This article is an x-post from m/quickstart
Quick note before starting: although this article is far from comprehensive, I wanted to get something done in time for the next wave of reddit migrants when the third party apps close down.
What you see below was written in anticipation for the same set of questions from new users being asked again and again.
If you want me to add anything in, or make any corrections, comment here and I will do my best to make amendments before I repost it on 1st July. Thanks!
All screenshots were taken using the kbin Web version on chrome for android, unless otherwise specified.
How to use this guide
This article is a work in progress, but what I am hoping to achieve is an easy to follow, quick to consume guide that presents you with the knowledge you need in a somewhat logical order.
To that end, I have divided it up into sections, or ‘tiers’. The idea being that once you are confident at one tier, you can move up to the next. So let’s start with…
1. Lurker Tier
Intro to subscriptions and magazines (kbin communities)
- How to subscribe to a magazine
- How to search for a magazine using keywords
- How to find a Fediverse/kbin substitute for a subreddit
- How to see a list of all the magazines you are subscribed to
- How to only view content from magazines you are subscribed to
- How to block a magazine or user
- How to block an entire domain (i.e. all communities it hosts)
Other basic navigation
- How to get back to the kbin homepage
- How to get back to the magazine frontpage from a thread or post
- How to view a magazine’s microblog
- How to view replies to your comment (chrome for android)
- How to send a direct message (DM) / private message (PM)
Voting and boosting content
- What happens when you upvote something?
- What happens when you boost something?
Warning: your votes and boosts are publicly visible to anyone who visits your profile.
Optional quality of life settings
- How to get notified when someone replies to your thread or comment
- How to enable infinite scroll
- How to show or hide NSFW 18+ adult content
- How to enable or disable federation
- How to view comment lines showing parent/child/root relationships
- How to view full size images on a magazine homepage without going into the threads
Exploring the Fediverse
- Should you create accounts on other Fediverse sites?
- How to get a more diverse mixture of threads on the kbin front page
- How to view the front page of a different instance
- How to add a community from the Fediverse if it does not appear when you search for it in kbin
Useful information
- Known issues to be aware of
- How does the Fediverse relate to software like kbin, lemmy and Mastodon, and what are some examples of instances of these different types of software?
- An app for iOS and Android is under development
2. Contributor Tier
Basic terminology
Don’t worry if all these terms don’t click with you right away. You might even be able to disregard a few of them. Either way, you can always come back and refer to this later.
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A ‘magazine’ is a kbin community
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Magazines contain ‘threads’ and a ‘microblog’
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The terms thread and microblog can cause some confusion, so we’ll clear that up soon. But first…
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A thread is a discussion based on either an ‘article’ (i.e. text post), a link, a photo, or a video (although video is not yet supported)
How to create an article -
A ‘comment’ is a response to a thread
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A ‘microblog’ is a collection of ‘posts’ that are based on the magazine itself as opposed to a single article, link, photo, or video
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Confusingly, a post can still contain things like images, it’s just that its replies will appear alongside all the other microblog posts
How to upload an image to display on a post -
Responses to microblog posts are called ‘replies’
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The distinction between comments and replies is significant because they are split by type in your user profile by those names.
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A ‘favourite’ is a thread you have upvoted using the arrow button
How to view your favourites
Threads vs microblog posts
| Thread | Post | |
|---|---|---|
| Shown on front page | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Added to favourites | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Can be downvoted | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Has a title | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Can be pinned to top | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Can be boosted | ✅️YES | ✅️YES |
| Shown on microblog | ❌️NO | ✅️YES |
| Can comment | ✅️YES | ❌️NO |
| Can reply | ❌️NO | ✅️YES |
Staying engaged
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How to view a list of your threads, comments, posts, and replies
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How to view which users have been interacting with your content
3. Addict Tier
To make good use of the tips in this tier you must have the prerequisite knowledge from tiers 1 and 2.
Tips in this tier may also be quite quirky (e.g. only works on desktop) or require detailed explanations. Or they might be advanced niche tips for users looking to get the absolute most out of kbin.
Although you’ve reached the end, this article is still a work in progress. If you’ve any corrections, or feel something is missing, you can reach out to @Friend or post to m/quickstart. Thanks for reading!
@Friend. Do you have any tips for being able identify which instance a post is from? The “@**.” part of an instance name is usually cut off, and often the post title will say “kbin.social” next to it even if it’s not a kbin post. The only way I know for sure to tell is to click on a post and scroll past all the comments.
Edit: for example, this post: https://kbin.social/m/youshouldknow@lemmy.world/t/100869/YSK-If-you-make-popcorn-in-a-pot-on-the
The post title clearly says kbin.social next to it. By he community label just says “youshouldknow.” It looks the same way from my home page: The only reason I know it’s actually on Lemmy.world is because I scrolled past all the comments, and also it’s in the url (which i am only looking at here because I copied and pasted the direct url for the post.)
Edit 2: I should probably also clarify that I am on mobile, so mouse-over’s are a no-go.
It’s sadly very annoying. What I usually do is I long press the magazine name if I’m in the front page. That will show the URL. I otherwise usually just use the URL of the page I’m on (it should have /m/foo@bar – unless it’s a local magazine, in which case it won’t display the domain). But I know that isn’t user friendly nor likely available on apps.
It needs to be improved. And the UI should stop hiding it (eg, the front page will show “gaming” instead of “gaming@lemmy.ml”), because the domain is a critical part of the magazine name.
this userscript can show it
https://kbin.social/m/kbinStyles/t/27201/kbin-enhancement-script-QOL-updates-for-the-kbin-UI
@_sigma
@Friend
How does that work? Is is a safari mod?
https://greasyfork.org/en/help/installing-user-scripts
@CarlsIII try click on More at the original post and select Copy to Fediverse. That’ll get you the originating url. This works for every type of post and comment.
@Friend
@cendawanita
@Friend
Again, this is all way more work than it would be if the post just showed the instance in the first place. I already know I can find out what instance if I do some scrolling and clicking. I would prefer to just have the “@beehaw.org” added to the community name in the post (and to not display “kbin.social” on posts that aren’t even from kbin. I still haven’t heard an explanation for that.)
@CarlsIII aye no worries - fair ask
@Friend
Please can you share a screenshot?
Here’s what I see what I select the burger menu while on the magazine.
Maybe your screen size or text size is different to mine though.
@Friend Hopefully this posts correctly. The post was on youshouldknow@Lemmy.world, but it only shows “youshouldknow”, and I have no idea why it says kbin.social next to the title. I’m hoping to be able to tell the name of the instance without having to click a bunch of places first.
Ah ok thanks I understand now. Unfortunately there is no zero-click solution that I know of. The only thing I can offer is the one-click burger menu solution.
I’m putting together a wishlist so I’ll add it there :)