ActivityPub for WordPress

Tag: Mastodon

  • 7.5.0 — Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead

    We’re back with a fresh release, and this one makes following and sharing smoother than ever—plus gives you more control over how your posts can be quoted.

    A New Way to Follow (For Now)

    Starting today, users on WordPress.com sites and self-hosted sites connected through Jetpack can see the posts of accounts they follow directly in their WordPress.com Reader timeline. The Following UI has been around for a little while, yet hidden, and with this release it will be enabled by default for these sites.

    When you follow an account, ActivityPub checks for a discoverable RSS feed. If one exists, it’s automatically added to your Reader timeline so new posts appear alongside everything else you already follow. Unfollowing works the same way—the feed disappears when you remove the account. And if you’d like to view the feed for an account you’ve followed, just hover over it in the list table and click View Feed.

    WordPress.com Reader page displaying recent posts from subscriptions. Shows a post by Eugen Rochko from 2 hours ago featuring an image of Federation Street with a blue cartoon elephant. The left sidebar contains navigation options including Recent, Discover, Likes, Conversations, Lists, Tags, Automattic, A8C Conversations, and Manage Subscriptions.
    WordPress admin Followings page showing a list of 3 accepted follows: notiz.blog, pfefferle (Matthias Pfefferle), and obenland (Konstantin Obenland). The page includes a Follow form for adding new followers via username or profile link, bulk actions dropdown, and an explanation of the ActivityPub follow request protocol.

    Think of this as a bridge: a simple way to read the posts of accounts you follow today, while we continue building a full, first-class ActivityPub reading experience for tomorrow.

    There are a couple of details to keep in mind. Removing a subscription directly in the Reader won’t update your site’s Following list, and interactions are limited to what RSS allows, which means sharing and reposting rather than the full range of ActivityPub features.

    Running a self-hosted site without Jetpack? You can still enable the Following UI manually—it just won’t connect with the Reader.

    Quote Post Controls

    We’ve also added support for Mastodon’s quote post feature—and given you an easy way to control how others can quote your content.

    A screenshot of a blog post quoted on Mastodon.

    When writing in the Block Editor, you’ll now see a sidebar setting that lets you decide whether everyone can quote your post, only your followers can, or if quoting is reserved for you alone. Once published, Mastodon and other compatible platforms will honor your choice automatically. No extra setup needed—just write, choose, and publish with confidence.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Added a setting to control who can quote your posts.
    • Added support for QuoteRequest activities (FEP-044f), enabling proper handling, validation, and policy-based acceptance or rejection of quote requests.
    • Add upgrade routine to enable ActivityPub feeds in WordPress.com Reader
    • Add Yoast SEO integration for author archives site health check.
    • Improved interaction policies with clearer defaults and better Mastodon compatibility.
    • New site health check warns if active Captcha plugins may block ActivityPub comments.
    • Sync following meta to enable RSS feed subscriptions for ActivityPub actors in WordPress.com Reader
    • You can now follow people and see their updates right in the WordPress.com Reader when using Jetpack or WordPress.com.

    Changed

    • Added support for fetching actors by account identifiers and improved reliability of actor retrieval.
    • Clarify error messages in account modal to specify full profile URL format.
    • Improved checks to better identify public Activities.
    • Improved compatibility by making the ‘implements’ field always use multiple entries.
    • Improved recipient handling for clarity and improved visibility handling of activities.
    • Remote reply blocks now sync account info across all blocks on the same page
    • Standardized notification handling with new hooks for better extensibility and consistency.
    • Updated sync allowlist to add support for Jetpack notifications of likes and reposts.

    Fixed

    • Fixed an issue where post metadata in the block editor was missing or failed to update.
    • Fix Flag activity object list processing to preserve URL arrays
    • Fix PHP warning in bulk edit scenario when post_author is missing from $_REQUEST
    • Posts now only fall back to the blog user when blog mode is enabled and no valid author exists, ensuring content negotiation only runs if an Actor is available.

    Downloads

    Thank you!

    Thanks to everyone who contributed code, tested, offered feedback, or lent support along the way. Update to 7.5.0 today and follow, share, and quote to your heart’s content!

  • From Toot to Post: Mastodon Migration Made Easy

    If you’ve been posting on Mastodon and want to bring those posts into your WordPress site, the new importer makes that possible. It’s a beta feature, but it already handles the basics well—and helps you keep more of your content in one place.

    Keep What You Create

    Social platforms can come and go—or just change in ways you didn’t expect. Maybe your Mastodon server shuts down, or the people running it move on. When that happens, it’s easy to lose your old posts and the history you’ve built up.

    The Mastodon importer helps you take control by bringing your posts into your WordPress site, where you own the content and can decide how it’s stored, shared, and presented. You’re not just copying things over—you’re giving your content a more permanent home.

    Getting Started

    The import process is user-friendly and follows a clear workflow:

    1. Log into your Mastodon account and go to Preferences > Import and Export.
    2. Request your archive and download the ZIP file when it’s ready.
    3. Open the WordPress Mastodon Importer and upload your file.
    4. Choose an author for your imported posts and decide whether to include media files or just the text.

    Once uploaded, you can assign imported posts to a specific author and choose whether to include image attachments with your posts or just import the text content.

    The importer processes your posts from the Mastodon outbox.json file, filtering to include only public posts while skipping boosts. Each post maintains its original publication date, content, and media. If your posts include images, video, or audio, the importer brings those in too and adds them to the post automatically.

    Screenshot of a Mastodon post showcasing redesigned WordPress email notifications, including examples of new follower and mention emails.
    Screenshot of a WordPress blog post about ActivityPub integration showing redesigned email notification templates on a green background.

    Your Posts, Rebuilt

    The importer transforms your Mastodon content into a rich block editor experience. Your posts convert into proper paragraph blocks while maintaining their original formatting. Images are organized into gallery blocks with captions intact, while videos and audio files transform into their respective media blocks for optimal playback.

    Hashtags from your Mastodon posts are converted to WordPress tags, preserving your content’s organizational structure and discoverability.

    When a post is part of a conversation, the importer adds a reply block at the beginning of your post that embeds the original post you were responding to. This keeps the conversation flow clear and provides context for your response.

    All these blocks remain fully editable after import, so you can tweak layouts or adjust media presentation as needed.

    For classic editor users, the importer keeps things simple with standard shortcodes for media. It’s not as fancy as the block version, but it should work reliably with your existing setup.

    It’s a Beta—Your Feedback Counts

    The Mastodon importer is still in beta, and there’s more work ahead—especially when it comes to large archives and better handling of replies. We’ve followed WordPress importer best practices, but real-world use is where things really get tested.

    Tried the importer? Let us know how it went—what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d love to see next. Your feedback helps shape where we take it from here.