Mastodon has a number of Timelines – these are lists which display posts based on particular circumstances. They are an excellent way to discover new content, find people to follow, and interact more widely.

In the Fediverse there are no algorithms, therefore when you are looking at a timeline, it is a chronological list of posts with the most recent at the top.

Version Specific Versions 4.2 and above. For earlier versions see later in this article.

Each is discussed in detail below. You should read this in conjunction with the post visibility article.

This is the main timeline in Mastodon. It is unique to you, and will contain:

• Your own Posts and Replies
• Posts and Replies from everyone you follow
• Any Boosts from people you follow

You will receive notifications as people interact with you and your posts/replies. A number will also appear beside the timeline showing the number of unread messages.

The Notifications timeline will contain alerts:

• If someone boosts your posts/reply
• If someone likes your posts/reply
• Follows You
• Mentions you in a post

At the top of the notification window are various controls:

1 shows all your notifications. Any new messages will have a blue bar on the left hand size of the message.

2 filters to only show posts where someone has mentioned you directly

3 allows you to adjust settings for the notification list. You can decide how you receive notifications. There is an option at the top of this window to “Clear notifications”. This will empty the list, but it will NOT delete any posts, only the notifications.

Near 3 will also appear a tick. This will mark all your unread messages are read, and clear the Notification counter indicator.

This timeline allows you to search and discover a wider body of content.

Within Live Feeds there are three Timelines.

• This Server shows every public post, reply, or boosts from anyone on the same server as you. This is an excellent way to discover content, especially if you are on a Mastodon server which has a theme. Any Public posts you create will appear in the Local timeline for other to see.

• Other Servers lists public posts, replies, and boosts from users on other servers that are followed by people on your own server. This can be very busy, and fast updating list.
• All is a combination of the above two, plus any other posts the server is aware of.

Tip See the article on slowing down your timeline.

Previously known as Direction Messages, is a list of all posts or replies where you are specifically mentioned and the post is marked as visible for mentioned users only.

Version Specific Below Versions 4.2

Each is discussed in detail below. You should read this in conjunction with the post visibility article.

This is the main timeline in Mastodon. It is unique to you, and will contain:

• Your own Posts and Replies
• Posts and Replies from everyone you follow
• Any Boosts from people you follow

You will receive notifications as people interact with you and your posts/replies. A number will also appear beside the timeline showing the number of unread messages.

The Notifications timeline will contain alerts:

• If someone boosts your posts/reply
• If someone likes your posts/reply
• Follows You
• Mentions you in a post

At the top of the notification window are various controls:

1 shows all your notifications. Any new messages will have a blue bar on the left hand size of the message.

2 filters to only show posts where someone has mentioned you directly

3 allows you to adjust settings for the notification list. You can decide how you receive notifications. There is an option at the top of this window to “Clear notifications”. This will empty the list, but it will NOT delete any posts, only the notifications.

Near 3 will also appear a tick. This will mark all your unread messages are read, and clear the Notification counter indicator.

The local timeline shows every public post, reply, or boosts from anyone on the same server as you. This is an excellent way to discover content, especially if you are on a Mastodon server which has a theme.

Any Public posts you create will appear in the Local timeline for other to see.

Previously known as the Community Timeline

This lists public posts, replies, and boosts from other server your own servers is aware off. This can be very busy, and fast updated list.

Tip See the article on slowing down your timeline.

Simply a list of all posts or replies where you are specifically mentioned.

This timeline allows you to search and discover a wider body of content.