*banned 4 MarkDown love* @design_RG@social.cleverlibre.org

@zleap @gioypi @freemo Yes -- I tried loading it just now and got that 502 error also.

@zleap

I see the same error too -- a certificate security issue. :(

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/error-codes-secure-websites?as=u&utm_source=inproduct

@gioypi @freemo

@Liberonscien Very nice post, thank you, Good morning!

@cg Hello, and welcome to Qoto.

Enjoy the network and all it has to offer. If you are new to using Mastodon, there's a good guide here: https://lifehacker.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-mastodon-1828503235

We also have another new users guide, posted here : https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/suggestions-and-guidelines-for-new-users-written-by-mastodon-art-administrator

An official JoinMastodon.org "What is Mastodon ?" short video is here : https://youtu.be/IPSbNdBmWKE

@josias Welcome Josias!

@ramob

>> Is this hosted on a VPS/cloud or what? Just curios if the cost is mainly internet throughput or actual infrastructure cost.

The whole Qoto.org is hosted via https://masto.host/ services, which keeps it up and ticking with basic maintenance, backups, etc.

But at a steep cost, which depends on how much data transfers are used, the amount of RAM needed for each virtual server, etc.

Self-Hosting is a good way to cut costs down drastically, but it comes at a cost of time and labour needed to keep an eye on things frequently.

Koyu.space recently switch over to self-hosting and I imagine their costs came down a lot. Their server is described in their About pages :

https://koyu.space/about/more#technical-information

@freemo

@ramob

>> Anything we can do to help?

Thank you for the offer, but this would depend strictly on someone with Admin permissions to the Forum -- so a very restricted group. This morning excellent news is that the Forums are Back Online.

Freemo discovered the cause was one of the installed plug-ins for Discourse, so turning them all off restored service. Which is great and a lot less work than a full restore or looking for a stable version upgrade (we seem to have the latest Stable release installed, which shouldn't have such a blatant BUG in it after Beta testing).

So, now that it is alive, Everyone can help the Forums by using them -- respond and comment on existing topics, create new ones, ask Questions, learn something new.

Forums have LOTS of features that Mastodon Doesn't have, and likely never will have.

* Enhanced Text Formatting. Bold, Underline, Italicized. Heading Sizes, inline images, etc.

* Pretty Quoted text!

* Clean links to other pages without NAKED URLS like here, which is so much neater looking.

Some of those features, like the text formatting and even the proper discreet links can be done in a MarkDown capable instance -- GlitchSocial and Pleroma ones all can do it.

But even there, you cannot insert an image in-line, in the middle of a block of text where it logically belongs. Forums and Blogs can, which makes them prettier and nicer to read.

@ramob Before I start responding to this message -- some good news, as the Discourse Forums are back online. :)

https://discourse.qoto.org/

And on to these questions :

- subscription : we don't have any special system, our admin has been paying all the costs for the instance and the other services out of pocket (and this adds up substantially -- the mastodon instance alone is over 120 USD per month). User participation is appreciated, and if you want to do any more, please contact our admin, Freemo.

- gitlab : I think the one at git.qoto.org is the official instance one. I don't know about the other address, Freemo is the one who uses it most and the best person to clarify.

- Funkwhale is a music streaming service, and you can store and play your tracks from there from anywhere. It's possible to see and play other user shared tracks if permissions are given too.

@freemo @zleap

>> You are welcome to generate an invite if there is a mechanism to do so

And since the Discourse Forums are back online (Hallelujah!!) -- the Invite generating is done at a certain page in each user's account settings.

This one would work for user zleap : https://discourse.qoto.org/u/zleap/invited/pending

...or just replace "zleap" with any other username if needed.

An Invite is a personal touch, and avaiable so it could be a nice thing. Good luck!

@quasistellarspirals

Hello, and welcome to Qoto.

Enjoy the network and all it has to offer. If you are new to using Mastodon, there's a good guide here: https://lifehacker.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-mastodon-1828503235

We also have another new users guide, posted here : https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/suggestions-and-guidelines-for-new-users-written-by-mastodon-art-administrator

An official JoinMastodon.org "What is Mastodon ?" short video is here : https://youtu.be/IPSbNdBmWKE

@zleap

@ramob You are welcome. Don't worry with the Discourse account for now, as the Forums are still broken. A bad version upgrade and everything is knocked off kilter.

Content is safe, hopefully, plus there are backups. Hopefully. 😄

@hansw
>> a written name like "Banned for ...." Nobody seems to ban me

"Banned for lack of a Reason" might work ? LOL...

I have seen (can provide URL) an instance co-admin raging at the cute protest names people have been using. She called them something like "Pleroma rage" or the like.

@ramob You will need to create new accounts for the other services -- as there's no integration of user acccounts between them yet.

We suggest using the same username so it's easier to recognize people. 👍️

@khird

Wonderful work -- well done!

@dragfyre @freemo @muffinista @bahai

@Sphinx Check the Settings -- there is an option to turn off compression on their side, or to upload full quality version of photos.

@Sphinx Google Photos has the option of saving the files As Is -- without trying to recompress them to save space.

If they are medium resolution for todays standards, and already in jpeg format, the file will be stored untouched -- and will NOT count against the allocated 15 GB space.

RAW, uncompressed images are huge and cumbersome, and unneeded unless you plan to do further processing, touch ups, professional level work. Those would be best stored locally in an external hard drive for example.

I don't use Google Photos but have read the terms and helped people who DO use them -- and their camera originals are stored untouched and without counting against quota space.

@techmagus Thank you for the suggestions, they make sense! Cheers! 😺

@khird

I think there might be Federation restrictions at the Botsin.space side -- I had noticed one of my Followed accounts from there disappearing from my feeds.

visited and read their About/more pages and there's NO disclosure of their blocking or silencing policies or affected instances. Maybe contact their admin with an enquiry? https://botsin.space/@muffinista is the one.

@dragfyre @bahai @bahai_wiki