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)
Feedback is extremely welcome. This is a loving document, it can only be honed and get better with loving input from other users. What are your best tips for #creators?
THREAD: I made a series of images for an Instagram post I made about migrating to the fediverse. I figured I'd share with anyone else who wants to use, so I included some blank template versions too. DM if you'd like the Adobe Illustrator file so you can make your own edits. And please,comment if I got anything wrong so I can correct it.
Do you prefer typing emoji instead of stopping to choose them from a picker?
You can do this when writing a post on Mastodon's web interface by typing a : (colon) and then a keyword without a space. This will automatically bring up emoji with that keyword in their description.
For example if you type :sun it will show you emoji with the keyword "sun".
(Note that if there are many matches for a keyword, you may need to go to the picker to see them all.)
Do you need help with using Mastodon and the Fediverse? Especially if you're a beginner or unsure about techy things?
You can ask by messaging me or replying to this thread, and I'll try to help or find someone else who can help. Don't worry if a question seems silly or basic!
You can also look things up on the guide at https://fedi.tips, which has an "essentials" section at the top and a complete list of answered questions below that.
If you're creating custom emoji, remember to fill in the section marked "Shortcode" with a short text description of the emoji. Blind people's screen reader software will be able to read the shortcode aloud so that they can hear what the emoji is.
If the emoji's shortcode includes multiple words, split them up with underscores like_this or CamelCase, so that screen readers will be able to read each word correctly.
Because it's part of the Fediverse, you can follow OwnCast accounts from Mastodon etc, and when they go live you will see a post in your timeline to let you know.
For example, the RetroStrangeTV livestream can be viewed at:
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.
If someone recommends an account to follow and it looks blank to you, it probably isn't actually blank! It probably just looks that way when you view it from your server.
If you follow the account, future posts will start showing up on your server.
It is confusing, but there are really good reasons why it happens. You can read more about it (including how to check what a profile really looks like, and how to prevent your own profile looking blank) here:
(The Lists import feature is only on servers running 4.2.0 or above, so you can't do this if you're transferring to a server running an older version.)
YSK: When making posts on Lemmy/Kbin always put at the end some hashtags related to your post topic.
So users from Mastodon and Pixelfed can interact with your post without even need to use their Lemmy/Kbin account or learn about "how to use the ActivityPub".
This also helps to have more content avaliable across the Fediverse due to better discoverability.
Is there someone you enjoy following, but you want to slightly reduce their presence on your timeline? There are a couple of ways to do this on Mastodon:
If they share too many posts from other people, you can hide their boosts by going to their profile, clicking ︙ and then "Hide boosts".
You can mute their own posts for a specific period, select a duration when muting them (it can be from 5 mins to 7 days).
If you want to discover posts and accounts about specific topics, try following hashtags.
When you follow a hashtag, posts with that tag will automatically appear in your main Home feed even if you don't follow the person who posted it. For example, if you follow #Dogs you will start seeing doggos appear in your main feed.
To follow a hashtag, search for the tag and then click the follow button in the top right corner of the screen.
Recommended follow list for Ukraine war on Mastodon
Here are my recommendations for coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Only accounts active recently and you can easily import them from a file. They are split into two different lists by type.
Ukraine: OSINT & war updates
This list mostly has accounts posting quickly about daily events of the war and doing open source intelligence.
The import file relies on the List import feature recently added to Mastodon. I have noticed the list import results in a few accounts sometimes ending up in their separate list by the same name so you may have to fix that manually afterwards if this happens on your instance. If many people are on an older Mastodon version and want it I can also post a follows file that will work for those.
Import instructions:
Sign into your instance on the web
go to settings (Gear icon)
Choose Import and Export -> Import
For import type choose "Lists" (could also be "Translation missing: en.imports.types.lists" if there is an issue with the localization).
Select "merge" to only add to your current follows/lists so nothing you have gets deleted
Why aren't pictures loading on my timeline any more? I have to click through to see anything, otherwise I just get the blurs. #FediTips#Masto#Mastodon@trumpet