Mastodon 2.7, a decentralized alternative to social media silos, is now out!

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Yesterday, the Mastodon team released Mastodon 2.7, which comes with major improvements to the admin interface, a new moderation warning system, and more.

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server, which is based on open web protocols like ActivityPub and OStatus. This server aims to provide users with a decentralized alternative to commercial social media silos and returns the control of the content distribution channels to the people.

Profile directory

The new profile directory allows users to see active posters on a given Mastodon server and filter them by the hashtags in their profile bio. With profile directory, users can find people with common interests without having to read through public timelines.

A new moderation warning system

This version comes with a new moderation warning system for Mastodon. Moderators can now inform users if their account is suspended or disabled. They can also send official warnings via e-mails, which are reflected in the moderator interface to keep other moderators up to date.

Improvements in the administration interface

Mastodon 2.7 combines administration interfaces for known servers and domain blocks into a common area. Users can see information like the number of accounts known from a particular server, the number of accounts followed from your server, the number of individuals blocked or reported, etc.

A registration API

A new registration API is introduced, which allows apps to directly accept new registration from their users, instead of having to send them to a web browser. Users still receive a confirmation e-mail when they sign up through the app, which contains an activation link that can open the app.

New commands for managing a Mastodon server

The tootctl command-line utility used for managing a Mastodon server has received two new commands:

tootctl domains crawl: You can scan the Mastodon network to discover servers and aggregate statistics about Mastodon’s usage.
tootctl accounts follow: You can make the users on your server follow a specified account. This command comes in handy in cases where an administrator needs to change their account.

You can read the full list of improvements in Mastodon 2.7 on its website.