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| gnu_social_on_sdf [2021/03/09 13:48] – [Writing Notices] hc9 | gnu_social_on_sdf [2021/03/12 18:45] (current) – [The Best Course] hc9 |
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| ==== Mentions (using '@') ==== | ==== Mentions (using '@') ==== |
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| This will be familiar to Twitter users. Prepending an at symbol (@) to a user's nickname will mention the user. This means that your notice will appear in that user's Home timeline, and they will recieve a notification that they've been mentioned. | This will be familiar to Twitter users. Prepending an at symbol (@) to a user's nickname will //mention// the user. This means that your notice will appear in that user's Home timeline, and they will recieve a notification that they've been mentioned. |
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| === User Name Collisions === | === User Name Collisions === |
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| In the Fediverse, two or more users on different servers can have the same nickname, and this can cause minor headaches when you're trying to mention someone. For example, there might be a user named Zorba on ''quitter.se'', and a different user named Zorba on ''micro.fragdev.com''. You might follow the Zorba on FragDev and want to mention him in a notice, so you write ''@Zorba'' in your message — but when you post it you see that it's gone to Zorba at Quitter.se instead. Why? Because at some point your node received a notice from zorba@quitter.se and put him into the remote user database, and when the server looked in the table of user nicknames to find out who "Zorba" is, it simply took the first Zorba it came across, which happened to be the wrong one. | In the Fediverse, two or more users on different servers can have the same nickname, and this can cause minor headaches when you're trying to mention someone. For example, there might be a user named Zorba on ''quitter.se'', and a different user named Zorba on ''micro.fragdev.com''. You might follow the Zorba on FragDev and want to mention him in a notice, so you write ''@Zorba'' in your message -- but when you post it you see that it's gone to Zorba at Quitter.se instead. Why? Because at some point your node received a notice from zorba@quitter.se and put him into the remote user database, and when the server looked in the table of user nicknames to find out who "Zorba" is, it simply took the first Zorba it came across, which happened to be the wrong one. |
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| This won't happen with the nicknames of your fellow SDF users — the server looks for local nicknames first, and all of the SDF users have unique names — but it //can// happen with users on other servers. To be completely sure that your mention hits the right user, you can use their [[gnu_social_on_sdf#webfinger|webfinger address]] when mentioning them. So, in the previous example, instead of simply writing "@Zorba", you would use "@zorba@micro.fragdev.com" | This won't happen with the nicknames of your fellow SDF users -- the server looks for local nicknames first, and all of the SDF users have unique names -- but it //can// happen with users on other servers. To be completely sure that your mention hits the right user, you can use their [[gnu_social_on_sdf#webfinger|webfinger address]] when mentioning them. So, in the previous example, instead of simply writing "@Zorba", you would use "@zorba@micro.fragdev.com" |
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| ==== Tags (using '#') ==== | ==== Tags (using '#') ==== |
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| Ah, hashtags. Who isn't tired of hearing that word? | Ah, //hashtags//. Who isn't tired of hearing that word? |
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| They work on GNU social much the same as elsewhere: you prepend a "hash" ("#") to a word, and the notice becomes "tagged" with that keyword so that people who are following that tag will see your notice in their Home Timeline. | They work on GNU social much the same as elsewhere: you prepend a "hash" (''#'') to a word, and the notice becomes "tagged" with that keyword so that people who are following that tag will see your notice in their Home Timeline. |
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| Tags in GNU social are case-insensitive, so you can write #tubers, #Tubers, #TUBERS, or #tUbErS in your notice, and they'll all be treated as #tubers. The up-side of this is that people who appreciate clarity can write multi-word hashtags in camel-case (#ThePenIsMightier) while remaining in the loop with their shift-key-averse fellows who aren't bothered by possible ambiguity in their tags (#thepenismightier). | Tags in GNU social are case-insensitive, so you can write #tubers, #Tubers, #TUBERS, or #tUbErS in your notice, and they'll all be treated as #tubers. The up-side of this is that people who appreciate clarity can write multi-word hashtags in camel-case (#ThePenIsMightier) while remaining in the loop with their shift-key-averse fellows who aren't bothered by possible ambiguity in their tags (#thepenismightier). |
| ==== Group Addressing (using '!') ==== | ==== Group Addressing (using '!') ==== |
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| The "bang" ("!") is used in GNU social to address groups. | The "bang" (''!'') is used in GNU social to address groups. |
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| If you are a member of a group, when you type the group's name prepended with a bang in a notice (eg "!cheeseafficionados"), that notice will arrive in the timelines of all the group's members, all over the fediverse. | If you are a member of a group, when you type the group's name prepended with a bang in a notice (eg "!cheeseafficionados"), that notice will arrive in the timelines of all the group's members, all over the fediverse. |
| ==== From Their Profile Page ==== | ==== From Their Profile Page ==== |
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| Click on a user's avatar or nickname to be taken to their profile page. Once there, look for a button that says "Subscribe" or "Remote Follow". Clicking the button will open a dialog that asks for your //account ID//. You can use the URL of your SDF GNU social profile page, which looks like this: ''https://gs.sdf.org///nickname//'', or you can use your webfinger ID, which looks like this: //nickname//@gs.sdf.org. | Click on a user's avatar or nickname to be taken to their profile page. Once there, look for a button that says "Subscribe" or "Remote Follow". Clicking the button will open a dialog that asks for your //account ID//. You can use the URL of your SDF GNU social profile page, which looks like this: ''https://gs.sdf.org/ //nickname//'', or you can use your webfinger ID, which looks like this: //nickname//@gs.sdf.org. |
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| After you submit your ID, you will be redirected to a page asking you to confirm the follow. Once you've confirmed, you will start receiving notices from the user you've just followed in your timeline. | After you submit your ID, you will be redirected to a page asking you to confirm the follow. Once you've confirmed, you will start receiving notices from the user you've just followed in your timeline. |
| ==== From Your Profile Page ==== | ==== From Your Profile Page ==== |
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| If you already have another user's account ID — either a webfinger address, such as "bob@status.hoohaw.org", or a URL such as "http://status.hoohaw.org/bob" — you can begin following them by going to your profile page and clicking the "+ Remote" button underneath the "Following" section on the right-hand side of the screen. This will open a dialog asking for the account ID of the user you wish to follow. Fill in the box, submit it, confirm on the page you're redirected to, and that's it! | If you already have another user's account ID -- either a webfinger address, such as ''bob@status.hoohaw.org'', or a URL such as ''http://status.hoohaw.org/bob'' -- you can begin following them by going to your profile page and clicking the "+ Remote" button underneath the "Following" section on the right-hand side of the screen. This will open a dialog asking for the account ID of the user you wish to follow. Fill in the box, submit it, confirm on the page you're redirected to, and that's it! |
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| ==== Finding Users To Follow ==== | ==== Finding Users To Follow ==== |
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| Yes, it's all well and good to know how to follow people — but how do you find people to follow? The SDF GNU social instance is new, and there are only a handful of semi-regular users right now, so the Public timeline sometimes seems a bit dead. The Network timeline is a bit busier, and it has activity from remote users, so it's a bit better. Sometimes, though, the best place to look for interesting new people is //somewhere else//. | Yes, it's all well and good to know how to follow people -- but how do you find people to follow? The SDF GNU social instance is new, and there are only a handful of semi-regular users right now, so the Public timeline sometimes seems a bit dead. The Network timeline is a bit busier, and it has activity from remote users, so it's a bit better. Sometimes, though, the best place to look for interesting new people is //somewhere else//. |
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| * The [[https://gnu.io/social|GNU social website]] links to some of the largest public servers: https://gnu.io/social/try/ | * The [[https://gnu.io/social|GNU social website]] links to some of the largest public servers: https://gnu.io/social/try/ |
| * visit your profile page and click the "+Remote" button under the GROUPS section in the right-hand pane, then enter the URL of the group's page into the dialog. | * visit your profile page and click the "+Remote" button under the GROUPS section in the right-hand pane, then enter the URL of the group's page into the dialog. |
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| There is an !SDF group, and it's as good as any for trying this out. The group's page is [[https://gs.sdf.org/group/sdf|"https://gs.sdf.org/group/sdf"]]. | There is an !SDF group, and it's as good as any for trying this out. The group's page is ''[[https://gs.sdf.org/group/sdf|https://gs.sdf.org/group/sdf]]''. |
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| ==== Finding Groups ==== | ==== Finding Groups ==== |
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| All of the groups hosted on SDF GNU social can easily be browsed by clicking the GROUPS link in the PUBLIC section of the navigation pane, or by directing your browser to [[https://wm.sdf.org/gs/groups|"https://wm.sdf.org/gs/groups"]]. | All of the groups hosted on SDF GNU social can easily be browsed by clicking the GROUPS link in the PUBLIC section of the navigation pane, or by directing your browser to ''[[https://wm.sdf.org/gs/groups|https://wm.sdf.org/gs/groups]]''. |
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| Other nodes have group directories as well, which you can usually access by visiting "{nodeURL}/groups" (ex: "https://quitter.se/groups"). Most group directory pages will have a search dialog in case you're looking for a specific topic. | Other nodes have group directories as well, which you can usually access by visiting ''{nodeURL}/groups'' (ex: ''https://quitter.se/groups''). Most group directory pages will have a search dialog in case you're looking for a specific topic. |
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| Hopping from site to site and browsing/searching their group directories can be a bit of a pain, though. Another resource to try is [[http://federation.skilledtests.com|Erkan Yimlaz's wiki]], which contains a user-editable list of federated groups from all over the fediverse: [[http://federation.skilledtests.com/List_of_federated_GNU_social_groups.html|"http://federation.skilledtests.com/List_of_federated_GNU_social_groups.html"]]. Finally, you could try [[http://gstools.org|GSTools]], which has a search tool for groups as well as users. | Hopping from site to site and browsing/searching their group directories can be a bit of a pain, though. Another resource to try is [[http://federation.skilledtests.com|Erkan Yimlaz's wiki]], which contains a user-editable list of federated groups from all over the fediverse: ''[[http://federation.skilledtests.com/List_of_federated_GNU_social_groups.html|http://federation.skilledtests.com/List_of_federated_GNU_social_groups.html]]''. Finally, you could try [[http://gstools.org|GSTools]], which has a search tool for groups as well as users. |
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| ===== Your Account ID ===== | ===== Your Account ID ===== |
| Or, the GNU social server provides a [[https://webfinger.net/|WebFinger]] ID for you, which looks like an email address: | Or, the GNU social server provides a [[https://webfinger.net/|WebFinger]] ID for you, which looks like an email address: |
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| |//nickname// @gs.sdf.org| | |//nickname//@gs.sdf.org| |
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| The WebFinger ID is used in GNU social for mentioning users on other nodes. There's more information on that up in the section on [[gnu_social_on_sdf#mentions_using|mentions]]. | The WebFinger ID is used in GNU social for mentioning users on other nodes. There's more information on that up in the section on [[gnu_social_on_sdf#mentions_using|mentions]]. |
| To some extent, each GNU social node is an island, a small Twitter or Facebook unto itself: you and the other users of SDF GNU social are visible to each other in the site directory, and the directory may be browsed or searched; when you post a public notice, everyone on SDF GNU social will see it in the Public Timeline, and all of those notices may be searched, replied to, repeated, and favored. | To some extent, each GNU social node is an island, a small Twitter or Facebook unto itself: you and the other users of SDF GNU social are visible to each other in the site directory, and the directory may be browsed or searched; when you post a public notice, everyone on SDF GNU social will see it in the Public Timeline, and all of those notices may be searched, replied to, repeated, and favored. |
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| But SDF GNU social is also part of a world-wide network of servers using the OStatus protocol to enable their users to follow each other, join groups, and send notices between their nodes. OStatus provides inter-node communication, but it does //not// make the Fediverse into a sort-of distributed SuperTwitter — unfortunately, I think a lot of new users expect it to. Hopefully this brief explanation of how OStatus //federation// works will help you to understand how and why GNU social behaves the way it does. | But SDF GNU social is also part of a world-wide network of servers using the OStatus protocol to enable their users to follow each other, join groups, and send notices between their nodes. OStatus provides inter-node communication, but it does //not// make the Fediverse into a sort-of distributed SuperTwitter -- unfortunately, I think a lot of new users expect it to. Hopefully this brief explanation of how OStatus //federation// works will help you to understand how and why GNU social behaves the way it does. |
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| ==== The Fediverse is Defined by Relationships ==== | ==== The Fediverse is Defined by Relationships ==== |
| On the federated network, user activity passes between nodes, but **only where relationships exist**. For example: | On the federated network, user activity passes between nodes, but **only where relationships exist**. For example: |
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| If "archibald@server01" is //following// "lucinda@server02", copies of all of Lucinda's notices will be sent to server01 and stored there so that Archibald can read them. Archibald's fellow users on server01 benefit from this as well, because having Lucinda's notices stored in server01's database means that they will come-up in searches; if they include tags that users on server01 are following, then those users will see them in their Home Timelines; and all of Lucinda's notices can be repeated, favored, and replied-to by the users of server01. | If ''archibald@server01'' is //following// ''lucinda@server02'', copies of all of Lucinda's notices will be sent to server01 and stored there so that Archibald can read them. Archibald's fellow users on server01 benefit from this as well, because having Lucinda's notices stored in server01's database means that they will come-up in searches; if they include tags that users on server01 are following, then those users will see them in their Home Timelines; and all of Lucinda's notices can be repeated, favored, and replied-to by the users of server01. |
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| If Archibald replies to one of Lucinda's notices, his //reply// will be sent to server02 so that Lucinda can read and interact with it (as well as everyone else at server02), **but**, if no one on server02 is //following// Archibald, none of his other notices will be sent to server02, //because there's no relationship that requires them//. Remember, just because Archibald is following Lucy, that doesn't mean she's following him back! | If Archibald replies to one of Lucinda's notices, his //reply// will be sent to server02 so that Lucinda can read and interact with it (as well as everyone else at server02), **but**, if no one on server02 is //following// Archibald, none of his other notices will be sent to server02, //because there's no relationship that requires them//. Remember, just because Archibald is following Lucy, that doesn't mean she's following him back! |
| - <del>[[#who-is-local-b|<sup>↑</sup>]]How would you notice this? If you look at the destnation of the hyperlink on a user's name, it'll point to their home server. Anything other than "https://gs.sdf.org/..." is a user from another site.</del> | - <del>[[#who-is-local-b|<sup>↑</sup>]]How would you notice this? If you look at the destnation of the hyperlink on a user's name, it'll point to their home server. Anything other than "https://gs.sdf.org/..." is a user from another site.</del> |
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| $Id: gnu_social.html,v 1.12 2016/01/27 10:16:31 laemeur Exp $ | $Id: gnu_social.html,v 1.12 2016/01/27 10:16:31 laemeur Exp $<sup>1</sup> [[http://sdf.org/?tutorials/gnu_social|GNU Social on SDF]] - traditional link (using [[wp>Revision_Control_System|RCS]]) |
| [[http://sdf.org/?tutorials/gnu_social|GNU Social on SDF]] - legacy link <del>$Id: gnu_social.html,v 1.13 2020/08/11 14:40:49 papa Exp $</del><sup>1</sup> | |
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| <sup>1</sup>Replicated from the gnu_social.html,v 1.12 2016/01/27 text. | <sup>1</sup> Replicated from the gnu_social.html,v 1.12 2016/01/27 text. |
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| === Notes === | === Notes === |
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