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Some good news about #Mastodon, there has been a very significant bit of code added which will automatically fetch all the replies in a thread. This means everyone will be able to see a thread's whole conversation no matter which server they are on! 🥳

The code has just been "merged" which means it should become available in the next update to Mastodon, hopefully within the next few months.

(Those who want the technical details can see the Pull Request at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/pull/32615)

(Via @rolle)

Add Fetch All Replies Part 1: Backend by sneakers-the-rat · Pull Request #32615 · mastodon/mastodon

Fix: #9409 Fix: #14017 Fix: #18150 Original PR Here: NeuromatchAcademy#44 Further description here: NeuromatchAcademy#43 I've never made a PR for upstream before, so forgive me if i'm doing...
GitHub
@Roni Laukkarinen
Your Weirdness
Almost!

This Pull Request only deals with public posts and public replies. It doesn't include follower-only-posts or -replies, since there was no time and no good soultion solution on how to tackle those sensibly in time.

However, recieving 99% of the replies and context is still much better, than only a tiny fraction.
Fedi.Tips
Follower-only posts are always going to be hidden to most people becuse it's a restricted post visibility, people are deliberately hiding their replies if they use it.

It's the public/unlisted replies that most people are missing when a public conversation is incomplete.
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (3 Wochen her)
Trötifant
I'm trying to understand...

Why would I not see all replies already with the current Mastodon version?
=>Some are not shown because they come from servers that are blocked by my home instance.
=>Some are not shown because they com from accounts that are blocked by me.
=>(Further reasons?)

I guess it is not the purpose of the update to circumvent measures like the above-mentioned blocks. So, what kind of replies do I currently not see and can be seen with the new version?

@rolle
@Roni Laukkarinen
Fedi.Tips
At the moment, if there's a reply from an account that your server has not "noticed" then it may not be visible in the thread.

There's a whole list of scenarios where a server might notice an account or post:

https://fedi.tips/which-posts-and-accounts-can-i-see-from-my-server/

TL:DR - To preserve resources, servers only show accounts and posts they have noticed. This keeps server costs low enough that anyone can start and run their own server, but has the side-effect of not showing everything from every server.

Which Mastodon and Fediverse posts and accounts can I see from my server? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tips
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Trötifant
Thanks! I misunderstood that this discovery limit would only apply to my timeline.
Robert Kingett
Since this is merged, I'd start updating that post on the Fedi Tips website! :)
Robert W. Gehl
would this change result in increased hosting costs?
Fedi.Tips
That's what they will be testing in the real world before it is deployed. They already ran tests before merging this, but actually trying it out may reveal more stuff to tweak/fix.

Looking through the discussions about this feature, avoiding strain on server resources was one of the things that delayed this feature so long.

It may not be that bad though, this is just anecdotal but see here: https://neuromatch.social/@elduvelle/114150026416737661

El Duvelle (@elduvelle@neuromatch.social)

@renchap@oisaur.com For what it's worth we've had #FetchAllReplies activated on our server for many months now and have not noticed any problems. It is a small server though (~250 active users), not sure if it makes a difference.
Neuromatch Social
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ScottMGS
That's one of my concerns, too. I don't *need* to see everything especially if it's going to raise my hosting costs.

My other concern is whether my posts will be visible from - and whether I'll see posts from - servers I have blocked. I presume public posts are generally readable (e.g. via RSS) but I'm not clear on the details.
Fedi.Tips
Resources: Reading through the discussions on this feature, one of the things holding it up was a concern about using up too many resources. The reason it's happening now is because they think they have solved this, but they're going to test it first in the real world on a small number of servers to make sure.

Blocks: That's somewhat a separate issue as the efficacy of blocks for hiding public posts depends on things like activating authorized fetch: https://fedi.tips/authorized-fetch

Adding user safety through Authorized Fetch on Mastodon | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tips
Joerg Droege :verified:
still missing the often requested but denied export and migration feature to move one's mastodon to a new server
Fedi.Tips
@nafcom

You can already move accounts (https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server/).

If you mean moving posts, the posts remain on your old server and redirect people to your new account.

Moving Mastodon posts was attempted by Firefish but the moved posts were clones of the originals and they broke all of the discussion threads on the originals. Also the moving process overwhelmed the server as it involved potentially thousands of posts being added to the server at once from a single account.

Transferring your Mastodon account to another server | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tips
The Jorts of the Crimson King
The posts don't remain on your old server if it's being shut down, which is probably the main reason why people move to other servers. The current migration process is almost useless in that scenario
João Tiago Rebelo
you mean the link https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/pull/32615 that is on the OG toot? There you go. (I'm trying to make a joke on how threads are still broken)
@nafcom @FediTips @rolle

Add Fetch All Replies Part 1: Backend by sneakers-the-rat · Pull Request #32615 · mastodon/mastodon

Fix: #9409 Fix: #14017 Fix: #18150 Original PR Here: NeuromatchAcademy#44 Further description here: NeuromatchAcademy#43 I've never made a PR for upstream before, so forgive me if i'm doing...
GitHub
@Roni Laukkarinen @Fedi.Tips @Joerg Droege :verified:
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (3 Wochen her)
Robert Kingett
Where can I find the Github issue link for the often requested but denied export and migration feature to move one's mastodon to a new server @jt_rebelo @nafcom @FediTips @rolle
@Roni Laukkarinen @Fedi.Tips @João Tiago Rebelo @Joerg Droege :verified:
Fedi.Tips
I think they mean post migration, which has an issue at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/12423

Support Post Migration · Issue #12423 · mastodon/mastodon

#177 – Support Account Migration – was closed after implementing follower migration, but this is only one small part of a true migration. To really be able to change instances, you need to be able ...
GitHub
João Tiago Rebelo
yes, my bad. Already added that issue and the previous one I had bookmarked (the problem on github between "issues" and "discussions" had its own meta since the beginning) to my answer. Thank you both
@WeirdWriter @nafcom
@Robert Kingett @Joerg Droege :verified:
Renaud Chaput
it is important to point out that this is very experimental, behind a feature flag, and there will be a need for more changes to get it in front of people.
Also we don’t recommend activating it yet, this may have significant performance implications or bugs.

@rolle
@Roni Laukkarinen
Fedi.Tips
Oh right, thanks for the info!

From the merge thread I thought it was ready to go but just needed a front end to avoid the need for manual page refreshes?

Will it appear in the updates/nightlys?
Renaud Chaput
as it is merged it will be in the next nightly, but disabled by default. If all works well it will go into a release, but right now we need to test it in the wild first before making any plans
Fedi.Tips
Sounds like the perfect approach 👍

Thanks for taking the time to provide this info!
Jones
Hallelujah! More than 6 years since it was explicitly reported, https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/9409, for such a basic functionality that Pleroma, and probably many other fedi platforms, has had since so long... Jesus is coming \o/

Backfill statuses from remote accounts when first subscribed · Issue #34 · mastodon/mastodon

Your self-hosted, globally interconnected microblogging community - Backfill statuses from remote accounts when first subscribed · Issue #34 · mastodon/mastodon
GitHub
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Andy Piper
ahh you're spoiling the big update news for the next edition of Trunk & Tidbits 😜
Roni Laukkarinen
Some of us have been waiting and watching this for a long time now 😅 @FediTips
@Fedi.Tips
Fedi.Tips
Must be an amazing feeling to see the devs finally closing your issue today! 😀
Frank Küsel
Excellent news!
Greengordon
This is a great improvement, thanks!

"This means everyone will be able to see a thread's whole conversation no matter which server they are on! 🥳 "

#Mastodon
#mastodon
ꓤ uɐᗡ :verified_hellion:
given that an update rolled out literally a day or two ago and before that I think it was a week it should be sooner I would think
Fedi.Tips
I am trying to manage people's expectations, as updates have sometimes taken months to appear 😅

Also, there's an additional thing that one of the devs @renchap has just pointed out, there may be tweaks needed before actual general release as its real world performance still needs to be checked.
@Renaud Chaput
ꓤ uɐᗡ :verified_hellion:
that seems like a significant hurdle but if it's in develop I think that means it'll be on the main instance soon which is a pretty excellent test
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Dr. Quadragon ❌
Oh, my fucking god, not a milisecond too soon!!!!

@rolle
@Roni Laukkarinen
Григорий Клюшников
Oh hey, now Smithereen isn't the only fediverse software that does this 😅
Botolo
this is amazing news and one of the limitations of Mastodon that bothered me the most.
Jorge Saturno
this is a great improvement! 👏
Astro
Will this obsolete https://github.com/nanos/FediFetcher ?

GitHub - nanos/FediFetcher: FediFetcher is a tool for Mastodon that automatically fetches missing replies and posts from other fediverse instances, and adds them to your own Mastodon instance.

FediFetcher is a tool for Mastodon that automatically fetches missing replies and posts from other fediverse instances, and adds them to your own Mastodon instance. - nanos/FediFetcher
GitHub
Fedi.Tips
When the feature is actually deployed, it might reduce the need for it. However it may be a few months until that happens.
Luke Nelson
See this reply from @michael
https://mstdn.thms.uk/@michael/114150189947438232

Michael (@michael@thms.uk)

@rolle@mementomori.social Actually, @luc122c@social.nelson.zone separately DM'ed me in a private mention.
thms.uk
@michael
yetzt
why is merged in airquotes? what did actually happen?
meme, dr. evil gesturing airquotes with their fingers to the word "merged"
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Fedi.Tips
Yes it did actually happen! It's just in quotes because my account is aimed at a non-technical audience, and the rest of the sentence explains what merging means.
yetzt
i'm doubtful double quotes are a good marker for domain specific terminology when they have so many meanings.
Fedi.Tips
The scene you're using the image from is exactly what I was doing, putting quotes around a potentially unfamiliar technical term:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voSpOrimkMY

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
www.youtube.com
manisha
yay, huge shout out to @jonny who made this feature possible!!

#FetchAllReplies
#fetchallreplies @jonny (good kind)
Fedi.Tips
Yes, indeed! Thank you so much to @jonny for your work on this, a lot of people all over the Fediverse are very happy to see it!
@jonny (good kind)
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (3 Wochen her)
joene 🏴🍉🌲
I have the idea that things are already working like that. The only replies I don't see are from people I have muted and blocked, or vice versa. And I'm not on a super large server (around 500 active accounts). Anyway, it should have some advantages for smaller servers I suppose. The only issue I have is that spam will also be fetched.
Fedi.Tips
You might be seeing a lot of replies but perhaps not all of them. It will also vary a lot depending on whether your server has noticed the people in the replies. There might be some threads where you don't see so many of the replies.

The idea of this feature is to take away the randomness of it, and let everyone see the same thread regardless of where they are or which accounts their server has noticed.
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Fedi.Tips
p.s. More info from one of Mastodon's core developers @renchap :

Fetch All Replies will be in the next experimental version of Mastodon (aka the "nightly" version). It will be disabled by default, but will be tested to see how it behaves on a small number of real servers. Once the developers are confident it works okay, they will release it fully to everyone.

Server admins are free to use nightly versions at their own risk, so you may see this on some servers before the "official" release.
@Renaud Chaput
Seeker
@jools
Danke ;)

@mina
Wird dich auch interessieren.

@FediTips
@Mina im Winter @Fedi.Tips @Jools
Loïc Denuzière
So in order for me to see all replies to a given post, will the feature need to be enabled on my server, on the original poster's server, or both?
Fedi.Tips
As far as I know, it would only need to be enabled on your server.
Rapha3l
@mho @michael @exception

This would make FediFetcher obsolete?

#fedifetcher

https://github.com/nanos/FediFetcher

GitHub - nanos/FediFetcher: FediFetcher is a tool for Mastodon that automatically fetches missing replies and posts from other fediverse instances, and adds them to your own Mastodon instance.

FediFetcher is a tool for Mastodon that automatically fetches missing replies and posts from other fediverse instances, and adds them to your own Mastodon instance. - nanos/FediFetcher
GitHub
#fedifetcher @Martin Holland @Stefan Thöni @michael
Lucas Treffenstädt
that's really awesome!
Howard Chu @ Symas
now they just need to fix their thundering herd problem https://mastodon.social/@hyc/111178941734994879

Howard Chu @ Symas (@hyc@mastodon.social)

@ramsey@phpc.social @grmpyprogrammer@phpc.social @dseguy@phpc.social wouldn't it be cool if all that metadata were collected *once*, at the time the poster submits their post, and it traveled along with the post to every server that receives it? Coul…
Mastodon
Ditol
I can't believe Mastodon is finally becoming a proper social media. This partial view of threads was really frustrating and keeping me from engaging in discussions and conversations. Really looking forward to the update.
Wu Evar 🇺🇦
That’s great news!

Does this also work in reverse? I sometimes stumble on replies but can not see the original post (have to jump to the original instance to see it)
Fedi.Tips
It should show you the entire thread when you click on it, you may need to reload the page.

By the way, I think you can already do this if you just want to see the post being replied to? If you click on a reply to focus on it and then reload the page, you should see the post its replying to appear above?
Spocko
thanks. When I see this it reminds me to drop some money to my instance.
manglaneso
Check this out @vesto
@vesto
Bob K Mertz
Thank God.... This was always one of my biggest frustrations
@rolle

#Mastodon
#mastodon @Roni Laukkarinen
Fedi.Tips
This isn't imposing the same thread on everyone. User blocks and server blocks still prevent particular posts being visible for example, as do user filters etc. Admins of servers have ultimate control over what is visible on their servers.

All this feature does is make servers notice the public non-blocked posts in threads that their users are wanting to browse.
Kashouri
That’s a much needed change and a good step forward 😀
Kyrielle
I was LITERALLY just saying to a friend that this social media would be more social if I didn't have to go to another site to see the full set of replies to something, and now the change is on its way. THANK YOU!
AlexLunaView
And this was not incorporated until now? now that is some serious BS! glad its solved
⇧