wda Posted October 22, 2018 Share #1 Posted October 22, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) A search brings up five posts only relevant to the old forum. I press the American flag symbol but on my Android tablet I still see very many German language posts, enough to deter me browsing as I enjoyed in the past. What further steps should I take? I should stress that have insufficient time to learn a new language. 🙁 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 Hi wda, Take a look here How to filter English-only posts?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
andybarton Posted October 22, 2018 Share #2 Posted October 22, 2018 I don’t think you can. And never have been able to. You might be able to choose which forums you search in though The flag (which used to include half a Union Jack too...) merely chooses your interface language. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 22, 2018 Share #3 Posted October 22, 2018 I don’t think you can specify forums (fori?) to search.... I’m struggling greatly with the new format and through not really understanding what “activity streams” are I now have a lot of “custom streams” that I can’t find a way of deleting...... I was trying to get to a point where the forum displayed as previously where I could see all topics with new content, select a topic and go to the last unread (by me) post and then go back to the main page and have that topic still appear (but not bolded) in the list. Maybe as a non-user of any social media platform I’m just not used to notifications etc and all the various options.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedaes Posted October 22, 2018 Share #4 Posted October 22, 2018 (edited) I am far from proficient in the new Forum format, but have successfully put together a Custom Activity Stream which includes only the content I want to see. In my case this excludes all the German language forums. Haven't tried a search, but would have thought it would be helpful if we could just search those forums as a enhancement. Edited October 22, 2018 by pedaes added sentence Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted October 22, 2018 There has definitely been a change of user practice in recent months. Effectively we now have a bilingual forum and a German language forum, but not an English language forum. Since the host publisher is German, I feel priveleged to be able to participate in such a rich resource and thank Andreas for his industry and hard work. However my pleasure in participating has diminished, largely because I am not bilingual in the German language, and the frustration I feel in trying to remain an active member. A final thought. Is it possible to persuade members to use International English in the English half of the forum and group German language threads in the German half of the forum? Bilinguists would not suffer provided they were prepared to scan the 'opposite half' occasionally. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted October 22, 2018 Share #6 Posted October 22, 2018 1 hour ago, NigelG said: I was trying to get to a point where the forum displayed as previously where I could see all topics with new content, select a topic and go to the last unread (by me) post and then go back to the main page and have that topic still appear (but not bolded) in the list. Nigel, in a list of topics there is either a star or solid black dot in front of the topic line. Pressing either brings you straight to the last post you have not yet read. Does that help? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 22, 2018 Share #7 Posted October 22, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) Moderators will move German language posts to the German side if we see them or are notified of them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted October 22, 2018 17 minutes ago, andybarton said: Moderators will move German language posts to the German side if we see them or are notified of them. Thank you, Andy. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 22, 2018 Share #9 Posted October 22, 2018 2 hours ago, pico said: Nigel, in a list of topics there is either a star or solid black dot in front of the topic line. Pressing either brings you straight to the last post you have not yet read. Does that help? Pico The only problem I have with that (thanks for the tip as I didn’t see anywhere that pressing the dot actually did anything...) is that if I read the latest posts and then go back to the “unread” page via the newspaper icon that topic disappears. If I want to go back to reference the thread again I’ve got to try to remember which section of the forum it was in....unless it’s still being posted to. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it (& I do appreciate all the work that goes into the site). 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted October 23, 2018 Share #10 Posted October 23, 2018 On 10/22/2018 at 10:43 PM, NigelG said: Pico The only problem I have with that (thanks for the tip as I didn’t see anywhere that pressing the dot actually did anything...) is that if I read the latest posts and then go back to the “unread” page via the newspaper icon that topic disappears. If I want to go back to reference the thread again I’ve got to try to remember which section of the forum it was in....unless it’s still being posted to. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it (& I do appreciate all the work that goes into the site). Nigel, Under the 'Activity' tab at the top of the page there's an item called My Activity Streams and if you choose "Content I Follow" it lists the threads you're following but when you return to the page after clicking on a link to a thread all the threads are still there except that the threads that you've looked at where there is no new content will not be highlighted (but still accessible via their link) and the ones where there is new content to view will be highlighted. Pete. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 23, 2018 Share #11 Posted October 23, 2018 Pete Thanks - I think the problem is that I haven’t “followed” threads before, just dipped in and out across multiple sections of the forums..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted October 24, 2018 Share #12 Posted October 24, 2018 Nigel, If you post in a thread (this one for example) then the former software would automatically mark you as 'following' it. If I'd read, but not contributed to, a thread that I thought might become interesting then I would go to the top of the page and click the 'follow this thread' button and it would treat the thread as if I'd contributed to it. The new software doesn't offer that capability unless I've missed it but it does include the little green 'Notify me of replies' checkbox at the bottom left of the page, which should 'tag' in your Notifications panel the threads you check. It's not ideal but I haven't found a better way to keep track of threads yet. Pete. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
euston Posted October 24, 2018 Share #13 Posted October 24, 2018 I’ve managed to set my notifications and activity streams to give me more precise control over what I can easily call up or have brought to my attention. There’s no doubt it helps me home in on the content that interests me most but whether it improves the experience of using the site, I’m not sure. The greater precision means less serendipity. Perhaps there needs to be a wildcard setting that gives us a better chance of finding something interesting that we weren’t looking for. On 10/22/2018 at 6:30 PM, andybarton said: The flag (which used to include half a Union Jack too...) . . . . That’s my recollection, too. I confess to feeling uneasy at having the Stars and Stripes representing the English language. It’s rather like using the Austrian flag to represent the German language. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
onca Posted October 24, 2018 Share #14 Posted October 24, 2018 Am 22.10.2018 um 15:02 schrieb wda: ... time to learn a new language. German ist an old language an even many germans can´t use it right... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share #15 Posted October 24, 2018 8 hours ago, euston said: I’ve managed to set my notifications and activity streams to give me more precise control over what I can easily call up or have brought to my attention. There’s no doubt it helps me home in on the content that interests me most but whether it improves the experience of using the site, I’m not sure. The greater precision means less serendipity. Perhaps there needs to be a wildcard setting that gives us a better chance of finding something interesting that we weren’t looking for. That’s my recollection, too. I confess to feeling uneasy at having the Stars and Stripes representing the English language. It’s rather like using the Austrian flag to represent the German language. I agree entirely with your sentiments and thoughts on tailoring the new site to our needs. The new options add further complexities which detract from the sheer pleasure I once felt towards the forum in earlier times. I realise continued development is necessary to combat security threats and meet changing needs. However developers seem to lose touch with the soul of a site and assume all users approach the site with the mind-set of a developer. How many users have the knowledge, time or inclination to construct their own interface of pre-settings in order to reap benefits of immediate involvment, enjoyment and access to desired information. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrogallol Posted October 24, 2018 Share #16 Posted October 24, 2018 English only posts? So no Scottish, Welsh, Australian, North American? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share #17 Posted October 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, Pyrogallol said: English only posts? So no Scottish, Welsh, Australian, North American? By implication, I meant International English. So Scottish English reads in a similar way to English English in my book. Now dialects are different. 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted October 25, 2018 Share #18 Posted October 25, 2018 vor 14 Stunden schrieb Pyrogallol: English only posts? So no Scottish, Welsh, Australian, North American? Sometimes I wonder how users from France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway or Turkey leave alone Russia, India, China, Korea or Japan (and there might even be one or another Dutch here...) thought about "English-only" filters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share #19 Posted October 25, 2018 12 minutes ago, UliWer said: Sometimes I wonder how users from France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway or Turkey leave alone Russia, India, China, Korea or Japan (and there might even be one or another Dutch here...) thought about "English-only" filters. It will be interesting to read their responses. Meanwhile I would value a simple button which could halve the size of the available readable threads for both English-speaking and German-speaking members. Such a facility is sometimes available on some International commercial and information sites, such as those for tourism and shopping. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 25, 2018 Share #20 Posted October 25, 2018 The buttons on travel and shopping sites just show a version of a relatively static site in alternative languages. The "English" and German buttons on the top right of these pages just change the language of the interface elements, not the posts. This forum is far from static and at the end of the day, a post is merely a collection of characters and spaces. I don't know whether the forum software is even capable of knowing that a post is in English, German or Swahili. If you don't want to read the German side of the forum, or the International side for that matter, just ignore it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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