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New kbin user guide (preparation for impending wave of reddit migrants in July)

This article is an x-post from m/quickstart

Quick note before starting: although this article is far from comprehensive, I wanted to get something done in time for the next wave of reddit migrants when the third party apps close down.

What you see below was written in anticipation for the same set of questions from new users being asked again and again.

If you want me to add anything in, or make any corrections, comment here and I will do my best to make amendments before I repost it on 1st July. Thanks!

All screenshots were taken using the kbin Web version on chrome for android, unless otherwise specified.

How to use this guide

This article is a work in progress, but what I am hoping to achieve is an easy to follow, quick to consume guide that presents you with the knowledge you need in a somewhat logical order.

To that end, I have divided it up into sections, or 'tiers'. The idea being that once you are confident at one tier, you can move up to the next. So let's start with...

1. Lurker Tier

Intro to subscriptions and magazines (kbin communities)

Other basic navigation

Voting and boosting content

Optional quality of life settings

Exploring the Fediverse

Useful information

2. Contributor Tier

Basic terminology

Don't worry if all these terms don't click with you right away. You might even be able to disregard a few of them. Either way, you can always come back and refer to this later.

  • A 'magazine' is a kbin community
  • Magazines contain 'threads' and a 'microblog'
  • The terms thread and microblog can cause some confusion, so we'll clear that up soon. But first...
  • A thread is a discussion based on either an 'article' (i.e. text post), a link, a photo, or a video (although video is not yet supported)
    How to create an article
  • A 'comment' is a response to a thread
  • A 'microblog' is a collection of 'posts' that are based on the magazine itself as opposed to a single article, link, photo, or video
  • Confusingly, a post can still contain things like images, it's just that its replies will appear alongside all the other microblog posts
    How to upload an image to display on a post
  • Responses to microblog posts are called 'replies'
  • The distinction between comments and replies is significant because they are split by type in your user profile by those names.
  • A 'favourite' is a thread you have upvoted using the arrow button
    How to view your favourites

Threads vs microblog posts

ThreadPostShown on front page✅️YES❌️NOAdded to favourites✅️YES❌️NOCan be downvoted✅️YES❌️NOHas a title✅️YES❌️NOCan be pinned to top✅️YES❌️NOCan be boosted✅️YES✅️YESShown on microblog❌️NO✅️YESCan comment✅️YES❌️NOCan reply❌️NO✅️YES---

Staying engaged

3. Addict Tier

To make good use of the tips in this tier you must have the prerequisite knowledge from tiers 1 and 2.

Tips in this tier may also be quite quirky (e.g. only works on desktop) or require detailed explanations. Or they might be advanced niche tips for users looking to get the absolute most out of kbin.

Although you've reached the end, this article is still a work in progress. If you've any corrections, or feel something is missing, you can reach out to @Friend or post to m/quickstart. Thanks for reading!

Neato ,
@Neato@kbin.social avatar

Isn't there already an app called kbin? It advertises itself at the bottom of kbin.social in mobile.

cyberian_khatru ,
@cyberian_khatru@kbin.social avatar

A few points:

-I feel like even this short guide is overcomplicating it for 90% of potential users. Just add a tl;dr at the start about checking out the relevant settings (top bar, notifications), subscribing to magazines, and navigating to the "subscribed" feed. Like, if I want a hot shower I don't need to know where the water comes from or how pressure is determined by the bermoulli formula, just say what do I press to get the water to come out hot.

-Explain that collapsible comments are coming and there's a userscript for people who are into that.

-I don't think that this separation of tiers is efficient for anyone. Like, if I want to know how to see the local feed is that lurker or addict.

-I think it's overcomplicating threads and microblogs. Yeah, I didn't know there was a difference between replies and comments but it's never been relevant for me this past month. One is like reddit and is compatible with lemmy, the other is like twitter and lets you talk to mastodon users (and misskey, and calckey,...).

-On that note, some people get overly confused with the concept of federation (in part because people usually overcomplicate it when explaining), and this problem is compounded on a platform that also interacts with instances from other platforms. You can just keep it simple and say "you have an account on a website which has its own content. There are others that look exactly the same with different users and content, but you have access* to all of that too".
*unless admins decide to defederate specifically from your website, like what beehaw did.

Ironic that I said to keep things short and then wrote a huge comment.

CarlsIII ,

@Friend. Do you have any tips for being able identify which instance a post is from? The “@**.” part of an instance name is usually cut off, and often the post title will say “kbin.social” next to it even if it’s not a kbin post. The only way I know for sure to tell is to click on a post and scroll past all the comments.

Edit: for example, this post: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/100869/YSK-If-you-make-popcorn-in-a-pot-on-the

The post title clearly says kbin.social next to it. By he community label just says “youshouldknow.” It looks the same way from my home page: The only reason I know it’s actually on Lemmy.world is because I scrolled past all the comments, and also it’s in the url (which i am only looking at here because I copied and pasted the direct url for the post.)

Edit 2: I should probably also clarify that I am on mobile, so mouse-over’s are a no-go.

cendawanita ,
@cendawanita@kbin.social avatar

@CarlsIII try click on More at the original post and select Copy to Fediverse. That'll get you the originating url. This works for every type of post and comment.

@Friend

CarlsIII ,

@cendawanita

@Friend

Again, this is all way more work than it would be if the post just showed the instance in the first place. I already know I can find out what instance if I do some scrolling and clicking. I would prefer to just have the “@beehaw.org” added to the community name in the post (and to not display “kbin.social” on posts that aren’t even from kbin. I still haven’t heard an explanation for that.)

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