Pixelfed
Post photos and albums to your account on any Pixelfed server, with alt text and a caption that fits your server's limits. Each Pixelfed account you add is one account on your plan.
Connect Pixelfed
- Open Accounts, select Connect account and pick Pixelfed.
- Enter your server, for example pixelfed.social, or pick one of the Popular servers. Type the server's name only: addresses with a port number, or an IP address, aren't accepted.
- Select Continue to your server, sign in on your server and allow Refract.
- Choose which workspace it belongs to.
Refract checks that the server runs Pixelfed before you sign in. If it doesn't, Refract says "That server isn't Pixelfed. If it's a Mastodon server, connect it under Mastodon." Pixelfed signs Refract in for a year and Refract renews it on its own. If your server stops accepting it (you removed Refract from your apps on Pixelfed, or changed your password), the account shows Signed out of Pixelfed on the Accounts page: select Reconnect and sign in as the same account. Client connect links can include Pixelfed.
What you can post
- Photo: one photo with a caption.
- Album: several photos in the order you drag them into.
- Video: where your server allows it. Trim a clip, crop it, pick a cover and add captions; the original file never changes.
- Who can see it: public, unlisted or followers only, in the Pixelfed tab.
Every Pixelfed post needs a photo or video. Add alt text to every image: the composer reminds you.
Limits
Each Pixelfed server sets its own limits. Pixelfed's defaults are a 500-character caption, 4 items per post, 15 MB per file, and JPEG, PNG and GIF only, but many servers change them. Refract reads your server's caption limit, items per post, file size and file types when you connect and once a day after that, and the composer checks against them as you type:
- your server's caption limit, counted as you type;
- a photo or video on every post;
- your server's file size and album limits;
- video only where your server takes it.
Edit and remove
- Edit: the caption, on servers running Pixelfed 0.11.8 or later. The photos stay as they are. Pixelfed allows 9 edits per post. On an older server Refract can only remove.
- Remove: yes, on any server. A post already gone from Pixelfed counts as removed.
Numbers
Analytics shows each post's likes, boosts and replies, and your account's followers. Pixelfed doesn't share views.
Errors and fixes
| What Refract says | What to do |
|---|---|
| That server isn't Pixelfed | Check the address. A Mastodon, GoToSocial, Akkoma or Pleroma server connects under Mastodon. |
| We couldn't find a Pixelfed server | Check the address and type the server's name only, like pixelfed.social. |
| Pixelfed signed you out | Select Reconnect Pixelfed and sign in as the same account. |
| Pixelfed needs a photo or video | Add one, or turn Pixelfed off for this post. |
| Pixelfed didn't accept the file because it's over the limit | Refract can shrink it and try again, or use a smaller file. |
| Pixelfed can't post this kind of file | Your server takes only some file types (often photos only). Use a photo instead. |
| Your Pixelfed account is full | Delete some posts on Pixelfed, or ask your server's admin for more space, then retry. |
| Pixelfed has restricted posting on this account | Check your account on Pixelfed. |
| Pixelfed no longer lets you edit this post | Pixelfed allows 9 edits per post. Edit it on Pixelfed instead. |
| This Pixelfed server can't edit posts | The server runs a Pixelfed older than 0.11.8. Edit it on Pixelfed instead. |
| Pixelfed didn't confirm it got the post | Check your profile on Pixelfed. If the post isn't there, retry it. Refract never sends it twice on its own. |
| Pixelfed asked us to slow down | Refract waits as long as Pixelfed asks and tries again. Pixelfed allows 1,000 posts a day per account. |
| Pixelfed isn't answering | Refract tries again on its own. |