Exploring the network
=====================
To get the most out of GNU social you need to find your way around the various
servers.


The different timelines
-----------------------
If you've used Twitter before you're used to the *Home* timeline. This shows
messages posted by people you follow. Because GNU social consists of separate
servers you can browse three different timelines:

Home
    People you follow

Public / Public Timeline
    Everybody on this server

Network / The Whole Known Network
    Everybody that this server knows about

This is how it would look if you followed two people on the same server as you,
plus two people from different servers:

.. image:: ../../resources/user/home-vs-public.png
    :alt: Difference between home and public timelines
    :align: center


Following
---------
Thanks to federation it is easy to follow both people on the same server as you
and on different servers. However, following someone on a different server can
require a couple of extra clicks.

If you're on one of the *Quitter* servers (or any server that uses the Qvitter
plugin) there is an easy way to do both. See
:ref:`qvitter-follow`.

Following people on the same server
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Click on their username to go to their user page. There you will find a button
to follow them. It will look like one of these:

.. image:: ../../resources/user/subscribe-button.png
    :alt: Stock GNU social subscribe button
    :align: center

.. image:: ../../resources/user/follow-button.png
    :alt: Qvitter follow button
    :align: center

Click the button. Their notices will now appear in your Home timeline.

.. _remote-follow:

Following people on other servers
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
First go to their user page. You can always get there by clicking on their
username. This will take you to the server where that person has their account.

Suppose your account is on *quitter.no* and you clicked on a user who is on
*quitter.se*. Your browser will now be at an address like
``https://quitter.se/some_user``. You will not be logged in on the remote
server — you're just a public visitor. Don't try to log in or create an
account; it's not necessary.

The page might look completely different from what you're used to! Every server
can have its own custom style. What you need to look for is the remote follow
button. Here are three examples:

.. image:: ../../resources/user/remote-follow-button.png
    :alt: Qvitter remote follow button
    :align: center

.. image:: ../../resources/user/subscribe-button.png
    :alt: Stock GNU social subscribe button (same as for local)
    :align: center

.. image:: ../../resources/user/subscribe-loadaverage.png
    :alt: LoadAverage subscribe button
    :align: center

Click on it. A box will pop up asking what your account is, in email address
format. If your username is fido and your server is ``quitter.no`` you would
type ``fido@quitter.no``. Then click *Subscribe* or *Remote* follow as
appropriate.

.. image:: ../../resources/user/remote-part-2.png
    :alt: Entering your address
    :align: center

You might (or might not) be taken to an intermediate screen like this one.
Check the details are correct and click *Subscribe* again.

.. image:: ../../resources/user/remote-part-3.png
    :alt: Remote follow, next step
    :align: center

You will now be taken back your own server where you're logged in. You will be
shown profile information about the user you are about to follow. To complete
the process click the *Confirm* button. It will look something like this:

.. image:: ../../resources/user/confirm-stock.png
    :alt: Stock confirm button
    :align: center

.. image:: ../../resources/user/confirm-qvitter.png
    :alt: Quitter.no confirm button (I guess qvitter hasn't styled it)
    :align: center

You are now following that person. Notices that they post from now on will now
appear in your Home timeline. If someone else on your server was already
following them you might get some older ones as well.

.. _qvitter-follow:

Following people using Qvitter
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Qvitter has a handy shortcut for following people regardless of whether or not
they're on the same server as you. Hover your mouse pointer over their name. A
popup will appear. Click the *Follow* button.

.. image:: ../../resources/user/qvitter-hover1.png
    :alt: Hovering over a name in qvitter
    :align: center

It will change to *Following*. You're all done.

.. image:: ../../resources/user/qvitter-hover2.png
    :alt: Now following
    :align: center

Following people using manual subscription URL
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Note: This is not the usual way to follow someone but it's a technique some
people find convenient.*

You can initiate a remote follow directly from your own server. To do this
visit ``/main/ostatussub`` on your server. For example if you are logged in to
quitter.se you would go to ``https://quitter.se/main/ostatussub``. You will get
to a page with an error like this:

.. image:: ../../resources/user/manual-confirm.png
    :alt: First page of the ostatussub confirmation
    :align: center

Enter a profile address such as ``https://quitter.no/doctorow`` and click
*Continue*.  You will jump straight to the confirmation screen as shown above.
