Qazm's Bluesky Pointers

• Go to Settings > Languages > Content Languages. Deselect all to see all.

This setting defaults to English + your input locale(s).

I had this reset on me, so check back if you think posts are missing.

The filter doesn't affect the 'Following' feed.

You can use Sky Follower Bridge (Chrome/ium, Firefox) to quickly find your contacts on the other platform. (Video tutorial on Twitter. Use an app password, not your main one!)

Reload the page between following and blocking to clear the list!

For your followers to find you using this tool, have at least one of:

• same display name,
• same handle (before the first "."), or
• your Twitter handle in your Bluesky profile (e.g. as "moved from @…",
  but not "pfp[:| by] @…").

The comparisons are case-insensitive (but matching the case may be good for other tools).

(Endorsed by Bluesky.)

• Go to Settings > Moderation > Content filters. Enable 'Enable adult content'.

  • Right below, choose between 'Show', 'Warn' or 'Hide' for each category.

    'Adult Content', 'Sexually Suggestive' and 'Non-sexual Nudity' can (should) be applied when posting.

    'Graphic Media' is currently used as catch-all by Bridgy Fed, but also may include violence.

  • The initial option likely isn't available in apps for Apple devices. Use a browser.

• Additionally, go to Settings > Moderation > Advanced > Bluesky Moderation Service.

  Here, choose the settings for 'Sexually Suggestive (Cartoon)' as well as other categories.

  (I set most of these to 'Warn', so that I see what's going on but get a clear heads-up still. Your mileage may vary.)

Bluesky has good, global search and indexes alt text.

By adding accurate descriptions to your images, you can appear in search results much more easily.

• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Alt text. Enable 'Require alt text before posting'.

Some also use the alt text for additional explanations, as it can be read by everyone, but it's a bit inconvenient to display in full.

(Think of it like tags on an art site, but first make sure to describe the image for blind users!)

This is important if you're an artist. When posting sensitive media and link previews:

• Click the '🛡 Labels' button.

• If your post contains adult content, select the category that fits your post best among 'Suggestive', 'Nudity' and 'Adult'.

  (Selecting a label reveals an explanation. You can deselect by clicking the selected label again.)

• If your post depicts e.g. violence or injuries, select 'Graphic Media'.

Selecting an adult content label doesn't limit the post's visibility aside from not appearing to minors, people who haven't opted into adult content and specific 'clean' feeds. It also adds your post to certain after-dark feeds.

If you don't self-label your art, it could get labelled as "Sexually Suggestive (Cartoon)", which does have lower visibility because the opt-in isn't nearly as visible as for the other categories.

FurryList is a collection of Bluesky feeds that aggregate posts by furries and automatically sort them by topic. You can read more on their website: furryli.st

Joining the lists requires manual approval. Once you're followed back, you're in.

Make sure to label adult content when posting! This is required for accurate sorting into the feeds and not doing so could get you excluded. Be sure to read the Community Guidelines!

Certain feeds require hashtags for your posts to appear, so include them in the post text or alt text where applicable. As of 2024-08-13 these are:

• #fursuit
• #art or #FurryArt
• #commsopen
• #murrsuit
• #FurryVN or #FurryGame

You can add hashtags to your bio. When someone clicks on them (also in posts), they get the option to see your posts with that tag specifically:

This is a bit easier to find than a custom feed.

(via)

Note that on mobile, you have to long-press the tag, as short-tapping leads to a global search. If you have a GitHub account leave a thumbs-up here to get that changed for bio hashtags or, ideally, submit it as a pull-request directly if you can.

Custom feeds are usually a bit harder to find than profile tags, but they offer more flexibility. They can also be pinned next to "Following" by anyone.

Anyone can publish a custom feed, but it must be hosted somewhere. (Bluesky doesn't offer this as part of their infrastructure, so you have to either self-host or use a third-party service.)

Remember to only use app passwords or (better) OAuth to log into third-party apps, not your actual Bluesky password!

I use SkyFeed for my custom feeds, which is flexible and works well most of the time.

Some alternative clients like deck.blue let you write posts in Markdown or similar. (Remember to use an app password, not your actual one!)

This means you can attach a link to any text in your post, and the normal Bluesky app and website will display it nicely!

Tutorial: https://bsky.app/profile/sky-tan.kawaii.social/post/3l6sx6llwbu2n

Consider liking a useful feed to let its maintainer know and move it up in the feed search results!

Note that feed likes are public to anyone through ATProto, while subscriptions are private and feed owners are not notified of them.

Bridgy Fed is the most notable Bridge on Bluesky and connects ActivityPub*, Bluesky and IndieWeb** websites.

Requirements: Your account must be older than two weeks, have a profile picture and not be hidden from logged-out users.

• If you meet the requirements, follow @ap.brid.gy on BlueSky to enable ActivityPub bridging.

  The account should follow you back shortly and send a 'Chat' message with your fediverse handle to confirm. If not, make sure you're not blocking the account, wait a bit, then try again.

  (It's rare, but this step can fail during huge ATProto traffic spikes. In such a case, try again the next day.)

• You can unfollow the account afterwards, but this makes it a little harder for others to notice that you've bridged yours (because you wouldn't be shown in "Followers you know" there).

You can disable the bridge at any time by blocking @ap.brid.gy. This will also try to delete your virtual account and content from the ActivityPub fediverse. This is a destructive action that removes your ActivityPub followers.

Make sure to label adult content when posting! Bridgy Fed translates Bluesky labels into appropriate fediverse warnings, but currently only self-applied ones. Bridging adult content without label may cause fediverse admins to hide your posts or account on their instance and makes it harder for fediverse users to boost your content.

Not all instances federate with Bridgy Fed (some blocked it during the initial backlash when it was planned to be opt-out), but generally speaking this bridge is in good standing over there and can connect to most places.

You can find more information in Bridgy Fed's documentation.

Bluesky itself does not show this information on your profile, but it can be retrieved by anyone through ATProto, Bluesky's federation protocol.

Mutes are private. Mutelists are public.
Mutelist subscriptions are private.

• Go to Settings > Chat Settings to adjust who can start a conversation with you.

If you have a .bsky.social handle, you can write your profile link like this: https://qazm.bsky.social/

The site redirects to your usual profile page.

The following ratios are not cropped (depending on the image count):

• ≥1:2 (flexible size)
• 1:1, 1:1
• 1:1, 2:1, 2:1
• 3:2, 3:2, 3:2, 3:2
• link previews: ~1.91

Visual guide: https://bsky.app/profile/whey.party/post/3l6rpxqou5g2x

Images larger than 2000px on the longer side are downscaled on Bluesky, but the original size may still be retrieved through the API sometimes.