MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Switzerland quiz 2 – cantonal borders
-
If only there were a Swiss town named Winks with 40 sign at it’s entrance. It might earn the nickname Sleepy Hollow? But as they say, a Nod is as good as a Wink . . . . . . so ZZZZZZZZZZ.
Quite.
Hello again. Is there anything in particular you were thinking I might check ?
I have no recollection of adding that link, so, no.
I’ve read the rules before, thank-you. So I’m quite aware of what moderators can do. Perhaps you have no problem if your single word post “Quite” is moderated by adding “Be sure to check this” and then a link, but I would not like it if it was done to one of my posts.
The Forum Rules state “Moderators can edit posts, including links and attachments. They will do so to make posts more clear, not to completely rewrite them.”
Something funny going on here. My post (supposedly of 3:13 AM) was written after I had seen your post of 3:20 AM, so I have no idea how it pops up ahead of yours. So one of those times is incorrect. It kind of ruins the sequence of things. So I will repeat myself again: “I’ve read the rules before, thank-you. So I’m quite aware of what moderators can do. Perhaps you have no problem if your single word post “Quite” is moderated by adding “Be sure to check this” and then a link, but I would not like it if it was done to one of my posts.”
By the way, I don’t know if you have ever personally started a thread on this forum, but I have, and so perhaps I think I know best what is the intended focus of each. If you have not started a thread, then you will not feel any authorship (if I can use the word). If the moderators don’t like the focus of my threads, all they have to do is tell me, and I will decide if want to stay or go elsewhere.
Hi Peterli,
I’m sure the said link on Victoria’s post was added by one of the moderators. Generally it’s just to inform other forum members and travellers who may be interested to find more information about Switzerland. We also tag words, adding necessary links whenever possible without changing the contents of a post or comment. We are aware this may not go well with everyone.
Please do keep posting your quizzes.
Regards,
Anna
Hello again, Anna.
Regarding changes that moderators can do to posts, << We are aware this may not go well with everyone. >> You can count me as one who does not, in general and in principal, really like this practice. I know how to insert a link and like to think that it is my choice in any particular post, especially if I have started the thread. I may be wrong, but I think I am seeing more “Be sure to check this” additions to posts made by forum members, sometimes to the insu of the poster. (I use the French word “insu” because it is so much easier than “not knowing” and I’m not even sure if “not knowing” is grammatically correct.) I recently saw a “Be sure to check this” (which was added by a moderator) which was linking to some hotels that the moderator(s) recommend, and I think this had really nothing to do with what the poster was saying. I feel that if any moderator wants to tell visitors to this forum about anything they want to recommend, nothing is stopping him or her from starting a new thread with that title. I would be concerned if visitors’ posts are modified to create links to “partners” of this forum if there are any monetary considerations involved.
Regarding << Please do keep posting your quizzes. >>, I am pleased that these are welcome. I do them just for fun, partly to pass the time for myself and also to create a bit of enjoyment for visitors to the forum and hopefully to Switzerland. That said, most of the threads I start and posts I make to other threads are nothing to do with quizzes and I am happy to do these as well. I do this to share (just as do Slowpoke and Rockoyster and many others too numerous to mention) my knowledge and experience. I often try to make my contributions informative from an historical and/or cultural viewpoint, so that visitors will widen their understanding and appreciation of Switzerland.
Hi all. I think there’s a misunderstanding going on here. The ‘Be sure to check this’ additions at the bottom of posts, followed by links, are not added manually by any moderator. They ‘re added automatically, linking to related content that might be of interest to readers of the post. So there’s no need to wonder why or by whom they’re inserted. It’s an automatic forum service that can be used by those who’re interested in the linked content and that can be ignored by the ones who don’t. It has nothing to do with any judgment about the content that has been posted by the visitor, or any need felt by moderators to add links because they’d think the information/links provided by that visitor wouldn’t suffice.
Apart from that: yes, moderators can edit posts in the ways and for the reasons mentioned in the forum rules. They do so keeping in mind all possible readers of a post. That doesn’t concern the ‘Be sure to check this’ additions though.
Thank you for your clarification of the “Be sure to check this” that it now seems is added automatically, supposedly to content that is related to the post. Actually, this is worse than I feared, but at least it explains why sometimes these “Be sure to check this” additions have absolutely nothing to do with the post. I have seen quite a few of these in the last few hours, and I don’t really care to document them. They are there for all to see and they seem to be quite random. But I must say I was curious why the author of a particular post would have suggested these links. Personally, I think this random addition of “Be sure to check this” should be written out of whatever program is managing things. If I am wrong about it being random then I suggest that it is defective. There are other ways to draw peoples’ attention to things such as our favorite airport hotels and reducing CO2 emissions. There is, I believe, a place in the forum entitled “Where to Stay”; I’ve never really looked at it but I’m quite happy that this is part of the website as I know that visitors to Switzerland will want to figure out and plan where they are going to stay. I have seen suggestions about reducing CO2 in the section where the pros and cons of public transportation vs. car rentals is discussed. Anyway, I have said enough and must get on with my day. If my dissent means I am no longer welcome to contribute to this forum, then so be it.
Hi Peterli. Those links are not random, but they can’t always match the content of the post as nicely as a human could do. Anyway, we use this functionality because visitor data showed that some people value these and other links as they don’t take the time to read the full thread. The next website update that is currently being prepared (and will hopefully be ready in about two months) includes a lot of small changes, including a change to the links discussed here, with the aim to make it more clear they’re not written manually. You’re welcome to dislike any of our choices, but rest assured we do things for a reason :-).
Perhaps a reasonable solution would be in the upcoming update that links attached to a post without the author’s knowledge be labeled (maybe in parentheses)as added by myswissalps. That would alert the reader to the actual source of the added link and not give a false impression that it was a part of the author’s original post. This would still allow myswissalps to add content they deem helpful. Let’s run it by THE BIG GUY ……Arno
Mark
Hi Peterli-
Your dual sign entering Winks is a very good catch!
Slowpoke
Hi Mark-
I like your suggestion. Certainly writers feel ownership of their posts. In Peterli’s case, I know that his posts are written with considerable thought and careful editing. Much better editing than my own posts, for sure. So, if a computer-generated addition alters the meaning or the perspective of the post, or is counter to the beliefs expressed previously by a poster, it is disconcerting…to use the mildest word i can think of.
For a made up or imaginary example, suppose I am writing about small hotels in out of the way villages, emphasizing their virtues compared to hotels near the airports or in the cities, and the algorithm sees the word “hotels” and pops up with a “You might like these hotels” list that includes center city hotels or airport hotels. I’d be annoyed, because it would seem to be ignoring my perspective, or even opposing it.
My thoughts, anyway.
Slowpoke
Thanks for the suggestion Mark! Will keep that in mind when looking into the details of this.
Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions! We were already aware that the current lay-out may cause confusion, hence the planned adjustments. It just takes a while before they’re visible as the planned update consists of many more elements and takes quite some preparation.
I was trying to figure out which thread had names of Swiss places which have names that are the same as English words, such as Misery, Nods, Egg, Moron, etc. and just realized that it was this one. Well, just to change the direction in which this thread has turned, I recall another name, and that is the commune of Full, in the canton of Aarau, just across the Rhein from Waldshut, in Germany. I know that Full is not the only place that does this, but every night, at 01h00, all the street lights go off. I was staying in with friends in Waldshut, and we were looking over to Switzerland at that time, and poof !, Full went dark.
Attached is a Google Map image of the sign on the road coming in from Koblenz, and a SwissTopo map of the area, with a red oval around the name Full. Note how close Full is to the Rhein and Germany, but also the nuclear power plant just downriver (to left) at Leibstadt. If one walks along the Swiss side of the Rhein, one comes across cement bunkers, placed there to deter the Germans from attacking during the Second World War.
- The thread ‘Switzerland quiz 2 – cantonal borders’ is closed to new replies.
