{"p":"","h":{"iv":"ROXSYW+cfvEbFHu5","at":"ocxplSQjdRC3tXEtB/9/wg=="}}

Have you clicked on a popular account but it's blank? This is possibly because your server hasn't "noticed" it yet. If you follow it, your server will show all their future posts from that moment on. (More info at: fedi.tips/why-does-someones-ac)

But, it would be nice if servers could automatically show some past posts too!

This is called "backfilling" and is the most requested feature on Mastodon. If you're comfortable using Github you can vote for it by giving a thumbs up at github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i

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Jynegap

@feditips This explains a lot…

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Adam Nelson

@feditips So this is the issue that prompted me to ask mastodon.online/@arnelson/1099, and it's disheartening that this has been an open bug since 2016 and still not addressed. 🫤

How does other Fediverse software handle this issue? Do #Pleroma and #Misskey and their various forks backfill posts?

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FediTips has moved!

p.s. Just had a question about the technical justification for the current lack of backfilling. This post in the thread by ClearlyClaire, one of the main Masto devs, might be useful to read if you are a developer too:

github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i

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The1goit :v1:

@feditips if that ever happens to me, I view it on it's own instance

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Citrouille

@feditips it seems to me we should just get clients to browse the other server. Backfilling is an option but it's too late, I want to make a decision to follow an account based on their previous content. But good thing other people are noticing.

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Biotech Dilemma

@feditips I guess it happens more frequently on Pixelfed. I wanted to follow someone from a different instance and I can only see 2 or 3 of their photos instead of all of them.

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Joe

@feditips The difficulty with having the server backfill is that now it has to store all of the old posts from an account that no one followed before, just because one user of that server wants to see them (though that might be fine for a single user instance, the cost could be high otherwise). It seems that instead, we could design apps, or the web interface, to fetch the old posts directly from the account's instance instead of requiring that they move to the server first.

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Cole Pascua 🇨🇦 🇵🇭 🏳️‍🌈

@feditips Interesting. I have followed numerous accounts with thousands of followers since months ago, but I still don't see their posts using the mobile app.
When I do go to their blank profile and click "Open in browser", I now see all their posts.

Is this an app issue, or is this related to the backfilling?

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Gnome!

@feditips Have there been existing PRs or forks that have this implemented? Seems like thumbs up on this issue isn't going to get it implemented after how ever many years, someone needs to write some code

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Morgana

@feditips Thanks!!!

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Virginicus

@feditips OK, I really needed to know this.

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Mostly Harmless (Cam Johnson)

@feditips Thought my single user instance was broken for the longest time because of this issue. Feels much more empty than it should.

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Rune Ranch - ルーン牧場

@feditips That explains it, been seeing this often, didn’t know why.

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marnanel

@feditips apps should be able to figure that out themselves though and pull the data, even if the server doesn't offer it immediately

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