How to Use Write.as

Write.as is part of the “fediverse,” a decentralized social network powered by the ActivityPub protocol. This allows users to follow and interact with your blog directly from platforms like Mastodon.

Social handle

Your Write.as blog handle will look just like the ones you see on Mastodon, Pixelfed, Peertube, and other fediverse platforms. For example: @blog@write.as. The first part of your handle (e.g. “blog”) will be the same as your Write.as username or blog alias.

If you use a custom domain for your blog, you can also customize the username part of your handle, as seen here:

Enable federation

You'll go to your blog's Customize page to enable federation. Under the Updates section, simply enable the Federation option to make your blog part of the fediverse.

Note: This will automatically be enabled when your blog is set to Public visibility.

Following your blog

Readers can follow your blog by searching for it from Mastodon or any other fediverse platform they use. They can search for:

• Your handle (e.g. @blog@write.as)
• Your blog's URL (e.g. https://write.as/blog/)

Once they've found it, they can click the “Follow” button they see there.

Fediverse mentions

You can mention other users in the fediverse by simply inserting their full handle in your blog posts — for example, @handle@their.instance

Once you publish your post, any users you've mentioned will receive a notification!

Troubleshooting

Changing your username

The ActivityPub protocol doesn't support changing your handle. So if you change the username part of your handle for a federated blog, users will no longer receive your blog updates. Instead, they'll need to follow your new handle.

Using a custom domain

Similarly to changing your username, if you change the domain part of your handle while you have fediverse followers, they will no longer receive your updates. Instead, they'll need to follow your new handle.

We recommend setting up your custom domain and settling on a permanent handle before enabling Federation and letting people know they can follow you in the fediverse.

Additional Troubleshooting

If you run into any other trouble with your blog's federation, use this topic on our discussion forum for help. If a solution is not presented to your problem there, report your problem on that topic and the community will help.

Demo

To see federation in action, watch a demo of how it works.