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Basics
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usage 1

Sign up

You have to choose a server to sign up on, like you would choose an e-mail provider, or a World of Warcraft realm for your new character. The server will be hosting your account and your home feed.

You can browse a list of servers by categories and languages on joinmastodon.org.

Edit profile

Picture, name and bio

  • You can upload a profile picture
  • You can upload a header image for your profile
  • You can set a display name different to your username
  • You can write about yourself in the bio
  • You can mention people and use hashtags and custom emoji in your bio

Profile metadata

Profile metadata is a way to add extra information to your profile that is easy to skim. You have 4 rows where you can define the label and the value. For example:

Label Content
Age 25
Country Germany
Pronouns he/him

It's completely up to you what you put there. The content can contain mentions, hashtags, custom emojis and links.

Link verification

If you put a link in your profile metadata, Mastodon checks if the linked page links back to your Mastodon profile. If so, you get a verification checkmark next to that link, since you are confirmed as the owner.

Behind the scenes, Mastodon checks for the rel="me" attribute on the link back. Likewise, Mastodon puts rel="me" on the links within profile metadata.

Posting

Text

  • You can use up to 500 characters
  • You can mention other people like @alice or @alice@example.com
  • When mentioning other people, the domain part of their username is not counted
  • If you post links, they must begin with http:// or https://
  • When posting links, all links are counted as 23 characters, no matter how long
  • You can use hashtags like #example so others can find your post by that tag
  • You can add a content warning to your post
  • The content warning is plain text. It does not support mentions, hashtags or links

Media

  • You can upload PNG and JPG images
  • Uploaded GIFs are converted to soundless MP4s like on Imgur/Gfycat (GIFV)
  • You can also directly upload soundless MP4s and WebMs (GIFV)
  • You can upload videos in the MP4, WebM or MOV format
  • Upload limit for images is 8 MB
  • Upload limit for videos is 40 MB
  • Images with a surface area larger than 1280² pixels are downsized
  • All media in a post can be hidden behind a spoiler

Custom emoji

  • Each server offers a set of custom emoji you can use, like on Discord
  • You can use an emoji using its shortcode like :thounking: