Is the iOS app the only place you can turn off cross-posting?

Cross-posting
1

I discovered that I could turn off cross-posting while posting from the iOS app, which is great, and I use that feature often.

However, I can’t seem to find that option (to disable cross-posting to my other feeds) anywhere else. Not when posting from the micro.blog website vis my browser, or when using Sunlit, or the Mac app. Am I just missing it in those places?

Thanks!

2

I don’t know about the other apps, but you can control cross-posting for your feeds on the web at this page: https://micro.blog/account/feeds.

3

Oh yep, I do know about that page! I’m asking specifically about the ability to turn off the cross-posting right when you’re about to post, just for that post. Like in the iOS app, if I’m posting something I don’t want to show up on Twitter or Mastodon, I can just turn off those feeds for that one post.

But that seems to be the only place where you can make a post and do that. Sunlit and the Mac Os app don’t seem too offer those options. In those other apps, if I want the thing I’m posting not to appear on my other feeds, I have to go fire up the browser, go to my settings, and turn it off at the page you posted to, and then remember to turn it back ON after the post has published.

But since I’m still new to all this, and it took me a few beats to realize how do to it with the iOS app, I’m wondering if maybe I missed that option with the others? Or if it’s not an option, will it be later?

4

The discrepancies between different apps are indeed there, and this is sad. Faced the same issue yesterday.

5

Unfortunately, this is not possible in the official iOS app either. The option you’re talking about is global and will also affect future posts. Here’s how the option is described in the app:

Disable cross-posting by unchecking your feed here. This setting will be remembered across Micro.blog until it is changed again.

So disabling cross-posting in the iOS app will have the same effect as disabling it in the web app. You will have to remember to enable it again for future posts.

1 Like
6

@sod Hahaha! This whole time I thought it was temporary, for just that post! Well heck, thank you for explaining that!

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7

Folks have asked Manton about this feature, but his feeling in general is that adding more friction during the posting process goes against the idea of Micro.blog-- so more options or steps involved there runs counter to his goals for the apps/service. Cross-posting is meant to be a bit “set and forget”.

8

This is admittedly pretty confusing, because it’s not clear that the iOS setting is actually identical in behavior to the button in Account → Edit Feeds. The iOS app is just a convenient way to toggle it.

I think it might help us prioritize to think about improvements in 2 separate areas:

  • Make it easier and more consistent to disable cross-posting across apps.
  • Make it possible to actually disable cross-posting on a per-post level. This needs more thought, as @jsonbecker said we’ve resisted adding this for now.

Thanks y’all.

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9

@jsonbecker mentioned friction, but for me it adds a lot more friction to not have the feature. Mastodon is a real problem. In my instance, they want CW for things like food photos, and every photo needs to have alt text, and many topics that seem normal on a blog (discussions of food or stress or politics) require a CW on Mastodon. I simply can’t do this from my micro blog (which is fine), so for the cross-posting from here to be useful I really need an easy way to say, “Don’t cross-post this post,” when I’m composing.

If I leave cross-posting on, that dilutes what I post to my own blog, since I don’t want to stress about what posts are showing up on Mastodon, and it kills my ability to post photos. If I turn cross-posting off, then everything I do want cross-posted has to be done manually.

10

We can take this conversation elsewhere, but required CW for food photos is pretty extreme.

That being said, CW is not really a thing easily replicated by any service that syndicates to Mastodon, since it’s not a standard.

1 Like
11

I was not asking for CW to be included on Micro blog’s end. I specifically said “this is fine” in reference to that.

I was explaining why it creates more work not to be able to just turn off cross-posting for a single post.

As for CW, I don’t see the relevance of whether you think it’s extreme. The point of Mastodon is that people create spaces where they feel safe. I support this. If the admins of my instance feel that guideline is helping people feel safe (and feedback strongly suggests it is), I’m happy to respect that.