Bloggers and other publishers using WordPress.com to host their site can now use it to join the fediverse through an official ActivityPub plug-in.
Earlier this year, WordPress.com owner Automattic acquired a plug-in that allowed WordPress blogs to be followed in the fediverse — the decentralized social networks that include the Twitter rival Mastodon and others.
As a result, it launched version 1.0.0 of the plug-in, allowing WordPress blogs to be followed on Mastodon and other fediverse apps. At the time, however, WordPress.com blogs were not yet supported. But that changes today.
What is the “fediverse”?
The fediverse consists of federated platforms like Mastodon, which are networks of independent websites or servers that can communicate with each other while still operating individually. It’s much like email; you can send emails to users with accounts on different services (like Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), yet all of them can interact seamlessly. Similarly, federated platforms enable users to follow, share, and interact with content across different services in a unified network.
What is the ActivityPub plugin?
ActivityPub is a WordPress plugin that facilitates seamless integration between your blog and a host of federated platforms, including Mastodon, Pleroma, Friendica, and more. This plugin empowers your readers to follow your blog posts on these platforms.
In addition, replies to your posts from these platforms are automatically turned into comments on your WordPress blog, creating a more interactive and dynamic conversation around your content. Synchronicity for the win!
“Your WordPress blog can now become a profile for the fediverse. This means your readers can follow you and receive all the latest posts from your blog directly on their preferred platform. More so, they can engage in enriching conversations by replying to your posts, with their replies reflecting as comments on your blog post, creating a synchronized and interactive experience,” the company said in the statement.
“On Free, Personal, and Premium sites, you can enter the fediverse through your settings (see how below); for Business and Commerce sites, simply install the ActivityPub plugin and follow the prompts to set up your profile.,” the statement added.
How to start using the ActivityPub plugin?
- From your blog’s dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion and activate the feature by toggling “Enter the fediverse.”
- Make note of your default fediverse profile name. In the example above, it’s the alias openprotocolfanblog.wordpress.com@openprotocolfanblog.wordpress.com. Your alias will be unique to you, of course, and will be far more memorable with a custom domain! (More on that below.)
- Follow your new profile on a federated platform, such as Mastodon.
- Share your profile name with others so they can follow your blog on federated platforms.
Remember, this feature is applicable to new posts only; and it might take up to 15 minutes for new posts to appear on federated platforms.