If you have any questions about using Mastodon or the wider Fediverse, please post them in the replies and I'll try to find you some answers.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@klu9 @cliffb_infosec

Ahh okay, yeah it does seem to have a lot of features

Some server types do go down the "lots of features" route, Friendica is another one.

However, what usually happens is that each feature isn't as good as it is on a specialised platform. For example PeerTube is dedicated to video so it has much better features for hosting long videos, livestreaming, doing playlists, sharing bandwidth etc.

So, it's always a trade-off when developing features.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@PhilRudland

Where or how are you getting auto alt text?

[minervakoenig@mastodon.social]

@FediTips can we have the "trending" option back? plzkthx

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@minervakoenig

It still says "Trending" on most servers, Mastodon's developers seem to be experimenting with renaming it "Explore" on mastodon.social (which is what it was called years ago!).

I don't know which one they will use on the release version, but I agree, trending is a clearer name.

[philrudland@mastodonapp.uk]

@FediTips

When I am trying to add auto alt text to a photograph I want to post.

[minervakoenig@mastodon.social]

@FediTips hmm... when I go to "explore" it just seems to be a repeat of my 'home' feed...

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@PhilRudland

How are you trying to add it? Is it an option in a mobile app?

If you're using the "add text from image", that just copies text in the image, it doesn't provide a description.

(Manual descriptions tend to be better anyway as the person posting understands the point of an image and doesn't bother with irrelevant details.)

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@minervakoenig

Are you viewing it through the website?

At least when I've tried it with a mastodon.social account it shows trends?

[philrudland@mastodonapp.uk]

Ahh, that solves it then. I thought the "add text from image" meant it would create alt txt from the image. Now I know, so thank you

[klu9@ohai.social]

@FediTips @cliffb_infosec

Thanks for the info

[bmebenji@mstdn.social]

@FediTips Is there a consolidated guide anywhere about how the different Fediverse platforms interact with each other? Like I know I can browse PieFed or Lemmy communities from a Mastodon server by looking at the boosts, but how can I browse Mastodon from PieFed or Lemmy? How can I view Mastodon posts from Pixelfed? What does a favorite from Mastodon translate to on another platform?

That's been my primary question about the federated platforms.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@BmeBenji

As far as I know there's no complete guide anywhere, probably because there are so many platforms and they are constantly changing so it would be quite labour-intensive for a volunteer to create and maintain.

Favourites on Mastodon generally translate to the equivalent of likes on other platforms (e.g. on PeerTube a Mastodon favourite becomes a thumbs up).

Pixelfed lets you view Mastodon posts by following Mastodon accounts, but by default it only shows posts with images or videos.

[ahimsa_pdx@disabled.social]

@minervakoenig

I can still see trending posts on the mastodon.social server

I don't know how you would access it but here's a link:

https://mastodon.social/explore

cc: @FediTips

[steve_lindsay@fediscience.org]

@FediTips Why is it that when a user posts multiple related messages (e.g., a poem posted stanza by stanza [for why I don’t know]), I see them in reverse order. And sometime interlarded w unrelated posts)?

[muhammadfreesoftware@fosstodon.org]

@FediTips @vnikolov I've always wondered, how do followbots help federate different servers? And why dont big instances have them?

[tiempo@todon.eu]

@FediTips @robeean aquí puedes pillar muchas respuestas. Esta es una excelente cuenta a seguir

[gdsherif@c.im]

@FediTips How come c.im no longer has translate option? Is there a work-around?

[libbygarvey@mastodon.social]

@FediTips I’ll volunteer the first stupid question! I’d like to respond to this post, but only to FediTips and not have the rest of the Fediverse read it. Many times I’ve wanted to respond directly and individually to a post but don’t see how to do that. I’m used to other platforms where it’s clearer. How do I do that?

[aoi_x_kaizaki@mastodon.social]

@FediTips i have one - why did mastodon change the format?

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@Aoi_X_Kaizaki

The format of the website interface?

They did a post about their reasons at https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/10/5.0-a-closer-look/