Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
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@FediTips Very valuable advice, but this feature should really not be so easily accessible that loads of people activate it by mistake.
Just today I've seen somebody who accidentally removed 3000 followers, and the worst thing is that the followers (who actually want to read what the person has to say) have no way of knowing that they have been removed.
I think from a UX point of view this really has to be changed.
"Just today I've seen somebody who accidentally removed 3000 followers"
That's exactly why I am posting and trying to gather feedback, this isn't an isolated case, they are just a very high profile example.
You're right, a UX bug is still a bug and needs fixing, would really like to know if people didn't see the warning OR if they didn't take in what the warning was telling them.
Maybe it needs to be a multi-stage confirmation, instead of having all that info on one page?
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Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.
If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.
@FediTips
If there's a bunch of crap coming from a particular server, I block it. I won't be losing more than a couple of followers at most. Likely, they'll note what the others on that server are doing and migrate. -
Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.
If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.
@FediTips what is a less destructive alternative to blocking a whole server?
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Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.
If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.
@FediTips I've blocked/unblocked entire servers many many times and never permanently lost followers/follows. Is this a recent thing, or phone app only(I'm on desktop)?
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Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.
If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.
@FediTips I have never seen this warning when I've "blocked" an instance as an individual user. In practice the block has always seemed to operate as a mute, anyway (on Mastodon at least). I have no idea if I've lost followers. Usually I only block one-man instances that have been set up by someone who has probably been ejected from several better run instances.
Should I have been seeing it, or was this more for admins?
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@FediTips I have never seen this warning when I've "blocked" an instance as an individual user. In practice the block has always seemed to operate as a mute, anyway (on Mastodon at least). I have no idea if I've lost followers. Usually I only block one-man instances that have been set up by someone who has probably been ejected from several better run instances.
Should I have been seeing it, or was this more for admins?
It depends on how you access your Mastodon account, are you using the website or an app? If it's an app, is it an official one or a third party? Or maybe you're using a third party web interface?
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@FediTips I've blocked/unblocked entire servers many many times and never permanently lost followers/follows. Is this a recent thing, or phone app only(I'm on desktop)?
I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but as far as I know blocking a server has always removed your followers from that server?
What do you use to access your Mastodon account, is it the website?
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@FediTips what is a less destructive alternative to blocking a whole server?
You can block an individual account.
Blocking a whole server is just if you want to avoid everyone on that server.
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@FediTips
If there's a bunch of crap coming from a particular server, I block it. I won't be losing more than a couple of followers at most. Likely, they'll note what the others on that server are doing and migrate.It's fine to block servers if you want, some servers should be blocked.
I'm just trying to warn people who may not realise they are blocking an entire server, or may not realise the consequences of doing so.
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Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").
If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.
If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.
@FediTips Presumably they depends on the software on the node blocked . Maybe Mastodon removes followers but other software doesn't.
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@FediTips Presumably they depends on the software on the node blocked . Maybe Mastodon removes followers but other software doesn't.
If you are removing or blocking follows and followers, the other node ought to be acknowledging this whatever software it uses?
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It depends on how you access your Mastodon account, are you using the website or an app? If it's an app, is it an official one or a third party? Or maybe you're using a third party web interface?
@FediTips most of the time I use Mastodon's own web interface in a PC browser. I have an app on my phone, too. I've blocked instances using both and don't remember seeing this warning. Will watch for it next time.
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@FediTips most of the time I use Mastodon's own web interface in a PC browser. I have an app on my phone, too. I've blocked instances using both and don't remember seeing this warning. Will watch for it next time.
I think part of the problem is the warning being really dull and long, it's really easy to dismiss it without reading it. It does mention losing followers, but it also lists lots of other stuff so this part is sort of buried
Maybe because people have to click on cookie boxes on websites so often, they automatically click all such boxes away?
