• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics in ~tildes with the tag "help". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Why are no reasons given when (or even better before) removing a post?

      Posted an WaPo article about "big food" paying dietitians / influencers to make let's say dubious claims about processed food with high sugar content. Discussion was healthy imho, so I really...

      Posted an WaPo article about "big food" paying dietitians / influencers to make let's say dubious claims about processed food with high sugar content. Discussion was healthy imho, so I really wonder why it got removed.

      27 votes
    2. Requesting feedback on my implementation of Nord into Tildes

      Hello fine people. I recently patched the Nord theme into Tildes. I am requesting some feedback on potential changes to make to it. This is my first time doing something like this so please be...

      Hello fine people. I recently patched the Nord theme into Tildes. I am requesting some feedback on potential changes to make to it. This is my first time doing something like this so please be patient if I am a bit slow. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

      Dark theme preview
      Light theme preview
      Nord
      Gitlab merge request

      Edit: Thank you everyone for the feedback! I'll try to get the merge request out tomorrow with the fixes.

      20 votes
    3. Collapse comments?

      Is there a way to collapse really long comments? I find that a very small number of Tildes.net posters often write really long comments (if I were cynical I might say excessively long and I freely...

      Is there a way to collapse really long comments? I find that a very small number of Tildes.net posters often write really long comments (if I were cynical I might say excessively long and I freely admit that I am sometimes among them) which makes it really hard to navigate comment threads because I can't see the child comments very easily.

      Is there a setting to collapse long comments (so that one has to press a "read more" button to see them). Otherwise, I would like to suggest that this be considered for addition to Tildes at some point :)

      23 votes
    4. How can I unsubscribe from the politics tag?

      I came to Tildes to get away from the endless political talk of reddit. Is there any way to unsubscribe from the political threads here? Most of them seem to be posted in ~misc, but there's other...

      I came to Tildes to get away from the endless political talk of reddit. Is there any way to unsubscribe from the political threads here? Most of them seem to be posted in ~misc, but there's other content there too.

      10 votes
    5. [SOLVED] Looking for an article that was posted on here in the past year

      I'm looking for an article that was posted on Tildes in the last year I believe, on online communities and moderation. I think it was a link to someones personal blog and the author was female. It...

      I'm looking for an article that was posted on Tildes in the last year I believe, on online communities and moderation.

      I think it was a link to someones personal blog and the author was female. It talked about the challenges of moderating communities with free speech as a core value, because all it takes is a few bad actors pushing that to it's limits and it completely derails the community and puts too much strain on moderators.

      The article itself was very good, but I also remember the discussion on tildes was a very good read as well. I have tried searching tildes, using google and chatGPT4 and while I can find a lot of good threads related to this topic, I can't seem to find this one with the article.

      Does anyone remember this article/thread?

      I realize it's maybe a long shot and it's just a vague memory, so I apologize if this is an annoying post, but it doesn't hurt to ask?

      7 votes
    6. Missing messages?

      Has anyone else noticed that sometimes the Tildes homepage will say "1 new message", but when clicking on this the message inbox is empty? I guess this is because messages are being deleted after...

      Has anyone else noticed that sometimes the Tildes homepage will say "1 new message", but when clicking on this the message inbox is empty?

      I guess this is because messages are being deleted after being sent? It's slightly annoying because I can't find a way to dismiss the "new message" notification.

      9 votes
    7. Markdown helpers for the comment block

      I submit a lot of posts from mobile, and I find some of the markdown tedious to enter on a mobile keyboard. I know JavaScript is supposed to be a last resort, but I'd really like to have some...

      I submit a lot of posts from mobile, and I find some of the markdown tedious to enter on a mobile keyboard. I know JavaScript is supposed to be a last resort, but I'd really like to have some assistance in the post authoring and comments fields.

      I assume this could be a user script. Looking at the wiki, it looks like none of the current ones do this.

      Thoughts on this? Things people are already using? Ideas for existing tools to build on? Would it be better as a user script or as a feature of the main site, perhaps with an option to disable it? I'm medium at JavaScript but would happily take a crack at it.

      Here is my inital feature list:

      • link button - select text, press the link button, get a prompt for the URL, replace the selected text with the markdown formatted text and URL.
      • quote block- select multiple paragraphs and click the button to block quote them all
      • bold, italic, strike though buttons - apply the markdown to selected text
      • spoiler - insert a details block at the cursor. If text is selected wrap it in a details block and prompt for the summary.

      if I were to develop it, what else would people like to see on this list?

      18 votes
    8. User-styles don't work on Tildes anymore?

      I can't seem to get any CSS user-style to work with Tildes anymore. I'm using Stylus on Firefox. Has something changed recently on Tildes which is causing this? Edit: I was using Stylus already,...

      I can't seem to get any CSS user-style to work with Tildes anymore. I'm using Stylus on Firefox. Has something changed recently on Tildes which is causing this?
      Edit: I was using Stylus already, just thought it was Stylish.

      10 votes
    9. Please help me find a post/article posted here on tildes

      Hello! I've tried looking for it, but I can't find it. It was an essay about how a large increase of new members alienates the community feeling. How the income of stranger must be kept low so...

      Hello!

      I've tried looking for it, but I can't find it. It was an essay about how a large increase of new members alienates the community feeling. How the income of stranger must be kept low so they can become "not a stranger" and how many strangers at once stop that from happening because people know each other less.

      Unfortunately I can't find it at all. Does anyone still remember/have it saved?

      Thank you very much!

      18 votes
    10. [SOLVED] Can someone please share how to make links look clean?

      Many people here have a skill for converting a url from a mishmash of sloppy looking text into something that looks like a clean line but that is clickable and works like a link. Can someone...

      Many people here have a skill for converting a url from a mishmash of sloppy looking text into something that looks like a clean line but that is clickable and works like a link. Can someone please explain?

      18 votes
    11. New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here! (v3)

      I figure a new thread might be in order since it has been over two months since the last one and we are continuing to get a stream of new users over time. Welcome to Tildes! This is a place for...

      I figure a new thread might be in order since it has been over two months since the last one and we are continuing to get a stream of new users over time.


      Welcome to Tildes!

      This is a place for you to ask any question you have about the site, from “what is the moderation philosophy?”to “what does that blue line next to some comments mean?” to “what is the general vibe like here?” Tildes has a lot of documentation, history, and embedded social norms that can be daunting or opaque at first glance, so here’s your opportunity to get on-demand, personal help with anything you need.

      Questions about anything and everything are fair game. Follow-up questions are encouraged! No question is too simple.

      Also, a quick note: the only person who can speak in any official capacity on Tildes is our admin @Deimos. Everyone answering who is NOT him is just a helpful community member!

      It is perfectly okay to ask any question — even if you think it’s been asked before, or even if you didn’t search for an answer beforehand. Just ask away, and someone will answer you!


      Previous versions:

      63 votes
    12. Is it / will it ever be possible to see all topics from a domain?

      If I wanted to see all the topics on Tildes that link to example.com is there a way to do this as a regular Tildes user? And, for the mods, will there be a way for them to see things like "how...

      If I wanted to see all the topics on Tildes that link to example.com is there a way to do this as a regular Tildes user?

      And, for the mods, will there be a way for them to see things like "how many people are posting articles linking to this domain" or "how many domains does this user post articles from"? Excessive self-promotion and vote rings are not a problem for Tildes yet, but they might be in future, and these tools may be useful. I don't know if they're compatible with Tildes' strong privacy stance though.

      18 votes
    13. What to do if I've lost my 2FA?

      My phone abruptly died, and it turns out I did not back up my 2FA codes. I have 2FA turned on for Tildes, and while I am still logged in, I can't turn off 2FA without 2FA, so if I ever have to log...

      My phone abruptly died, and it turns out I did not back up my 2FA codes. I have 2FA turned on for Tildes, and while I am still logged in, I can't turn off 2FA without 2FA, so if I ever have to log in again I'm screwed. I didn't save backup codes, of course, because I'm a fool (and I never figured out a good/safe way to store backup codes somewhere different than my password manager). What should I do?

      I went into "Set up account recovery" in my personal settings, and I entered in my email address there. It says that if I can send and receive email from that address, I will be able to reset my password. But I already have a working password, what I don't have is working 2FA. Would a password reset do anything useful in my situation?

      If there is nothing anyone can do at this point, how should I use my remaining time on this doomed Tildes account?

      UPDATE: Admin turned off 2FA for me, so this account is no longer doomed. Thank you!

      21 votes
    14. [SOLVED] PNG or similar of Tildes logo

      Please let me know if this has already been answered - request in title. I'm looking for it because of this post, and I'd also like to make the logo the android-homescreen shortcut for going on...

      Please let me know if this has already been answered - request in title.

      I'm looking for it because of this post, and I'd also like to make the logo the android-homescreen shortcut for going on the tildes.net frontpage via mobile browser.

      11 votes
    15. NSFW/profanity adult filter?

      EDIT: Post-locked topic I didn't get the chance to reply or explain myself, ironically, as I posted this topic last night and then woke up this morning to 42 comments this topic being locked. In...

      EDIT: Post-locked topic

      I didn't get the chance to reply or explain myself, ironically, as I posted this topic last night and then woke up this morning to 42 comments this topic being locked.

      In short, I didn't want to block swearing from Tildes, I just wanted to find out if there was a NSFW filter, as I had my first one pop up in the feed yesterday. Reddit and other sites allow you to block NSFW content from the get-go. And yes, it is the minority by far on Tildes.

      As for the swearing, I don't know why I assumed that the NSFW would remove that, I must have been tired when posting this topic. (And yes, I know that this is the internet and it's filled with non-friendly content, so it is naive to expect otherwise, sadly.)

      I guess it would just be nice to have a place where you can have both great quality posts (such as on Tildes), as well as the comments be free of some unnecessary, low-quality words. I think Twitter and others allow you to block some words or topics.

      I apologise for @Deimos that he had to step in to bring the peace, I didn't mean for this to happen. And apologies to the community for bringing any unrest. This was never my intention.


      Hi everyone, only been on Tildes for a few weeks now.

      First off, I love the quality of the content and the community's camraderie.

      The only question is whether there is a way to filter NSFW, adult or profane comments. There is such great content on here, with amazing contributors, but sometimes you just get the people who like to use profane language like it's an adjective, and it has no place in the topic or discussion. I know we can't block people, but is there a way of filtering out such content, comments, or users?

      21 votes
    16. Could we get a formal megathread for the Trump cases, to include both upcoming and ongoing legal action?

      The legal discussion is not exactly the same as US politics. I would imagine that we have people who would like to follow it and people who prefer strongly to avoid it. For example, today we had...

      The legal discussion is not exactly the same as US politics. I would imagine that we have people who would like to follow it and people who prefer strongly to avoid it.

      For example, today we had these two events and I didn't even look hard.

      https://www.thedailybeast.com/barricades-go-up-around-fulton-county-courthouse-as-trump-indictment-looms

      Superceding indictment filed in Florida documents case
      chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653.85.0_1.pdf

      38 votes
    17. How are you all posting in blue text?

      Sorry for seeming like a total idiot but I cannot find the process to change my text color when I type a message. I checked this site and did some online research with the Markdown system itself...

      Sorry for seeming like a total idiot but I cannot find the process to change my text color when I type a message.
      I checked this site and did some online research with the Markdown system itself which is new to me.
      It appears that there is some kind of code insertion but it's unclear how to format.
      So many of you are advanced computer users and I am just your traditional semi-fluent poster.
      Any help would be appreciated.

      25 votes
    18. Ask and ask.survey tags

      I thought I could get away from "what [general topic or icebreaker that 99.9% of people have an opinion on]?" questions by filtering out ask.survey, but that seems not to be the case. There are...

      I thought I could get away from "what [general topic or icebreaker that 99.9% of people have an opinion on]?" questions by filtering out ask.survey, but that seems not to be the case. There are still quite a few that are being considered just "Ask" questions, and not "surveys". Are these not being categorized very strictly, or is my notion of an ask.survey question mismatching that of the moderators of Tildes? Or is the ask/ask.survey distinction up to the poster, and not moderators?

      I come to Tildes for articles on specific subjects, not ocean-wide-open questions that generate maximum participation froth. I might have to start filtering out ask as well (as ask.survey), but I'd rather not have to do that. If people ask "what [specific problem or specific topic]" questions, I'd be interested to read them.

      15 votes
    19. New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here! (v2)

      At over 600 comments and over a month old, v1 of the questions thread is due for retirement. Here’s a new, fresh one for all the users we are continuing to get. We have a lot of new users joining...

      At over 600 comments and over a month old, v1 of the questions thread is due for retirement. Here’s a new, fresh one for all the users we are continuing to get.


      We have a lot of new users joining the site. Welcome to Tildes!

      This thread is for you to ask any question you have about the site, from “what is the moderation philosophy?”to “what does that blue line next to some comments mean?” to “what is the general vibe like here?” Tildes has a lot of documentation, history, and embedded social norms that can be daunting or opaque at first glance, so here’s your opportunity to get help with anything you need.

      Questions about anything and everything are fair game. Follow-up questions are encouraged! No question is too simple.

      Also, a quick note: the only person who can speak in any official capacity on Tildes is our admin @Deimos. Everyone answering who is NOT him is just a helpful community member!

      It is perfectly okay to ask any question — even if you think it’s been asked before, or even if you didn’t search for an answer beforehand. Just ask away, and someone will answer you!

      96 votes
    20. Cosmetic bug: a.link-group:visited in groups list has same colour whether subscribed or unsubscribed

      See this image. Which groups are unsubscribed? All of the ~sports.X groups are unsubscribed, but american_football, basketball, football, and motorsports have been visited. The link-visited colour...

      See this image.

      Which groups are unsubscribed? All of the ~sports.X groups are unsubscribed, but american_football, basketball, football, and motorsports have been visited.

      The link-visited colour set by a.link-group:visited is taking precedence over the default colour otherwise set by .group-list-item-not-subscribed a.link-group, hiding the colour change associated with -not-subscribed. This is particularly troublesome when unsubscribing from a group, since one must go to the group's page – visiting the link – in order to unsubscribe.

      6 votes
    21. Unsubscribing from a parent group doesn't automatically unsubscribe me from its subgroups

      Hello! Tildes newbie here. I wasn't sure if this is a bug or if it's working as intended, so I wanted to ask. I unsubscribed from https://tildes.net/~sports but noticed that I still saw a post...

      Hello! Tildes newbie here. I wasn't sure if this is a bug or if it's working as intended, so I wanted to ask.

      I unsubscribed from https://tildes.net/~sports but noticed that I still saw a post from ~sports.hockey in my home feed. It took me a while to figure out that I also had to go to each of the ~sports subgroups and unsubscribe from all of them too. Am I doing this correctly or did I miss a button somewhere that would let me unsubscribe from a parent group + all its subgroups in one go?

      Thank you!

      --- EDIT ---
      Thanks to everyone for the replies! Confirmed that it's working as intended. And there is now a new post by cfabbro on Gitlab suggesting that "unsubscribe from all subgroups" be added as a new function.
      https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/-/issues/802

      29 votes
    22. Bug with notifications

      Apologies if this isn’t the right place to put bug reports. I’ve noticed an issue where comments which are bookmarked don’t display as such in my notifications. For example: A bookmarked comment...

      Apologies if this isn’t the right place to put bug reports.

      I’ve noticed an issue where comments which are bookmarked don’t display as such in my notifications.

      For example:

      A bookmarked comment displaying as Unbookmarked in my notifications.

      Is anyone else seeing the same ?

      10 votes
    23. How do I filter out topics from subgroup?

      Unless I'm missing something, it seems if I subscribe to parent group but not its subgroups, the topics from subgroups still show anyway. Back when they were just tags at least I can use filter...

      Unless I'm missing something, it seems if I subscribe to parent group but not its subgroups, the topics from subgroups still show anyway. Back when they were just tags at least I can use filter but that doesn't work anymore. Is it just me or isn't that the opposite effect we'd expect from subgroups?

      Edit: Everyone explained that it's a bug. I'll just need to be patient then.

      17 votes
    24. Does Tildes offer a personalized RSS feed? If not, could it?

      With the introduction of the new groups, I now, for the first time, have unsubscribed from some groups here on Tildes. I've been subscribed to the fire hose feed in my feed reader, but I'd love to...

      With the introduction of the new groups, I now, for the first time, have unsubscribed from some groups here on Tildes. I've been subscribed to the fire hose feed in my feed reader, but I'd love to get a feed that is personalized with only my subscriptions. Does this exist? If not, could it?

      19 votes
    25. [SOLVED] Question about post voting locking

      Hi, I was wondering if the current duration before voting gets locked on a post is still 30 days? I tried to find the answer in the docs but didn’t see it (apologies if I missed it) and all I...

      Hi, I was wondering if the current duration before voting gets locked on a post is still 30 days? I tried to find the answer in the docs but didn’t see it (apologies if I missed it) and all I turned up in a search of the site was a topic from 3 years ago mentioning the 30 days, so I wanted to see if that’s still accurate.

      Thanks !

      14 votes
    26. Is there a way to filter YouTube links?

      I lurk here at work and don't watch YouTube in general. Often it's annoying to see something of potential interest and it's a YouTube video. Is there a way to filter youtube.com here or an...

      I lurk here at work and don't watch YouTube in general. Often it's annoying to see something of potential interest and it's a YouTube video. Is there a way to filter youtube.com here or an extension enabling that functionality?

      Thank you.

      10 votes
    27. Any Tildes android app?

      Seen a post or two about ios apps being developed. However, as far as android goes, I haven't seen any apps being developed yet for tildes. Which is definitely contributing to my lack of visits...

      Seen a post or two about ios apps being developed. However, as far as android goes, I haven't seen any apps being developed yet for tildes. Which is definitely contributing to my lack of visits here and making it seem more like a chore. Am I just missing some options? 🤞 Or is the user base for Android just that low these days? 😢 Please someone tell me it's the prior😅

      73 votes
    28. T-Mobile SMS is filtering tildes.net

      I just noticed that when I sent an invite to family member over SMS it never arrived. After experimenting it looks like if text contains "tildes.net" it is filered. This also happens with another...

      I just noticed that when I sent an invite to family member over SMS it never arrived. After experimenting it looks like if text contains "tildes.net" it is filered. This also happens with another family member's phone. It is weird why would those companies want to filter it.

      I also checked and the message didn't show up in spam & blocked. Does anyone else observe the same thing?

      41 votes
    29. Question on sorting for new comments on old posts

      Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this question, but is there a way to search which would list comments made on any topic in chronological order regardless of how old the original post...

      Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this question, but is there a way to search which would list comments made on any topic in chronological order regardless of how old the original post was made? Meaning, even if a post was one of the first on Tilde, if someone commented within it in the last few minutes, it would be displayed before a newly created post that hadn't had a comment in several hours.

      I tried all of the sorting options and didn't seem to find one that performed this function. Any assistance would be appreciated.

      7 votes
    30. Where to ask Tildes dev questions?

      If I have a quick Tildes dev question, where should I ask it? For an example that is not actually just an example, but the actual question which drove me to post, where can I found logging output?...

      If I have a quick Tildes dev question, where should I ask it?

      For an example that is not actually just an example, but the actual question which drove me to post, where can I found logging output? Specifically, if I want to print out something every time a request comes in, how should I do so?
      18 votes
    31. Tildes CSS and Android accessibility

      Hi all. On my Pixel phone I have the accessibility option for font size and display size turned up a notch or two but noticed that not all of the text in Tildes adheres to this. Some front page...

      Hi all. On my Pixel phone I have the accessibility option for font size and display size turned up a notch or two but noticed that not all of the text in Tildes adheres to this. Some front page topic text is bigger, some of them remain small.

      Is this something that can be quickly tested and fixed if it's a bug? It might drive poor sighted people away from the site.

      I'm assuming it's not me, as my Pixel 7 is quite new .... but I am on the Android beta program.

      Can anyone else try and see if it's a localised issue or more global?

      I can post screen shots of needed but not sure what image sharing sites you prefer to use in here!

      Edit:

      Fixed with a chrome flag....

      the text-scaling is being replaced by the "Accessibility Page Zoom" feature (currently hidden behind the feature flag in chrome://flags)

      23 votes
    32. How does the "collapse old comments when I return to a topic" feature work?

      I have the "collapse old comments when I return to a topic" setting turned on, but I can't quite figure out how it works. For example, when open a new topic for the first time and scroll through...

      I have the "collapse old comments when I return to a topic" setting turned on, but I can't quite figure out how it works. For example, when open a new topic for the first time and scroll through the comments, the next time I open the topic, they're all still open.

      Does anyone have more details about how this feature works or how I should be using it?

      Thank you!

      19 votes
    33. Under what group would, for example, cars or motorcycles go?

      For many they are considered ~hobbies so ~hobbies.cars and ~hobbies.motorcycles would be a logical place. I don't know if ~transport would be a suitable main category for this since then trucks,...

      For many they are considered ~hobbies so ~hobbies.cars and ~hobbies.motorcycles would be a logical place. I don't know if ~transport would be a suitable main category for this since then trucks, tractors, trains and boats could also go there without bloating hobbies' sub-groups too much.

      I'd like to hear your input on this, cheers.

      23 votes
    34. Anchor text at the top to reply without scrolling?

      Edit — thanks to all who replied and educated me on this. I thought I'd do this rather than pollute the thread with single thank you posts while I learn the ropes here. Hi, I'm brand new here so...

      Edit — thanks to all who replied and educated me on this. I thought I'd do this rather than pollute the thread with single thank you posts while I learn the ropes here.


      Hi,

      I'm brand new here so this could well be answered and I'm just being stupid. Very probable tbh!

      I'm on a macbook and iphone and one thing I noticed was it's a bit of a trek scrolling down to comment. Not that I've done that much.

      Now I love, really love, the lightweight and speedy nature of this site (and incidentally looking forward to brushing up on my Markdown) and am hoping that with the influx feature bloat doesn't happen but would a small anchor text link somewhere up top be in order to quickly get to the comment field?

      Let me know how idiotic I am and why or.. if I'm lucky.. how much of a genius I am!

      Thanks,

      Rodney

      6 votes
    35. Username similarity?

      I tried to register here the other day with my preferred username, which was taken, so I replaced an S with a 5 as I've done in the past. Now I realize that might have been a bit deceptive -...

      I tried to register here the other day with my preferred username, which was taken, so I replaced an S with a 5 as I've done in the past. Now I realize that might have been a bit deceptive - someone reading my comment might think it's coming from the other user or vice-versa, and I don't want to be that guy. What's the vibe here about that? Should I invite myself under a new name once I'm approved for invitations, or keep this username? I'd just DM the other user if that was an option on tildes.

      edit: Thanks, all! I'll keep it until/unless the other user feels strongly about it.

      15 votes
    36. How to delete a Tildes account?

      I DM’d Deimos already, but maybe the community can help, too: I want to completely delete my account but don’t find anything anywhere. Can anyone point me in the direction?

      15 votes
    37. Self-hosting Tildes?

      Any how to that explains how to selfhost Tildes? I checked gitlab page, but it doesn't explain how? I would love to start a local community in my native language based on Tildes.

      26 votes
    38. What's the best way to make non-English posts on Tildes? Can you? Should you?

      I'm guessing that it might just be that Tildes is an English only site, but as an avid language learner, I'd love to have a place to see and post non-English discussions. Is there a best practice...

      I'm guessing that it might just be that Tildes is an English only site, but as an avid language learner, I'd love to have a place to see and post non-English discussions.

      Is there a best practice for making a non-English discussion? Is it simply not allowed? Is it allowed but discouraged?

      18 votes
    39. List of recurring threads and their schedules?

      Do we have a list of recurring discussions and their schedules anywhere? I know they're generally weekly, but I often find myself having to do a quick search for when the last one was and...

      Do we have a list of recurring discussions and their schedules anywhere? I know they're generally weekly, but I often find myself having to do a quick search for when the last one was and determine whether or not I should hold onto my contribution to that thread until the next one occurs. eg if the new discussion is created tomorrow, I may as well just post my comments tomorrow rather than today. Admittedly a very minor inconvenience.

      Having a list somewhere easy to see could also help prevent folks from unintentionally creating duplicate discussions during the period between one week's discussion going quiet and the next week's starting.

      And maybe eventually it could be something like we subscribe to a recurring discussion and then it shows up in the sidebar somewhere in a list of upcoming discussions? Just spitballing here.

      Any thoughts?

      11 votes
    40. “Which group should this go to?”, “Which tags should I use?”, and other posting anxieties.

      A short story Last night, I posted an article about fraud related to COVID funding in the United States. I debated about where to put it. Was it ~news since it was an investigative report that was...

      A short story

      Last night, I posted an article about fraud related to COVID funding in the United States.

      I debated about where to put it. Was it ~news since it was an investigative report that was just released? ~finance because it was about money? ~health because it was about COVID?

      In reading through other comments here, especially related to our current group structure I’ve noticed other people expressing similar sentiments about submitting things.

      The same goes for tagging your topic. What are the right tags? What if I use the wrong one? There’s a non-negligible amount of anxiety regarding submitting things to the site.

      If you go to the article I posted, and then click Topic Log on the sidebar, you can see what got changed. I realized I forgot to add the tag usa. You can then see that another user changed the capitalization on my title, moved my post from ~news to ~health, and added additional tags.


      The betrayal(?)

      Someone moved my post? Someone changed my title? Without telling me?! 😡

      Yes, they did, and I’m here to tell you that I couldn’t be happier about that. It’s not a betrayal; it’s a collaboration. 🥰

      Submissions on Tildes aren’t like other places. You won’t get your hand slapped here for not following the right protocol, especially because there’s not a fully clear protocol in the first place. Topic placement, tagging, and titling are all things that often require judgment calls. It’s not uncommon for the titles we see on Tildes to actually differ from published titles to make them less clickbaity or clearer, for example.

      Furthermore, Tildes isn’t a place where people are competing to post content. There’s no karma to be harvested or influencers to influence. On other sites, big news items will often get dozens or hundreds of duplicate posts because, on other sites, who posted the content matters a whole lot. People will post and repost things because it’s important that they, individually, get “credit” for that.

      Tildes works a bit differently, with submissions being owned more by the community at large rather than individual posters. It doesn’t mean we don’t have our own content (and it definitely doesn’t mean someone can or will edit the actual body of a post, like what I’m writing here), but more that the content’s place and appearance in the community is something we work together on. If you want to discuss something and you see someone already posted it here, that’s not a bummer — it’s a great thing! It saves you some work, plus you know at least one other person is on the same page as you and wants to discuss the same thing.


      Which group should this go to? Which tags should I use?

      Don’t worry too much about those things! We’ll collaborate on them. There are several users here who are librarians of Tildes, dutifully organizing submissions behind the scenes.

      When I first started posting, I was nervous about getting my tags and title exactly right. I’d occasionally post a title with a typo and cringe, hard, wondering if I needed to delete the post entirely.

      Now, when I post, I’m happy that if I don’t know what to do exactly or I make a mistake, someone else will come along and help me out with it. No more anxiety!

      I hope all our new users can feel that way too. Having your submissions reorganized is not combative; it’s collaborative. Don’t stress about posting anything perfectly. Someone will help you out if need be.

      104 votes