Discussion
This Mastodon setting is really important:
1. Log into your server's website
2. Go to ⚙️ Preferences (or Settings)
3. Click "Posting Defaults" (on mobile click ☰ in top right, then "Posting Defaults")
4. Make sure "Posting Language" is same as language you post in most often
5. Click "Save Changes" at top
This matters because many people use language filters to only show posts in their language. If your setting is wrong, your posts may be hidden from people who can understand them.
@FediTips mine says "same as interface language". Good enough?
If your posting language is the same as your interface language, yes! 👍️
@FediTips It also matters because if you don't set your language at all, that translate button doesn't show up, and if you don't set it right, it usually won't work.
So even when we don't filter other languages we can't tell what you said without having to manually copy and paste into something external, which most of us aren't going to do.
I have a tendency just to block people using tags I follow in another language when they haven't set their language and I can't just click translate because it's too much of a pain having their posts show up.
@FediTips this is why I have a filter that hides posts with frequently used not my language words and another to hide posts with non-latin alphabet characters. Dunno, is setting Posting Language too privacy invading for some?
@FediTips and another big downside is that translation functions in apps aren't working. If your language is set to English but your post is in French my translator can't translate it into German because it doesn't recognize the English words.
@FediTips Are for those who do see your post in another language and are curious, the Translate button may not appear.
Yup, that too! 👍️ Everyone benefits if people use the correct posting language setting 🙂
p.s. If you post in more than one language, set the default to be the one you use most often.
If you ever make a post in a different language that you don't usually use, you can manually change just that post's language setting in its post creation box.
When you are creating a post on the web interface you will see the language's full name (e.g. "English"), while on the apps you may see a language's abbreviation (e.g. "EN"). Click on this to adjust just that post's language setting.