Mastodon features explained: Difference between revisions

If you want to see some more follow suggestions later on just go to ".../web/start" in your browser's url field.

[[File:Mastodon Toot.png|thumb]]

In Mastodon posts are called toots.

In the text field you can write basically whatever you want, as long as it is allowed on your instance and is not longer than the character limit, which is usually 500 characters.<br>

In the screenshot you can see that 5000 characters are left, because the screenshot was taken on an instance with a modified character limit.

Click on the laughing emoji in the top right of the text field to add emoji.<br>

Besides all the known emoji instance admins can add custom emoji. You can request new custom emoji by contacting your instance admin.

Adding hashtags is simple. Just put the # character right before the word.<br>

So e.g. #FridaysForFuture.

To mention someone enter @ followed by their profile name (not the display name). If you have already interacted with the user they will be suggested to you when you start entering the profile name.<br>

When you want to mention a user that you haven't discovered yet, you have to enter the full handle (@profilename@instance.domain).

Of course you can also add links to your toots. Simply paste the url into the text field.<br>

Don't worry about adding long urls, they will not use up as much characters as they actually have.

Click on the paperclip symbol to add an attachment. You can add up to 4 pictures, a video or an audio file.<br>

You can only add an attachment or a poll to a toot - not both.

[[File:Mastodon media description.png|thumb]]

Click on the edit button to add a media description. You usually have 1500 characters for your description, so more than for the toot itself.

Click on the 3 bars besides the paperclip to add a poll. You can add up to 4 poll options or more if the Mastodon instance is modified.

The next symbol in the row, a globe, lets you change the visibility of your post.

* '''Direct''' <br> A direct message can only be seen by people who are mentioned in it. You can add more than one people to a direct message. If you later on add more people to a direct conversation, they will only see the new messages, since they are mentioned.

The last symbol in the row - the cw - stands for content warning. When you click on it a smaller text field will appear above the larger text field.<br>

When you add a picture or video to a toot with a cw then the media will automatically be marked sensitive. You can however click on the checkbox to change that. <br>

Besides warning people about possibly triggers CWs are sometimes also used for jokes - the punchline being hidden.

==Search==

What will not be displayed are e.g. replies by people you don't follow on toots by people you follow.

On top of the post will be displayed if this toot was boosted to appear in your timeline and by whom it was boosted.

In the top right corner you'll see the time the toot was posted. If you click on the time the post will open in a new tab.

If an image is attached to the post you can hide it and it will be blurred, just like with sensitive media.

On the bottom the first symbol is the reply button. Click on it to reply to the post. <br>

The person who wrote the toot will automatically be mentioned in your reply. Don't remove that mention, or the person will not be notified of your reply.

==Notifications==