Yes. It’s a good idea to have some server rules on your server’s public “About” page even if you’re the only person on your server.

The reason is other server admins may often be in situations where they have to decide whether they will federate with your server, especially if they’re running allowlist-based protection on their server. Being able to read your server’s rules tells them immediately what kind of standards they can expect from your posts, and what kind of safety risks they might face federating with you.

What kind of rules should I have?

As rules on single-person servers are entirely for the benefit of people on other servers, it’s a good idea to keep them short, quick to read and easy to understand. However, they need to be specific enough to give some idea of what you consider acceptable.

For example, here are the rules on my own single-person server ⧉. You might want different rules, but whatever they are they should be equally short and easy to understand.

Also bear in mind that these are rules for your server, so it may include some rules that aren’t general statements about the wider world. You might be personally okay with the concept of advertising existing somewhere else but not on your server, so you might have a rule saying “no advertising”.

Is it enough that I say “Be nice to everyone”?

No. Different people can have totally different concepts of being nice, so it’s important to have at least some specific rules to give some indication of what you consider acceptable.

Does it have to be as detailed as rules on public servers?

No, it’s better to keep it simple. Rules on a single-person server are just to indicate to other admins what kind of content you might post. Making such rules too complicated makes it harder for other admins to quickly assess your server.

Why can’t other admins just look at my account profile?

It’s not always easy to tell from an account exactly what rules it is following. Nasty hateful accounts can also post pretty inoffensive stuff too. Rules take away the guesswork involved, and make much clearer what admins can expect from federating.

Also, many single-person servers have multiple themed accounts run by the same person, so from the outside it looks like there are several people on the server. It’s also a pain to have to browse through multiple accounts instead of a single list of rules.

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Mastodon lets you download an archive of all the posts and media attachments you’ve ever published on your account. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in through your server’s website or web app
2. Click on Preferences
3. Click on Import and export (if you’re using the mobile website click ☰ and then Import and export)
4. Click on the Request your archive button. This will begin the archive creation process which may take a while, you will receive an email from your server when it is ready. You DO NOT need to stay logged in while this happens, it will happen automatically.
5. When you’ve received an email from your server telling you the archive is ready, go back to the Import and Export page. (If you remained on the page since requesting the archive, refresh the page to show the download link.)
6. Click on the Download your archive link and select where you want to save the file.

Does it include images etc that I’ve posted?

Yes, it includes your posts’ media attachments such as images, video, audio.

Does it include other people’s posts that I’ve boosted?

No. It’s just an archive of your own posts.

How often can I ask for an archive?

By default you can request an archive every seven days.

If I ask for another archive, does that have all the posts or just the ones since the last download?

Every archive has all the posts you’ve ever created.

This doesn’t include deleted posts though, these are actually deleted from the server, so if you’ve deleted posts since your last archive download they will not show up on newer archives.

How long is the archive available to download?

By default the archive is available to download for seven days, but different servers may have different download periods. Generally it’s a good idea to download it the same day that it is ready.

If the archive disappears before you downloaded it, you can request that the server creates the archive again.

How often should I download an archive?

It’s totally up to you, some people never download them while others do it regularly.

Is this the same thing as transferring your account?

No. Account archives are totally separate from the account transfer system. They use different files and do different things. The only connection between the two is that they’re both done through the Import and export page.

How do I view the archive?

This is a very good question! The Mastodon developers have provided no official way to view post archives. There are unofficial third party archive viewers, but these usually require a lot of technical knowledge to install and use. Here are some links to third party archive viewers:

• Mastodon Archive Viewer (Zero’s fork) ⧉
• Mastodon Archive Viewer (modified by Slashyn) ⧉
• Mastodon Archive Viewer (Python script) ⧉

Can I upload my post archive to my new account on another server?

No. The archive system is totally separate from the account transfer system, and the archive is NOT used in transferring accounts. The archive is mainly intended for your own personal records, so that you have a private offline copy of your posts and attachments.

There are no Mastodon servers which allow uploads of archives. If you attempt to upload it during an account transfer, it will just give you an error message.

I thought some servers allowed you to upload your archive so you could transfer your posts?

There have been some non-Mastodon Fediverse servers which have allowed uploads of Mastodon archives in order to “transfer” posts, but these clone the post archive as a set of totally new posts which look identical to the old posts but have none of the replies or shares of the old posts. This takes a lot of resources on servers, as it requires creating perhaps thousands of new posts all at once for everyone who uploads their archives, which can really slow the server down. This is possibly why Mastodon doesn’t allow it.

So, if I transfer my account to another Mastodon server, what happens to my old posts?

Your old posts remain on your old account, but the old account’s posts will redirect people to your new account. For example, if someone finds an old post of yours and clicks on the account name to see who wrote it, they will be directed to your new account.

Can I upload my post archive to my own server if it has technical problems and loses my posts?

Another really good question. As far as Fedi.Tips is aware this has never been done. Whether it’s possible or not is unclear.

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Mbin is a Fediverse platform for threaded discussions in the style of Reddit and similar link aggregators. It’s still in early days, so the official Mbin documentation is aimed at techy people ⧉, but hopefully they will create a website for ordinary users soon. Techy people might also want to look at the Mbin source code ⧉. If you just want to see an example of what Mbin looks like, there’s a major server at Fedia.io ⧉ (but please bear in mind I can’t guarantee how reliable this is as the platform is still being worked on).

Wasn’t this called Kbin before?

Mbin is based on an earlier project called Kbin which had a different lead developer. The original Kbin project stopped development, but Mbin carried on and built upon the work of Kbin.

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The word “mentions” on Mastodon and other social networks means typing @ and then a username, so that the username appears in your post. It’s also known as @-ing (pronounced “at-ing”) a person.

When you type @ and then begin typing the username, Mastodon will automatically suggest accounts that you can select if you want. You don’t have to accept these suggestions though, you can keep typing, and the suggestions will change as you type. The ultimate aim of a mention is to get an account’s complete Fediverse address to appear in the post. If the Fediverse account address you want isn’t in the suggestions, just ignore the suggestions and type the account address in full.

Why would I want to mention an account?

Mentioning an account can be useful for several reasons on Mastodon and the Fediverse:

• Mentions cause a notification to appear in the account’s notifications section, so the account’s owner will know they have been mentioned.
• It means other people reading the post will be able to click on the account’s mention which will take them to the account’s profile page. They will then know exactly who you are talking about, and perhaps follow them or interact with them in some way.
• The “Mentions”/”Specific People” post visibility setting means only people mentioned in the post can see it. Have a look at the post visibility guide for more details.

Can I just mention Mastodon accounts? Or can I mention other Fediverse accounts as well?

You can mention any type of Fediverse account. All Fediverse accounts use the same address format of @ (user name) @ (server name).

Most Fediverse account types do notify the account owner if you mention them, but a few (PeerTube for example) do not have a notification system for mentions.

I tried to mention an account but it didn’t work. What went wrong?

If you can’t get a mention to appear properly in your post, hopefully one of these suggestions might help:

• Are you using the correct Fediverse address for the account you want to mention? You can find the account’s address on their profile page.
• Did you include the @ symbol at the start of the address? All Fediverse addresses begin with an @
• Sometimes servers have trouble with mentions for accounts they have never “noticed” before. To solve this, copy and paste the account’s Fediverse address into the search box on your server. After you’ve done this once, mentioning the account should start working and the account should start appearing in the suggestions when you’re typing a mention too.
• If the account is on a server that your server has defederated, you will not be able to mention them.

Where can I see when I am mentioned by other people?

Mentions will appear within your normal notifications in Mastodon. If you want to see just your mentions without the other notifications, go to the Notifications section and click the Mentions tab at the top of the screen.

If you do click the Mentions tab, remember to switch notifications back to the All or Everything tab afterwards if you want to keep seeing other types of notifications. If you don’t do this, you will still get beeps for other types of notifications but you won’t see what they actually are.

I mentioned an account but it appears in the post as a short name instead of a full address. What’s happening?

Fediverse addresses all have two parts: the username and the server they are on (similar to how email addresses are written). For mentions to work, you need to include the full Fediverse address with both parts.

However, for the sake of readability, when the post is published Mastodon usually hides the second part of the address. The second part is still there underneath the surface, and if you click on the mention it will take you to the account’s profile page.

Some mentions have their addresses written in full, while most are shortened. Why is this?

Every account on the Fediverse has a unique Fediverse address, but accounts on different servers may have the same username or first part of the address. This is similar to how in real life people might have the same first name but different surnames.

If two accounts with the same username are mentioned in the same post, then when the post is published the account addresses will be written in full. This is similar to how a real life conversation might mention people’s surnames if they have the same first name, to help distinguish between the two.

I tried to mention an account but it keeps abbreviating it to @example instead of @example@server. Why doesn’t it let me write the full address when I’m editing the post?

If you’re mentioning an account on the same server as you are, then it will by default just show the first part. The second part will be automatically added for anyone viewing the post from another server.

This is similar to how traditional landline telephones allow you to dial a phone number without the area code if you are in the same area.

Can I edit a post to add a mention later?

Yes and no.

You can edit a post and add a mention, but the mention will not generate a notification and it will not make a mentions-only post visible to any mentions that are added by editing.

If you want to get someone’s attention or make a post visible to them, it is better to write a new post from scratch and mention them in it.

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There are a number of options if you want to use Mastodon on a computer.

Mastodon’s website

The website version of Mastodon is excellent, and it tends to get all the latest features first. You can be logged in on multiple accounts on multiple servers at once, and there’s also an optional Tweetdeck-style mode.

Third Party Apps

Here are some currently-supported third party desktop Mastodon apps, along with which types of computer they support:

• Whalebird ⧉ (Linux / Mac / Windows)
• Fedistar ⧉ (Linux / Mac / Windows)
• Ivory ⧉ (Mac)
• Ice Cubes ⧉ (Mac)
• Mona ⧉ (Mac)
• Tokodon ⧉ (Linux)
• Tuba ⧉ (Linux)
• Tweesecake ⧉ (designed to be accessible to blind people, available on Mac / Windows)
• TWBlue ⧉ (designed to be accessible to blind people, available on Windows)
• Toot ⧉ (CLI & TUI app for Linux / Mac)

Retro Apps

Many old computers from the 1980s and 1990s have Mastodon retro apps available.

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Just click on any post or reply to be taken to the original discussion thread it belongs to. This will show you the original post and its replies.

Is there any way to see the most complete version of the thread?

Because of the way servers federate together, your server may not always show all the replies in a conversation thread. You can see the most complete version of a thread by using original pages:

1. Click on the first post of the thread, at the very top
2. Click on ⋯ for the first post of the thread
3. Select the option Open original page, which will open the thread on the website of the poster’s server

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No. There is no algorithm on Mastodon or other Fediverse server types. You can like and follow and share stuff freely without having to worry about it affecting what appears in your timeline.

Your Home timeline simply shows all the posts and all the shares from all the accounts, groups and hashtags you follow, in chronological order. The timeline doesn’t hide stuff or suggest stuff or move stuff about.

My timeline is way too full now! How can I trim it down without an algorithm?

You can split your Home timeline into themed mini-timelines using Mastodon’s Lists feature, which lets you add accounts to separate timelines and then optionally hide those accounts from your Home timeline.

There are some accounts that I MUST see the posts from. How do I make sure I don’t miss what they post?

Click the bell icon on an account’s profile, and you will get an extra notification every time they post (and of course their posts will be in your Home timeline as usual).

There are some accounts and topics I MUST NOT see. How do I stop them appearing in my timeline?

You can block and mute accounts so that you don’t see them in your timeline. You can hide posts that use particular words or phrases by using the filter system.

I follow an account that boosts way too much! How do I stop seeing their boosts without hiding their own posts?

If there are accounts you follow that boost too much, you can hide an account’s boosts without hiding their own posts.

But there’s a column of suggested accounts to follow labelled “For You”! Isn’t this an algorithm?

No, it’s just a list of accounts that are most followed and boosted by people on your server. The same accounts are suggested to everyone on your server, but it automatically hides accounts you are already following (which is where the “for you” name comes from).

Actually, at a technical level, “algorithm” can mean any set of computing instructions. So of course Mastodon uses an algorithm, so do all computers and websites!

That’s not what most people mean by the word “algorithm”. To most people, especially non-technical people, algorithm means a weird hidden thing that messes up their timeline based on what they have previously interacted with.

If algorithm meant any kind of computing instruction, then it would be a useless word when trying to discuss the problems of manipulative black box code.

The “quiet public” post visibility setting on Mastodon’s website talks about “Fewer algorithmic features”. Doesn’t that mean Mastodon uses algorithms?

No, it’s just a badly written description that is trying to fit a long series of sentences into three words. The only actual effect of using quiet public visibility (aka unlisted visibility) is that it doesn’t show up in searches or trends or Federated or Local timelines.

Aren’t the trending posts sections a form of algorithm?

The trending posts sections of Mastodon just show new posts that have received a lot of boosts. There’s no weirdness or black box code or promotion going on, their mechanism is extremely simple and visible in Mastodon’s source code.

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Please don’t use flashing images or animations in posts or profiles! This includes attachments and emoji, anything which produces a rapid series of flashes. Flashing images can be dangerous to people with certain neurological conditions ⧉, and it makes your post or profile inaccessible to them.

If you absolutely have to post something containing flashes, hide it behind a content warning which says that it contains flashes.

Is there any way I can prevent animated GIFs from playing automatically?

If you’re using the Mastodon web interface, you can optionally prevent animated GIFs from automatically playing:

1. Log in through your server’s website or the web app
2. Click on Preferences
3. Scroll down the page and UN-tick the box Auto-play animated GIFs
4. Click the Save Changes button

Some apps may also have options for this, check their settings menus.

But if people can switch off autoplaying of GIFs, why does it matter if I use flashing images?

It matters because a lot of people may not be able to prevent autoplay:

• Some people may be viewing your public posts or profile through your server’s website, they may not even be members of the Fediverse. A lot of content on Mastodon and the Fediverse is shared elsewhere through web links.
• Some people use non-Mastodon platforms which lack options about autoplay.
• Some people are on Mastodon apps which lack options about autoplay.

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If you’re the admin of a Mastodon server, you might have noticed a server setting called “content cache retention period”. Do NOT put any numbers in this, just leave it blank!

What happens if I put numbers in there?

It will start permanently breaking threads on your server that are older than that number of days, without any possibility of restoring them. This setting is not really a cache, because there’s no way of getting the content back later.

Whaaat? Why does this setting even exist?

Apparently it was only intended for announcement servers which wanted to avoid data retention for legal reasons. It isn’t intended by the developers for use on ordinary servers.

So why is such a dangerous and niche setting included on normal servers if it’s not intended for normal servers?

Really good question, it probably shouldn’t be there as most admins will never need it and won’t realise the damage it causes. There is a pull request on Github to move it into a separate “danger zone” section ⧉, which includes technical discussion of the situation.

What about the other settings on the same page, can I use them?

Yes, the other settings are okay to use. It’s just the “content cache retention period” one that needs to stay blank.

Can I set the “Media cache retention period”? Can I set the “User archive retention period”?

Yes, it’s fine to set time limits on the media cache and user archives, because they can be reloaded if needed. It’s only the “content cache” that you need to avoid, because the content it deletes cannot be reloaded.

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Each server is totally independent, and does updates on its own schedule. You may want to check which version of Mastodon a server is running, as this can let you know whether a new feature is available on that server. To check a server’s version:

1. Go to that server’s website (you don’t need to log in)
2. If you’re on the desktop website, the server’s Mastodon version will be written at the bottom left corner of the screen. If you’re on the mobile website, click the ⋯ icon and scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. The version number will look something like “v2.2.4” or similar. It may have some extra letters if it’s a customised or experimental version of Mastodon, but the numbers should indicate which version it is based on.

How do I find out the latest version number for Mastodon?

The Mastodon developers’ Github page has the latest version number written at the top of its releases page ⧉.

(If you’re technical that page also lets you browse through the details of the latest version, but you don’t need to do this.)

The server has “glitch” or “hometown” written on its version number. What does this mean?

Mastodon is free open source software, which means anyone with the necessary programming knowledge can create their own customised version, known as a “fork”. Two of the most popular and well-established forks are Glitch Mastodon ⧉ and Hometown Mastodon ⧉. If you see these names in the version number, it means your server is running one of these forks.

There’s nothing wrong with a server running on a fork of Mastodon, in fact it often brings more features. Forks and originals aren’t rivals or competitors, they can contribute to each other in both directions. Many features of standard Mastodon originally appeared on the Glitch fork. Whichever fork your server is running, it’s still compatible with standard Mastodon and you’ll be able to follow and interact with people from standard Mastodon servers.

Standard Mastodon is often called “Vanilla Mastodon” to distinguish it from Glitch Mastodon, Hometown Mastodon and other forks.

The server’s version number has lots of letters and numbers and the word “alpha” or “beta”. What does this mean?

There are always two latest versions of Mastodon: the stable release version and the experimental version.

The vast majority of servers run the stable release version, as it has been extensively tested and is known to work well. However, some servers prefer to have the very latest cutting edge experimental features, and they will run the experimental version which is usually labelled differently. In software development, the words “alpha”, “beta” and “nightly” usually indicate an experimental version that isn’t yet ready for release. Experimental version numbers may look even more complicated such as “alpha.0+pr-28693-384ec56”.

If your server is running a test version of Mastodon, you will probably see new features ahead of servers running the release version. However, features on the experimental version may disappear without warning, or not work properly, or break other features, and that’s why most servers use the release version instead.

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Mastodon sometimes may send you emails when certain things happen on your account. You can switch off these emails by doing the following:

1. Log in through your server’s website or through the web app
2. Click on Preferences
3. Click Notifications on the left of the screen (or on the mobile site click ☰ and then Notifications in the menu)
4. UN-tick all the boxes in the section marked Events for e-mail notifications
5. Click the Save Changes button at the top of the screen

This won’t affect notifications you get within Mastodon itself, it just switches off the emails.

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There are many retro computing apps / clients available which let you use Mastodon through classic hardware from the 1980s and 1990s:

APPLE II	Mastodon for Apple II ⧉
APPLE MACINTOSH (Pre-OS X)	Macstodon ⧉
COMMODORE 64	MOStodon ⧉
COMMODORE AMIGA	amidon ⧉
MS-DOS	DOStodon ⧉
MVS	BREXXTODON ⧉
PALM OS	Heffalump ⧉
WINDOWS 95	Mastodon for Workgroups ⧉

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Most people think about websites and apps as being two separate things. However, some websites are specially written to function pretty much like apps, and you can even install these sites as apps with their own icon. You don’t need to go through any app stores, you can install them directly from your web browser.

These kinds of special installable websites are called “web apps”. Web apps are so sophisticated nowadays, many of the apps you install from app stores are actually web apps.

The websites of Mastodon servers and other Fediverse server types such as Pixelfed, PeerTube, BookWyrm etc can be installed as web apps on your phone or tablet. Scroll down this page to see a list of the Fediverse server types that support web app installation.

Should I use app store apps or web apps?

In most cases it’s just a matter of taste!

For example, Mastodon has lots of official and third party app store apps, but many people prefer the Mastodon web app as it tends to get features before the app store apps. The web app has also been in development for longer than any other Mastodon app, so its features tend to be well-developed and mature.

However, some Fediverse server types (such as BookWyrm for example) don’t have app store apps at all yet, so the web apps are their only app.

How to install web apps on Android phones and tablets:

1. Open your Android phone or tablet’s web browser and go to your server’s website
2. Open the browser’s options menu (usually ︙ in top right corner of screen)
3. Click on Install app
4. It will ask for confirmation of the installation, click Install
5. An icon will appear on your home screen, click on this and log into your account

How to install web apps on iPhone and iPad:

1. Open the Safari web browser and go to your server’s website
2. Click the Share icon at the bottom of the screen (it looks like a box with an arrow pointing upwards)
3. Scroll down through the options and click on Add to Home Screen
4. Give the name you want for the icon and confirm the installation by clicking on Add
5. An icon will appear on your home screen, click on this and log into your account

Do I get notifications for web apps? How do I control the notifications?

Yes, web apps nowadays support notifications.

Once you’ve installed the web app and you’ve logged in, your phone or tablet may ask if it’s okay to show notifications for the web app, if you want notifications you should say yes to this. You can also set notifications for the web app in your phone or tablet’s notifications settings section.

Which Fediverse server types can be installed as web apps?

You can install web apps for most Fediverse server types including:

BookWyrm
Friendica
Funkwhale
Mastodon
Mobilizon
OwnCast
PeerTube
Pixelfed
WriteFreely

Isn’t this just a bookmark? What’s the point of this?

Web apps are slightly different to bookmarks.

Installation won’t work for all websites, it will only work for those specifically desgined to be web apps. If you try to install non-app websites on your home screen, either the installation option will just not be there, or they will produce an icon but that icon will just open the site in a web browser exactly like a bookmark.

Web apps work a bit differently when they are added to your home screen, they hide the browser’s interface and let you just use the web app’s own interface. At a technical level they are still working through the browser, but in practice using a web app is pretty much like using an app. As noted above, many of the apps in app stores are actually web apps.

By adding web apps to your home screen, it means you can install Fediverse platforms that aren’t on app stores yet (such as Pixelfed or BookWyrm). Even on platforms that do have separate apps, such as Mastodon, many people prefer the web interface so they use the web app.

My iPhone/iPad calls these bookmarks?

Parts of the iPhone/iPad interface do refer to web apps as bookmarks, but web apps behave differently to bookmarks. Normal websites open in the browser just like bookmarks with the browser controls visible, but installed web apps hide the browser controls and the entire screen is devoted to the web app.

What are Progressive Web Apps / PWAs? What are Web Clients?

You might hear web apps referred to as Progressive Web Apps or PWAs or Web Clients. These are all pretty much just different names for the same thing.

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Running any kind of social media server is a big topic, especially if it’s a jointly-owned server run by a group, collective, business etc.

The legal side of things depends on where your organisation is based and what your organisation’s existing structure is. Your local laws will provide various options for joint ownership structures, for example co-operatives are popular in many countries. Usually a Mastodon server can be jointly owned and managed just like anything else that belongs to your organisation.

How does joint management of a Mastodon server work in practice?

Many people can jointly run a single Mastodon server by using the “roles” system, where accounts are assigned special privileges by the owners of the server. These privileges allow staff to do things that ordinary members can’t do, for example delete posts or block users. Different roles have different amounts and types of privilege.

There are a number of pre-made roles (Owner, Admin, Moderator) but completely new roles can also be created with highly customised sets of abilities. The “Owner” account is the highest-ranked role and has the final word on everything, so this is normally given to people most trusted by your organisation. You can assign several accounts as owners if you want.

If your organisation needs a hierarchy, there is an optional priority system for roles so that if two staff members disagree on certain actions, the higher priority role gets the final decision.

The profiles of staff carry a special badge with their role name, so everyone on your server can see that they are staff.

How to give a server member a special role

1. Log in through an account that has the power to assign roles. Owners can assign any role, other staff members may also be able to (depending on what privileges they have been given).
2. Go to Preferences > Moderation > Accounts
3. Click on the member you want to assign a role to
4. Scroll down to the Roles section of the page and click on Change role
5. Select the correct role and click Save changes

How to adjust existing roles or create new roles

1. Log in through an account with power to create roles (usually Owners)
2. Go to Preferences > Administration > Roles
3. To edit an existing role click the Edit button next to it, to create a new role click the Add role button at the top of the screen

Note that there are a lot of differnet abilities that can be assigned to roles (see below). You may want to err on the side of caution and only assign abilities that you’re totally sure you want them to have.

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If you’re browsing a thread on Mastodon through your server’s website or on the web app, you may have noticed an icon in the top right corner that looks like an eye

Clicking this icon reveals or hides all posts in the thread that are hidden by Content Warnings (CW). If the posts with CWs are hidden, click on the eye to open them all at once, or click again to close them all.

This feature is really useful on threads with a lot of posts hidden by CWs, as it means you don’t have to open each CW one by one.

I can’t see the eye, where is it?

The eye icon is only visible when you’re viewing a thread. You can view a thread by clicking on a post, which will show you the thread the post comes from.

I clicked the eye and it doesn’t seem to do anything?

Try clicking it again. If you have one post revealed and you click the eye, it just hides that post and leaves the rest hidden, so it appears to do nothing. When you click again, it opens all the posts at once.

There’s an eye in the official app but it doesn’t reveal the whole thread?

The official Mastodon app also has an eye symbol but it’s displayed in posts rather than at the top of threads, and it just reveals the contents of that specific post.

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Mastodon threads are built with the traditional method used on many other social networks.

Here’s how to do this manually in any app:

1. Post the first part of your thread, and mention that it is the start of the thread
2. Reply to the post with the second part of the thread
3. Reply to this reply with the third part etc
4. Just keep replying to your last previous reply to add the next part, and go through all your posts in order
5. When you get to the final reply, mention that it’s the end of the thread

Should I number the thread?

A lot of people also number their threads at the bottom of each part to indicate it is in a thread, and which part it is (such as 1/9 on first post in a nine post thread, 2/9 on second part, 3/9 on part 3 etc). Some also optionally add a cotton reel emoji next to the first post’s numbering as a visual pun to indicate a thread.

If you’re not sure how many parts a thread will have, you can just number them as 1/X, 2/X, 3/X and then END on the final post. As Mastodon has an edit function, you can add the numbering to a thread afterwards too.

What visibility setting should I use for threads?

If you are posting a public thread, it’s considered polite to use a public visibility setting for the first post but an unlisted visibility setting for the replies in the thread. This means that only the start of the thread shows up on public timelines, and makes them easier to browse. However, if you’re unsure about how to do this don’t worry.

Is there an easier way to create threads? Can I create them in advance in one go instead of manually bit-by-bit?

Some apps and scheduled posting services may include thread-creation systems which let you write the thread in full and then post the thread in one go, but at a technical level they are just doing the above process of replies-to-replies automatically.

If you’re on a computer, you can use a notepad application to type the whole thread in one go, then split it into bits by copying and pasting sections of your text over to Mastodon.

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For safety reasons, the default settings on Pixelfed automatically block DMs from people you don’t follow.

If you want to receive DMs from people you don’t follow, you will need to change the settings:

1. Log into your account on your Pixelfed server
2. Go to Account Settings
3. Go to Privacy
4. Tick the box marked Receive Direct Messages from anyone
5. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the screen

If you change your mind, repeat this process but untick the box and click Submit.

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Here’s a complete list of all the language codes used by Mastodon. These can be useful when doing searches by language.

For example if you search mastodon including the phrase language:fr you will only see results in French. You can combine this with keywords or hashtags, or just have the operator on its own if you want to see all recent posts in that language.

(NOTE: If you want your timelines permanently filtering languages, use the dedicated language filters instead.)

Language	Code
Afaan Oromoo (Oromo)	om
Afaraf (Afar)	aa
Afrikaans (Afrikaans)	af
Akan (Akan)	ak
Aragonés (Aragonese)	an
Asturianu (Asturian)	ast
Asụsụ Igbo (Igbo)	ig
Avesta (Avestan)	ae
Aymar aru (Aymara)	ay
Azərbaycan dili (Azerbaijani)	az
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)	id
Bahasa Melayu (Malay)	ms
Bamanankan (Bambara)	bm
Basa Jawa (Javanese)	jv
Basa Sunda (Sundanese)	su
Bislama (Bislama)	bi
Bosanski jezik (Bosnian)	bs
Brezhoneg (Breton)	br
Català (Catalan)	ca
čeština (Czech)	cs
Chamoru (Chamorro)	ch
ChiCheŵa (Chichewa)	ny
ChiShona (Shona)	sn
Corsu (Corsican)	co
Crnogorski (Montenegrin)	cnr
Cymraeg (Welsh)	cy
Dansk (Danish)	da
Davvisámegiella (Northern Sami)	se
Deutsch (German)	de
Dhivehi (Divehi)	dv
Diné bizaad (Navajo)	nv
Eesti (Estonian)	et
Ekakairũ Naoero (Nauru)	na
English	en
Esperanto (Esperanto)	eo
Español (Spanish)	es
Euskara (Basque)	eu
Eʋegbe (Ewe)	ee
Faka Tonga (Tonga)	to
Fiteny malagasy (Malagasy)	mg
Français (French)	fr
Frysk (Western Frisian)	fy
Fulfulde (Fula)	ff
Føroyskt (Faroese)	fo
Gaeilge (Irish)	ga
Gaelg (Manx)	gv
Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic)	gd
Galego (Galician)	gl
Gĩkũyũ (Kikuyu)	ki
Hiri Motu (Hiri Motu)	ho
Hrvatski (Croatian)	hr
Ido (Ido)	io
Ikinyarwanda (Kinyarwanda)	rw
Ikirundi (Kirundi)	rn
Interlingua (Interlingua)	ia
Interlingue (Interlingue)	ie
Iñupiaq (Inupiaq)	ik
IsiNdebele (Northern Ndebele)	nd
IsiNdebele (Southern Ndebele)	nr
IsiXhosa (Xhosa)	xh
IsiZulu (Zulu)	zu
Íslenska (Icelandic)	is
Italiano (Italian)	it
Julevsámegiella (Lule Sami)	smj
Kajin M̧ajeļ (Marshallese)	mh
Kalaallisut (Kalaallisut)	kl
Kanuri (Kanuri)	kr
Kernewek (Cornish)	kw
Kikongo (Kongo)	kg
Kiswahili (Swahili)	sw
Kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian)	ht
Kuanyama (Kwanyama)	kj
Kurmancî (Kurmanji (Kurdish))	ku
La .lojban. (Lojban)	jbo
Láadan (Láadan)	ldn
Latine (Latin)	la
Latviešu valoda (Latvian)	lv
Lëtzebuergesch (Luxembourgish)	lb
Lietuvių kalba (Lithuanian)	lt
Limburgs (Limburgish)	li
Lingála (Lingala)	ln
Lingua franca nova (Lingua Franca Nova)	lfn
Luganda (Ganda)	lg
Magyar (Hungarian)	hu
Malti (Maltese)	mt
Nederlands (Dutch)	nl
Norsk (Norwegian)	no
Norsk bokmål (Norwegian Bokmål)	nb
Norsk Nynorsk (Norwegian Nynorsk)	nn
ꆈꌠ꒿ Nuosuhxop (Nuosu)	ii
Occitan (Occitan)	oc
Otjiherero (Herero)	hz
Owambo (Ndonga)	ng
Polski (Polish)	pl
Português (Portuguese)	pt
Reo Tahiti (Tahitian)	ty
Română (Romanian)	ro
Rumantsch grischun (Romansh)	rm
Runa Simi (Quechua)	qu
Sardu (Sardinian)	sc
Saɯ cueŋƅ (Zhuang)	za
Scots (Scots)	sco
Sesotho (Southern Sotho)	st
Setswana (Tswana)	tn
Shqip (Albanian)	sq
SiSwati (Swati)	ss
Slovenčina (Slovak)	sk
Slovenščina (Slovenian)	sl
ślůnsko godka (Silesian)	szl
Soomaaliga (Somali)	so
Suomi (Finnish)	fi
Svenska (Swedish)	sv
Taqbaylit (Kabyle)	kab
Te reo Māori (Māori)	mi
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)	vi
Toki pona (Toki Pona)	tok
Tshiluba (Luba-Katanga)	lu
Tshivenḓa (Venda)	ve
Türkçe (Turkish)	tr
Türkmen (Turkmen)	tk
Twi (Twi)	tw
Vakaviti (Fijian)	fj
Volapük (Volapük)	vo
Walon (Walloon)	wa
Wikang Tagalog (Tagalog)	tl
Wollof (Wolof)	wo
Xitsonga (Tsonga)	ts
Yângâ tî sängö (Sango)	sg
Yorùbá (Yoruba)	yo
Åarjelsaemien Gïele (Southern Sami)	sma
Ελληνικά (Greek)	el
аҧсуа бызшәа (Abkhaz)	ab
авар мацӀ (Avaric)	av
башҡорт теле (Bashkir)	ba
беларуская мова (Belarusian)	be
български език (Bulgarian)	bg
нохчийн мотт (Chechen)	ce
чӑваш чӗлхи (Chuvash)	cv
Хальмг келн (Kalmyk)	xal
қазақ тілі (Kazakh)	kk
коми кыв (Komi)	kv
Кыргызча (Kyrgyz)	ky
македонски јазик (Macedonian)	mk
Монгол хэл (Mongolian)	mn
ирон æвзаг (Ossetian)	os
Русский (Russian)	ru
српски језик (Serbian)	sr
ѩзыкъ словѣньскъ (Old Church Slavonic)	cu
тоҷикӣ (Tajik)	tg
татар теле (Tatar)	tt
Українська (Ukrainian)	uk
Ўзбек (Uzbek)	uz
አማርኛ (Amharic)	am
Հայերեն (Armenian)	hy
অসমীয়া (Assamese)	as
বাংলা (Bengali)	bn
भोजपुरी (Bihari)	bh
ဗမာစာ (Burmese)	my
廣東話 (Cantonese)	zh-YUE
ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ (Cherokee)	chr
中文 (Chinese)	zh
简体中文 (Chinese (China))	zh-CN
繁體中文（香港）(Chinese (Hong Kong))	zh-HK
繁體中文（臺灣）(Chinese (Taiwan))	zh-TW
ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ (Cree)	cr
རྫོང་ཁ (Dzongkha)	dz
ქართული (Georgian)	ka
ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)	gu
हिन्दी (Hindi)	hi
ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (Standard Moroccan Tamazight)	zgh
ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ (Inuktitut)	iu
日本語 (Japanese)	ja
ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)	kn
ខេមរភាសា (Khmer)	km
कश्मीरी (Kashmiri)	ks
한국어 (Korean)	ko
ລາວ (Lao)	lo
മലയാളം (Malayalam)	ml
मराठी (Marathi)	mr
नेपाली (Nepali)	ne
ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ (Ojibwe)	oj
ଓଡ଼ିଆ (Oriya)	or
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Panjabi)	pa
पाऴि (Pāli)	pi
संस्कृतम् (Sanskrit)	sa
सिन्धी (Sindhi)	sd
සිංහල (Sinhala)	si
தமிழ் (Tamil)	ta
తెలుగు (Telugu)	te
ไทย (Thai)	th
བོད་ཡིག (Tibetan)	bo
ትግርኛ (Tigrinya)	ti
اللغة العربية (Arabic)	ar
باليبلن (Balaibalan)	zba
هَوُسَ (Hausa)	ha
עברית (Hebrew)	he
پښتو (Pashto)	ps
فارسی (Persian)	fa
سۆرانی (Sorani (Kurdish))	ckb
اردو (Urdu)	ur
ئۇيغۇرچە ‎ (Uyghur)	ug
ייִדיש (Yiddish)	yi

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Since version 4.2.0, Mastodon allows full text search where the entire contents of posts is included when people do searches.

For privacy and safety reasons, the full text search feature is entirely on an opt-in basis. By default your posts are NOT available to search by that method, and you have to actively opt into full text search to make your public posts searchable without hashtags.

To opt into full text search:

1. Log in through your server’s website
2. Click on your profile icon, this will take you to your profile page
3. Click on Edit Profile button
4. Click on the tab labelled Privacy & Reach
5. Tick the box marked Include public posts in search results
6. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen

If you change your mind, do the same steps again but untick the box and then save changes.

What if I don’t want to be searchable?

By default, your posts are NOT part of the full text search system. You have to actively opt in using the steps above if you want people to be able to search your entire posts.

When opted out of full text search, your posts are only searchable by hashtag.

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Third party Mastodon, PeerTube & Fediverse app, free open source software, available from Google Play (paid) ⧉ & F-Droid (free) ⧉

General impressions

At first glance appears to be pretty standard, but once you start going through the options and settings there is so much more under the surface. Many, many useful features and good support for non-Mastodon Fediverse servers. It’s not the best-looking app, but that doesn’t matter because it does lots of things other apps cannot do.

Nice stuff

• All the standard extras available the web interface such as post editing, pinned posts, hashtag follows, lists, filters, trending tags, trending posts etc.
• All the timelines (Home, Local, Federated, Explore) are there, as are all the visibilities (Public, Unlisted, Followers-Only, Mentions-Only and Local-Only (for servers that support local-only posts))
• Free open source software
• Allows users to be muted just on home timeline while still appearing on lists, which is great for creating multiple separate timelines from the same account. (Also, you can set lists to automatically include home muted users.)
• Scheduled posts and scheduled boosts, including boosts of own or others’ posts
• Post drafts, automatically asks you if you close a message without posting it
• Built-in translation, built-in dictionary and spell checker
• Good support for non-Mastodon Fediverse server types including Pixelfed, PeerTube, Friendica etc. Also includes support for extra features on Mastodon forks such as Glitch and Hometown.
• PeerTube interface is particularly good, allows all the options from the web interface including uploads, and Fedilab can easily be used as a dedicated PeerTube app
• Customisable timeline and interface options, colour themes, adjustable text and icon sizes.
• Conversation thread maps
• Lets you fetch data from remote servers which allows conversations and profiles to be updated with information that hasn’t federated to your server yet.
• Optional privacy features for links such as UTM stripping, and using alternative frontends for links to popular services (for example Nitter to view Twitter links, Invidious to view YouTube links etc).
• Lots more options such as automatic cache clearance.

Not sure one way or other

• Fedilab is a paid app on Google Play but free-of-charge on F-Droid. This is as the developer wishes to encourage people onto alternatives to Google Play.

Potential drawbacks

• Some of the formatting could be slicker and neater, for example metadata tables on profiles look a bit messy
• Some English translations slightly odd, such as “trending messages” when it means trending posts
• Occasional weird bugs, for example the Manage Timelines page brings up a “No timelines was found on this instance” error message

Hints & Tips

• Polls can be added to posts by clicking the attachment button (the paperclip) and selecting the poll icon
• You can jump to the top of a timeline by double-tapping the timeline’s icon

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If a post is boosted by a lot of people, you may see it repeatedly in your timeline. This can be annoying if you’re tired of seeing it.

There is already a feature in Mastodon to prevent this happening, called Group Boosts, and it is on by default, you don’t need to do anything to switch it on. Unfortunately, it is hardcoded to allow boosts to repeat after 40 other posts have been in your timeline. This limit worked okay in the early days of the Fediverse when things were quieter, but nowadays with millions of people online you are a lot more likely to see repeated boosts.

This 40 posts limit cannot currently be adjusted by users or admins, but hopefully the developers could allow this to happen. If you are comfortable using github, you can vote for this limit to be adjustable by giving a thumbs up to the first post in this thread ⧉.

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Post scheduling means you write posts now, and they are automatically posted later at times and dates of your choosing.

This is very useful for accounts that need posts to go out at particular times of day, for example to reach people reading their feeds in particular time zones, or to accompany scheduled live events such as streams or radio shows.

Scheduling through third party apps

If you are using certain third party apps such as Tusky and Fedilab you will find scheduling options built into their posting interfaces. Fedilab also runs a website interface at FediPlan ⧉ which lets you access the scheduling feature even without the app.

Professional post scheduling services

There are now commercial companies offering advanced post scheduling services that include compatibility with Mastodon and other social networks. The two most prominent at the moment are Publer ⧉ and Buffer ⧉.

Why doesn’t Mastodon have a built-in scheduler?

This is the weird part… Mastodon does actually have a fully functional built-in scheduler buried deep in its code! However, for some unexplained reason, the official web interface and official apps don’t yet give you any way to access it. This means you can only use Mastodon’s post scheduling system through third party apps and services via the Mastodon API.

If you’re comfortable using Github, you can vote for an official Mastodon scheduling interface to be added by giving a thumbs up at this issue ⧉.

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Yes, there’s an unofficial “remind me” bot you can use at @remindme@mstdn.social ⧉

It can remind you minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years later. To use it, just mention the bot in a post or reply and include the period you want to be reminded after, for example:

@remindme@mstdn.social 1 week

Reminders can be sent privately if you prefer. To be reminded privately include the word DM, for example:

@remindme@mstdn.social dm 1 week

It should work with any Fediverse platform that supports microblogging, such as Mastodon, Friendica, GoToSocial etc.

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If you want to use Mastodon through a command line interface (CLI) or text-based user interface (TUI), there’s a free open source tool you can install called “toot” ⧉.

It can be installed on a variety of Linux distributions and Mac too.

(By the way, despite the similar name, it has no connection to the mobile apps Toot! or Tooot.)

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There’s a website called FediFinder which helps you find the Mastodon / Fediverse accounts of people you currently follow on Twitter. To use it, just go to fedifinder.glitch.me ⧉ and follow the instructions.

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Each server on the Fediverse is independent, and can choose to cut off connections to any other server if it wants to do so. This process of blocking other servers on the Fediverse is known as “defederation” or “fediblocking”.

Usually this is done for the sake of user safety, for example if another server is failing to moderate abusive behaviour, but it can be for any reason that the server admin considers important.

If you’re an admin on a Mastodon server, here is how to defederate other servers on the Fediverse:

1. Log into your admin account on your server’s website
2. Go to Preferences > Moderation > Federation
3. Click Add New Domain Block
4. Enter the domain name of the server you want to block (for example “threads.net”)
5. From the Severity dropdown menu select Suspend
6. Optionally add comments if you want to remind yourself why you blocked them, or if you have a public list that explains your server’s blocks
7. Click Create Block

Once you’ve done this, your server will refuse connections from the blocked server and any follows from those servers will be removed.

These blocks work for any Fediverse server type, so you can block non-Mastodon servers as well.

Do I have to do this for every single server I want to block?

By default, blocks are done one at a time. However, you can also import ready-made blocklists which let you block lots of servers at once.

Is there a less drastic alternative to blocking?

Yes, you can choose Limit from the Severity menu instead of Suspend. Limiting (also known as Silencing) does not cut off connections, and allows follows to carry on, but it hides all posts from that server unless people are following the account that makes them.

What if I change my mind? How do I unblock servers?

To remove a domain block:

1. Log into your admin account on your server’s website
2. Go to Preferences > Moderation > Federation
3. Click on the domain you want to unblock
4. Click Undo Domain Block

If I unblock a server, will people’s follows be restored?

When an admin defederates a server, that cuts off all the follows between that server and the admin’s server.

Unblocking a server allows people to follow each other again, but it does not automatically restore follows that existed before the defederation happened. This is an important reason to consider carefully before defederating a server.

If you want to distance yourself from a server but don’t want to cut off follows, use the Limit/Silence option instead of Suspend.

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Third party Mastodon app, free open source software, available from Apple App Store (free) ⧉

General impressions

Slick, fast, very well thought out. Full of options and settings if you want them, but the default settings work fine too and the options don’t feel overwhelming. Feels very modern and pushing beyond what the official app offers.

Nice stuff

• Very easy to use and intuitive by default, so it’s suitable for beginners but advanced users can dig through settings if they want a more tweaked experience.
• Free open source software
• Extra features not on official app such as post drafts, hiding repeated boosts, following other servers, unlisted visibility, more granular notification settings, filter editing etc
• Includes all the timelines (Home, Local, Federated, Explore) plus option to follow timelines on other servers.
• Includes trending posts, trending tags, hashtag following etc.
• Lovely haptics and subtle unobtrusive sound effects, letting you know something has happened without making a song and dance about it
• Fully customisable appearance including full range of colours for each element, transparency settings, pre-built themes, font sizes and line spacing, preview on example post etc
• Customisable swipe settings on interface
• Can automatically suggest hashtags based on your post, and add them either within or after the text. Same feature can also correct text.

Not sure one way or other

• LLM-powered feature where you can ask it to rewrite your post more concisely or more enthusiastically. Some will really appreciate this, while others will be concerned about its effect on discourse.
• Quoting posts is something many have demanded but others have been worried about. In this particular case, the quoting is actually just linking to the post and mentioning the author (the core Mastodon software does not currently include quoting as a feature, so this is possibly the nearest the app can get to it).

Potential drawbacks

• No image focus selection
• No separate volume control for effects, have to use system volume

Hints & Tips

• Ice Cubes is free open source software created by volunteers. Please consider supporting its development by using the optional in-app purchases which allow you to give a one-off tip or a regular subscription. The donation buttons are in the app itself at Settings > Support The App.
• You can add and edit filters by holding down your profile icon in the top left corner, then select your profile name to bring up settings specific to that profile. One of these will be Edit filters.
• You can see your own server’s info and its list of rules by going to Settings > Instance Information
• Development was paused due to lead dev’s parental leave, but there should be updates on the way again now

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Third party Mastodon app, free open source software, available from Google Play (free) ⧉ and F-Droid (free) ⧉

General impressions

Solid, reliable and mature with continual development and updates. Works the way you would expect it to, and matches up nicely with the website interface. This is what the official Android app should have been.

Nice stuff

• One of the longest-supported Mastodon apps, been around longer than the official app
• Feels very intuitive, arranged logically
• Free open source software
• Lots of features that are missing from the official app and/or website, such as scheduled posts, drafts, reversal of reading order, image cropping etc.
• Other features include post editing, image focus editing, bookmarks, lists, polls, hashtag following, filters, private profile notes, all post visibilities including Unlisted, all timelines
• Custom tabs, you can pick up to five from Home, Local, Federated, Notifications, DMs, Trending Hashtags, Lists, Hashtag Columns
• Hashtag tabs can include multiple hashtags in one tab, and you can have multiple separate hashtag tabs, which is really useful for creating your own custom themed timelines
• Switch between tabs very easily by swiping (swiping can be deactivated too)
• Support for multiple accounts at once, with separate settings pages for each account
• People sick of clout-chasing can switch off all the boost/favourite/follower numbers, which can be good for mental health
• Warning icon to remind you to add text descriptions

Potential drawbacks

• No option to view trending posts
• Custom tabs are fantastic, but the five tab limit can be frustrating
• Verification of links on profiles not very clear, the icon could be confused with fake verification icons made with custom emoji
• Profile descriptions formatted slightly messily, especially metadata elements
• Some people overlook the Add Poll button as it’s sort of hidden in the attachment menu

Hints & Tips

• Tusky is a volunteer-run project providing free software, you can donate to keep it going at the Tusky Open Collective page ⧉
• To see your own profile page, tap your profile icon twice (once to open the settings page, then again to show your profile page)
• To make a draft, start writing a post and close it without actually posting it . You can find a complete list of drafts from the settings page.
• To add a poll, click the attachment button and then select Add Poll

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Kbin is a Reddit-style link aggregator and discussion platform for the Fediverse. As it communicates using the ActivityPub protocol, Kbin servers can communicate with other Fediverse server types such as Mastodon etc.

It’s still in early beta testing, but already has servers up and running you can try out. Find out more from the official Kbin site ⧉ or try out its flagship server at kbin.social ⧉.

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Third party Mastodon app, closed source, available from Apple’s App Store (paid) ⧉

General impressions

Lots of personality, presented in a whimsical and fun style, not corporate at all.

Nice stuff

• Mature and stable, one of the longest-maintained apps, been around longer than the official apps
• Supports all timelines (home, federated, local), explore/trending tab, lists, hashtag following
• Supports post editing
• London Underground-style colourful discussion maps make threads much easier to navigate
• Laid out clearly with text explaining things instead of blank icons, support for variable font size too
• Allows multiple accounts at once and easy-to-use switcher in corner of screen
• Unique and fun easter eggs including “user scanning”, a pool simulator with a mysterious scoring system and more
• Timeline syncing between devices through iCloud
• The “in-app purchases” are actually just parodies which you don’t need to buy, they don’t add any features

Potential drawbacks

• Search box is awkwardly hidden in a menu
• The message bubbles can feel a bit overwhelming when there are lots of them, but they can be switched off

Hints & Tips

• You can find the search box by going to the Home or Notifications tab, then clicking ⋯ and then Search
• To find the Explore, Local and Federated feeds, click your server’s icon in the bottom right corner and then select the feed you want from the menu at the top of the screen

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Mastodon servers can choose to block other servers, and by default this is done manually one at a time. However, this can get cumbersome if there are lots of servers you need to block quickly, especially if you’re running a new server with no blocks at all yet.

To make the process easier, servers admins can import pre-written server-level blocklists from sites such as oliphant.social ⧉. Once you have a blocklist downloaded, here’s how to add it to your own server:

1. Log in on your server’s website using your admin account.
2. Go to Preferences > Moderation > Federation
3. Click the Import button at the top
4. Browse for the blocklist’s .csv file, then click Upload
5. You will be presented with a list of servers to block. If there are servers with existing connections to your server, they will be automatically unticked. If you want to include these in the block, tick them.
6. When you want to implement the blocklist, click Import in the top right corner of the list and click OK to confirm.

Once the list is successfully imported, the blocks will appear alongside your existing blocks. If necessary, you can remove blocks from the list just like any manually added block.

Will it block people that have already followed me, or that I already follow?

Before any blocks happen, the blocklist import process will highlight servers on the list that your server already has connections to. You will be given the option of either going ahead with blocking those servers, or leaving them off the blocklist. By default it will leave them off the blocklist, unless you choose to add them back in.

If you block a particular server, then all the follows and followers from that particular server will lose their connections to your server.

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Posts in Mastodon can be set to automatically self-destruct after a certain time period, with exceptions made for posts you want to keep. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in through your server’s website
2. Go to Preferences > Automated post deletion (on mobile you may need to click ☰ first)
3. Choose the Age threshold to set how long posts are around before they’re deleted
4. Set the exceptions for posts you want to keep
5. Tick the box at the top marked Automatically delete old posts
6. Click the Save changes button

If you want to stop deleting posts automatically, UN-tick the box and click the Save changes button.

I activated this but it hasn’t deleted posts that are way past the threshold. What’s going on?

If servers are busy, they create queues of tasks to work through. Automated deletion tends to go at the back of the queue, so it may take longer to happen than other tasks. If the settings are correct and it’s way past the deadline for the deletions to happen, ask your server’s admin for advice.

How does this affect server running costs?

When this feature is discussed, the issue of server running costs is often raised.

On the one hand, automated stuff always adds extra tasks for the server to carry out. On the other hand though, it would mean the server doesn’t have to store as much data so it would save money on storage costs, especially if the deleted posts have media attachments. It would also reduce storage for any servers that have federated the posts being deleted.

You would have to speak to your server’s admin to find out exactly how it affects their setup, as different servers may have different resources available.

I asked a couple of very large server admins for their thoughts on how this balances out. Both of them said the added tasks were insignificant compared to everything else the servers have to do. Both of them also said deleting posts (especially posts with media attachments) saves storage, but one of them added that there may be fees to be paid if the deletions happen for very recent posts. On their server, it would be cheaper to only delete posts more than 90 days old, and leave any newer posts intact.

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At the moment, most Fediverse groups work like this:

1. Join a group by following its account address
2. Posts from that group will start appearing in your Home timeline
3. If you want to post something to the group, just include its account address in a public post
4. If you want to leave a group, unfollow it

It’s somewhat similar to following hashtags, and people who have used email discussion lists will also find this structure very familiar.

The two main Fediverse group providers at the moment are Chirp ⧉ and Guppe ⧉. They are platform-neutral, and their groups can be followed from all kinds of Fediverse servers including Mastodon, GoToSocial, Friendica etc.

Where can I discover existing groups?

I’ve compiled a curated list of interesting Fediverse groups on fedi.directory ⧉. I’ve tried to only list active groups with a respectful atmosphere.

Chirp has its own directory at chirp.social ⧉, and Guppe has a list of their top 50 active groups at the bottom of their website at a.gup.pe ⧉.

How can I create a group? Are the groups moderated? What if I see something unsuitable?

Whatever kind of group you are on, you can mute, block and report just like you would with non-group posts. If you see something bad, report it!

Guppe groups don’t require any kind of registration, you can create a group simply by mentioning the group name in the form “@YourGroupNameHere@a.gup.pe”. However, because there’s no registration there is no way to moderate the group directly, and they rely on members reporting bad posts to their server admin.

Chirp groups require you to create an admin account on the chirp.social ⧉ website. Because groups have a registered admin, it means the admin can moderate the group themselves instead of relying on server admins.

Groups federate content more effectively than hashtags

Hashtag follows and groups have some overlap, and appear to work in a similar way on the surface, but there are significant differences behind the scenes.

The biggest advantage of groups is you automatically see all of the group’s posts, even if they’re from accounts that haven’t federated to your server before. Because all the group’s posts are shared to all the members’ servers, you never miss a thing.

With hashtag follows, this mass federation doesn’t happen. Hashtag following means you will only see posts from accounts that already federate with your server. Hashtags are essentially passive filters for your server’s Federated timeline and do not actively draw in any new content.

What about Mastodon’s own built-in groups feature?

Mastodon has been developing a built-in groups feature for some time now, but it hasn’t been released yet. From the screenshots posted so far, it seems it will be more of a Facebook Groups type forum rather than a public discussion list. (You can see highly technical details and screenshots of this upcoming Groups feature on their github page ⧉).

However, it is unclear if Mastodon groups will work across the Fediverse or only on Mastodon. Chirp and Guppe are platform-neutral, and will work on any kind of Fediverse server that supports microblogging including Mastodon, Friendica and others.

Groups on Friendica

The Fediverse server type Friendica includes built-in group support, which works in a similar way to Chirp and Guppe. Creating a Friendica group requires a Friendica account, but anyone can join the group from other Fediverse server types including Mastodon servers.

A Friendica group can be moderated by the person who created it, and they can also add additional moderators to the same group.

Is there anything like Reddit on the Fediverse?

Yes! There’s a Reddit-style link aggregation and discussion platform called Kbin.

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All links on Mastodon count as 23 characters towards your post’s character limit, no matter how long they really are. Because of this, there is no need to use link shortener services on Mastodon.

Mastodon does this because it’s much better for privacy that links remain in their original form, as link shortener services tend to track the people that click on them. It also means the links will continue to work in the future and aren’t dependent on the existence of the link shortener service.

The official iPhone/iPad app counts it as more than 23 characters?

There’s a known bug on the official iPhone/iPad app ⧉ which causes links to count for more than 23 characters. A fix has been proposed but it hasn’t been released yet. In the meantime, you can avoid this bug completely by using third party apps such as Toot!, Ice Cubes and Ivory, or by logging in through your server’s website.

But I want to track people who click on my links!

You can use link shorteners to track people, but you probably shouldn’t. Also, some people may wonder why you are using link shorteners when all links count for 23 characters anyway.

Why is it 23 characters?

Apparently Twitter’s original built-in link shortener used 23 characters. So when Mastodon removed the need for shorteners, they emphasised this by only counting 23 characters for all links.

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By default, brand new Mastodon and Fediverse servers will be totally blank, with no users or posts visible at all. Searches will produce no results.

As people start signing up and posting and following accounts from other servers, the timelines and search results will start to fill up as the server starts noticing more of the Fediverse. However, this discovery process can be very slow to begin with, and those on new servers may sometimes be frustrated by the slowness.

Server admins can speed up this process by subscribing to relays which push new content to their server from other servers, or using scripts that fetch missing posts from threads and profiles.

How to subscribe to a relay server on Mastodon

1. Log into your server’s website using your server’s admin account
2. Go to Preferences > Administration > Relays
3. Click Setup A Relay Connection
4. Paste the URL of the relay into the box and click Save And Enable

WARNING: Some relays are better moderated than others. Some relays may contain content that breaks your own server’s rules, or may even be illegal in your country. It’s really important to check what kind of content a relay contains before you connect your own server to it. Relays are usually based on specific servers, so you can see such a relay’s content by browsing its server’s Federated feed and reading that server’s rules.

Also, bear in mind large and general relays may fill your server with content that you mostly aren’t interested in, and use up lots of resources at the same time. Smaller, more specific relays may be much better suited to your server’s resources.

Finding general relays

There’s a list of Fediverse relays at RelayList.com ⧉. Please bear in mind the warnings above before using this list, and check that the content on the relays is suitable for your server.

FediBuzz Relay: Custom relays on specific topics

This is a new service that lets you subscribe to custom relays based on specific hashtags or specific other servers. This can greatly reduce the amount of resources required by relays, as it only sends posts that are relevant to the topics you have selected for your server. You can find out more on its website at relay.fedi.buzz ⧉.

Using scripts to fill in missing posts from profiles and threads

There’s a new tool called FediFetcher ⧉ which can be used to automatically backfill missing posts from profiles and conversation threads. It runs independently of the Fediverse server, but it needs access tokens for every user that it backfills for, so it is generally aimed at single-user servers or servers where the admin knows all the users. It also requires good technical skills for running the tool.

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It’s really easy:

1. Log in through your server’s website or on an app
2. Start a new post
3. Click the poll icon, this usually looks like a bar chart
4. Write your question in the main part of the post
5. Add up to four responses, and describe each option (you can use emoji too)
6. Set the duration, between 5 mins and 7 days
7. Click Publish to post the poll!

Allowing multiple responses on polls

There’s a slightly hidden option when you’re posting a poll where you can allow people to choose more than one response. To switch on multiple responses:

1. Log in through your server’s website
2. Create the poll via the web interface as described above, but don’t post it yet
3. Click on a circle next to one of the options, the circles will all change into rounded squares, and the poll will now allow multiple responses

If you want to go back to single response, click on a square to change it back to circles before you post.

Some third party apps also allow you to activate multiple responses for a poll.

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You can follow someone on Mastodon by going to their profile page and clicking the Follow button.

You can unfollow them by clicking the same button again. The button may have a different label after you’ve followed someone (Unfollow, Following etc), but it will be in the same place on the screen.

If you’re trying to get someone’s profile page to appear so you can follow them, see the sections on discovering accounts to follow and using account addresses.

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To delete one of your posts:

1. Go to the post you want to delete
2. Click the ⋯ icon
3. Select “Delete”

This should delete the post straight away on your own server. Most other servers where the post is visible will delete it too, though in some cases there may be a delay in the deletion happening (as the other server may have a queue of tasks to work through).

In a small number of cases a deletion may not happen on the other server, for example if the other server is not working properly. If you’re concerned about how widely a post may be seen, you can restrict its visibility when you post it.

What does “Delete and re-draft” mean?

There are actually two delete options on Mastodon, Delete or Delete and re-draft. The first just deletes the message, but the second deletes the message and sends a copy of it to the post writing box so you can make changes and repost it. However, since the introduction of post editing on Mastodon this second option has been largely obsolete. The only time you would be likely to want to use re-drafting is if you want to change the visibility of a post, as this cannot be done through editing.

Bear in mind that both delete options delete the post, and any shares will be lost, links will break and replies will be orphaned. If you just want to make changes to the content, editing is a much better option.

Can I set old posts to self-delete automatically?

Yes! Click here to see instructions on how to delete posts after a certain time period.

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You can find a particular account’s posts using a particular hashtag by using the following web address:

(Mastodon account’s web address)/tagged/(hashtag without #)

For example if you wanted to browse posts with the hashtag #pixelfed made by the FediTips account, the address would be:

https://mstdn.social/@feditips/tagged/pixelfed

If you’re not sure what an account’s web address is, go to the account’s original page and the address will be shown at the top of your web browser.

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When a new user joins your Mastodon server, by default they are shown a list of accounts to follow. This recommendation list is drawn from two different places in the admin settings.

The first place is a manual list of accounts you want to always be recommended, which is always shown at the top of the list.

The other place is an automatic pool of accounts that are randomly recommended to new users. The pool is based on which accounts your existing users are following, but you can edit this pool if you want to remove accounts from it.

Set accounts that your server always recommends to new users:

1. Log into your server’s website with your admin account
2. Go to Preferences > Administration > Server Settings > DIscovery > Always recommend these accounts to new users
3. Paste in the account addresses of the accounts you want to recommend, separated by commas. They can be accounts from your server or from other servers, as long as the account address is written in full.
4. Click the Save changes button

Edit the random pool of recommended accounts:

1. Log into your server’s website with your admin account
2. Go to Moderation > Follow Recommendations
3. To remove an account from the pool, tick the box next to it and click Suppress follow recommendation
4. To bring an account back into the pool, click the Suppressed link at the top of the list, then tick the account you want to bring back and click Restore follow recommendation
5. You can set different recommendation pools for different languages by clicking the For language dropdown menu

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One of the most fun features of running your own Mastodon server is the ability to add custom emoji. All members of your server can use them, and they will be visible in your member’s posts that federate to other servers. You can also clone custom emoji from other servers, or block them if you see something unsuitable.

To access emoji settings, log into your server’s website with your administrator’s account, then go to Preferences > Administration > Custom emoji.

When you first log in, you will see a long list of all the custom emoji visible to your server, including your own and those of all the servers you federate with. To show just your own click the Local tab at the top, to show just those on other servers click Remote.

Adding your own custom emoji

Custom emoji can be PNG or GIF files up to 50kb in size, and can be still or animated. They can also contain transparent backgrounds. (If you want to create your own from scratch, there’s a useful guide by Laura Kalbag here ⧉.)

To add your own custom emoji:

1. Log in with your admin account on your server’s website
2. Go to Preferences > Administration > Custom Emojis
3. Click the Upload button in the top right corner
4. Add a shortcode, which is a word or words which describes what the emoji looks like. If you use several words, write them as CamelCase or with underscores separating them. Shortcodes are really important as they let blind people hear emoji through screen reader apps.
5. Browse for the image file and click the Upload button at the bottom

Cloning emoji from other servers

To clone an emoji from another server, tick the box next to it on the custom emoji admin list, and click Copy. If you’re looking for a particular emoji on a long list, use its shortcode in the search box.

Blocking emoji from other servers

To block an emoji from another server, for example if it is offensive, tick the box next to it on the emoji admin list and click Disable or Delete.

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You can give your Mastodon server’s website interface a unique appearance by using the Custom CSS feature:

1. Log into your server’s website using the admin account
2. Go to Preferences > Administration > Server Settings
3. Click the Appearance tab and go to the Custom CSS section
4. Add the CSS code you want in the box, then click Save Changes

If you’re comfortable editing CSS, have a look at this excellent tutorial for customsing a Mastodon server’s colour scheme ⧉.

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When a Fediverse server is created, you have to give it its own name. This can be a domain name (example.com) or subdomain (social.example.com). People can use this server name when signing into their account on an app, or when using the server through a web browser.

The best domain names are usually short, easy to spell and memorable. You may want to avoid offensive words, as they can make it difficult to tell people about your server on other platforms. If you already own a domain, you can use subdomains for your servers.

It’s also probably a good idea to use a name that doesn’t mention the software that it is running. For example, if you were making a Mastodon server you probably shouldn’t mention the word Mastodon in the domain or subdomain. Software projects tend to change over the years, in their content, leadership or maintenance, and it may be that in the future you want to switch to a different kind of software on your server. It could be confusing for your users if your server mentions one kind of software but runs another. Alternatively, software projects sometimes rename themselves, and this too can cause confusion for your server’s users. On top of this, some software projects trademark their names and only let servers use the name if they’re running that specific software. This could make it legally difficult for your server to transition to another kind of software in the future.

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There are three different ways you can make your own server on the Fediverse:

• Easiest by far is to use a managed hosting service, where you pay a monthly fee to the hosting company and they do all the technical stuff behind the scenes, including installation, upgrades, maintenance etc. This is so easy that it allows non-technical people to have their own servers. You can find out a lot more about this by visiting my other site Grow Your Own Services, especially the section on growing your own social network ⧉.
• A medium difficulty option is getting a VPS or home computer and installing special software intended for people who run their own servers, such as YunoHost ⧉, FreedomBox ⧉ or LibreServer ⧉. This requires some technical knowledge, especially to install the software, but after the initial set-up the process the rest is done through a graphical interface and relatively painless.
• The most difficult option is to install and maintain everything from scratch. This demands the most technical knowledge, but also provides the most flexibility. You can find installation instructions for all Fediverse platforms in their documentation, usually on their official website. For example, Mastodon’s installation instructions are here ⧉.

Some Fediverse server types are available to set up through all three options, others may only be available by manually installing from scratch.

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