Offsite status page

[denise]

We've been looking for an alternative to Twitter (excuse me, "X") for our offsite status announcements of the "shit's fucked enough that the site won't load; we're working on it" variety, and have finally settled on Bluesky as the correct choice for that purpose! If you are a Bluesky user, please follow https://bsky.app/profile/dreamwidth.org; if you aren't a Bluesky user, please bookmark that page.

(Side note because I know people are going to ask: yes, we'd like to add Bluesky (and Mastodon) to the username shortcuts, but the way they construct usernames and profiles is complicated enough that we have to give it some extra thought on how we're going to be able to do it!)

Comments

[paserbyp]

Good to know!

Any reasons to choice Bluesky instead of Twitter (excuse me, "X")?

[denise]

The deterioriation of Trust and Safety measures on Xwitter causing all kinds of awful content to show up recommended next to posts, mostly.

[sheron]

Yay! Most of Twitter seems to be migrating to Bluesky anyway so this is a good base

[emrinalexander]

Thank you! By the wsy, I just went to read a story, and got a 505 down for maintenance page.

[denise]

Error 505 is a really weird error to get - are you sure it wasn't a 500? Sometimes you'll see those when traffic is high; our auto-scaling system will fix it within 2-3 minutes and you can try again.

[full_metal_ox]

Have you also considered adding SquidgeWorld, which uses AO3 source code, to the username shortcuts?

[denise]

I think we might have an issue open to add that; I'll check and if not I'll go ahead and log one when I get a second.

[bluedreaming]

Thank you!

[mellowtigger]

Followed. I don't use Bluesky for anything, but at least I do have an account there. Thank you for not using Xitter any more. Do let us know when you have a Mastodon presence, and I'll be glad to follow again and promote there. :)

[denise]

The issue with using Mastodon for an offsite status page is that it's hard to find an individual instance with a strong record of uptime -- the purpose of using a microblogging site as an offsite status page is not necessarily to reach the users of the service itself, it's because it's incredibly quick and easy to update during an outage, and the easier you make it to update during an outage, the more likely you are to actually do it. So for an offsite status page you want

1. a service with a really strong uptime record
2. that has memorable and easy to reach URLs
3. that allows outside people to view posts without an account
4. that shows the most recent posts first
5. and doesn't hide posts or require a few clicks to see them
6. and is as easy as possible for the person who's working on fixing the busted shit to update really really fast

Mastodon instances fail 1 and 2, Xwitter now fails 3 and 4, Facebook fails 4, 5, and 6, etc, etc, etc. Up until recentlyish, Bluesky failed 3 (and is still a little iffy on 2, but we did our best) but they changed that, and I'm satisfied enough with their uptime record now that it crossed my "okay, make the switch" threshold.

There is a bridge service that bridges posts from Bluesky to Mastodon if your instance admin hasn't blocked it! But this isn't a thing where we're going to be posting regularly or anything: it's just a location for "yeah, we know shit's broken, we're working on it" announcements if we or you can't reach dw_maintenance to see them.

[edschweppe]

Hurrah! And many thanks.

Thanks! One of Bluesky's Benefits

[jesse_the_k]

...is we don't need an account to read the info

[havocthecat]

Good to know! Ty for the update!

[redbird]

Thanks

[homunculus]

was mastodon not viable?

[denise]

I covered it here -- individual Mastodon instances don't have a good enough uptime record to be able to rely on them for offsite "we know things are broken and are looking into it" announcements!

[topaz_eyes]

I have neither Xitter or Bluesky, so I appreciate you moving the status page over to the more easily accessible site.

[qestir]

This! I have a Bluesky account, but I check Mastodon far more often.

[trobadora]

Thanks muchly! Twitter hasn't been readable without an account for ages, so this is really appreciated.

[kradeelav]

deleted twitter in 2021, thank you for choosing something that's easier to follow via RSS feed <3

[juan_gandhi]

Thanks! Following now.

[madfilkentist]

I'm follower #291. Seems to be working.

[madfilkentist]

Tip from a somewhat experienced Bluesky user: You can create a List that contains just the Dreamwidth feed (or Dreamwidth and any other accounts you think belong with it) and pin it to your Home screen, so you can access it quickly if things are looking weird here.

[haertstitch]

I refused to do twitter/x because they encouraged criminal behavior.
I had linked to you on bluesky
thank you for an alternative!

[lash_larue]

Word.

[muccamukk]

Yay! Thank you for this! I can't see X at all anymore, and asking someone with an account to check DW status was more cumbersome than it could be.

Looking forward to being able to @ bluesky accounts when you get the bugs worked out!

[dewline]

Noted and followed, with thanks.

[soc_puppet]

Thanks for the update, and I'm glad to hear you're moving to greener pastures!

On a completely different note, is there a way to submit a user-created mood them to be considered for site-supported? I can't imagine that adding new site-supported mood themes is a high priority even if there is a way for users to submit them, but I've been daydreaming since I started up moodthemeinayear 😅

[denise]

I ... don't know if any of us even remember how to make a new site-wide mood theme, lol, but email support@dreamwidth.org when you have a full one and we'll see if we can remember, heh.

[silverflight8]

Excellent, thanks for the heads up.

[tanya_salpe]

Thank you for this!!
PS. I (as user one_beast) got a Error 503 for maintenance page :
https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/see_request?id=49141

[denise]

This can happen during periods of high volume and our auto scaling system will fix it in 2-3 minutes when it happens.

[ravenna_c_tan]

Done!