Diaspora/Website

Use the <span class="click">New conversation</span> button at the top of the left-hand column to start a new conversation. The button will open a pop-up window in which you can write a message and add people to include in the conversation.

You can only start conversations with people with whom you have mutual sharing.

When typing a name into the “to” line, the name will be auto-completed, just like when you @mention someone in a post or comment. Click the name of the person you want to contact, add a subject in the subject line, type your message and off you go! It is that simple. You can also use text formatting here, so feel free to add bold titles and big headers in your message.

In the left-hand column, you’ll see a list of conversations, with the title, profile picture of the person who started the conversation, the name of the last person to have replied to it, and to the right the number of contributions to the conversation (in grey; if there are unread messages this will be indicated in red), the time since the last contribution, and underneath, a “multiple persons” icon if there is more than one person other than you involved. Move your cursor over this icon to see who else is involved.

You can read a conversation by clicking it in the left-hand column, after which it will open on the right. At the top left you will find a list of recipients (including people who haven’t yet contributed to the conversation). Make sure to check this before starting to gossip! There may well be more people included in the conversation, all of whom will see your reply.

Replying to a conversation is pretty straightforward. Once it’s displayed on your screen, simply type your reply into the publisher window at the bottom of the conversation, and press the <span class="click">Reply</span> button.

It is possible to delete a conversation from your item list. This can be done by selecting the conversation in the left-hand menu and then clicking the <span class="click">x</span> in the top right corner. Blocking a conversation means you will delete it from the list of conversations and stop receiving any new replies. Please note that it is still possible for others to send replies to other participants in the conversation – you will just not receive them any more.

That is all there is to be said about conversations. You have almost got through the tutorial! It’s time to read the last part!

Part 7 – Finishing up

Finishing up

We have now covered most of the main features on diaspora*. The last part of this tutorial series deals with the last few bits and pieces you’ll need to know about.

Connecting your diaspora* seed to other services

You can connect your diaspora* seed to several other services: Twitter, Tumblr, and WordPress. Of course, to do this, you’ll have to have an account on that service!

Before starting this, make sure you have your account information for that service to hand, because you might need it to authorise your connection with that other service in order for it to work.

To connect to another service, click <span class="click">Connect services</span> in the sidebar of the stream, and then click the relevant icon. If you’re already logged in to your account on that service in the same browser, it should recognise you automatically. If you’re not currently logged in to that service, it’ll ask you to log in now. Once you’re logged in, it will ask for authorisation to publish to your account in that service. Accept this, and you’re ready to post directly from your diaspora* seed to that service!

When you next click in the publisher, you’ll see the icon for that service under the publisher. Click this icon to activate it, and your post will also appear in your stream on that service. Pretty nifty, eh? See %{part_link} for more information on posting to connected services.

Account management

The final thing we need to look at to get you started is the user settings page. To reach it, get to you user menu and, from the drop-down menu, choose <span class="click">Settings</span>. Here you will find an overview of account options.

Profile

Account