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MNHQ

New features: Acronym translation and content linking

35 replies

JanineMumsnet · 18/03/2019 15:38

We often get feedback from new users to say that they are bamboozled by all the weird and wonderful acronyms you use used on the boards. With this in mind we have now enabled a feature whereby a 'translation' will be shown next to an acronym. This will be set to 'on by default' for logged out users of the site, and for new users who sign up from this point forward. For existing logged in users of the site, the feature will be off as a default. You can turn this feature on or off at any time by going to your talk preferences here. At the moment we are only testing this in a few specific areas: conception, pregnancy and antenatal clubs, so you shouldn't see this across the entire site yet.

The second feature will hopefully help users to find useful content on a specific topic as and when they need it. For example, if a user posts about heartburn or SPD the tool will highlight this word and link to useful content about this topic. Again, for now this feature will only appear in the conception, pregnancy and antenatal clubs topics and you can turn this feature off at any time by going to your talk preferences here.

We hope you find these new features useful, but as ever we appreciate your candid feedback, so please let us know in the comments what you think.

Thanks
MNHQ

OP posts:
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MoleSmokes · 29/04/2019 11:30

As a lurker for months and a member for a few more, the use of so many impenetrable Acronyms all over the site is still really frustrating and such a waste of time trying to work out what the hell people are talking about. As in "Life is too short!" waste of time, obviously the content is worthwhile, it's the time going backwards and forwards through threads trying to "decode" comments that is the waste of time.

The problem is partly that "specialist jargon" Acronyms are interspersed with "internet jargon" Acronyms and it is often impossible to know which one it is. (Speaking as someone who has just wasted time trying to find out what "medical condition" or Mumsnet Topic "AMA" refers to, only to finally discover that was being being referred to was a general "Ask Me Anything!" type of Thread.)

My first port of call is always the Mumsnet Acronyms Page. Could @Mumsnet please make it easier to request additions to the Acronyms page?

Here now having waded through loads of possibly relevant posts to see if this has been covered somewhere already and this seems the most relevant thread.

Incidentally, I am not an "internet newbie". I have been moderating forums and email lists since the late 1990's, am active on several social media/networking platforms and have set up and manage a specialist Hashtag dictionary to help new users on a different platform. Mumsnet is without doubt one of the BEST forums I have come across - but also the hardest work and most time-consuming to use because of the proliferation of "Internet Jargon Acronyms".

I haven't seen how the trial "Acronym auto-expander" works so cannot comment on that. In the meantime, please would you consider adding any extra definitions in the "Acronym auto-expander" to the Acronym Definitions Page?
www.mumsnet.com/info/acronyms

senbei · 20/04/2019 22:47

For instance FTM is used both for First-Time Mum & for Female-to-Male and there’s quite a big difference.

IINW, it'll probably follow this list (for now), which means those two probably aren't being translated in the first place.

EmpressLesbianInChair · 20/04/2019 13:14

How are you going to teach it about context?

For instance FTM is used both for First-Time Mum & for Female-to-Male and there’s quite a big difference.

SammySamSam09 · 20/04/2019 08:25

Perhaps fix the other problems before adding to them.
HTH (hope that helps)

MustardYellowJumper · 20/04/2019 07:08

Some incorrect ones I've seen multiple times:

Oh (as in oh dear) translated as Other Half

Op (as in operation) translated as Original Poster

Salt (as in pinch of salt) as Speech and language therapist - this one is very odd, I've seen it upwards of 10 times this week

NT meaning nuchal translucency on the pregnancy boards, translated as neurologically typical. Bit confusing.

I also dislike that MN comes up as "Mumsnet of course! :-)" - this kind of thing ruins the flow of the sentence.

I'm really unsure about the whole feature honestly.

DeltaAlphaDelta · 16/04/2019 15:21

Hi

When I untick mine, and then click save, the page refreshes and the boxes are ticked, so the changes are not saved.

Am accessing on a Samsung S8 on the internet app.

Thank you

MNHQ
JanineMumsnet · 16/04/2019 15:10

@GoldenTrumpets Thanks for the feedback. Will add in these changes

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GoldenTrumpets · 16/04/2019 15:02

Hi, it appears that a lowercase oh is automatically converted to uppercase OH (other half).

E.g. someone might write oh my god and it will be converted to OH (other half) my god, changing the meaning of the sentence.

Also DC is always explained as Dear Child when it should probably be Dear Child(ren).

I think it's a good idea for boards with more newbies on them. Just needs tweaking.

NicciLovesSundays · 01/04/2019 16:11

@JanineMumsnet
I think it is probably more about individual users changing their behaviour, the more people who do it, the more accepted it seems to become.

MNHQ
JanineMumsnet · 01/04/2019 13:23

@Weathergirl1 oops! Have asked for that translation to be updated.

@NicciLovesSundays that's really useful feedback. I wonder if there's anything we can do here with the we identify as acronyms.

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NicciLovesSundays · 29/03/2019 12:53

I am glad to see this feature being tested but wanted to point out another flaw in how we post. For those people who use screen readers it is much better if we put spaces in between letters on acronyms. That way the reader will say each individual letter rather than trying to make it sound like a word.

Alwaysannoyedaboutsomething · 26/03/2019 14:00

Eurgh... I don’t like it. Part of the appeal of Mumsnet is that it feels like you are part of a club - it’s not exclusive as you learn the etiquette over time. But this just feels patronising and spoils the flow of the threads.

Weathergirl1 · 25/03/2019 20:29

I keep seeing DTD explained as "darling twin daughter" in the conception threads 🤣

Prequelle · 21/03/2019 15:24

Janine I'm on Android, S8 using the built in web browser (not sure what it is). Thankyou

paxillin · 21/03/2019 15:20

Fair enough, if it is a big obstacle to newbies.

MNHQ
JanineMumsnet · 21/03/2019 14:02

@paxillin we did consider doing this, but the majority of our traffic is on mobile and that wouldn't work. We aren't wedded to always having it work in this format, and we might explore other options in the future if this doesn't work well.

It's possible to turn off, so the majority of logged in users shouldn't see it, and for now we are just restricting to very specific topics. So hopefully it isn't too annoying.

And you're right, the community has thrived with people using and understanding the acronyms, which is why we want to keep and encourage the use of them. But if we want to be welcoming to new users, it feels like a nice thing to offer to make their lives easier.

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paxillin · 21/03/2019 11:45

Thank you, that makes sense. I wonder if it would be better to have a "hover with your cursor" type translation rather than in brackets.

Is there much demand for this change? A few find it hugely puzzling, but the other 800,000 (or however many posters MN now has) seem to have coped well for many years. Oh well, perhaps it will attract a new clientele who currently wouldn't post.

MNHQ
JanineMumsnet · 21/03/2019 11:25

@paxillin it's more likely that unless the two letters are uppercase, we won't translate the two letters at all.

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paxillin · 21/03/2019 10:36

Thanks for adding that feedback on 'oh' and 'op' - I will get that translation amended.

So will it read "OH (oh or other half) will have an op (original post/poster or operation)"? This might be fun.

MNHQ
JanineMumsnet · 21/03/2019 10:30

@AuntieStella thanks for your feedback. You are right, there may be instances where the 'translation' is wrong in the context of a conversation, so we will be monitoring this and amending the logic of the feature as we go to improve it.

@Olissa8 Thanks for adding that feedback on 'oh' and 'op' - I will get that translation amended.

The reason for introducing this feature is because we have had overwhelming feedback over the last couple of years that suggests new visitors to the site are confused/put off by the acronyms. This is particularly noticeable in the pregnancy and conception sections where people might enter the site from Google looking for advice about a specific symptom or issue.

The feature will be default off for logged in existing users, but on for logged out and new users. It is possible to turn the feature on and off by going to your talk preferences - so hopefully it won't be too disruptive to your experience.

@prequelle is it possible for you to tell me which browser you are using and device? I will get that looked into for you.

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AuntieStella · 20/03/2019 20:02

But how will it know when it's Dickhead Husband?

New members of MN have been assimilated into the distinctive jargon of the site without too much drama up to know.

Why, on a site which has enough glitches anyhow, introduce marginal new features.

And skim links went very badly you tried them.

I didn't like them then, and don't expect to now. They are intrusive at best, and can be extremely crass. And again if marginal utility - if someone wants to find out more on a topic, and are already online, are they really at a loss on how to find it?

Prequelle · 20/03/2019 19:47

It's still not letting me uncheck the box.

paxillin · 19/03/2019 17:01

Or we could talk like normal people?

We could. We could equally talk whatever way we like.

00100001 · 19/03/2019 16:59

,...oh dear lord... it's awful...

00100001 · 19/03/2019 16:56

oh... it's no enabled here... I see.