this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2023
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Fediverse

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Which Fediverse software would you recommend for long-form blog posts or photo hosting? (lemmy.cloudhub.social)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by jax@lemmy.cloudhub.social to c/fediverse@lemmy.ml
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I am wondering about the different fediverse software options and what would be best for various usecases.

Currently, I run a Mastodon and a Lemmy instance that is mostly just for myself, which is great for doing microblogging and link-aggregation/replacing Reddit. In the past I've also used various blog platforms for long-form text posts (documentation/guides), and to host some photography pics.

It feels like Mastodon isn't a good option for hosting long-form content (most instances have 500 char limits lol), nor would it be the best for trying to create a photo space akin to Instagram.

What software options would you recommend for either long-form blog posts or photo hosting? I know Pixelfed is an option (that I am looking into hosting), but is there a good blog option?

I think calckey can host pages and galleries, so it might be a good all-in-one solution? I'm not really sure.

p.s. If I export my content from Mastodon, shut down the instance, then bring up an instance of Calckey with the same domain/username, am I going to break things?

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[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (9 children)

So, lemmy is an option for running a blog. See it mentioned in the documentation here: https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/users/06-other-features.html?highlight=blog#lemmy-as-a-blog.

There would be a few levels of complexity to it. But if you're hosting a lemmy instance already, it shouldn't be any trouble for you ... basically make yourself the only account but allow people to federate with your instance. Add your own modified front end too if you like (as lemmy has separate backend and front end software stacks AFAIU). Interestingly, I think it would be a cool project for people to work on ... a front end suitable for hosting a single (or even multi) user blog on the fediverse.

An additional option would be microblog: https://docs.microblog.pub/. It's a single-user fediverse platform written in python and relying on sqlite (which sounds to me like a nice sweet spot for single-user instances).

[–] jax@lemmy.cloudhub.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ahh, I didn't get that far in the docs, but seeing as there are no (that I can tell) post limits, running a blog on Lemmy would work pretty well with a bit of a UI change.

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, totally, there's search, sorting, comments etc, all in one backend.

A neat blog-focused front-end would actually be super awesome IMO. Many want to be on the fediverse but interact just through blogs. A sort of blogo-verse (not sphere). Lemmy might be the best foundation to make that happen.

[–] KaKi87@jlai.lu 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Hi,

A neat blog-focused front-end would actually be super awesome IMO.

I so agree. Did you find any ?

At first I considered using the official Lemmy UI with custom CSS & JS injected, but versioning is still zero-based (0.y.z), which means breaking changes can happen at any time, and that can cause huge issues with customization.

Now I'm considering alternative clients, like Alexandrite, but it's unsupported despite being maintained.

Many want to be on the fediverse but interact just through blogs. A sort of blogo-verse (not sphere).

Did anyone achieve this yet, whether using Lemmy or something else ?

Thanks

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Well there are blogging platforms for the fediverse (ie they federate) I forget their names but in it sure WriteFreely is one.

Beyond that, Wordpress has integrations now with the fediverse which federate as user accounts. It seems to work ok, in that I’ve seen blogs appear in mastodon. But one point of friction I think is how comments are federated. Maybe it works fine but I’m key sure they’ve made a choice to not federate comments from Wordpress to mastodon so there’s context collapse.

Otherwise, the idea I’m thinking of hasn’t been realised yet AFAICT. TBF, it would probably require more than a front end for lemmy, I suspect some backend features would be required too. Nothing too big I’d think. But alas no. Still think it’s be cool!

[–] KaKi87@jlai.lu 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I already studied all federated blogging options, unfortunately none actually federate like true Fediverse apps.

I suspect some backend features would be required too

Hmm, there sure could be useful additions but I don't think it's missing anything required though, on the back-end.

The front-end, however, is far from being usable for a blog.

Front end might be lacking in someway but that alone goes pretty far.

Well, a Lemmy front-end, whether official or third-party, for a blog, makes sense for an existing Lemmy user, but for sure doesn't for anyone not knowing what Lemmy is, that's why customization is required on this part.

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well, a Lemmy front-end, whether official or third-party, for a blog, makes sense for an existing Lemmy user, but for sure doesn’t for anyone not knowing what Lemmy is, that’s why customization is required on this part.

Hmmm, at the risk of being annoying, I’m wondering what you’re thinking of exactly. I’m guessing something that’s streamlined in a few ways, like without upvoting etc. and related sorting options? Probably a bit of a facelift too and some elements that make it clear what community/blog you’re looking at?

As I’m writing this I’m thinking that it would probably make sense to have a built in web view specifically for outsiders to see a community as a blog.

[–] KaKi87@jlai.lu 2 points 7 months ago

I’m wondering what you’re thinking of exactly.

  • Removing Communuties, Create post, Create community from menu ;
  • Adding local communities directly to the menu, used as categories ;
  • Adding posts from a "pages community" directly to the menu, e.g. About me ;
  • Removing Trending communities and Trending/Local/All filters from the homepage ;
  • Removing Blocks, Languages, Show NSFW content, Blur NSFW content, Bot Account, Show Bot Accounts, Show Read Posts, Import/Export Settings from settings ;

without upvoting etc. and related sorting options?

No, these are useful.

Probably a bit of a facelift too and some elements that make it clear what community/blog you’re looking at?

Yes.

As I’m writing this I’m thinking that it would probably make sense to have a built in web view specifically for outsiders to see a community as a blog.

A blog-focused front-end, as you said. Either that, or customization of the official front-end (but not while unstable).

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago

That being said, it’s not too hard to run a blog out of lemmy. Just start dedicated communities with moderator posting only and you’re good. Front end might be lacking in someway but that alone goes pretty far.

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