-
-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 18
FAQ
Q: What is FreeFeed?
A: It is a realtime social network where people share short texts and pictures. It is developed and supported as an open-source project by a non-profit volunteers’ organization.
Q: Where did it come from?
A: It is a clone of FriendFeed.com, the most advanced social network of 2007-2012, where ‘like’ as a feature was first conceived and implemented. Facebook bought FriendFeed in 2009, and closed it in 2015. By that time FriendFeed had formed a community of devoted users who found great meaning in the social network and all the various ways they used it in. When FriendFeed was closed, this community tried to stick together and create the internet platform for themselves.
Q: Whom can I complain to if something is not working properly, and is it at all helpful?
A: Complaining about bugs is totally helpful: our product is developing as we speak. There will be a time when they fix everything :). If you are having trouble using the site, please tell us all about it in the https://freefeed.net/support group.
Q: How can I help?
A: FreeFeed is developed and supported by a non-profit organization and volunteer work. The simplest way to help is to donate money for the project’s hosting; you can do it by clicking a link in the right column. Also, you can volunteer to join the development team (for more details, read the next Question). Or you can just use FreeFeed; it is getting better and better as you do.
Q: How can I become a volunteer or a developer?
A: We’re constantly looking for volunteers of various specialties, come join us.
- You can help by creating a bug in the bug tracker
- You can help by writing code: the server is at github.com/FreeFeed/freefeed-server, the front end is at github.com/FreeFeed/freefeed-react-client
- You can help by updating our documentation at FreeFeed Wiki
- You can join discussions at freefeed.net/ffdev group or at Slack chat (you can start in #dev channel). Please send an email to freefeed.net@gmail.com to receive an invite to our Slack chat.
- If you want to help some other way, please send email to freefeed.net@gmail.com. Include a short description of your skills, and how you think you can help.
Q: What are the odds that this thing won’t die like the previous social network?
A: As always, there can be no guarantees. However, the network is now supported by a group of volunteers and donators. We are used to having the communication tools provided by FriendFeed and FreeFeed, we have put a lot of effort in making FreeFeed happen, and it is happening. All that seems to indicate the project can have a long and prosperous life.
Q: Where can I find the list of all users?
A: There is no such thing as a unified list of users yet. However, you can browse other users’ friend lists, especially if those users have lots of subscribers, like @welcome, for instance. Also, you can read our introductions post, as well as introduce yourself in the comments.
Q: How many users are there?
A: You can find FreeFeed statistics page at: https://freefeed.net/about/stats
Q: Where can I find the list of all groups?
A: You can find a list of public groups at https://freefeed.net/all-groups
Q: How can I delete my account?
A: On Delete account page in Settings.
Q: What is ‘Vanilla’ & ‘Gamma’?
A: ‘Vanilla’ and ‘Gamma’ are nick-names for two alternate versions of FreeFeed UI. You can read more on them here.
Q: What is ‘BetterFeed’?
A: BetterFeed is a browser add-on for FreeFeed which improves the interface and provides some extra features like switching between accounts. To install it please follow instructions on https://github.com/davidmz/BetterFeed2#betterfeed2. For BetterFeed support check out @betterfeed.
Q: If I want to post a long text with paragraphs, how do I do that?
A: You can use Shift + Enter to insert a line break and split your text into paragraphs. Another option is to divide your text into separate comments: the first paragraph goes into the post body, the next one goes into the first comment, the third one goes into the second comment, etc.
Q: What is the ‘Hide’ button? Does it alter weight of this user in my feed like it does on Facebook?
A: No, it doesn’t. The ‘Hide’ button hides just one post, that’s all.
Q: How is my feed sorted?
A: Feeds are sorted in the backward chronological order, but every comment brings a post up (bumps it). Likes do not normally bring posts up. The only exception is when someone you are subscribed to likes a post of someone you are not subscribed to; in that case the post appears at the top of your feed.
Q: What is ^, and how is it different from ^^?
A: ^, ^^, ↑, ↑↑ and so on are commonly used ways of referring to a comment above yours, like ‘the one above,’ or ‘the one above of the above,’ etc. These symbols are marked grey in your comments, and when you hover your mouse over them, the comment they refer to lights up.
Q: If someone has liked my post, that means they really like it, right?
A: On FreeFeed likes are used for various purposes. It can be a sign of approval or gratitude, a way of subscribing to its comments (since all the posts you liked are available on My Discussions page, or under ‘N likes’ link in your profile). Or it can be a way of sharing your post with another user: if you like a post, your friends are going to see it too.
Q: What is a “display name”?
A: A “display name” (or a “screen name”) is an optional custom name that a user can choose to display instead of their username. You can change your display name as much as you want for any reason, such as to express a mood, or to make a joke. That’s why FreeFeed users often recognize each other by userpics or usernames. It is common here to address a person using their username with an ‘@’ before it. For example, the login of FreeFeed’s official news feed is ‘freefeed,’ its address page is freefeed.com/freefeed. But its display name is “FreeFeed ♡.” So, if someone wants to address this account, they type ‘@freefeed .’ To quickly insert a user mention just click on a cloud icon to the left of their comment, or select “Reply” from the menu next to their comment.
Q: How can I get a link to a particular post?
A: You can get it from the “more” menu, or you can right-click on the post date and choose ‘Copy’ from your browser pop-up menu.
Q: What is “The Non-profit”?
A: FreeFeed the website is managed by FreeFeed MTÜ, the non-commercial organization based in Estonia which manages FreeFeed development. You can find its Articles of Association here. The Non-profit has a Management Board comprised of Managing Director (MD) https://freefeed.net/kukutz and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) https://freefeed.net/indeyets.
Q: What is Supervisory Board?
A: It is a group of FreeFeed users (usually ten), elected by the FreeFeed community, who provide independent assessment of the work that volunteers and the Board of directors do. They are, so to speak, the Non-profit’s critical mind, or the free press. Supervisory Board disciplines the Board of directors and helps them see things clearly and objectively. You can contact Supervisory Board at https://freefeed.net/nabsovet.
At the moment Supervisory Board includes:
– https://freefeed.net/lavale
– https://freefeed.net/mbravo
– https://freefeed.net/payalnik
– https://freefeed.net/pozorro
– https://freefeed.net/prometa
– https://freefeed.net/urbansheep
– https://freefeed.net/eth0
– https://freefeed.net/marynka
– https://freefeed.net/dsumin
You can read more on Supervisory Board here.