliant if you point it out, most of the guides rely on people correcting me. But there is no need for personal attacks.
It is by the dictionary definition, it isn't by common usage. What the dictionary says on technical matters often diverges from common usage.
Maybe the clearest example is "computer": Most people use that word to mean a laptop or desktop PC/Mac and not a smartphone. But going by the dictionary definition of "computer", the smartphone ought to be called a computer too.
I'm trying to use common usage as I'm mainly aiming my guides at new and non-technical people.
@FediTips @jannem @arthfach Yeah... I think anyone who takes communication seriously, as you do, has to understand that in some cases it makes sense to be pedantic about what words mean, and in other cases it makes sense to sacrifice precision for ease of understanding. What you're doing is definitely in the latter category.
A fair number of people (some of whom really should know better IMO) don't seem to have ever considered that distinction.
@FediTips asks "Can we please chill out and be a bit more friendly?"
I highly recommend that.
Always.
But also particularly when somebody is trying to help without compensation, just for the sake of the community.
*every* reply in this thread up until yours appears to have latched onto the word algorithm without having bothered reading the article and the very nuanced explanation of why it uses the term algorithm, and what it does, and does not mean.
The article is as near as possible to perfection as an introduction to the fedi verse can be.
@ifixcoinops @bammerlaan @afewbugs thanks for the rofl y'all.
Made this whole thread worth reading 🙇♀️
@FediTips Accusing someone of causing harm for using the non-technical definition of algorithm is kind of darkly funny in a way.
Like it's clear that they understand that words can have expanded and non-literal definitions, but seemingly only for words they want to use to make a fiddly argument about terminology sounds more dire.
Tbh, between the word "algorithm" and the word "harm", it is probably more important to insist on an accurate definition of the word "harm".
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.
Yup, this is the problem, people are using the wrong settings on their posts.
There is an automatic language detector but it isn't reliable enough on short posts to have it override the user. It does suggest to them when it thinks they've got it wrong though.
*Translatlation feature does not work*
Yep, this is correct.
It is an annoying, IMHO honestly avoidable issue:
Automatic language detection seems to be an ubiquitous feature on many websites. It should be quite easy to perform in a #Fediverse app or on the PC as well, IMO.
Afterwards, a pop-up window could appear, e. g.: your post's language is set to English but appears to be in German instead. Would you like to change your language setting? "
In the...
@AdrianRiskin @klu9
...meantime, I try doing this manually, but forget from time to time.
Alas, if I remember correctly, it isn't possible to change the language setting without deleting and reposting, leaving all boosts and replies orphaned.
Last point: from time to time I enjoy having a post from a language I don't speak automatically translated and get into contact with new people.
//
You can set the language to a default for your most common language, and then manually change if you use other languages as well.
You can change the language setting by editing if you forget on a particular post 👍
I know, thx, but that's not what I mean.
I've seen several websites that can auto-detect a language, e. g. GoogleTranslate.
Too many people in the Fediverse are quite unaware that they should a) set their standard language and b) change that setting, if they post in another.
With the improvement I suggested, that could be remedied.
@AdrianRiskin @klu9
There is already a system on Mastodon that does auto-detect your language.
If you use the website interface and type in the wrong language, the language indicator lights up and clicking it suggests which setting you should be using.
The problem with autodetection is that it's unreliable for very short messages, which are very common on microblogging platforms like Mastodon. That's why Mastodon doesn't just have autodetection overruling the user's settings.
If you reply to a post that uses another language, it does automatically use that post's language instead of your own default.
"Automatic language detection seems to be an ubiquitous feature on many websites. It should be quite easy to perform in a #Fediverse app or on the PC as well, IMO."
There has been automatic language detection on here for many years, it lights up the language button if it thinks you are using the wrong language.
The problem is this is a microblogging platform so the posts tend to be very short. At very short lengths the detector is unreliable.
I realise most people probably don't know this, but just in case someone reading this does want to make sure they have the right language setting, they can set their default posting language through the website and this should carry through to the clients.
Yeah, mine is English, as that is what I write 90% of the time, I also speak German and Norwegian, and will post in these from time to time, I keep getting people complaining that I didn't bother changing the language to the appropriate one.
I actually don't want auto-translation. 😁 I've tested the machine translation feature with languages I know & often bits are not right.
It's a handy feature, but I don't trust it 100%.
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.
Hmm... in that case, I'm not sure what else could be done directly there 🤔
One workaround might be to use the "filters" feature to try to filter out posts containing German word(s) that appear in the posts you don't want to see ( https://fedi.tips/filtering-your-timeline-to-hide-posts-on-mastodon ).
About the long posts, some interfaces and apps shorten them automatically with a "read more" link. Are you seeing the posts full length?
Re filters, thanks, I might try that workaround. Hopefully, it'll save me muting a few hundred more accounts.
Re display of long posts in undesired languages, my timeline has had both: long posts shown complete & long with Read More.
Weird! Is it doing the "read more" when it goes over a certain length, or is it just random?
If you don't mind me asking, what are you using to view Mastodon?
At first, I actually approved loads of Romance languages (even ones I don't know like Aragonese & Galician) just for the hell of it 😆 Even latine, lingua franca nova & Interlingua (my favourite "if only everyone would just use this!" auxlang).
But as my timeline got more & more full, I trimmed them back so I might stand a chance at getting through it.
Swakkel
Fedi.Tips
Faraiwe
Arthfach 🐻
Janne Moren
David Zaslavsky
Scooter 
His Churlessness Himself
Martin Escardo
Kaliah
arosano 🇩🇰 🇮🇱
Piper
Bernard Sheppard
Dan Fixes Coin-Ops
Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱
Jules she/her
iwein
Owlor 
leberschnitzel
klu9
Adrian Riskin 
HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴
Piko Starsider 
sotolf
FinchHaven sfba
ts 🚇
halyihev
Stoneface Vimes