Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

5 days ago 5

So, you’ve yet decided to springiness Bluesky a shot. The societal web has travel a agelong mode since the aboriginal bare-bones days of invite-only signups and precocious grew past the 15 cardinal idiosyncratic mark. Along the way, it’s gathered a batch of acquainted posting level features, similar direct messages, pinned posts, and the quality to station videos up to 60 seconds successful length.

But there’s a batch much to it than that, and I’m not lone talking astir lore. (Yes, Bluesky has lore, and that’s astir apt the astir classic Twitter happening astir it.) It’s besides got a fig of features and settings you won’t find connected X oregon Threads, similar the quality to take your ain algorithm oregon moderation tools. These service not conscionable arsenic a accelerated lane to getting the level to consciousness lively but tin besides make the feeling that you, the user, are successful power of your experience.

Here’s a primer connected getting up to velocity connected Bluesky.

Some basics

Bluesky’s Following provender is simply a elemental chronological provender of posts from radical you follow. But you tin besides customize whether it shows replies, reposts, punctuation posts, and / oregon samples from your customized feeds — mounting each of these to “off” means your Following provender volition lone show posts from radical you follow. You’ll find these options successful Settings > Following Feed Preferences.

The level besides lets you determine however you’d similar to spot reply threads by going to Settings > Thread Preferences. Here, you tin benignant by oldest, newest, most-liked replies, oregon person them randomly sorted. (Bluesky besides calls this “Poster’s Roulette.”) There’s an enactment to prioritize radical you travel successful a reply thread arsenic good arsenic an experimental Threaded Mode enactment for showing replies arsenic Reddit-like nested threads.

Custom algorithmic feeds

Screenshot of Bluesky’s customized feeds list.

Bluesky’s customized algorithmic feeds are a large mode to get started without pursuing anyone astatine all.

Screenshot: Bluesky

While Bluesky offers 2 algorithmic feeds to commencement — “Discover” and “Popular With Friends” — things commencement to get a batch much amusive erstwhile you get into customized feeds. Bluesky itself has made some, but astir of the customized feeds are user-created.

These feeds are powerful, making it casual to find radical who stock your interests, spot lone definite types of content, oregon benignant done your ain posts. Want a provender of feline pictures? You got it. Interested successful seeing which of your posts has done the best? You’ll privation the “My Bangers” feed.

To cheque retired the customized feeds:

Tap the three lines icon successful the precocious near to summon the sidebar.
In the sidebar, prime Feeds.
Search for a provender oregon scroll done them to prime the ones you like.
Click oregon pat connected idiosyncratic feeds to preview them.
To travel a provender from the Feeds page, click connected the idiosyncratic feed, prime the 3 dots successful the precocious corner, and past prime Save to my feeds. It volition present look astatine the apical of your Feeds list.
To travel a provender from Bluesky’s homescreen, pat Pin to Home astatine the top. Now, it volition look arsenic a tab astatine the apical of that screen.

Starter Packs

Oh look, a Verge Starter Pack.

Screenshot: The Verge unit Starter Pack

Another casual mode to find Bluesky accounts to travel is Starter Packs. These are prepackaged lists of accounts, often chosen astir a theme. Bluesky’s squad has made immoderate of these, but determination are besides thousands of user-made lists containing accounts that often station astir circumstantial topics oregon are portion of definite groups. (The Verge adjacent has one; you tin find it close here.)

Bluesky hasn’t made Starter Packs searchable yet, truthful the lone mode you’ll find them is by searching extracurricular of the level (I similar this directory), spotting them erstwhile they’re posted by different users, oregon having them sent to you. Once you find a Starter Pack you like, conscionable click the Follow each button astatine the apical of the surface to, you know, travel each of them, oregon prime the Follow fastener by idiosyncratic accounts if you’re feeling choosy.

And if you privation to make your ain Starter Pack, it isn’t difficult: Bluesky has directions close here.

Custom domains

Screenshot of a Bluesky station that reads, “Oh look, I present person a customized domain that reflects my ceaseless interior dialogue.” The domain is “blather.ing.”

I yet figured retired what to bash with that domain sanction I bought past year.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Like Mastodon, Bluesky is simply a federated platform, but it uses AT Protocol alternatively of ActivityPub. As such, you tin pick your ain domain name suffix for your handle. You’ll request to either ain that domain oregon get it from different service, specified arsenic Threads. A connection of warning, though: erstwhile you’ve done this, your grip / domain sanction combo is present escaped for idiosyncratic other to take. (Bluesky says that “any tags oregon mentions with your aged grip volition inactive constituent to your account,” though.)

Change my grip container showing each the assorted domain data.

Use the “Change my handle” diagnostic to power to a customized domain.

Screenshot: Bluesky

To power to a customized domain:

Select Settings > Change Handle.
Choose I person my ain domain.
Enter your domain, and prime Copy Domain Value, which copies the drawstring of substance astatine the extremity of the record.
Navigate to your domain registrar (the institution you bought the domain from) and find an enactment labeled Manage DNS or similar.

A screenshot showing a New Record signifier connected GoDaddy’s DNS absorption screen.

Here’s what adding a caller grounds would look similar successful GoDaddy’s DNS absorption screen.

Screenshot: GoDaddy DNS management

Add a TXT record and participate the grounds accusation you gathered from Bluesky. Note: this process differs betwixt domain sanction providers, truthful you whitethorn request to look up instructions, specified arsenic the ones I’ve linked present for fashionable registrars GoDaddy and Squarespace.
Once you’ve saved the record, hold a fewer minutes, spell backmost to Bluesky, and prime Verify DNS Record. A greenish banner successful the Change Handle container volition look to fto you cognize you succeeded.

Pinned posts

Like X and Threads, you tin pin posts to the apical of your account. Here’s how:

Navigate to the station you privation to pin.
Select the three dots beneath the post.
Select Pin to your profile.

Labelers

A screenshot illustration showing the NFL Team Labeler, and options to amusement crook off, show, oregon fell labels for idiosyncratic NFL teams. Of the six shown, 5 person “Show badge” selected, portion Chicago Bears has “Hide” selected.

The Bears inactive suck.

Screenshot: Bluesky NFL Team Labeler

Bluesky’s moderation is buttressed by Labelers, which are third-party services that tin tag accounts oregon content, either for informational purposes oregon for moderation. The tags are wide-ranging and tin beryllium utilized to fell things similar posts with GIFs, crypto scammer accounts, brand accounts, oregon phobia triggers.

It goes acold beyond that, though. Some usage it arsenic a convenient mode to display oregon presumption pronouns, find fans of their favorite sports teams, and adjacent play text-based games done Labelers like this TTRPG one. Each 1 differs successful its usage and usually offers instructions for utilizing it. Also, Bluesky doesn’t presently person a built-in mode to find Labelers, but there are lists and tools for that.

To usage a Labeler erstwhile you’ve recovered 1 you like:

Navigate to its Bluesky page.
Select Subscribe to Labeler.

If it has a database of labels to customize, prime an enactment for each:
Off: to support the statement off.
Show badge: to spot the statement erstwhile applied to contented oregon accounts.
Hide: to fell contented oregon accounts with that label.

If you determine you privation to alteration those selections later, you tin bash truthful by going to Settings > Moderation and selecting the Labeler from the Advanced section.

App Passwords

The App Passwords surface successful Bluesky.

Screenshot: Bluesky

Bluesky lets you make passwords for different apps to use. This is adjuvant if you similar to usage apps — similar third-party lawsuit Graysky — that instrumentality vantage of the Bluesky API but don’t privation to springiness them your imperishable password. Here’s however you tin bash that.

Navigate to Settings > App Passwords (Under Advanced).
Select Add App Password.
Enter a sanction for the password oregon usage the 1 Bluesky generates.
If you privation to fto the app usage nonstop messaging, tick the Allow entree to your nonstop messages box. Note: you can’t alteration this enactment later; you tin lone delete the password and make a caller 1 for that app.
Select Create App Password.

Read Entire Article