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  Okay, this is perhaps very nerdy, but it might interest you if you've wondered how Mastodon servers notice accounts and posts from other servers. I've tried to do a list of all the scenarios where accounts and posts are noticed by your server: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/which-posts-and-accounts-can-i-see-from-my-server The guide also answers questions about why it works like this, and why it doesn't just show all posts from all servers. #FediTips #Mastodon

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  Would you like to post polls with more than four options? Here's a human-curated list of good reliable Mastodon servers that offer a larger number of poll options: ➡️ https://fedi.garden/tag/more-poll-options (By the way, if you want to move your account to one of these or any other server, there's an account transfer guide at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server ) #FediTips #Mastodon #Servers

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  I am an unpaid volunteer running @FediTips@social.growyourown.services, @FediFollows@social.growyourown.services, @FediGarden@social.growyourown.services, @FediVideo@social.growyourown.services and @homegrown@social.growyourown.services and all their websites. I pay their bills every month. If you would like to help keep these going, there are several ways to donate: ☕️️ Buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/fedithing (choose any amount, no registration) 📚️️ Buy my book at https://payhip.com/b/EhfU...

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  If you want to, you can optionally set your Mastodon account to automatically delete your posts after a certain amount of time. More info about this (and lots of questions answered) in the guide at https://fedi.tips/deleting-posts-automatically-in-mastodon-after-a-certain-time-period If you've already switched this on but the deletions aren't happening on schedule, it is probably because your server is very busy and the automated deletions are being placed into a queue. Ask your server...

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  PeerTube is a video sharing platform, sort of like a Fediverse alternative to YouTube. It also has support for livestreaming. People from Mastodon can follow and interact with PeerTube accounts and videos. You can find more info about PeerTube, including answers to common questions and links to step-by-step guides, on this page: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/peertube-video-hosting-on-the-fediverse If you have any questions not covered by the guide, feel free to ask in the replies or DM me 🙂 #FediTips...

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  If you want to create a wall of Fediverse posts, there's a site called Fediwall which lets you do that: ➡️ https://fediwall.social You can adjust what the wall shows by clicking on the bar at the top of the page with the hashtags and account address on it. #FediTips #Fediverse

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  Are you seeing bugs or design problems on the new web interface that mastodon.social is currently testing? You can give feedback directly to the Mastodon core developers on their new forum at: :Mastodon: https://community.joinmastodon.org If you post your comments in the forum, they are a lot more likely to have a direct effect on the new interface. #FediTips #Mastodon

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  In case you missed it, there is a *REALLY* easy way to see all the posts in a discussion thread: 1. Go to the discussion thread 2. Wait 5 - 10 seconds 3. If there are any missing posts, an icon will appear saying "Show more posts", click on it 4. After you click, it will automatically load all of the thread's posts no matter which server they were posted from This means everyone on Mastodon can see identical discussion threads without having to look at other servers. #FediTips #...

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  Anyone want help with Mastodon or the wider Fediverse? 🙂 Reply or DM me, whichever you prefer, and I'll try to find you answers. Especially want to help new and/or non-techy people! (And yes I am a human being, this isn't any kind of bot, I don't use any kind of AI.)

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  Have you ever clicked on an account to see its profile, but the profile looks blank? In most cases the account isn't really blank! What's usually going on is no one on your server follows that account. If you follow it, its posts will start gradually showing up on your server too. More info (including how to check what a blank account really looks like) at: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/why-does-someones-account-page-look-completely-blank-is-it-really-blank The guide also explains how to preve...

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  If you appreciate a video on PeerTube, try looking for a "Support" button below the video. If the video has one, clicking the Support button will take you to information about how you can tip or donate to the maker of the video. (On mobile the Support button may just be an icon of a hand with a heart above it.) If you're a video creator, you can add a Support button by filling in the "Support button" section on your video's management page. #FediTips #PeerTubeTips #...

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  If you see a post with a blurry image, it's probably an older post from a different server. When you view the same post again later the proper clear image will usually appear. This happens because servers store copies of images from other servers in their cache, but empty their cache after a certain period and only fetch an image again if needed. It may also happen if there's a problem with a server's media storage provider. Your admin can help if that's the case. #FediTips #M...

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  There is a built-in mechanism in Mastodon's server software which reduces how often you see the same post boosted again and again. If you have seen a post boosted, boosts of the same post are automatically hidden from you until 80 other posts have passed through your timeline. This mechanism previously allowed boosts to repeat after 40 other posts. The developers recently doubled this to 80 other posts, so repeated boosts should be much rarer now. #FediTips #Mastodon

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  A word about mastodon.social: they have just started testing an experimental new interface on their website, so some of the step-by-step guides on Fedi.Tips may not work there. However, most Mastodon users aren't on mastodon.social, so I haven't altered the guides. When the new interface is properly released and widely used on other servers, I'll update the guides to take account of it. (None of this affects people using apps, as they are developed separately from the web interface...

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  If you're uploading videos to PeerTube, there are several different visibilities you can choose: Public - Everyone can see it Private - Only you can see it Unlisted - Only people with the link can see it Internal - Only members of your PeerTube server can see it Password - Only people with the video's password can see it You can use Unlisted or Password if you want to give early or exclusive access to a video, for example to your patrons, or to members of a group. #FediTips #PeerTube

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  If you have any questions about using Mastodon or the wider Fediverse, please post them in the replies and I'll try to find you some answers. It would be especially nice to hear from new people and people who aren't confident about technical matters. There is absolutely no such thing as a silly question! 🙂 #Mastodon #Fediverse

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  Okay, the sites are all updated behind the scenes and back online: https://fedi.tips, https://fedi.directory, https://fedi.garden and https://growyourown.services If they still look offline to you, that may be due to a cache somewhere which will eventually refresh to show the site. (This was an exceptional situation that affected a huge chunk of the internet, hopefully it doesn't happen again 🤞)

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  I have put my websites including fedi.tips, fedi.directory, fedi.garden and growyourown.services into maintenance mode while waiting for some important technical updates behind the scenes. The updates are due today, so hopefully the websites should be back soon.

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  Some servers are now running the experimental version of Mastodon 5.0 on their websites. This overhauls the web interface and has moved and renamed some things (for example "Lists" are now called "Feeds"). The developers are still testing 5.0, so it may take some time for it to appear on your server's website. You can give feedback about the new interface directly to the developers on their new Discourse forum at https://community.joinmastodon.org #FediTips #Mastodon

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  Likes on Mastodon are called "favourites", indicated by a star ⭐️. This lets the author know you liked their post. Retweets on Mastodon are called "boosts", indicated by arrows 🔄 or a rocket 🚀. This shares the post with your followers. There's also a third option called "bookmarks", which adds the post to a private list of posts you want to read later. No one can see your bookmarks. Here's a guide with more info on all of these: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-do...

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  If you want to see which users you've muted or blocked on Mastodon: 1. Log in on your server's website 2. Click "⋯ More" on the right of the screen (or on the mobile website click ☰ in bottom right and then "⋯ More") 3. Click "Muted users" to see mutes, or "Blocked users" to see blocks #FediTips #Mastodon

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  There's a new spam wave, messages with lots of names and a link. Here's what to do: 1. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IN THE SPAM 2. Click ⋯ on the spam post, then "report", and then follow the instructions. If you are given an option to forward the report anonymously, use it, because forwarded reports help cut off the spam at source. 3. Spam seems to be via account takeovers. To prevent this, use a unique password and consider using "two factor authentication" (more info at...

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  - Is your Mastodon timeline too full or too empty? - Are you missing posts by your favourite accounts? - Are you seeing too many boosts from certain accounts? You can get help with all these and more in this guide to customising your Mastodon timeline: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/does-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-use-algorithms-does-it-start-pushing-stuff-at-me-based-on-my-interactions #FediTips #Mastodon

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  Hello everyone 👋 Apologies for the lack of posts or replies on my accounts over last few days, my computer broke and it took longer than expected to deal with that. (None of my websites or accounts were affected by the breakdown, as they are hosted remotely. However, I could not easily access my notes which I use to keep track of what I post on my accounts.) Anyway, normal service should hopefully be resumed now!

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  Here are some of the many types of server on the Fediverse: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/what-other-kinds-of-servers-are-on-the-fediverse You can follow and interact with their accounts from Mastodon, but to access a server type's own special features you will need to get an account on that server type. For example, you can follow BookWyrm accounts from Mastodon, but you need a BookWyrm account to access BookWyrm-specific features such as creating reading lists, using the book database, organising...

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  Have you ever accidentally boosted or deleted a post in Mastodon? You can avoid this by changing your settings to require a confirmation before any boosts or deletions actually happen: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-avoid-accidentally-unfollowing-boosting-or-deleting-in-mastodon #FediTips #Mastodon

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  Mastodon is part of a much larger social network called "The Fediverse". That means you can not only follow Mastodon accounts but also accounts from many other platforms such as PeerTube, Friendica, OwnCast, Pixelfed, BookWyrm etc. You're probably already following some non-Mastodon accounts without realising it, because their posts show up in your timeline just like Mastodon posts, and you follow and interact with them exactly the same way. More info at: ➡️ https://fedi.tips/wha...

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  BookWyrm is the Fediverse's alternative to Amazon's Goodreads. You can find out more about it at https://fedi.tips/bookwyrm-a-social-network-for-people-who-enjoy-reading BookWyrm has a built-in catalogue of books to search, but if the book you want isn't in the results you can optionally add it manually. More info about doing this at https://fedi.tips/how-to-manually-add-a-book-on-bookwyrm #FediTips #BookWyrm #Goodreads #Alternatives

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  How to watch PeerTube videos offline: 1. Go to the video on the web or the official app 2. Click ⋯ below the video 3. Select "Download" Once it's downloaded to your device, you can watch the video even without an internet connection. NOTE: This option only appears if the video's uploader has allowed downloads. If you're an uploader you can activate or deactivate downloads at Video > Manage > Customisation > Enable Download (tick or untick, then click Save). #Fe...

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  Do you want to change the email address on your Mastodon account? 1. Sign in on your server's website 2. Click on "⚙️ Preferences" (if you're on mobile click ☰ in bottom right and then "⚙️ Preferences") 3. Click on "Account" on left (if you're on mobile click ☰ in top right, then click on "Account" in menu that appears) 4. Replace old email with new one, then enter current password in "Current password" box 5. Click "Save Changes&...