Editing our posts and blocking members in discussions we've started

(I’m... just like you 😛)

From the very beginning—and this is still the case, I just checked—travel journals have always been exempt from the 2-hour limit for editing a post. So you can tweak, expand, or correct them without worrying about the clock.

Hi there,

It’s up to the new moderators to make sure no single person ruins discussions. Let’s hope they step up—otherwise, many won’t come back...

Hey Kola! 😊

Thanks for your reply, but I’m afraid there’ve been some changes.



I posted this earlier this week, and the "options button" then edit is gone. That’s why I’m asking VF 😊

And are you like me? Do you also want to neutralize negative vibes? 😄

Hi Kurtinet, Let’s just say there are some really talented people—like, "passive-aggressive" talented—who have a knack for ruining the vibe without actually being insulting. And honestly, I think that really poisoned VF toward the end. The mods had to go on a long vacation 😄

Sorry Kola, I just got it—the "exception for travel journals"! But it’s still a shame we can’t edit our posts elsewhere

Hi Christelle, [:)]

The time limit for editing a message is two hours for all sections except the "Travel Journals" section. The message in your screenshot doesn’t seem to be in the "Travel Journals" section... [;)]

Unfortunately, we can’t allow members to edit all their messages indefinitely, as moderation would become far too complex.

So is it possible to set up something so the discussion starter can lock them?

Technically, it’s possible to program such a feature, but we’ll need to evaluate it alongside our priorities and other ongoing projects. We’ll think about it.

Thanks so much for your suggestion and your kind words about VF! [:)]

Best regards,

François

Hi again Christelle,

And it really ruined VF toward the end, I think. The moderators must have gone on a long vacation 😄

It was exactly the same moderators (some for over 13 years) until VoyageForum closed in 2020. And today, it's me who trains the new moderators... [;)]

A member who isn’t liked by some might be appreciated by others. It’s not that easy to decide... and it’s impossible to please everyone no matter what we choose to allow or not on the forum.

We’ve been receiving complaints about the site’s moderation since 2002 (that’s 22 years now). According to the comments, it was always better before...

That said, if you’d like to help the moderators with their work, you should use the "Report" links more often. Curiously, those who complain about moderation almost never use these links.

Best regards,

François

Hi Christelle,

If you publish your travel journals on the parent site Myatlas, you can edit them endlessly (just like on VF) and you’re the moderator of any messages posted there.

You can also invite your friends to follow your journal.

I don’t see anything stopping you—if you want to reach a wider audience—from posting a teaser summary on VF with a link to your Myatlas journal, since it’s the same company.

Journals on VF have the advantage of being lively, while those on Myatlas are more creative.

There you go!

Hi Agnès,

It's great to see regulars from both sites! Thanks a bunch! [;)]

Hervé

Hey there, welcome back Attila!

I still remember one of your last messages on VF in March 2020 when I was on cloud nine in the middle of nowhere in Sumatra, and you told me: "get your butt moving Christelle, you need to come home"—and wow, you were so right 😄.

Looking at your My Atlas travel journals, I see you haven’t slowed down in the past four years, and the variety of your destinations is amazing—I love it!

Back to the topic: yes, I only use My Atlas for close friends and family, privately.

For public sharing, I much prefer VF—it’s livelier and even fun when there are cheerful participants.

See you soon on VF then, Agnès! 😊

Hi Christelle

On other forums (VF substitutes, for example), moderation is done with a trowel. Probably out of fear of having to manage a potential flood of posts? As a result, the dynamism of a discussion is weakened, to the point of affecting the understanding of exchanges and the interest in reading. But we’ve got to be careful about all this—if we’re given a “I’ll kill you” button, things will get out of hand! I think discernment is a real skill

I haven’t often clicked the “report” button, but every time I have, I’ve been heard. I get it—dealing with trolls in a travel journal is particularly unpleasant, and I hope François will train his moderators [:P]

Hi Kate, so happy to see you here again! But don’t worry, I’m not out to kill anyone 😄. I’d just love it if the "eternal grumblers who are never happy" would take their negativity elsewhere when a discussion doesn’t suit them. Because I know moderation can’t catch everything all the time. It was just a thought, though—some people left back in the day because of that. But for now, the vibe is great. It’s even amazing to see the "backbone members" of the old VF again 😊. See you soon!

Hey Voyage Forum [;)] I'm really struggling to post my Omani travel journal! I keep losing what I've prepared (yeah, I'm probably not the best at this). Isn’t there a draft function I might’ve missed by any chance? Thanks

Hi Christelle,

There isn’t a “draft” feature at the moment.

How exactly are you losing your text?

Note that you can send your message in parts and continue editing it later (there’s no time limit for editing a message in the “Travel Journals” section). That way, it works a bit like a draft feature, except the public will see your message as soon as you post the first part.

Best regards,

François

Thanks François, that’s what I’ll do then—post the text and add the photos afterward. I lose it when I go to look for a photo that I need to resize, which happens to me a lot! See you soon [;)]

Hi again Christelle,

Are you losing your message while drafting it due to a problem on VF? Or simply because you accidentally close the browser or switch pages?

Why do you need to resize your photos? You can post them in full size, and the site will handle resizing them properly for page display.

I’m asking these questions to make sure the issue isn’t on VoyageForum’s end... :)

Thanks.

Best regards,

François

I do everything on my smartphone, so it accidentally closes pages when I try to resize a photo. And I have to resize because my photos are often too small. Here’s what shows up:

Hi again Christelle,

If you artificially increase the size/resolution of your photos, they’ll lose a lot of quality and look blurry on the site (especially for those viewing them on a PC)... [:/] It’s really not recommended to do that.

Your original photos are definitely larger than 2000 pixels wide (which is less than 4 megapixels). Why not post your original photos directly?

Writing a travel journal on your smartphone isn’t the best idea either... [;)] It’s much easier on a PC. I kinda get why you sometimes lose your text while drafting now... [;)]

Best regards,

François

Hey Solène40,

This minimum format isn’t new. It was already the case before the closure. You’ve got two options: either retake the original and resize it to 1500x2000, or just enlarge the 1200x1600 photo to 1500x2000. It’s pretty obvious that the quality of the second image will be lower, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable when displayed.

Why don’t you post your original photos directly?

Everyone’s free to make their own choice, but personally, there’s no way I’d post photos online (here or anywhere else) in their original format.

Well, I'm making do with what I've got, my dear François 😄. And these are indeed my original photos. Thanks Masterpo 😁

Hi Masterpro,

soit reprendre l’original et le redimensionner en 1500x2000

There’s no need to resize original-format photos before posting them on the site. As long as they’re larger than 2000 pixels in width or height, the site will accept them.

Il est cependant évident que la qualité de la seconde image sera moindre, mais ça ne devrait pas trop se voir à l’affichage.

When you artificially enlarge a photo, the resulting blur will be most noticeable on high-definition screens (displays with a resolution higher than 1080 pixels in height and on tablets).

Best regards,

François

And those are indeed my original photos.

Sorry, but that’s practically impossible. No camera or smartphone from the last 10 years produces photos with a resolution of 1200 x 1600 pixels. That’s less than 2 megapixels. The iPhone, for example, takes photos at 12 megapixels...

You must be doing something that significantly reduces the resolution/size of your photos... [:/]

Best regards,

François

Yeah, that’s definitely possible, François. I’ve no idea. It’s probably when I store them in my cloud. But so far, it’s worked just fine for me [;)]

What’s your camera?

By the way, the requirement for a minimum of 2000 pixels (width or height) dates back to 2016. Hard to believe, but that’s already 8 years ago! [:P]

Hi again Christelle,

It’s probably when I store them in my cloud.

That’s very possible. I’d recommend trying to figure out what’s causing this drastic drop in resolution/size, because it’d be a shame to lose the original size of all your photos... [:/]

Best regards,

François

How exactly do you lose your text

Hi François, Well, my recurring issue is the page jumping, going back, or something else, and when you return to the page where you were writing, everything’s gone... Sometimes I’d written a really long post. When I think about it, especially when I’m writing a travel journal, I draft it separately myself, but that’s double the work. It’s just a shame you can’t recover what you’d written when you go back to the page after it jumps. I looked for a "save" or "backup" function but didn’t find anything... When will we be able to upload videos too? I didn’t quite get the transition from VF to MyAtlas... So you’re still keeping a foot in the house? Best, Marien

- and at the end of VF, there were a few really unpleasant members who enjoyed ruining certain discussions. As a result, I know several people who stopped coming to VF because of that. But on MY travel journals, I'd really like to keep a consistently positive and kind atmosphere. So is it possible to set something up so that the person who starts a discussion can block them?

Hi Christelle, I was also really happy to see VF reopen. So happy to be one of the very first to start writing again and open a new travel journal in peace, good spirits, and harmony. But when I was contacted by a Belgian guy I didn’t know but who seemed to know me based on what he wrote—and who had been German in his last messages before the site closed, after going through lots of other nationalities and various usernames of both genders, thanks to his VPN—I shuddered. No matter the mask, you immediately recognize the style. I thought: Oh no! Is this going to start all over again? I ignored this person and their messages to avoid playing their game, but I was determined not to write anymore... I didn’t want to start reporting people right after the forum reopened either. I preferred to stay quiet and not engage. Then the encouragement I received changed my mind about not writing anymore. And I see that he hasn’t come back. Maybe he was identified by other members or by the moderation team?... Personally, I really don’t want to relive those periods of high tension, and I hope our exchanges can continue in peace, harmony, tolerance, and mutual respect.

And I have to resize because my photos are often too small.

For me, it's the opposite—they're way too heavy, and if I send them as-is, like François suggested, the upload takes forever and eventually it glitches.

Hello

We’re going to be stricter with moderation—we don’t want any drama between members. So please report anyone who’s being unpleasant or critical right away.

Thanks, the VoyageForum Team

Hi there,

I’d like to report a small technical issue that happened with a private message. I wrote my message—it included quotes, regular text, and internet links. During the preview, everything looked normal, so I sent it. When I went back to read it, thinking I’d forgotten something, I found the text unreadable: lines were missing, some text was underlined or in italics, my opening sentences had jumped to the end, and my quotes had been replaced with regular text and vice versa. In short, it was completely garbled! Thanks for looking into this! [;)]

Hello Jean Marie,

My recurring issue is the page jumping, going back, or other actions, and when you return to the page where you were writing, everything has disappeared...

Following your message and some tests on my end, I noticed that the message being drafted disappears when you switch pages on Chrome, but not on Firefox. I’ll see what I can do to improve this on Chrome.

I looked for a "save" or "backup" function but didn’t find one...

There isn’t one, but it’s on our list of features to create.

When will we be able to send videos too?

Hosting and streaming videos requires a massive infrastructure, and we’re far from having the budget for that. That said, a simple link to a video site like YouTube allows them to display directly in messages. Check out this travel journal with lots of videos as an example: https://voyageforum.com/v.f?post=10353033.

I didn’t quite understand the transition from VF to myatlas... So you’re keeping a foot in the company?

Contract-wise, I have to support the new team with the transition until the end of December. After that, it’s possible I’ll stay with them, but nothing is official yet.

Best regards,

François

Hi again Jean Marie,

I was approached by a Belgian I didn’t know, but who seemed to know me based on what he was writing. He was German in his last messages before the site closed, after having gone through many other nationalities and various pseudonyms of both genders, thanks to his VPN—I shuddered.

Please, when this happens, report it to us... We can’t see everything... Also, when you report it, it reduces the chances that this person can harass other members.

If you don’t report it to the moderation team, don’t complain about it later... [;)]

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

François

Hi again Jean Marie,

For me, it's the opposite—they're way too heavy, and if I send them as-is, like François suggests, the upload takes forever and eventually crashes.

It's most likely your connection cutting out during the upload. With a good connection, a photo of a few MB will only take a few seconds to upload to the site.

Lucky you're not uploading videos to the site... [;)]

Best regards,

François

Hi Catherine,

May I take a look at what’s happening with your private message to try and figure out what’s causing the issue?

There’s probably a tag that was forgotten or misplaced, but the site should have warned you about it.

Thanks for reporting the problem.

Best regards,

François

Hi François,

Yes, of course, it’s the one that was sent on November 13th at 5:58 PM. Thanks.

Please, when this happens, report it to us... It's impossible for us to see everything... Also, when you report it, it reduces the chances that this person can harass other members. If you don't report it to the moderation team, don't complain about it...

Before VF shut down, several of us reported these intruders (or this intruder) who seemed to act with complete impunity and were spoiling almost all the discussions in the "India" section with strange remarks, a recognizable style, and recurring obsessions. Instead, it was sometimes those who reported them who got banned from the forum (Marcomarco). So, I won’t go too far in saying that the moderation was flawed in this case—it’s a fact. Lively discussions, frank exchanges, and even heated debates don’t bother me; they’re even necessary for a forum’s vibrancy, and that’s what’s missing in VF’s ersatz version. But sociopaths who spoil everything while hiding behind the anonymity of their fake accounts and benefit from the moderation’s leniency are harmful. This pushed me to participate less just before it closed, and if it happens again, I don’t think I’ll continue using VF.

Let's fight trolls with kindness and humor 😁. I had a great example in my Omani travel journal: the crowd stood up to block them, and moderation followed 👍. Things are improving, I think. It's up to us to make sure it lasts 😁

Hi Pagal,

Before VF shut down, several of us reported these intruders (or this intruder) who seemed to act with complete impunity and were spoiling almost all the discussions in the "India" section with strange remarks, a recognizable style, and recurring obsessions.

Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But something rather odd about what you’re saying: your account doesn’t show any reports from you... [:/] On the other hand, you’ve been reported by other members about ten times since your account was created. Go figure...

For 22 years, we’ve been told that moderation was better before... Stop it, please...

Best regards,

François

Hi Christelle,

the moderation team followed up 👍 Things are better, I think.

It was me (the founder of VoyageForum for those who didn’t know) who deleted the messages in question. Is it really better than before...?

And it’s also me who trains the new moderators...

Stop judging the moderation team based on a few incidents you’ve seen on the forum, when over 6 million messages have been moderated on the site over more than 20 years... If you see an infraction in your city, are you going to immediately judge the police for not intervening? Should the police see everything and intervene for every little infraction? Do you think we need a "perfect" and omnipresent police force monitoring every citizen all the time? [:/]

At the same time, some complain that moderation isn’t strict enough, while others say it’s too strict...

Best regards,

François

No worries François, don’t get upset about this. It’s not every day I give a compliment 😄.

Let’s fight trolls with kindness and humor, Pagal 😄. I had a great example in my Omani travel journal: the crowd stood up to shield the thread, and moderation followed 👍

If the long message posted in your travel journal was... inappropriate, its author still can’t be labeled a troll.

A troll isn’t someone who keeps coming back (though sometimes they do 😜) or someone with different opinions or who speaks bluntly. A real troll deliberately sows chaos. Their unconstructive comments disrupt and derail discussions. They don’t argue in good faith and can’t be countered with logic.

That wasn’t the case here. If the discussion had taken place somewhere other than your travel journal, it could’ve continued just fine... :)

(And now, disconnect and fully enjoy your trip :P)

Hi again Christelle,

If hundreds of people regularly gave you their little opinions on your work when you know you're doing your best with the resources you have and all the differing opinions (do we keep this message or remove it? do we close this account or leave it open? etc.), you probably wouldn't keep all your cool either... [:P]

Do you think the person who posted the messages you're thanking us for removing is thinking that the moderation team did the right thing by deleting them? Definitely not... And they'll surely complain about being a "victim" of censorship... No matter what we choose to do with moderation, there will always be unsatisfied people and "victims" of the so-called "bad" moderation... while others thank us for the same actions.

Best regards,

François

Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

That’s a bit too easy—it’s easily verifiable... Just look at the many discussions in the India section before the forum closed, and it should come back to you. And it’s not like this wasn’t a recurring topic...

However, you’ve been reported by other members about ten times since your account was opened

Really? Some people might be abusing the report feature! Sure, there were heated debates, exchanges of viewpoints, and lively discussions, but nothing like the trolls you let run wild. After all, it’s just a matter of clicking a button, and maybe they (or he/she) are partly responsible for some of those clicks. In any case, I don’t recall saying anything that warranted a report.

Hi again Pagal,

A bit easy, it's easily verifiable... Go check out many discussions in the India section before the forum closed, and it should come back to you. And it's not like this isn't a recurring topic...

If it's so easy, then why not give us a few links to those posts or use the "Report" buttons? And in return, isn't it very easy to say "you're doing a bad job, but I won't tell you exactly where"...?

After all, you just have to click a button, and maybe they (he/she) are partly responsible for some of those clicks.

Reports can't be sent with just one click without providing a reason (you have to write text before submitting the report)... Shows how hard it can be to be publicly appreciated by everyone... [:P]

Best regards,

François

1/ Because I don’t have time for this.

2/ It’s as easy to write a reason as it is to click a button.

You do have time, though, to explain why you think the moderation is bad or didn’t catch everything. It’s true that it’s so much quicker to just click the “Report” link when you see a discussion going off the rails instead of complaining about it years later...

2/ It’s just as easy to write a reason as it is to click a button.

Maybe it’s just harder to admit that not everyone who reads you actually likes you... [:/]

In this case, it wasn't like that. If the discussion had taken place somewhere other than your travel journal, it could have continued just fine... [:)]

It couldn't continue because the insult was made. We can discuss, debate, disagree, but an insult should never be allowed to stand.

And now disconnect and fully enjoy your trip [:P]

Here, we completely agree!