Welcome to Dreamwidth, Tumblr folks!

[denise]

With the new update to Tumblr's community guidelines announcing that they will no longer permit adult content on their site, we'd like to take a moment to reassure all y'all that we have your backs. With a very few exceptions (such as spam and the like), if it's legal under US law, it's okay to post here. We're 100% user-supported, with no advertisers and no venture capitalists to please, and that means we're here for you, not for shady conglomerates that buy up your data and use it in nefarious ways.

Tumblr's definition of "adult content" seems to be inherently visual, and I also wanted to remind people that we do have basic image hosting. (It's definitely not as slick and easy to use as Tumblr's, I won't lie, but it does exist.) If you want to include images in your posts, you can upload them and the site will give you HTML that you can paste into your entry. Or, if you have post-by-email set up, just attach the image to the end of your email and it'll be posted. All users have a 500MB image hosting quota right now. I know that's small for people looking for a place to host NSFW image blogs, but we are reviewing usage statistics to see if we can increase it, or at least make it possible for people to pay for more quota like you can for more icons.

For those asking whether we have a mobile app: we don't at the moment! There are many (soooooo many) prerequisites that we have to do first, which we've been working on but haven't yet finished, because we're dealing with a lot of systems and architecture decisions that were made nearly 20 years ago by now. (A mobile app would also be subject to the same censorship pressure Tumblr faced -- it's looking pretty good that Apple taking the Tumblr app out of the App Store was the proximate cause of Tumblr's content guidelines change, and Apple is notoriously strict on apps for sites that allow user-generated content -- so even once we have one, it's even odds on how long it'll be able to stay available for certain platforms.) We've been trying to improve the website's experience on small screens in the meantime, and that's an ongoing project that we'll do our best to devote some more attention to over the next few months.

Feel free to use the comments to this post to recommend communities to join and to make new friends, whether you're here for the first time as a Tumblr refugee or have been here since the start (and any range in between). To the newcomers: we're happy to have you join us. Welcome aboard!

(Comment notification emails may be delayed for an hour or two, due to the high volume of emails generated by a dw_news post. This was posted at 2105/9:05PM EST (see in your time zone). Please don't worry about delayed notification emails until at least two hours after that. I also apologize to anyone who gets a notification for this post twice; we're trying to figure that one out.)

Comments

[starfallhaven]

I've used this site for years under this username but I'm thinking about making a separate account for my writing, blogging, and general fandom geekery once my tumblr probably gets shadowbanned.

All told though, welcome y'all!

[aunt_zelda]

Came here when LJ was dying, glad I held onto my account. I noticed kink memes migrating here over the years. Excited to see what the future holds for dreamwidth and fandom overall!

[builtinaday]

Appreciate the welcome and the reassurance! I have no idea what's going on here- but, well, always good to learn new things.

[fishbone]

Aww, Denise. What ever did we do to deserve you?

[leader_of_the_dawn]

Welcome, Tumblr buddies! I hope you enjoy your stay, and get used to the website. Only a few of us bite, and that's if you want it ;3

tumblr refugee,lol

[elvenfair1]

New here,this site was recommended by fellow tumblr refugees (that's what I'm calling us that are feeling displaced),not sure of my way around,but I'm sure I'll figure my way through,though I don't mind any help :)

Re: tumblr refugee,lol

[leader_of_the_dawn]

Back when Livejournal removed comment titles (the thing you put tumblr refugee,lol in), us roleplayers called ourselves refugees as well. :)

[cockknight]

Welcome, tumblr refugees! I know change is scary, but we support you all! I mainly use DW for RP purposes, and have a multitude of accounts. If you need help, feel free to give me a yodel!

Can't believe i'm dusting off my main account after 10,000 years of disuse....

[dray]

THAT is your main account?!

Noice.

[moldy_greenblue]

I always wanted to make an account here, but I was too scared. To think that day finally arrived due to tumblr pulling a Titanic. I'm scared, but excited all the same. Thank you for the warm welcome!

[elvenfair1]

I was scared too, I've joined other sites,I mainly write fanfic on ao3 and just enjoying the BSing on tumblr...until,yeah, so here we are newbies,but I think we'll be fine ;)

[arinna]

I've been using dreamwidth to post on anon comms for years but only recently made an account. I'd definitely like to be active on here and find some new communities to hang out in.

Dreamwidth : Where Nipples Need Not Have Gender.

[curiosity]

Welcome to the party y'all.

Re: Dreamwidth : Where Nipples Need Not Have Gender.

[kjorteo]

Oh my God, you win with that title.

[nenya_kanadka]

Welcome, new people!

A lot of the userbase here on DW is also on Tumblr, and/or on AO3. So you may see familiar names around. And checking out who other people have on their reading list (=who they're following...this is generally shown on their profile page) can be a great way to find other awesome people.

Good luck and welcome!

[siderea]

Hey, Denise, where are we with the new API? What kind of volunteer help do you need? (ETA: In general, for modernizing DW, both API and mobile interface and better UI for images and...) Like, I get the impression the hold up is lack of some combination of volunteer labor and/or money?

[denise]

API: being worked on iteratively! (If my memory doesn't fail me, which is entirely possible with my various meds changes lately, creating posts is working but editing, commenting, reading page, etc, are all in various stages of flux or not yet implemented.) Our biggest bottleneck on large projects has always been code review, because it's hard for the reviewer to budget out a chunk of time to sit down and do a thorough review, and our automated test coverage is ... well, automated testing sure is a thing that exists, yup, except it mostly happens elsewhere. (I'm being kind of facetious, but only kinda; our test coverage is pretty sporadic, for a while running the tests could muck up your dev environment db pretty badly, and it's hard to properly test a lot of the functionality of the site without having a test db with users, relationships, and sometimes some content, which we don't have formalized and people make ad-hoc versions as they're working on stuff.)

So, some of the things we could use, dev-wise: somebody to straighten out the clusterfuck that is our automated test framework, somebody to write tests for stuff that doesn't have them already, somebody who really likes doing code review, someone who enjoys doing steady incremental stuff like converting existing pages from the shambling-horror-from-the-depths-of-internet-history coding into our modern MVC/templating system since the conversion project has been ongoing for ages now. Process-wise, we have perpetually been in need of good designers, both UI/UX design and "make this layout look pretty", ideally also capable of some light frontend/conversion/implementation work but hell, we'd take wireframes for some of the stuff like image hosting frontend, since a good designer would definitely be able to improve things.

And, I mean, I'll be honest that a big problem is that Mark and I have been really curtailed in our DW time lately, he because of day job and RL explosions, me because of disability related problems. (I'll spare you the whining, but I've spent a lot of the last year flat on my back in bed, sigh.) Jen's been amazing in trying to make up for it, to the point where it really it isn't at all fair to her, but it has definitely been a factor. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do more soon, but that will all depend on whether this latest series of shots will actually help fix my spine or whether I'm going to have to have some vertebrae fused. :(

This thread from previous news post may also interest you, though I'm pretty sure you already know a lot of it!

[hhunt]

Thank you for this

[neotech]

I can't be more thankful that I have discovered this site after Sims 4 players have decided to boycott Tumblr. This is because the biggest Sims 4 CC archive is being falsely taken off of Tumblr due to being wrongfully flagged as NSFW 18 months ago.

Let me tell you, Tumblr did this as a response to their app being taken down for child pornography!!!! And believe me, they know damn well they are FILLED with these people. They adopted the label MAP (Minor Attracted Person), set camp in Tumblr, and Tumblr did absolutely nothing about them! THEY ALLOWED THESE PEOPLE ONTO THE SITE.

It took them 4 MONTHS to get back to my report of a user who was writing smut of Renjun and Chenle, who were both 17, and 16 internationally at the time I reported. I provided screenshots, and contact info for the agencies in question and yet it still took them that long just to even receive my report.

Seeing that notification on my phone tore my soul apart. I dropped Tumblr immediately after I saw the details to the e-mail.

I am glad to see that you two believe in the same anti-censorship values as I do. This site could be the one to bring Tumblr onto its knees in the next few years!

[denise]

Hi! I'm not 100% familiar with the example you give, so this might not be relevant, but to make sure that you aren't disappointed if it comes up later, I do want to be very clear that we don't consider any text-based erotica to be a violation of the Terms of Service, even if it involves fictional or IRL people who are under the age of 18 as characters in the work. We go by US law, and US law is equally clear that "child pornography" is a label that can only be applied to images, not text. (Specifically, that for an image to be child pornography, it must be a photo of an actual minor or photorealistic depiction of a minor indistinguishable from an actual minor, containing either visible genitalia or depicting the minor in the process of a sexual act: drawings, line art, cartoons, doujinshi, etc, all don't meet the definition.) So, while we absolutely would remove any child pornography and report it in the appropriate places if it were posted to the site -- as we're required to by law! -- we use the US legal definition of "child pornography", not the commonly-misunderstood one that I've seen in a lot of places.

I know that legal definitions are different in different countries, but we're based in the US, and so we follow US law. We do encourage our users to properly flag and warn for their content so people don't see things they don't want to see, but we don't require it.

[allofthisforgotten]

It's so weird to be back, but I like it. :)

[tei]

Are you planning on implementing any new features based on stuff tumblr natives will expect? I'm thinking particularly of tag blacklisting, which is really important to a lot of tumblr users.

I'm also curious about Dreamwidth's stance on reblogging. I don't think it's necessary if people actually use communities like they used to, but even after a short amount of time on tumblr, I'm finding that coming back, it's harder to make decisions about what belongs on my personal journal, and what to post in a community. Having the ability to reblog certain posts (determined by the OP, like pillowfort is doing) might bridge the gap a little, although it would also fundamentally change the way some people use the site, I'm sure.

[soc_puppet]

Oh, kind of a modified crossposting system? I've mused before about how DW might modify posting ability with crossposting in mind, but I have no idea how feasible it would be.

[timetobegin]

if you remember landcomms from lj days; lands_of_magic is all fandom, starfleet_hq is star trek. both provide challenges and games to keep you stimulated.

If you make graphics, the icon community is small but steady; icons, icons10in20 and fandom10in30 are all active. Icons are 100x100px and less than 40kb. icontalking gives you some great challenges, and info on the icon comm!

If you would like to find icons to use icons or fandom_icons plus many others if you search for icon communities.

There are some fandom discussion communities; eg the_good_place or legendsoftomorrow

the search function in your top right hand corner is great - search for an interest and then filter by communities or users.

i for one would love some more icon makers and graphics around here!! If anyone wants to start more icon comms/challenges i'm always interested

and of course, if you're interested in modifying layouts dreamwidthlayouts is there

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks a lot! I've been here for some months and didn't know about these places.

[conuly]

Another link for newbies: https://staranise.dreamwidth.org/620081.html

This is a very brief intro to DW compared to Tumblr.

[amiexpelled]

Bless you all team, you are as always excellent <3!

[yourlocalwriter]

Thank you for this post! I unfortunately haven't used this account in ages, but I've decided to dust it off now that Tumblr's going belly-up. Welcome, fellow Tumblr newcomers.

[stevergrsno]

New to the dreamwidth thing, though I was on lj "back in the day", and I'm loving all the resources people are sharing in the comments on this post!

[marshv]

I've had my account for several years but I'm just now starting to use it because of the massive Tumblr exodus going on.

Quick question: Is there any chance of Dreamwidth ever shutting down/changing policies? Should I back up what little I've posted on Dreamwidth onto AO3, as well?

I know Dreamwidth was created specifically as a response to things like this, but the whole Tumblr debacle has made me paranoid. I don't know where my fannish content is going to be safe.

[denise]

I don't want to speak in absolutes, because absolutes are unrealistic and "we will never shut down or change policies!" is a promise that is so impossible to guarantee that just the mere act of someone making it is enough in my eyes to file them as making pie-in-the-sky promises and therefore untrustworthy! So instead, let me talk a bit about how we roll, which I hope will let you appropriately calibrate your risk tolerance. :) You may already know a lot of this, but I figure it's worth a repeat and it'll be good for anybody else who's reading the comments!

* The site (and its associated LLC) is owned by me and mark -- that's it. Upside: we're the only ones who can change policies or decide to shut down and run off cackling with everyone's data trailing merrily behind us. Downside: progress/development can sometimes get slow when we're both held up. (He's got a dayjob and a young kid; I'm hella disabled.)

* We have two part time contractors to back us up: Jen is my backup, and Robby is Mark's. That increases the chance that progress will not grind *completely* to a halt when we're both held up, and -- more importantly -- it means that there's much better chances that somebody will be available to fix an urgent problem if it happens. Or, let's face it, "when" it happens, because there's no such thing as an uncrashable system.

* All of us (me and Mark, and Jen and Robby) have been working in tech for a long time. (Over twenty years in my case, actually, which blows my freaking mind sometimes.) So, even though it's just us, "it's just us" encompasses a lot of professional and technical experience, and we put that experience -- and, more importantly, the knowledge of "what not to do because it caused problems last time" -- into our work here, on both technical and social levels. In short: you can pretty much have confidence that we know what we're doing.

* When Mark and I started DW, we had a number of very (*very*) long talks about how we wanted to run the site, what we wanted it to be like, and -- most importantly for your questions -- whether or not we were on the same page about things like content policies, development philosophy, core ethical principles, etc. We agreed then, and most importantly, we still agree even after ten years of doing this. We believe that DW should remain independent, should never accept advertising and venture capital because it changes the entire dynamic of a site and what a site's acceptable content policies should be, and should only place restrictions on what users could post if those restrictions were required by US law, and neither of us forsee those beliefs changing in the future!

* Part of those pre-launch (and even pre-announcement) talks involved our commitment to radical business transparency -- that we should always explain what we're doing and why, and that anybody can ask questions and get an answer. We've tried our best to uphold that over the last decade, and while we aren't always perfect at it, we try our absolute hardest. We wrote down our guiding principles back then at the beginning, and while you'll have to check with people who've been here for a while to see how well we've been able to uphold them, they still apply today.

* We do have some evidence of walking the walk, though -- back when we were first starting, PayPal suspended our ability to accept user payments until and unless we implemented additional content restrictions such as disallowing "adult content" (they meant sex, people always mean sex when they use that phrase). Instead of doing that, we went without any income at all for 3 months while we set up an alternative, and we'd be prepared to do that again if we had to.

I can't promise we'll never change policies -- we may have to, for any one of a number of reasons. I can promise that if we do, we'll tell you with as much notice as we can give, solicit feedback ahead of time if it's not an urgent change stemming from some outside factors, and tell you the reasoning behind why we have to make changes instead of waving around some bullshit like "making these changes to empower the vibrant community blah blah blah" (and that we'll listen to your feelings about the changes, carefully think about any problems that people foresee, and change anything that we can change if you convince us we got it wrong). You can read back through dw_news for some examples, if you want!

Likewise, I won't promise that we'll never shut down -- I can think of a few scenarios where we would have to, unlikely though they might be. Mark and I have our backups in Robby and Jen, and we discussed ahead of time what we'd do if one of us had to step back from day-to-day operations of the site for a while; we have a really strong volunteer community who helps with things like support, and we're open source and our volunteers contribute a lot to site development. But even if we've tried to reduce the chances, we are as vulnerable to the good old "what if both your company principals get hit by a bus at the same time" hypothetical as any two-person LLC would be, and progress does slow when both he and I have less time and energy to put to things.

We're also entirely user-funded, and while it hasn't been a problem in the last ten years (or rather, it was only a problem when we had three months of not being able to take payments due to PayPal fuckery), it's certainly possible that someday, we wouldn't be able to afford to keep the site running. If that should ever happen, though, we've got a number of contingency plans that we could activate, none of which involve "sell user data and/or the site to some big conglomerate". If it ever comes down to "sell out or shut down", which I fiercely hope it won't, we would choose "shut down in an orderly fashion with tons of notice and have the world's biggest farewell party with as much time as possible for people to make their plans and pack their stuff." Barring that, well, I've been saying for the last decade that we're keeping this place open until the eventual heat death of the universe, and I fully plan to be writing tl;dr news comments in another 40 years. :)

Mirroring important content or stuff you'd be devastated if you lost in multiple places is always smart, because there's always a chance of disaster, even only of the "shit I deleted the wrong post" kind. (We have backups! But our backups are server-wide and can't be used to restore individual posts or accounts.) We've planned around things like disk failure and servers suddenly deciding not to work anymore as much as we can (and y'all generally don't even notice when stuff fails unless it's a failure in one of the systems that we don't control), and we've tried to reduce single points of failure as much as possible, but there's an extent to how much we can failure-proof everything. But in terms of stuff we can control like major changes to the site philosophy or our plans for the future, I can pretty confidently assure you that we ain't going nowhere.

Rather than a mobile app, what about mobile themes?

[randwolf]

That way, people on devices with smaller screens would have an easier time dealing with your website.

Re: Rather than a mobile app, what about mobile themes?

[denise]

Oh yeah, we also do our best to use the principles of responsive design and make sure things work well on small screens. (The problem is that we have to convert individual pages one by one, and that's often slow going because we're dealing with 20-year-old legacy Perl...)

Check out the Mobility journal theme for a journal style that was designed for small screens, meanwhile!

[crazymaharajah]

We see in our time commercial expansion and paranoia of things.

Volunteer community is the only hope for people who are looking for a choice.

[surovmag]

I like your working in mobile browsers, i think DW don't need a mobile app