I can see the !fallout@lemmy.world and join, but I can't see !fallout76@lemmy.world unless I search anonymous. Is it my instance? I've felt that finding communities is hard before. I've been looking for a place to post art requests, 3d model requests, chat about certain books, etc. I haven't found the communities, but I hear others refer to them as if they are there. Is my instance limited? How can I find out?

Edit: I found fallout76 on an anonymous search. When I search logged in to my account it does not show. But I clicked my own link, and it let me hit subscribe.

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[–] OpenStars@discuss.online 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

(1) When you go to the Communities page on your instance and do your search, make absolutely certain that the setting at the top is All, bc the default is Local and therefore it won't show such communities on another instance.

When I do the search for fallout76 that way, I am able to see it: https://leminal.space/search?q=fallout76&type=Communities&listingType=All . But maybe that's because you've already joined it?

Alternately, you can kinda force the community link by placing c/communityname after https://instancename/

(2) Clicking that link (https://leminal.space/c/fallout76@lemmy.world) will show no posts until someone from your instance joins, and even then it can take a few hours. Or more weirdly you could see only old posts but no newer ones. All of that is normal due to how the federation process works, trying to be efficient and only pull in content that someone on your instance has specifically requested.

But give it a few hours and you should be good to go:-).

(3) Being anonymous shouldn't have anything to do with anything. I do note though that your instance is running the latest 0.19.8, which is still in beta. Being on the bleeding edge like that, you should expect to encounter more problems than usual on the Fediverse.

As Blaze mentioned, if you want a more seamless experience on the Fediverse, then you may want to switch to one of the top 20 instances (though I see that sopuli.xyz is likewise running 0.19.8). There is no rush though, so make sure to take time to think about what you want. Fwiw, Lemmy.zip is known for gaming (though it is also running 0.19.8!?:-). In the Settings menu is an account Export & Import pair of buttons that will transfer your subscribed communities and block lists, but note that messages to your old account will not follow you over to the new.

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lots of good tips here. Thanks for all the details. I did join fallout76, but a little later I'll try these tips searching for some other communities I'm interested in.

So far, I think I'll stick with @leminal.space I like the name and I don't need super smooth behavior. I'll take it as an opportunity to learn more about how the gears turn.

[–] OpenStars@discuss.online 5 points 1 day ago

It is indeed a damn cool name, and yeah I tried to carefully not imply that you did not want to have to solve problems - your asking here is already a sign that you could be a major help to others on that instance that likewise need aid joining communities and such:-). But... "managing" expectations, yeah I would expect to have more issues on the instances running still-beta software (though technically Lemmy itself is all still in beta!?:-P). On the other hand, so many issues running 0.19.8 in particular seems a good sign in general for that version specifically:-).

[–] Blaze@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Your instance is small, you can see it on https://fedidb.org/software/lemmy and filter by monthly active users.

It is usually recommended to go to more populated instance as other people would subscribe to other communities for you.

If you want a more populated instance, you can go to

https://discuss.online/ if you want it US-based
https://sopuli.xyz/ if you want it EU-based

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I feel like more people using smaller instances is a good thing, as it helps them become one of those desirable instances, and helps keep the Admins of those small instances motivated to maintain their instance (since they see their efforts being rewarded).

I do get that a bigger instance provides a smoother experience out of the box, but with Lemmy Federate and Lemmyverse search, I feel like it's easier to overcome a small instance limitation on lemmy compared to a small mastodon instance.

That's just my two cents though.

[–] Blaze@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

I guess it depends on the user profile.

If they want to make an instance grow, and are ready to subscribe to most of the communities themselves, then sure, go for it!

If they just want something that works, the two suggestions above are quite good. Sopuli and DO aren't even that big now, so they can also benefit from the promotion

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Thanks! I didn't realize the search would be impacted by that.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You can also use https://lemmyverse.net/ to search and plug the exact instance in your search and subscribe to it temporarily to see its contents.

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 1 points 1 day ago

Neat. I'll bookmark this

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

You can also see if your admins are interested in participating in Lemmy Federate