Hello everybody and welcome to Mastodon!
I know it can be a little confusing at first. But don't worry, it's great and not that complicated to use once you learned the basics.
So here are some tips for helping you to get started.
You can adjust the audience of your message by clicking on the third icon below the compose box.
There is four privacy levels on Mastodon:
1. Public: everyone can see your message.
2. Unlisted: everyone can see your message but it won't appear in the public timelines.
3. Followers-only: only your logged-in followers and the mentioned users will be able to see your message.
4. Direct: only the mentioned users will see it.
Privacy levels are one of the most powerful feature of Mastodon.
On Mastodon, you can add a "content warning" to your posts.
Content warnings are a way to tell people what your message is about. When used, your message will be hidden by default and other people will have to click on a button to unhide it. It is especially useful to warn people about content that can trigger an anxiety or post-traumatic crisis, but can also be used to hide spoilers, etc.
To add a content warning, just click on the CW button bellow the compose box.
When you attach a media (pictures, audio file or video) to one of your post, you have the possibility to mark it as sensitive. If you do so, other people will have to click on a warning to see it.
If you want to mark a media as sensitive, just click on the box below its preview when you are writing your toot.
Mastodon's interface is made of several columns.
The basic interface is made of three columns. The column on the left is where the compose box is. The column on the right is the main menu. The middle column is where the posts are displayed. You can choose which timeline is displayed by clicking on its name in the main menu to the right. When you click on a link, it's also where the content will be shown.
You can configure a variety of things from the settings panel: your default language, Mastodon's theme (because yes, there are various themes!) and also your display name and avatar.
Most of the options here are self explanatory, so you shouldn't have too much trouble making Mastodon behave just the way you want :).
Before I leave you, I thought it would be better to give you some more resources.
Here is the "What is Mastodon?" official video. It explains in the simple way some of the key concepts behind Mastodon. Also, it has cute animations (and that's rad).
You can also check "How Does Mastodon Work?" by @kev.
@Sylvhem Wow. This is a neat feature...
@shubhamboseroy Yes! I remember it's one of things that attracted a lot of people from previous inscriptions waves ≧^◡^≦.
@Sylvhem This is a spell checker warning 😜
@amj Oops. I forgot to switch it to English.
@Sylvhem Thanks
@Grumbugs No problems :).
@Sylvhem So public timelines would be the Federated timeline, right? Or also the Local timeline? I'm a bit confused there...
@shubhamboseroy @Sylvhem Local timeline is all public (not unlisted) messages from users of the instance (in your case you will only see messages from users from Eldritch Café).
Federated timeline is all public (not unlisted) messages from users of all knows instances.
@shubhamboseroy public timelines on your instance (mastodon.social, eldritch.cafe, mastodon.mit.edu, etc) will show up in the local timeline, users your instance federates with's public timelines will show up in the federated timeline
@amsomniac @milia
Okay, I got that. Thanks! Ummm. Maybe I'm asking a stupid question. So how would Unlisted be different from Followers-Only? As in who else gets to see the "unlisted" message apart from my followers?
@shubhamboseroy unlisted will show up when people (even non-followers) go to your profile page, but they won't show up if people click the local/federated timeline
@amsomniac
Ahhh, like that... Got it! Thank you so much! 😀
@shubhamboseroy you're welcome! the user guide here https://github.com/tootsuite/documentation/blob/master/Using-Mastodon/User-guide.md has lots more info
@amsomniac
Oh this is useful. I'll save it. Thanks! 😀
@shubhamboseroy The two public timelines are the local timeline and the federated timeline :).
@Sylvhem hi
@Sylvhem chouette et pratique, ton fil, merci d’avoir pris le temps :3
@arden De rien, c’est un plaisir ^_^.
For posting a message, you just have to type your text in the compose box (it should be at the left of your screen on a desktop) and then click on TOOT.