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Dark mode compatibility
[edit source]@Andyrom75, Nvdtn19: could either one of you adjust the header such that the text is compatible with dark mode? Unfortunately, dark mode compatibility is beyond my skillset :/. TIA, //shb (t | c | m) 09:13, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
- Cheers Nvdtn – seems to work well on Vector 2022 but it now looks like this on Vector 2010. I'm not sure what's causing this. //shb (t | c | m) 09:48, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
- @SHB2000, I fixed it. Nvdtn19 (talk) 10:10, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
- Perfect – thanks for your help! //shb (t | c | m) 10:11, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
- @SHB2000, I fixed it. Nvdtn19 (talk) 10:10, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
How do this differ from the Tourist Office?
[edit source]As in the title. Is the plan to subsume the Tourist Office here? ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 20:30, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
- Yes, once the existing discussions die out, plan is to redirect that here. This page covers way more than the tourist office, though, and aims to mirror subreddits like r/travel or r/solotravel. //shb (t | c | m) 21:49, 24 November 2025 (UTC)
- Endorse Thank you. The Original Tourist Office was an idea I suggested. My initial hope was that it would be like the Wikipedia Reference Desk and for a time was linked drectly from those pages. If we are migrating to broader subreddit like approach.
ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 10:33, 25 November 2025 (UTC)
English only
[edit source]This board in its short existence so far has been a magnet for non-English posts unlike any other page on this site. Shall we add a bullet point to the tips on posting that "Just as on all other pages on this site, all contributions to this page must be in English"? Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:21, 24 December 2025 (UTC)
- Agree. OhanaUnitedTalk page 06:14, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks. Anyone object? I'll wait till the at least the day after Christmas, knowing that some people will take the day off. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:55, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
- We can wait until January to finalize the decision. OhanaUnitedTalk page 05:31, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- I agree that we should add this guideline. The addition of non-English language posts is odd. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 05:35, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks. I don't see why we should wait till January to affirm that this page is English-only, but I don't mind waiting one more day. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:38, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- I'll add the bullet point now. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:11, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks. I don't see why we should wait till January to affirm that this page is English-only, but I don't mind waiting one more day. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:38, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- I agree that we should add this guideline. The addition of non-English language posts is odd. --Comment by Selfie City (talk) (contributions) 05:35, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- We can wait until January to finalize the decision. OhanaUnitedTalk page 05:31, 27 December 2025 (UTC)
- Thanks. Anyone object? I'll wait till the at least the day after Christmas, knowing that some people will take the day off. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:55, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
The bullet point now reads:
- Just as on all other pages on this site, all contributions to this page must be in English.
I agree that posts just in some other language, like those that prompted this thread, shouldn't be made, but I think the wording is unfortunate. I don't see any prohibition on using other languages in Wikivoyage:Using talk pages, and I think a total ban is counterproductive.
I recently stumbled upon a posting in Finnish on an article talk page, suggesting improvements to the article on a Finnish city. Somebody quite rudely told the poster to keep to English. They answered by explaining that their English is weak and that there are Wikivoyagers proficient in Finnish. They pinged one and the article got fixed, to the extent the provided info was sufficient.
I assume many articles are watched by Wikivoyagers who know the local language at least superficially, especially when it comes to major Western languages. Thus comments in the local (or regional) language are often useful, although a summary in (possibly weak) English would be courteous.
Here in the forum, there is no local language, but I don't think one should need a strong English to ask for advice here, so giving some key phrase in one's own tongue, a local language or some lingua franca should be allowed, and encouraged in some cases: "Do you know whether there are any kapuseru hoterus or other cheap accommodation in Okusaka?" I assume this can be counted as a "contribution in English", but the tone of the bullet might suggest otherwise.
–LPfi (talk) 09:46, 13 June 2026 (UTC)
- Yes, we want to be welcoming to all new users, if only to redirect to one of our counterparts in another language. I agree with the spirit of your comment (not forbidding potentially useful talk page contributions just because they're not in English), but what wording do you propose? "Please write in English unless you really can't." or "If you can understand this request, please post in English."? I assume you want a wording that encourages most posts to be in English and also discourages others from reverting non-English posts, or do you? --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 21:39, edited 21:49, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
- On destination talk pages, I think that posts using the destination language are OK. Editors that know the destination may know the language, and it can be useful for a local to tell us of a problem with our page even if they can't write it in English. But on this page I expect posts to be in English with the possible exception of some phrases. It should be possible to understand what is being talked about only by reading English. I suggest that we just say "All contributions to this page must be in English.", and omit "Just as on all other pages on this site". (Obviously, our phrasebooks are not just in English!). Although other languages can be found from the in other language links, it might be good to include a list in the text. AlasdairW (talk) 22:05, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
- This is English Wikivoyage. Do we really want to read posts in other languages? This is English Wikivoyage's Travel forum, not part of the Interlingual lounge. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:07, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
- For talk pages I think we should accept them, when they are on topic and the language is relevant. This includes postings on active users' talk pages in a language the user knows and on destination article talk pages in a locally relevant language – as the message can be important and a try at English may be unintelligible or misleading. I'd recommend a try at summarising in English, by the poster or the one who replies.
- For this page, there is no "relevant" language and there is no important message to get across – not one that is important to Wikivoyage anyway. However, I think we should accommodate users whose English is lacking, by allowing phrases in other languages as clarification. What about:
- Postings on this page should be in English. Use other languages as clarification as needed, but if the point of the posting cannot be understood by an English speaker, it will be ruthlessly deleted.
- (For other pages, advice on language should go into Wikivoyage:Using talk pages.)
- –LPfi (talk) 12:07, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
- I'm OK with that wording. You could change it to "it is likely to be quickly deleted". Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:31, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
- Done. The wording can still be tweaked, of course. –LPfi (talk) 08:32, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
- Good wording. Thanks for doing that (though your suggestion of "it will be ruthlessly deleted" made me chuckle).--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 19:36, 19 June 2026 (UTC)
- Done. The wording can still be tweaked, of course. –LPfi (talk) 08:32, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
- I'm OK with that wording. You could change it to "it is likely to be quickly deleted". Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:31, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
- Yeah okay I agree that example you provided in question is counterproductive – whether we like it or not, enwikivoyage is the de facto Wikivoyage for most languages (that are not German or Italian) hence why we've had no formal prohibition for non-English posts on talk pages. For this page, though, my thoughts are largely with tt!'s. //shb (t | c | m) 22:02, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
Travel forum
[edit source]I wasn't paying attention when this came to fruition, but I think it's potentially a fantastic addition to the site. God how I long for a replacement for Lonely Planet's old Thorntree – the Reddit version is a bit lame. But then so is ours. One of the most active threads is a silly discussion about whether one can visit South Sentinel Island. I feel like there is a market here, and a bullshit-free website like WV might just be the place for true traveller's forum to bloom. Does anyone have idea ideas how we could jumpstart this? We seem to be lacking both interesting (or even valid) questionaires as well as even semi-informed answerers (editors referring people to the relevant article seems a bit... meh). My only idea is perhaps a banner for some period of time inviting users to check out the forum. Any other ideas? Brycehughes (talk) 16:58, 11 July 2026 (UTC)
- I think it can be on the lines of the following banner once proposed for what it once was WV:Tourist office (now WV:Travel forum):
- The WV:My Voyage proposal was excellent, and it could replace WV:Community portal if properly implemented. But sadly, it remains abandoned since 2014, and the Main Page effectively replaces the community portal for most users. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 17:06, 11 July 2026 (UTC)
- Right, something like this. I also think that the practice of referring posters to articles should stop. Instead, if we got this going, then the forum should inform the articles as opposed to the other way around. The forum should be for up-to-date (though casual) information that then provides a basis for article updates. I am currently in Central Asia and one extremely helpful (although often out-of-date) website is Carivanistan and I think this provides a good model, where the forums inform the articles. (Unlike WV, Carivanistan is a dictatorship, but then so is Central Asia...) A lively forum is potentially a way to really juice this website with actual travellers, which I think we are lacking a bit vis-a-vis the armchair travellers (no judgement). Brycehughes (talk) 17:15, 11 July 2026 (UTC)
- I still think that we could cite the articles ("as told in Helsinki#By boat, there are plenty of ferries from Tallinn, just use any of them"). Especially when the OP has provided close to no information ("What is there to see in Rome?"), I don't think we should put too much effort in the answer. Of course, being rude towards trolls may discourage good-faith naïve users, who aren't as good at spotting trolls, so we probably should give decent answers also to bad questions (in the cases where we don't simply revert). Pointing to the article with a nice phrasing is one way to handle it. –LPfi (talk) 13:10, 12 July 2026 (UTC)
- Right, something like this. I also think that the practice of referring posters to articles should stop. Instead, if we got this going, then the forum should inform the articles as opposed to the other way around. The forum should be for up-to-date (though casual) information that then provides a basis for article updates. I am currently in Central Asia and one extremely helpful (although often out-of-date) website is Carivanistan and I think this provides a good model, where the forums inform the articles. (Unlike WV, Carivanistan is a dictatorship, but then so is Central Asia...) A lively forum is potentially a way to really juice this website with actual travellers, which I think we are lacking a bit vis-a-vis the armchair travellers (no judgement). Brycehughes (talk) 17:15, 11 July 2026 (UTC)
- @Brycehughes: I kinda have the same thoughts as you, which is why I (and Ikan Kekek) largely proposed it last year. In some ways I find it's better than the tourist office which it replaced, but it does feel like the vibe of the tourist office kinda just...stuck? //shb (t | c | m) 09:19, 12 July 2026 (UTC)
- I did not follow tourist office, and I joined it only after when it became travel forum. I have just started a thread with my tour plan for Bengaluru (or Bangalore), and I will provide updates there. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 09:23, 12 July 2026 (UTC)
