Are you a Mastodonian? Do you like finding things with search engines? If so, please read my guide on Mastodon’s search, complete with visuals.
It will help you find your stuff. Find other people’s stuff. Find other people.
Search with intention. Search like a boss. I got you.
https://markwyner.medium.com/guide-for-using-mastodon-search-2594cd0e21e2
#Mastodon #Fediverse #FediTips #MastodonHelp #MastodonTips #Search #Help #Guide #Documentation
⚠️ Scam alert: if anyone ever asks you to "temporarily change" the email address on your Mastodon account, DO NOT DO THIS.
There is currently a scammer posing as a server admin telling people to temporarily change their Mastodon account's email to an address supplied by the scammer. This is a scam, don't do it.
Real admins will NEVER ask you to do this.
You can see examples of this scam in the thread at https://ohai.social/@redsad/115708030185038699
(Thanks @markwyner for the warning about this! 🙏 )
Would you like to make your PeerTube accounts and videos more visible? Do you want to reach more viewers and more followers?
I've done a guide to promoting your PeerTube accounts, channels and videos at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-promote-your-peertube-videos-account-and-channels
I've tried to list everything I could think of, let me know if I've missed anything! 🙂
You can use Mastodon on many retro computer systems:
Apple II - https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/mastodon-for-apple-ii
Apple Macintosh (pre-OS X) - https://github.com/smallsco/macstodon
Commodore 64 - https://github.com/Havoc6502/MOStodon
Commodore Amiga - https://github.com/BlitterStudio/amidon
MS-DOS - https://github.com/SuperIlu/DOStodon
MVS - https://github.com/mainframed/BREXXTODON
Palm OS - https://github.com/knickish/heffalump
Windows 95 - https://github.com/meyskens/mastodon-for-workgroups
The Fediverse has community-owned alternatives to YouTube and Twitch called @peertube and @owncast. If you would like to help them grow, you might want to follow some PeerTube and OwnCast accounts from this curated list:
➡️ https://social.growyourown.services/@FediVideo/113034585910396420
You can follow and interact entirely from Mastodon, you don't need a PeerTube or OwnCast account.
More info about how to follow PeerTube from Mastodon at https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-use-peertube-how-do-i-follow-peertube-accounts-from-mastodon and most of this also applies to following OwnCast accounts.
BookWyrm is a Fediverse alternative to Amazon's Goodreads. It lets people keep track of their books, publish reviews and discover new titles. Find out more about BookWyrm at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/bookwyrm-a-social-network-for-people-who-enjoy-reading
There's a list of servers you can sign up on at:
➡️ https://joinbookwyrm.com/instances
(The flagship is overcrowded, you might want to use a different server.)
You can import your data from Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, OpenLibrary or Calibre:
OwnCast is a Fediverse alternative to Amazon's Twitch. It's a livestreaming platform with built-in chat. You can chat without an account, or use your Mastodon etc account to verify your chat identity. Lots more info here:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/owncast-live-streaming-and-chat-on-the-fediverse
If you'd like to try it out, you can follow this OwnCast account that holds regular music streams and it will post in your Mastodon etc feed when it next goes live:
➡️ @video
If someone is asking for help with using this place, could you let them know about my account, and also let them know about my website? I'm totally unofficial so people only find out about me by worth of mouth 🙂
I have a website full of easy-to-understand guides for using Mastodon and the wider Fediverse at:
The section at the top of the site marked "Quick Start" is especially designed for new people who want to find out the basics.
Thanks! 🙏
There is a Fediverse alternative to #Substack called #Ghost.
Ghost is now compatible with the Fediverse. It's not just a feed, Ghost-powered sites can take part in discussions with Mastodon etc accounts, the follows work in both directions etc.
There's a guide to using Ghost-powered sites on the Fediverse here:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-the-fediverse-on-your-ghost-powered-site
Some Ghost-powered sites to follow at:
➡️ https://fedi.directory/tag/ghost
(Copy-paste an address into the search box in Mastodon to follow.)
In case you missed it, there's a website that makes it as easy as possible to join Mastodon (and other Fedi platforms):
The featured general server changes regularly, and for people who want choice there's a full list of over 100 servers sorted into categories.
All of the servers are listed with permission of their admins, and promise to comply with specific standards of moderation and technical reliability at https://fedi.garden/about-this-site
If you've never tried using a third party app on Mastodon, you're missing out! Mastodon is designed specifically for third party apps, they tend to have the widest set of features.
You can find lots of third party apps listed on the official site:
1. Go to https://joinmastodon.org/apps
2. Scroll past the official apps
3. Click your device type (Android, iOS etc)
If choice is overwhelming you, try these first:
Tusky, Fedilab, Moshidon
Ice Cubes, Ivory, Mona
Pixelfed users, the official Pixelfed app is now available from Google Play at:
➡️ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelfed
(It's also been submitted to the Apple app store and should be available there soon. An F-Droid version is also in the works.)
If you're wondering what Pixelfed is, it's like the Fediverse's alternative to Instagram. Pixelfed and Mastodon users can follow each other and interact because they're both part of the Fediverse. More info at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/pixelfed-photo-sharing-on-the-fediverse
Hey all. I have a strange issue and I can't get to the bottom of it. I'm following two accounts on the @bawü.social instance:
@stadtbibliothekstuttgart and @stuttgart
I noticed, that for quite some time now I can't see any of their posts in my timeline. Does anyone have an idea why? I can open their profiles and view everything there, all good - but nothing is shown in my timeline...
What could potentially cause this behaviour. Could this be a setting on the vivaldi instance? Or is it something in my personal settings? A glitch?
#FediTips #FediTechHelp #FediHelpSprechstunde @Vivaldi @Hlini @jon
Do you enjoy reading books? There's a social reading platform on the Fediverse called BookWyrm, which is a free open alternative to Amazon Goodreads. Lots more info at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/bookwyrm-a-social-network-for-people-who-enjoy-reading
BookWyrm lets you import your existing account data from other platforms including Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, OpenLibrary and Calibre.
If you want to use BookWyrm's features you should join a BookWyrm server:
Here is a guide to how to make your posts accessible to blind, deaf and deafblind people:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-more-accessible-to-blind-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse
The guide also includes step-by-step instructions on how to add text descriptions to your image, video or audio attachments.
This guide was written in collaboration with the author and accessibility advocate @WeirdWriter . I'd highly recommend you support him at https://sightlessscribbles.com/support and check out his writing at https://sightlessscribbles.com/posts
Wow! The #fediverse compatible and #selfhosted #podcasting platform #castopod has it's own index which will allow you to follow/comment/be alerted to new episodes from right here:)
*please boost for reach!
https://index.castopod.org/top50.html
Find a show, follow and enter your #mastodon or other fedi account and voila you will be alerted every time they post an episode. Thanks to #activitypub you can also interact! #feditips
https://blog.castopod.org/exploring-podcasting-2-0-made-easy-introducing-castopod-index/
Are you following an account that does good posts, but you don't want to see their boosts of other people's posts?
You can mute just an account's boosts without muting its own posts by doing the following:
1. Go to the profile of the account whose boosts you want to hide
2. Click on the ⋯ button on their profile
3. Select "Hide boosts"
(New people: "Boosts" are the name for shared posts on here. They mean the same as re-tweets or re-blogs.)
For the new kids joining Mastodon, let me share a common mistake I see with new users:
"Mastodon sucks. There is no timeline. It's like a tiny echo chamber here"
What's the mistake you ask? They invariably only follow a few dozen people.
This is what you need to understand about federated platforms like Mastodon: the server only pulls in data from people you follow! So, go out and follow some more people already.
You can also follow hashtags btw. This is great for getting more posts in your feed on subjects that interest you. Go and use hashtags in your own posts too of course.
Okay really quick and rough version, but a good start. This is my progress on my Fediverse for Photographers blog.
Any input and additions appreciated! I still have more to add from the suggestions provided the other day.
https://www.dyptrephotography.ca/The-Dyptre-Blog/The-Fediverse
Some accounts on here are marked as "Automated" or "Bot". This is not a bad sign! These are generally good and useful bots 🙂
These labels are added by the bot's owner to let people know there isn't a human responding to replies. More info at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/why-are-some-accounts-marked-bot-on-mastodon
You can find lots of useful weather bots at https://fedimeteo.com
Some bots are interactive, for example @votechess lets people play a collaborative game of chess. @dungeons is another popular interactive bot.
If you want to restrict who can follow you on Mastodon, here's how to do it:
1. Log in through your server’s website or web app
2. Click your profile image to go to your profile page
3. Click "Edit profile"
4. Click "Privacy and reach" tab
5. UN-tick box marked "Automatically accept new followers"
6. Click "Save changes" button at bottom of page
After you've done this, future follows will be follow requests that you can approve or deny. More info at https://fedi.tips/restricting-who-can-follow-you-in-mastodon
You can use animated GIFs for your Mastodon profile's avatar and header image. However, these may not animate automatically for some people depending on their settings or app. If they don't animate automatically, they can usually be activated by clicking on them or hovering a mouse pointer over them.
⚠️ DO NOT use any kind of rapidly flashing animations! These can be extremely dangerous for people with certain neurological conditions. More info at https://fedi.tips/dont-use-flashing-images-or-emoji
Ugh hey all -
I'm guessing that this is a not-infrequent #feditips entry, but please report then block any account that is messaging you claiming to be "Mastodon Support" or telling you to "validate your account" or "contact us to activate your offer".
Looks like jerks discovered a popular few hashtags this week and are then messaging people who were playing along.
See something, suspend something! Thanks for reporting them.
If you want help with using Mastodon or the wider Fediverse, please feel free to reply, or mention me, or send a message! 🙂
I'm trying to provide unofficial direct tech support for using this place.
There is no such thing as a silly question, especially keen to help new or non-technical people who want answers in plain language.
If you prefer not to ask, you can find lots of help on the website at https://fedi.tips
Have you posted a link on Mastodon and noticed an additional "More from..." link at the bottom?
If you click this, it will take you to the Mastodon profile of the person who wrote the article or runs the site you linked to. It's a special feature designed to help journalists and website owners connect with their readers.
You can find out more about it including step-by-step instructions on how to activate it for your own articles or sites at:
