The feed

The Feed is the community's running stream: posts people write, plus activity from around the site like shared tanks, new classified ads, approved spawns, trophies and new forum threads. Anyone can read it. You need to be signed in to post, like or comment.

What's on the Feed page?

From top to bottom:

• If you're signed out, a banner saying "Sign in to post, like and comment." with a Sign in button.
• If you're signed in, the Create a post box (see Posting to the feed).
• The Hot in the forums strip of busy forum threads (see Forums overview).
• The Feed heading and, when you're signed in, the Following and Everyone tabs.
• The items themselves, newest first.

What's the difference between Following and Everyone?

• Following shows posts and activity from people you follow. When you're signed in, this is where the feed opens.
• Everyone shows everything from the whole site.

Tap a tab to switch. Signed-out visitors don't see tabs; they always see Everyone. To fill your Following tab, follow people from their profiles (see Following people and shops). If it's empty you'll see "Follow people to fill this up, or check out Everyone."

What kinds of items appear in the feed?

• Posts: text and up to 4 photos that a member wrote.
• shared a tank: someone made a tank public. The card shows the tank's cover photo, name, size in gallons and number of species, and opens the tank's page.
• listed: a new classified ad. The card shows the photo, title, price (or Free or Wanted), category and city, and opens the listing.
• had a spawn approved: a Society member's spawn was approved, with the points awarded and "First in the Society" when it's a first.
• earned a trophy: someone earned a trophy, with what it was for.
• started a discussion: a new forum thread, with its section, a preview of the opening post and the reply count.

The small colored label next to the person's name tells you which kind of item it is. Tap an activity card to open the tank, listing or thread it's about. Shop updates from fish stores don't appear in the feed; they go to the shop's page and to the notifications of people who follow the shop.

How do I like, comment and share?

Every item has three buttons along the bottom: Like, Comment and Share. Forum discussions show Reply instead of Comment, which takes you to the thread so the conversation stays in the forums. Above the buttons you'll see the number of likes (tap it to see who liked it) and the number of comments (tap it to open them).

See Posting to the feed for everything about likes, comments, replies and editing.

How does the feed load more?

The feed shows 20 items at a time and loads the next batch automatically as you scroll down. You'll see "Loading more…" while it fetches. When there's nothing older left, it says "You're all caught up."

If a batch fails to load you'll see "Couldn't load more posts." with a Try again button. That's a connection hiccup, not the end of the feed.

What is the "new posts" button?

While the feed is open, it quietly checks for new items about once a minute (only while the tab is visible). If other people have posted, a button appears at the top such as 1 new post, 3 new posts or 10+ new posts. Tap it to load them and jump to the top. The feed never shifts under you while you're reading. Your own new posts don't trigger the button; they appear as soon as you post.

Does every post have its own page?

Yes. Every member post has its own page at an address like /feed/ followed by a long code. It's where notifications about the post take you and what people see when you share a link. The page shows a Feed link back to the feed and the post with its comments already open.

To open a post's page, tap the time under the author's name (for example "3h" or "Sep 12"). The Share button and the Copy link option in the ... menu both give you this link.

Activity items (tanks, listings, spawns, trophies, discussions) don't get feed pages. Their links go to the tank, listing or thread itself.

How are times shown?

Times under names read "just now", then minutes ("5m"), hours ("3h") and days ("2d") for the first week, then a date like "Sep 12". Posts from a previous year include the year. A post that's been edited shows "Edited" after the time.

Where else does the feed appear?

Every public profile has a Feed tab showing that person's posts and activity (see Your public profile). On your own profile, the Feed tab also has a Create a post box; if you haven't posted it says "Post your first update."

What do the photos do?

Tap a photo to open it full screen. Use the arrows (or your keyboard's left and right arrow keys) to move between photos, and tap outside or press Escape to close. Double-tap a photo to like the post; a heart bursts on the photo. Double-tapping only ever likes, it never removes a like.

Who can see what I post?

Everything in the feed is public. Posts show "Posting to everyone as" your name before you post, and anyone, signed in or not, can read them and open their pages. People you've blocked, and people who've blocked you, don't see each other's posts or comments. See Blocking people.

What's in the ... menu on a feed item?

Tap ... (More options) on any item:

• Edit post: your own posts only.
• Copy link: copies the item's link. A "Link copied" note appears briefly.
• Delete post: your own posts only.
• Block and the person's first name: shown on other people's items when you're signed in. Blocking hides all of their items from your feed straight away.
• Report: shown on other people's posts.

Common problems

My Following tab is empty. You aren't following anyone yet, or the people you follow haven't posted recently. Switch to Everyone or follow a few people from their profiles.

I don't see the Following tab. Tabs only show when you're signed in.

"Couldn't load more posts." Check your connection and tap Try again.

A post I was sent says page not found. The post was deleted by its author or removed by our team, or the link was cut off when it was copied.

Someone's posts vanished from my feed. You blocked them, they blocked you, or their posts were removed.

Shop updates aren't in my feed. Shop updates go to the shop's page and your notifications, not the feed. See Following people and shops.