Language Tags

[Aozu]

I think, especially for the language logs forum, some way to flag posts by target language would be handy. There's already over a hundred logs started and though in an ideal world everyone could read every one and cheer everyone along simultaneously, I personally would rather have a quick way to see who is learning one particular language. I think that was one of the few HTLAL-specific things I actually used, even if it only showed me the top 10 or whatever. Is this something that seems useful, or was rejected for some reason - or is there a way to do this here I haven't figured out yet?

[Brun Ugle]

I asked about tags for threads earlier, but as far as I know, they don't have a way to do it yet. It would definitely be great for logs especially.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I agree, it would be handy to click Irish and get all discussions in and about the language. On the other hand, the search function works extremely well compared to say, the original HTLAL. Who knows, maybe there's a way to tag threads. This forum is still young.

[Brun Ugle]

I like tags because when I'm scrolling down the list of logs or other threads, I can see what languages and techniques they are about without opening them. If I'm looking for something in particular, then I can search. But I'm not always looking for something particular. Sometimes, I'm just looking at all the logs and wondering which ones I want to read.

[brilliantyears]

I think language tags would really benefit the functionality of the forum. Even if it was just something that showed up at the start of a thread title (which especially would help in the language logs forum). I hope something like this is possible.

[Dragon27]

I also miss the ability to search for people profiles with by language. Currently "Languages" is just a text box, and I think it shouldn't be too hard to create a new search feature that would allow to look for a specific string i.e. "icelandic" through these text boxes.

[jeff_lindqvist]

But that would only work if every member used the same terminology. I use two-letter ISO codes instead of language names, and others write them in the target language (Deutsch instead of German and so on). Maybe if we added languages to our profiles similar to the way it worked at HTLAL.

Anyway, a search for phpBB topic tags in a major search engine gives +700 000 hits. If anyone from the technical staff wants to add a topic tags extension, it's available.

[Iversen]

First about flags: I wouldn 't be able to choose one flag for my multiconfused thread, where I have used about twenty languages so far and expect to add at least ten more. It would be an impressive array, but not very practical.

Flagging single posts would be OK with me (I might even do it), but even here I would sometimes need more than one flag for one message. I'm also slightly worried about languages spoken in more than one country. If I use American spelling of English ("color") I should use Stars and Stripes, and Union Jack if I spell in British English ("colour") - or maybe the flag of South Africa if I discuss the pattern on the backend of a Hartmann's mountain zebra. If I write in Spanish or Portuguese I would tend to use the Spanish resp. Portuguese flags, but I could just as well have chosen the flags of Ecuador and Moçambique (or Brazil), and I might base my choice on the subject of each individual mail. And most of the flags would only serve as decoration because nobody knows them. It woould be a chaos, but a pretty kind of chaos.

Secondly about tags (i.e. abbreviations or language codes): in HTLAL I used short, unstandardized indications of the languages I purported to write in (with varying success rates). Here I haven't done so, but have seriously thought about adding them now that I see with my own eyes how confusing a mixed message can be. Maybe tags would help me, but again only if attached at the message level - and I would still want to indicate within the text where the section in Spanish or Danish or Dutch was supposed to start. It would be less decorative than flags, but more practical if implemented in a userfriendly way.

EDIT: Now I've added those informal language markings in my log thread. I still don't know whether it serves any relevant purpose.

[Dragon27]

But that would only work if every member used the same terminology.

The majority does, though. At least something. And I personally wouldn't mind doing multiple searches with different terminology.

[Brun Ugle]

Here we are talking about tags, not flags. We'd like to see the same kind of tags on threads like on HTLAL. So you would probably tag your log with the different languages you write in and study, and maybe some of your favorite study techniques.

I found it much easier to decide what threads to read on HTLAL because they had tags. If I saw someone had started a new log about a language that interested me, I would look at it, but in January when loads of people start new logs, I don't want to have to open them all to see what they are about.

Searching people's languages would also be nice, but I think it would require more standardization. Personally, I feel tags on threads are more important, but both would be nice if possible.