Posting tips and answering questions about how to use Mastodon and the Fediverse 🌍
There are lots of guides on my site at https://fedi.tips. If you can't find your answer @ or DM me, there's no such thing as a silly question!
I am a volunteer, you can buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/fedithing or become a patron at https://liberapay.com/FediThing
Maintained by @FediThing, banner artwork is by @posiputt
🎂 Account originally joined mstdn.social on 16th Nov 2020
| Website | https://fedi.tips |
| See also | @FediFollows, @FediVideo, @FediGarden, @homegrown, @FediThing |
| Buy me a coffee | https://ko-fi.com/fedithing |
| Become a patron | https://liberapay.com/FediThing |
Have you ever wondered why some people's posts are longer than the usual 500 character limit on Mastodon?
There are many possible ways to write longer posts, this guide goes through them all:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/why-do-some-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-have-bigger-character-limits
TL:DR - You have to be on a server that allows longer posts.
If you're looking for a well-run server that allows longer posts, there's a human-curated list of them here:
Do you want to customise your notifications on Mastodon? There are lots of options for adjusting what you are told about and how you are told.
If you're using your server's website go to 🔔 Notifications and click the double arrows icon in the top right corner, then scroll down to see all the options.
If you're using a mobile app there are many different ways to adjust notifications, usually in notifications or settings.
More info at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/customising-your-notifications-on-mastodon
There is a Fediverse alternative to Substack called Ghost. It allows you to host blogs and newsletters in a very similar way to Substack, but it has much less problematic management and you can host your own Ghost-powered site if you want to.
Lots more info about Ghost in the guide at:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/ghost-blogs-and-newsletters-on-the-fediverse
Would also highly recommend the article by @molly0xfff which outlines the advantages of Ghost over Substack:
➡️ https://www.citationneeded.news/substack-to-self-hosted-ghost
Do you want to move your account to a different server?
Fedi.Garden is a human-curated site listing good reliable servers accepting new members:
Choose the option on the front page which suits you best, then follow the instructions.
If you want to see the entire list sorted into categories go straight to this link:
➡️ https://fedi.garden/fedi-gardens-full-server-list
If you want help with transferring your account, here's a step-by-step guide:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server
If you're trying to verify your account on Mastodon but the profile link won't turn green, here's a list of troubleshooting tips to work through:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-verify-my-account/#MyWebsiteVerificationDoesntWork
(If you want help with how to do verification in general, have a look at the beginning of the guide at https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-verify-my-account )
In case you missed it, I also run several other accounts you might want to follow:
@FediFollows - Recommending interesting accounts on the Fediverse.
@FediVideo - Boosting nice videos on the Fediverse. You can reply to a video's post to comment on it, or follow the video's account to see more videos like that.
@FediGarden - Highlighting reliable well-run servers on the Fediverse that you can sign up on or move to.
@homegrown - Encouraging non-technical people to create their own servers.
Wanderer is a Strava-style Fediverse platform for recording and sharing your journeys and trails. You can find out more at:
There is a list of public servers where you can sign up at:
➡️ https://wanderer.to/servers
To sign up on a server, click "Login" and then "Don't have an account? Make one".
If you just want to try it, there's a demo server at:
NOTE: The demo server regularly deletes its data.
Mastodon includes a built-in post scheduling system, which lets you create posts that will be automatically published at certain times and dates. However, you need to use a third party app to access this system.
There's a list of apps that support post scheduling (and also answers to common questions about scheduling) at:
Mastodon has a built-in system to prevent you seeing the same post boosted again and again. However, this system allows a boost to reappear after 40 other posts have scrolled through your timeline.
This worked fine in the old days when Mastodon was much quieter, but nowadays Mastodon is much busier and 40 posts can scroll quite quickly.
Here's a guide on workarounds for dealing with repeated boosts:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-stop-seeing-the-same-boosted-post-again-and-again-in-mastodon
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
