Diaspora/Website

Earthd*

diaspora* HQ

You consider Jill a slight acquaintance, and put her in your “Acquaintances” aspect.

Jill, however, thinks of you one of her best friends, and puts you in her “Close friends” aspect.

You post most things only to your “Friends” or “Family” aspects, so Jill doesn’t see many of your posts.

Because you’re in Jill’s “Close friends” aspect, on the other hand, you see almost everything she posts.

Finding people

Another way to follow a friend is by sending them an invitation mail. This can be done through the <span class="click">by mail </span> link in the menu on the right of the search results page or from the <span class="click">Invite your friends</span> link in the sidebar of the stream page. As soon as your friend accepts the invite, they will be taken through the same registration process you have just been through.

From their profile

Another way to add a person to one of your aspects is by clicking their name wherever you see it in diaspora*. This will take you to their profile page, from where you will be able to add them to aspects using the button in the top right corner of the page.

Alternatively, just hover over their name or profile photo in the stream, and a small “hover-card” will appear. You can add them to an aspect directly from this hover-card.

Following #tags

The above three options focus on connecting to people you already know. But sometimes strangers can be just as interesting, if not more interesting, than people you already know. A great way to start connecting with people is to start following some #tags of subjects that interest you. Posts containing those tags will then appear in your stream, and you can follow people who post things which you find interesting, by placing them into one of your aspects.

You now know how to start sharing with people, and hopefully you’ve been able to add some contacts. You’ll now start seeing content from them in your stream; and once people have started sharing with you, you’ll have an audience for your posts. <strong>It’s time to start publishing some content.</strong>

Part 5 – Start sharing!

Start sharing!

Now that you have some contacts, it’s time to start sharing content with them.

The publisher

Sharing content in diaspora* is done via the publisher, which is located at the top of the middle column on most pages in the diaspora* interface. You have probably already clicked it, and if you did you probably weren’t able to resist posting something! Posting a status message is as simple as can be. A bit later in this tutorial we’ll look at some of the more complex things you can do with the publisher, but let’s start with an introduction.

The publisher may look like a dull, narrow box but don’t let its appearance deceive you: beneath its minimalist appearance lies a treasure trove of features, which you can trigger by clicking inside the box.