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diff --git a/doc/snac.1 b/doc/snac.1 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2ed24d --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/snac.1 @@ -0,0 +1,208 @@ +.Dd $Mdocdate$ +.Dt SNAC 1 +.Os +.Sh NAME +.Nm snac +.Nd A simple, minimalistic ActivityPub instance +.Sh SYNOPSIS +.Nm +.Cm command +.Ar basedir +.Op Ar option ... +.Sh DESCRIPTION +The +.Nm +daemon processes messages from other servers in the Fediverse +using the ActivityPub protocol. +.Pp +This is the user manual and expects an already running +.Nm +installation. For the administration manual, see +.Xr snac 8 . +For file and data formats, see +.Xr snac 5 . +.Ss Web Interface +The web interface provided by +.Nm +is split in two data streams: the public timeline and the +private timeline. There are no other feeds like the server-scoped +or the federated firehoses provided by other similar ActivityPub +implementations like Mastodon or Pleroma. +.Pp +The public timeline, also called the local timeline, is what an +external visitor sees about the activity of a +.Nm +user: that is, only the list of public notes, boosts and likes +the user generates or participates into. This is, obviously, +read-only, and not very remarkable, unless the user publishes +messages of staggering genious. A set of history links, grouped +by month, will also be available at the bottom of the page. +.Pp +The private timeline, or simply the timeline, is the private, +password-protected area of a +.Nm +server where the user really interacts with the rest of the +Fediverse. +.Pp +The top area of the timeline provides a big text area to write +notes for the public (i.e. for the user followers). As this is +the second most important activity on the Fediverse, this is +located in the most prominent area of the user page. You can +enter plain text, @user@host mentions and other things. See the +.Xr snac 5 +manual for more information on the allowed markup. +.Pp +More options are hidden under a toggle control. They are the +following: +.Bl -tag -offset indent +.It Follow (by URL or user@host) +Fill the input area with a user 'actor' URL or a user@host +Fediverse identifier to follow. +.It Boost (by URL) +Fill the input area with the URL of a Fediverse note to be +boosted. +.It User setup... +This option opens the user setup dialog. +.El +.Pp +The user setup dialog allows some user information to be +changed, specifically: +.Bl -tag -offset indent +.It User name +Your user name, or not really that. People like to include +emojis, flags and strange symbols for some reason. +.It Avatar URL +The URL of a picture to be used as your avatar in timelines +around the world. +.It Bio +Enter here a bunch of self-indulgent blurb about yourself. +The same markup options available for text notes apply here. +.It Password +Write the same string in these two fields to change your +password. Don't write anything if you don't want to do this. +.El +.Pp +The rest of the page contains your timeline in reverse +chronological order (i.e., newest interactions first). +.Nm +shows the conversations as nested trees, unlike other Fediverse +software; everytime something new is added to a conversation, +the full thread is bumped up, so new interactions are shown +always at the top of the page while the forgotten ones languish +at the bottom. +.Pp +Private notes (a.k.a. direct messages) are also shown in +the timeline as normal messages, but marked with a cute lock +to mark them as non-public. Replies to direct messages are +also private and cannot be liked nor boosted. +.Pp +For each entry in the timeline, a set of reasonable actions +in the form of buttons will be shown. These can be: +.Bl -tag -offset indent +.It Reply +Unveils a text area to write your intelligent and acute comment +to an uninformed fellow. This note is sent to the original +author as well as to your followers. The note can include +mentions in the @user@format; these people will also become +recipients of the message. If you reply to a boost or like, +you are really replying to the note, not to the admirer of it. +.It Like +Click this if you admire this post. The poster and your +followers will be informed. +.It Boost +Click this if you want to propagate this post to all your +followers. The original author will also be informed. +.It Follow +Click here if you want to start receiving all the shenanigans +the original author of the post will write in the future. +.It Unfollow +Click here if you are fed up of this fellow's activities. +.It Delete +Click here to send this post to the bin. If it's an activity +written by you, the appropriate message is sent to the rest +of involved parts telling them that you no longer want your +thing in their servers (not all implementations really obey +this kind of requirements, though). +.It MUTE +This is the most important button in +.Nm +and the Fediverse in general. Click it if you don't want +to read crap from this user again in the forseeable future. +.El +.Ss Command-line options +The command-line tool provide the following commands: +.Bl -tag -offset indent +.It Cm init Op basedir +Initializes the database. This is an interactive command; necessary +information will be prompted for. The +.Ar basedir +directory must not exist. +.It Cm check Ar basedir Op uid +Does a minimal health check to the database and its users. If a +user id is provided, only this user will be checked. +.It Cm purge Ar basedir Op uid +Purges old data from the timeline of all users. If a user id is +provided, only this user's timeline will be purged. +.It Cm adduser Ar basedir Op uid +Adds a new user to the server. This is an interactive command; +necessary information will be prompted for. Also, a copy of +the server +.Pa style.css +is installed in the user's +.Pa static/ +directory. +.It Cm httpd Ar basedir +Starts the daemon. +.It Cm queue Ar basedir Ar uid +Processes the output queue of the specied user, sending all +enqueued messages and re-enqueing the failing ones. This command +must not be executed if the server is running. +.It Cm update Ar basedir Ar uid +Enqueues a user information Update message to all followers. +.It Cm passwd Ar basedir Ar uid +Changes the password for a user (interactive). +.It Cm follow Ar basedir Ar uid Ar actor +Sends a Follow message for the specified actor URL. +.It Cm unfollow Ar basedir Ar uid Ar actor +Sends an Unfollow message for the specified actor URL. +.It Cm mute Ar basedir Ar uid Ar actor +Mutes an actor for the specified user. This is the most important +command for the Fediverse. The user will no longer receive nor +read another activity from the specified moron. +.It Cm unmute Ar basedir Ar uid Ar actor +In case a muted moron is no longer a moron, it can be unmuted +this way. This is the least used command ever. +.It Cm like Ar basedir Ar uid Ar url +Enqueues a Like message for a post given its url. +.It Cm announce Ar basedir Ar uid Ar url +Enqueues an Announce (boost) message for a message post its url. +.It Cm request Ar basedir Ar uid Ar url +Requests an object and dumps it to stdout. This is a very low +level command that is not very useful to you. +.It Cm note Ar basedir Ar uid Ar text +Enqueues a Create + Note message to all followers. If the +.Ar text +argument is - (a lonely hyphen), the external editor defined +by the EDITOR environment variable will be invoked to prepare +a message. +.El +.Sh ENVIRONMENT +.Bl -tag -width Ds +.It Ev DEBUG +Overrides the debugging level from the server 'dbglevel' configuration +variable. Set it to an integer value. The higher, the deeper in meaningless +verbiage you'll find yourself into. +.It Ev EDITOR +The user-preferred interactive text editor to prepare messages. +.El +.Sh SEE ALSO +.Xr snac 5 , +.Xr snac 8 +.Sh AUTHORS +.An grunfink +.Sh LICENSE +See the LICENSE file for details. +.Sh CAVEATS +Use the Fediverse sparingly. Don't fear the mute button. +.Sh BUGS +Plenty. Some issues may be documented in the TODO.md file. |