feditips

feditips, 9 months ago to random

In case you missed it, all links on Mastodon count as 23 characters towards your limit, no matter how many characters the link really is.

So, you don't need to use link shorteners on Mastodon as they won't actually affect the link's length.

Mastodon does this because it's better for everyone's privacy to avoid link shortener services, it means people can see what they're clicking on, and the link won't stop working if the shortener service shuts down.

More info at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/you-dont-need-link-shorteners-on-mastodon/

feditips, 10 months ago to random

You don't need to use the official Mastodon apps, they're not the best way to use Mastodon. The official apps only arrived last year, and they were intended as "Fisher Price My First Mastodon" things with a restricted set of features.

Third party apps have been around longer than official ones, and include way more features. You can sign in with the same account on all apps.

:android: On Android try Tusky, Fedilab, Megalodon, Tooot

:apple_inc: On iPhone/iPad, try Toot!, Ice Cubes, Ivory, Mona

feditips, 10 months ago to random

Oh my goodness... a LOT of new people... 😮 Welcome! 👋

If you need help with using Mastodon and the Fediverse, have a look at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips

It's written for a non-technical audience, and hopefully answers most beginners' questions.

If you're looking for accounts to follow, there are lots of ways to do it summarised here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends/

If you have any problems, ask me and I'll try to help!

feditips, 7 months ago to random

The latest version of Mastodon (4.2.0) brings full text search, so you can search by words instead of hashtags.

However, for privacy reasons this only includes posts by people who have actively opted into full text search.

If your server is updated to 4.2.0 and you want to opt into full text search:

1. Log into your server's website
2. Click your profile icon
3. Click "Edit Profile"
4. Click tab "Privacy & Reach"
5. Tick box "Include Public Posts In Search results"
6. Click "Save Changes"

feditips, 11 months ago to random

A lot of the accounts you follow and interact with on here are not Mastodon accounts!

For example, @theatticdwellers is a PeerTube account, @Iancylkowski is a Pixelfed account, @rstv is an OwnCast account.

There are dozens of different server types on here, not just Mastodon servers. When you talk about this place, it's not enough to call it "Mastodon", because it's more than just that.

That's why people call this place "The Fediverse", because that name covers all server types. :fediverse:

feditips, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to mastodon

Hello new people, welcome! 👋

You don't need to use link shorteners on Mastodon!

All links in Mastodon posts count as 23 characters towards your limit, no matter how long they actually are.

Also, the links are preserved in their original form. Unlike commercial social networks, there are no trackers of any kind inserted.

More info about this and many questions answered at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/you-dont-need-link-shorteners-on-mastodon/

#FediTips #MastoTips #Mastodon

feditips, 10 months ago to fediverse

Apparently Reddit has now banned a subreddit dedicated to the Fediverse Reddit-alternative Kbin:

https://sakurajima.moe/@chikorita157/110517156242412322

If you're on a centralised platform like Reddit, this is what they can do. Centralised platforms have all-powerful leaders who can do whatever they want, and you have no alternatives if you disagree.

The point of the Fediverse being on lots of servers is that each server's power is limited. If you disagree with one server's actions, you can move.

#Fediverse #Reddit #Kbin

feditips, 1 year ago to random

I don't think people are realising the danger the Fediverse is in.

The only thing stopping corporations and VCs taking over this place is that the Fediverse is spread out on many different servers, which makes it very difficult to purchase.

If most of the Fediverse ends up on mastodon.social, which is now a strong possibility, there will be nothing to stop most of it being sold to Musk or Zuckerberg or whoever.

The bigger mastodon.social becomes, the more likely a buyout is to happen.

(1/4)

feditips, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to kbin

#Kbin update:

• The https://kbin.social server is now federating with the Fediverse. You can follow/interact with kbin.social magazines & users from other Kbin servers, Mastodon & rest of the Fediverse. For example the TIL magazine is at @TodayILearned, the lead dev of Kbin is at @ernest

• There's a new Kbin server at https://readit.buzz which is run by the same people as the Universodon.com Mastodon server. It's open for signups, just click "log in" and then "register".

feditips, 8 months ago to retrocomputing

In case you missed it, there are now several #RetroComputing Mastodon apps available:

:apple_inc: Apple II
https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/binary-release-of-mastodon-for-the-apple-c/

:apple_inc: Apple Macintosh OS (pre-OSX)
https://github.com/smallsco/macstodon

:amiga: Commodore Amiga
https://github.com/BlitterStudio/amidon

⌨️ IBM MVS
https://github.com/mainframed/BREXXTODON

:win3_msdos: MS-DOS
https://github.com/SuperIlu/DOStodon

:windows: Windows 95
https://github.com/meyskens/mastodon-for-workgroups

#FediTips #Mastodon #ComputingHistory #MSDOS #AppleII #Mac #MacOS #Amiga #Commodore #CommodoreAmiga #Windows95 #Win95 #MVS

feditips, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to wordpress

If you have a WordPress-powered blog, you can turn it into a Fediverse server and people will be able to follow the blog from Mastodon etc.

More info on how to do this here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/wordpress-turning-your-blog-into-a-fediverse-server/

This works through the AcitvityPub for WordPress plug-in, which has just been updated to version 1.0.0:

➡️ https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/

The plug-in is by @pfefferle in association with #Automattic, one of the major players behind WordPress itself.

#WordPress #Fediverse #FediTips #ActivityPub

feditips, 7 months ago to random

Many, many people have asked about error messages when using mastodon.social.

Mastodon.social is far too large. Its massive size causes errors, and threatens the long term safety of the whole Fediverse.

I strongly encourage people on mastodon.social to move their account to another server.

You can find reliable servers on the official site at https://joinmastodon.org/servers or my own recommended list at https://fedi.garden

Here's a step-by-step guide for moving: https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server/

feditips, 6 months ago to mastodon

If you follow someone who boosts way too often, and you want to see their posts but not their boosts, you can do this:

1. Go to their profile page
2. Click on the menu button ︙
3. Select "Hide boosts from..."

If you change your mind later, go back to their profile and select "Show boosts from..." instead.

#FediTips #MastoTips #Mastodon

feditips, 6 months ago to wordpress

Okay, big news for everyone with a WordPress blog, including people with a free blog on wordpress.com!

You can now turn any WordPress blog into a Fediverse server which can be followed from Mastodon etc.

I've updated the instructions on how to do this at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/wordpress-turning-your-blog-into-a-fediverse-server/

Just to repeat, this is now available to ALL WordPress blogs including free tier ones. The free tier has slightly different instructions, but effect is same.

(via https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/10/11/activitypub/)

#WordPress #Fediverse

feditips, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to fediverse

If you're transferring your Mastodon account to another server, don't use the "Archive Request" button for transfers.

This button is not used in the transfer process, it's only there for you to download a copy of your data for personal use. The archive produced by this button cannot be uploaded to Mastodon.

There's a step-by-step guide to the full transfer process (including transferring followers, follows, mutes, blocks and bookmarks) at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server.

#FediTips #Mastodon

feditips, 8 months ago to random

Just a reminder, please do add alt text descriptions to your images, videos and audio clips. It will make them accessible to people with visual or hearing impairment.

You'll also get a lot more boosts if you add descriptions, because a lot of people only share posts that have descriptions.

If you forget, don't worry, you can edit your post afterwards to add it 👍

It can take a while to get into the habit, so there's a bot to help you remember at @PleaseCaption

#FediTips

feditips, 8 months ago to fediverse

As YouTube seems to be going increasingly ad-heavy, have had many requests to do posts about how to get into #PeerTube.

PeerTube is an ad-free video platform on the Fediverse. You can follow and interact with PeerTube accounts from Mastodon etc. When a PeerTube account posts a video, it will appear in your Mastodon timeline just like any post, and you can like, share, reply etc.

I just did a long thread of good PeerTube accounts to follow over on @FediFollows (https://social.growyourown.services/@FediFollows/110917302291902468).

feditips, 7 months ago to fediverse

There's a social reading platform called @bookwyrm which is an alternative to Amazon's Goodreads. BookWyrm is part of the Fediverse, and BookWyrm accounts can be followed from Mastodon etc. You can find out more at:

➡️ https://joinbookwyrm.com

They are currently trying to get BookWyrm translated into more languages, so that more readers can use it. If you speak a language other than English, you can help translate at:

➡️ https://translate.joinbookwyrm.com

#BookWyrm #Fediverse #GoodReads #Books

feditips, 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago) to internet

WIth Reddit self-destructing, many have been wondering about alternatives on the Fediverse.

I do NOT recommend Lemmy. I have serious long-standing deep concerns about the developers, see here: https://mstdn.social/@feditips/106835057054633379

As far as I know, nothing has changed since then and Lemmy's issues remain.

Alternatively there's Kbin (https://kbin.social & https://kbin.pub) which seems less problematic. Regarding cryptocurrency issue: https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fediparty/pulls/97#issuecomment-663170

#Reddit #Kbin #Lemmy #Fediverse

feditips, 1 year ago to animals

When you write hashtags that contain multiple words, make the first letter of each word a capital letter, for example #DogsOfMastodon. This will make the tag readable to blind people.

Blind people use the internet through screen reader apps, which read text out aloud. By putting a capital at the start of each word in a hashtag, you are telling the screen reader how to say the tag correctly.

In the non-techy world this is generally known as "CamelCase".

(Techy people may call it PascalCase)

feditips, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to kbin

If you need help with the basics of using Kbin, there's a Kbin FAQ by @dannekrose at:

➡️ https://kbin.social/m/kbinfaqs@kilioa.org/t/20459/A-small-FAQ-to-hopefully-help-new-users-to-kbin

The same author has also done a follow-up FAQ for slightly more advanced questions about Kbin:

➡️ https://kbin.social/m/kbinfaqs@kilioa.org/t/29224/A-little-more-comfortable-with-Kbin-now-but-new-questions

#Kbin #Reddit #Fediverse #FediTips

feditips, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to random

One of the most under-used features of Mastodon is audio. You can attach audio files to your posts, they can be in MP3, OGG, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A or 3GP formats. They can be any length, as long as the file size is under 40 megabytes (some servers may have even higher limits).

I've attached an example audio file to this post, you should be able to play it on most interfaces and apps.

(Music is "Modern Technology" by Mokka Music, used under Creative Commons Attribution licence)

#FediTips

feditips, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Mastodon 4.2.0 brings a number of new options for searching. You can add special operators to filter what you search for:

has:media or poll or embed
language:fr or other language codes (usually 2 letters)
is:reply or sensitive
from:user or me (me is for your own posts)
in:all or library (library means posts you've interacted with)
before:date (YYYY-MM-DD)
during:date
after:date

Make sure there's no space after :

For example, to show results with polls include phrase has:poll in your search.

feditips, 8 months ago to mastodon

Today, a very niche tip for RSS fans :rss:

As well as Mastodon's built-in hashtag following system, you can also follow hashtags through RSS instead:

1. Search for a hashtag on a Mastodon server's website
2. Add .rss to the end of the URL
3. Use this URL as the feed address for that tag

For example to subscribe to #Dogs on mstdn.social you would use this address in your feed reader:

https://mstdn.social/tags/dogs.rss

#RSS #FediTips #Mastodon #MastoTips

feditips, 9 months ago to mastodon

As many of you know, the third party iPhone/iPad app Metatext is no longer being maintained as the lead developer had health issues. However, there is now a community-maintained version of the app called Feditext. You can follow the latest news about it at:

➡️ @Feditext

It's not yet in the Apple app store, but it is currently being tested through Test Flight.

Techy people can see the source code of the project at https://github.com/feditext/feditext

#MetaText #FediText #Mastodon #FediTips #Fediverse