Mastodon has options to show four different timelines: Home, Local, Federated and Explore/Trending. They might be called slightly different things depending on what app or interface you’re using, but they do the same thing.
- Home is the normal timeline that you see by default. It shows you all the posts from all the people you follow in chronological order, with newest posts at the top. It also shows posts from hashtags you follow, and posts boosted by people or groups you follow. This is what you see when you log in on your account.
- Explore/Trending shows the most boosted recent posts, most used hashtags and most shared links.
- Local (also known as Live Feed: This Server) shows all the public posts made by all the people on your server. On larger servers this can be a so-called firehose that is too random and unfiltered. However, on smaller servers this can be a really interesting feed to read, especially if the server is well moderated. Many people on small servers discover new accounts to follow through the Local feed, and it can give servers a strong sense of community.
- Federated (also known as Live Feed: All) shows all public posts that your server has noticed. Click here for a guide to which posts and accounts your server will notice. On larger servers Federated is an absolute nightmare to comprehend as there are so many posts on so many different topics.
Where can I find out more about the Explore/Trending section?
The Trending timeline is described in its own section, click here for the guide to trends.
Why isn’t my post showing up on Local/Federated/Trending timelines?
Local, Federated and Trending timelines only show posts with public visibility settings. If you use another visibility setting, your post will never show up on those timelines.
Can I create my own custom timelines on Mastodon?
Yes. The Lists feature lets you make your own themed mini-timelines with whatever accounts you choose.
How do I view different timelines on Mastodon?
By default you will always see your Home timeline when you log in or open your app.
If you’re using your server’s website or web app, click the 🌎 Live Feeds link at the right of the screen, then select the tab at the top labelled This Server for the Local feed or All for the Federated feed. The Other Servers feed shows the Federated feed minus posts from the Local feed. You can see Explore/Trending by clicking the 🧭 Explore link on the right.
If you’re using the official Mastodon app, click Following in the top left corner of the screen and change it to Local to see your server’s Local timeline. There is currently no support for showing the Federated timeline on the official app. You can see Explore/Trending by clicking the 🔍 magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen and leaving the search box empty.
On third party Mastodon apps the Home timeline will be shown as default, and there will be various interfaces and icons for viewing Local, Federated and Explore/Trending timelines.
The timelines are scrolling way too quickly, I can’t keep up with them! How do I slow them down or pause them?
If you’re logged in through your Mastodon server’s website, you can optionally use “slow mode” to stop all automatic scrolling on feeds. When slow mode is activated, the feed will only show new posts when you manually click a special link at the top of the feed. To switch it on:
- Log in through your server’s website
- Go to ⚙️ Preferences
- Tick the box marked Slow Mode, then click the button marked Save Changes
To deactivate slow mode, do exactly the same thing but UN-tick the Slow Mode box and click Save Changes.
Is there any way to view all the different timelines on the same screen?
If you’re using Mastodon through a computer, the multicolumn advanced web interface lets you view all your timelines at once on the same screen.
How do I see another server’s Local timeline?
Click here for more info on how to do this.
The Local and Federated timelines on my server are just full of junk!
You’re possibly on a massive server that isn’t well moderated. Smaller well-moderated servers tend to have higher quality Local and Federated timelines.