A New Era

FediDB started in 2020 to answer a simple question: how big is the fediverse, and what is it made of? Six years later there are more servers, more software and more people than ever, and FediDB needed to grow to keep up with them.

Today we’re shipping the biggest update FediDB has ever had. It has a new design and a new logo, and FediDB is no longer only something you read. You can now help keep it accurate.

A new look#

Every page has been redesigned to be calmer and easier to understand, with dark mode throughout. The new logo, Orbit, puts a database at the centre of an orbit, which is roughly how we think about the fediverse: a lot of independent places moving around each other.

Sign in with your fediverse account#

There’s no new password to remember. Sign in with your Mastodon, Pixelfed or other fediverse account, and FediDB only checks who you are. If your server doesn’t support signing in this way, add a short code to your bio and we’ll find it.

A wiki for software and apps#

Software and app listings used to live in a GitHub repository, updated through pull requests. That kept out most of the people who know these projects best. Now they live in a wiki anyone can edit.

Edits from new contributors are checked by our moderators before they go live, and trusted contributors publish straight away. Every change is kept in the history, so nothing is lost. Wiki text is shared under CC BY-SA and listing data under CC0.

Run a server? Claim it#

If you run a server, you can now prove it and take care of its listing yourself: write its description, choose its categories and set where it’s based. Verified admins can update their server’s page without waiting for review.

Compare software, feature by feature#

“Does it support quote posts?” is one of the most common questions people ask when choosing fediverse software. We wrote 127 questions like it and answered them for 30 projects, with a source for each answer and links to the FEPs behind them.

Put up to six projects side by side, or use the feature finder: pick the features you need and see which software has them. Your list gets its own link, so you can share it.

Answers come from contributors, so if something is wrong or missing, you can fix it.

Help people find a server#

Every software page now has a server picker: a simple page listing servers you can join, filtered by open sign ups, region, size and age. Projects are welcome to link to theirs from their own sites.

Apps, on a map, and in the open#

The apps directory now has screenshots and links to every place you can get an app, from the App Store and Google Play to F-Droid and AltStore.

The new server map shows where the fediverse is hosted, grouped by city. It uses open map tiles.

And everything we collect is now available as weekly datasets under CC BY 4.0, in CSV, JSON and NDJSON. Researchers, journalists and developers no longer need to page through our API. Servers that opted out of FediDB are never included.

Follow along#

This blog is on the fediverse too. Follow @[email protected] from your account to get new posts in your timeline, and reply there. Your replies show up under the post here.

Thank you#

FediDB is made by Pixelfed and funded by the community, not investors. If you find it useful, the best thing you can do is make it better: sign in, fix a listing, answer a feature question or claim your server.

We’d love to hear what you think. Reply to this post from your fediverse account.