André shared a comment of this post/conversation

Bugger All, Australia (Map), Thu, 27 Jul 2023 20:11:20 -0300 from zap

Did you know?

When using software from the streams repository, instances are actors. You can follow instances. And instances can follow other instances.

Thank you for your time. G'day.

Adam Robertson

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 21:21:59 -0300 from Streams

When you say instances, do you mean an entire installation of Streams, with however many channels it has, can follow another entire installation (instance)? Or does instance mean something else?
I am not sure my terms are correct in my head.

Mike Macgirvin

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 22:28:32 -0300 from zap

Yes. That's what I mean.

Adam Robertson

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 22:57:22 -0300 from Streams

In that case, I give your post a thumbs-up

Adam Robertson

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 22:59:58 -0300 from Streams

some more questions:
when I follow a Streams instance, will that automatically follow all of the channels on that instance?
is there special syntax for following an instance? How would I go about adding an entire instance to follow?
lastly, is it as easy to unfollow an entire instance?

Mike Macgirvin

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 00:03:34 -0300 from zap

When following an instance, the delivered posts are public posts on the other instance -- aka the "site stream". No private posts or private media are included.

You can follow it by putting the baseurl of the site into the 'new connection' box. To unfollow, delete the connection. This does not remove any other you connections you have on that instance.

This has been available for quite some time, but has only been lightly tested, hence my message. I'm just trying to increase exposure. If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, you know what to do. The original intent was for sites to connect with each other into federated community groups and make content discovery easier for smaller sites by following larger (trusted) ones without needing to enable the horrid 'public stream'. It wasn't until later I thought about letting normal channels follow instances, and sure, why not... Anyway that's the concept. I fully expect that it will evolve in ways I never anticipated.

This will probably only work with instances of the streams repository because it represents a third party relay. Might work with Mastodon which supports LD signatures but a lot of projects will just toss the relayed posts.

It's also theoretically possible to turn the site actor into a group. Then it should behave slightly different from what I described and appear to others as a bona-fide group. I don't remember if this part works or not. I haven't looked at it much in the last 2-3 years because I've been busy with other stuff.

Adam Robertson

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 00:05:24 -0300 from Streams

Thanks for the explanation. It sounds like a useful feature

André

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 06:43:55 -0300 from socialwebs

It wasn't until later I thought about letting normal channels follow instances, and sure, why not...

Can already a normal channel follow another streams instance?
I am not interested in doing this right now, but I am curious about how to do it.
How? Just entering the instance address in the "Add new connection" input line?
Thanks.

Giac El Vecio

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:58:03 -0300 from Diversi Spiritus

You can follow it by putting the baseurl of the site into the 'new connection' box. To unfollow, delete the connection. This does not remove any other you connections you have on that instance

André

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:21:34 -0300 from socialwebs

Thanks! (I've thought that instruction was for admins only - not for "normal channels" of non-admin users).

Papa Dragon

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:23:54 -0300 from CaseLibre

Very, very cool feature.