Buy Nothing Day
Nov. 28th, 2025 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday is Buy Nothing Day. Take a break from being a consumer, and be a creator for day. How do you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? Here are some ideas...
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ysabetwordsmith
Some new(?) tutorial links
Oct. 31st, 2025 10:35 pmsoc_puppetHello, everyone! Long time no post! Well, for me, at least 😅
It may still be a little while before I've got all my ducks in a row to make a proper tutorial again, but in the mean time, I finally remembered I already wrote and posted another one-ish on Tumblr 😅 I'm planning to properly organize and re-post it over here at some point, but in the mean time, if you want to know more about uploading and posting images to Dreamwidth, you can check the following links:
Short tutorial without images
Short tutorial with images (I don't think I have to say this, but please don't be rude to OP in this one!)
Bonus: Tutorial by dreamwidth-help on Tumblr for uploading images via email
Speaking of tutorials not by me! Someone in the notes of one of my Tumblr posts mentioned having resources on the Dreamwidth Roleplay scene, and graciously shared them with me.
A Guide to DWRP for Tumblr Users (Google doc)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rp_help
dwrpmasterlist
A dislcaimer from my source: "idk if the google doc is up to date but rp_help is from earlier this year and dwrpmasterlist crowdsources updates monthly."
So it sounds like the communities are definitely solid resources, and a look over the Google doc probably won't hurt, either. Best of luck, future DW RPers!
It may still be a little while before I've got all my ducks in a row to make a proper tutorial again, but in the mean time, I finally remembered I already wrote and posted another one-ish on Tumblr 😅 I'm planning to properly organize and re-post it over here at some point, but in the mean time, if you want to know more about uploading and posting images to Dreamwidth, you can check the following links:
Speaking of tutorials not by me! Someone in the notes of one of my Tumblr posts mentioned having resources on the Dreamwidth Roleplay scene, and graciously shared them with me.
rp_helpdwrpmasterlistA dislcaimer from my source: "idk if the google doc is up to date but rp_help is from earlier this year and dwrpmasterlist crowdsources updates monthly."
So it sounds like the communities are definitely solid resources, and a look over the Google doc probably won't hurt, either. Best of luck, future DW RPers!
Migrating from Bluesky + Alternatives
Oct. 16th, 2025 10:04 pmincomplete_rulerDon't know if this is the right place to post this, but based on the last few entries I thought I'd share this post from one of my mutuals: elyusion | This Is Not a Paid Advertisement
It's basically a masterpost with information about the AT Protocol (which bsky is based on) and also a bunch of ATProto alternatives that you can migrate to without losing your bluesky data (more info in post). Honestly even if you're not a bsky user I'd still recommend giving it a read 'cause I feel like the more social media goes in the way that it's going, the more spaces like this are needed.
It's basically a masterpost with information about the AT Protocol (which bsky is based on) and also a bunch of ATProto alternatives that you can migrate to without losing your bluesky data (more info in post). Honestly even if you're not a bsky user I'd still recommend giving it a read 'cause I feel like the more social media goes in the way that it's going, the more spaces like this are needed.
ysabetwordsmithSince Othercon recently, a wave of new users have come to Dreamwidth, many of whom identify as otherkin, alterhuman, or similar. This community offers many resources for new users. Use the tags to find topics that interest you. Find your otherkin friends here.
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Resources & Recs: Graphic Making
Apr. 29th, 2025 06:39 ampebbleinalake[Cross-posted from my journal]
Dreamwidth is a fantastic place to practice making icons, sigtags, banners, moodboards, etc. Below, I've compiled some of my favorite resources for graphics-making, everything from texture packs and palettes to fonts and stock photos.
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Dreamwidth is a fantastic place to practice making icons, sigtags, banners, moodboards, etc. Below, I've compiled some of my favorite resources for graphics-making, everything from texture packs and palettes to fonts and stock photos.
( Read more... )
What do I do instead of reblogging?
Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:39 pmsoc_puppetReblogging is a core feature of Tumblr that doesn't really translate well to Dreamwidth. There are a couple of different ways to replicate it, but which one you pick depends on what your goal was when reblogging a particular post.
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people. If you want to be sure that you'll have access to a post for later,ysabetwordsmith suggests using an archiving service, such as Wayback or Archive.today. Be aware that not all archiving services will save Dreamwidth posts, Ghost being one of those that does not.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made byastolat (yes, that Astolat), ljwrites, and melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
ysabetwordsmith suggests: "If it's something you especially adore, you can ask the author to let you repost it on your blog as a guest post. If you host a community, however, it's more common to invite folks to crosspost it there whenever you see something that fits the theme. You can also tell people about a comm that matches their post if it's generally open to such things."
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it atmetaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that...
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. You may also be able to do a bunch of any of these at a time ("linkspamming" is the nickname for a post where you share a bunch of links). But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people. If you want to be sure that you'll have access to a post for later,
ysabetwordsmith suggests using an archiving service, such as Wayback or Archive.today. Be aware that not all archiving services will save Dreamwidth posts, Ghost being one of those that does not."I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
astolat (yes, that Astolat), ljwrites, and melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
ysabetwordsmith suggests: "If it's something you especially adore, you can ask the author to let you repost it on your blog as a guest post. If you host a community, however, it's more common to invite folks to crosspost it there whenever you see something that fits the theme. You can also tell people about a comm that matches their post if it's generally open to such things.""I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
metaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that..."I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. You may also be able to do a bunch of any of these at a time ("linkspamming" is the nickname for a post where you share a bunch of links). But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
soc_puppetHonestly, even aside from me writing my own, there are a lot of tutorials out there for Tumblr users who might be interested in getting started on Dreamwidth. I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to get all of the ones we know about rounded up in one place.
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
star-anise; has some very good intro stuff and basic comparisons.
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth byaniamra; has some useful Dreamwidth etiquette. (Full disclosure, it also links an older post about finding things to do and making new friends that I wrote.)
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost bypotofsoup; this one has a lot of really fantastic information. Highly recommended.
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png)
dw_news posts, as it'll give you an idea of what the staff here is like. Ditto on the comments reflecting the Dreamwidth community at large. Yeah, there's some trolls and jerks out there, but by and large, Dreamwidth is a pretty welcoming place, if I do say so myself.
A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor byteres
How to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth byysabetwordsmith
Guides bysoc_puppet (me): I'm sharing the newcomers links, because that's what I have most easily at hand, but if you check, you can probably find them mirrored at the_great_tumblr_purge on the same date.
What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
Audience on Dreamwidth vs Audience on Tumblr
Cut Tag Basics (first post for April 26th; you may have to scroll down)
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.
Edit: More tutorials and guides!
How to Dreamwidth: A Primer and How to Dreamwidth: Commenting Options bylarissa (Rebloggable Tumblr links, has some good, if sometimes outdated, general info)
PSA byconuly (Sooooo many links; so many)
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth by
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost by
potofsoup; this one has a lot of really fantastic information. Highly recommended. Click here for the table of contents
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any
dw_news posts, as it'll give you an idea of what the staff here is like. Ditto on the comments reflecting the Dreamwidth community at large. Yeah, there's some trolls and jerks out there, but by and large, Dreamwidth is a pretty welcoming place, if I do say so myself.A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor by
teresHow to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth by
ysabetwordsmithGuides by
soc_puppet (me): I'm sharing the newcomers links, because that's what I have most easily at hand, but if you check, you can probably find them mirrored at the_great_tumblr_purge on the same date.What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
Audience on Dreamwidth vs Audience on Tumblr
Cut Tag Basics (first post for April 26th; you may have to scroll down)
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.
Edit: More tutorials and guides!
How to Dreamwidth: A Primer and How to Dreamwidth: Commenting Options by
larissa (Rebloggable Tumblr links, has some good, if sometimes outdated, general info)PSA by
conuly (Sooooo many links; so many)
Pillowfort Links
Apr. 20th, 2025 02:15 pmysabetwordsmithAs much as we love Dreamwidth, no one platform can be all things to all people. cyare has a great list of links including a bunch of tutorial for Pillowfort. If that's a platform you're considering as Tumblr replacement, go check out the links.
cyare has a great list of links including a bunch of tutorial for Pillowfort. If that's a platform you're considering as Tumblr replacement, go check out the links.soc_puppetSide blogs are a feature of Tumblr that are beloved by many: A secondary blog that you can post to without signing out of your primary blog. Most people use this secondary account to blog about and reblog things related to an interest they consider too "niche" for their main account, specific fandom content being among the main contenders. Other Tumblr users can subscribe to/follow specifically that side account, and while Tumblr recently added the ability for side blogs to respond to comments under the name of the account that is commented on, the side blogs themselves cannot subscribe to/follow anyone.
That's not quite a thing on Dreamwidth. One alternate option would be to create an entire separate journal account; Dreamwidth Roleplayers do this a lot, and may even be able to direct you to widgets that can help you switch between accounts quickly. But this is about the same as creating a separate Tumblr account, and not so much as creating a side account.
Something that might come closer is creating a personal community: A community that only one person can post to.
If you've been nosing aroundnewcomers or the_great_tumblr_purge for a while, you probably have some idea of how communities work on Dreamwidth. Tumblr is, in fact, currently implementing a similar feature, so you may be familiar with the idea from there, as well (though last I knew it was still in beta).
Creating a community of any kind should start in a similar way to creating a personal account; unlike creating a new journal, however, it can be done while you are logged in: Go to the "Create" tab and scroll to the bottom to Create Community. There, you will be prompted to name and title your community. As an example for this post, I am currently creating a community namedexample_comm, whose title is, "An example community for demonstration's sake".
You will then be prompted to pick how open you want community membership to be: open (anyone can freely join), moderated (anyone can ask to join, must be approved by an administrator), or by invitation only (only people invited by an administrator may join). This does not affect whether people are able to subscribe to a community, only whether they can post. I'm selecting "By invitation only", because this community is only for an example, but you can pick whichever you like.
Some things to keep in mind when picking your preference: Anyone who joins a community will be able to see posts locked to that community; if you want to have a side blog that only a certain subset of people can see the posts of, they will need to be members of the community. If you've ever wanted to have control of who follows your side account before they click the follow button, go with "moderated" or "by invitation only". If you don't have a preference to who joins, go with "open". If you don't plan to make any locked posts that only your community members will see, pick "by invitation only".
The next steps are to edit the community settings, edit the community profile, and customize community appearance.
( Edit Community Settings )
( Edit Community Profile )
( Customize Community Appearance )
And that should do the trick! If you have any questions, if I've missed anything, or anything else, please feel free to comment and I'll do my best to help.
That's not quite a thing on Dreamwidth. One alternate option would be to create an entire separate journal account; Dreamwidth Roleplayers do this a lot, and may even be able to direct you to widgets that can help you switch between accounts quickly. But this is about the same as creating a separate Tumblr account, and not so much as creating a side account.
Something that might come closer is creating a personal community: A community that only one person can post to.
If you've been nosing around
newcomers or the_great_tumblr_purge for a while, you probably have some idea of how communities work on Dreamwidth. Tumblr is, in fact, currently implementing a similar feature, so you may be familiar with the idea from there, as well (though last I knew it was still in beta).Creating a community of any kind should start in a similar way to creating a personal account; unlike creating a new journal, however, it can be done while you are logged in: Go to the "Create" tab and scroll to the bottom to Create Community. There, you will be prompted to name and title your community. As an example for this post, I am currently creating a community named
example_comm, whose title is, "An example community for demonstration's sake".You will then be prompted to pick how open you want community membership to be: open (anyone can freely join), moderated (anyone can ask to join, must be approved by an administrator), or by invitation only (only people invited by an administrator may join). This does not affect whether people are able to subscribe to a community, only whether they can post. I'm selecting "By invitation only", because this community is only for an example, but you can pick whichever you like.
Some things to keep in mind when picking your preference: Anyone who joins a community will be able to see posts locked to that community; if you want to have a side blog that only a certain subset of people can see the posts of, they will need to be members of the community. If you've ever wanted to have control of who follows your side account before they click the follow button, go with "moderated" or "by invitation only". If you don't have a preference to who joins, go with "open". If you don't plan to make any locked posts that only your community members will see, pick "by invitation only".
The next steps are to edit the community settings, edit the community profile, and customize community appearance.
( Edit Community Settings )
( Edit Community Profile )
( Customize Community Appearance )
And that should do the trick! If you have any questions, if I've missed anything, or anything else, please feel free to comment and I'll do my best to help.
Alternatives to Tumblr
Apr. 16th, 2025 08:31 pmysabetwordsmithTumblr is at risk of malfunction or collapse. We are following this concern and posting updates to help other folks track what is happening and decide what to do about it.
Of course, we think Dreamwidth is awesome, and our main focus here is helping new users make it work for them. However, no platform can be all things to all people. Here are some alternatives to Tumblr that might meet some of your needs for which Dreamwidth may not be the best fit...
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Of course, we think Dreamwidth is awesome, and our main focus here is helping new users make it work for them. However, no platform can be all things to all people. Here are some alternatives to Tumblr that might meet some of your needs for which Dreamwidth may not be the best fit...
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Tumblr Outages
Apr. 16th, 2025 08:23 pmysabetwordsmithPeople are reporting Tumblr outages. Given the recent layoffs of staff, this is hardly a surprise. It is inspiring some Tumblr users to seek other platforms.
There are various services used to track outages of online services and platforms. You can use these or similar ones to check if Tumbler is up or down and to report outages you experience. Pass the word so other folks can track this too.
Down for everyone or just me?
Downdetector
Is it down right now?
There are various services used to track outages of online services and platforms. You can use these or similar ones to check if Tumbler is up or down and to report outages you experience. Pass the word so other folks can track this too.
Down for everyone or just me?
Downdetector
Is it down right now?
ysabetwordsmithA friend asked me about how to post fiction or other writing on Dreamwidth. Lots of people don't post their content here, just a thumbnail description and a link to it on some other service. This is very frustrating to readers who aren't on that other service and thus can't see the content. Therefore, it's best to post content here, and then you can crosspost it wherever else you want for wider exposure. There are plenty of people who do this, in various approaches. I encourage posting whole creative content here, so let's explore some ways of doing that.
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A Quick Guide to Mood Themes
Apr. 14th, 2025 11:20 pmsoc_puppet(Originally posted on Tumblr where I was blatantly showing off and bragging.)
So what exactly is a "mood theme", anyway?
A mood theme is like a sticker you add to the end of your posts to indicate what mood you’re in. If you've seen the cute little cartoon-ish rats at the bottom of my posts, those are part of the mood theme that I use!
In the "Currents" section of the post creation page, there’s a drop-down menu with 132 moods to pick from, as well as a space to enter a custom mood. If you pick a mood from the drop-down menu, it will upload one of the aforementioned stickers on your post. If you enter text as a custom mood instead of using the drop-down menu, there will be no sticker. But, if you do both, you can get a sticker and have it display a custom mood name for you!
For example, if you pick "happy" from the drop-down menu, you can enter "pleased as punch" in the custom mood field, and your post will say that next to the sticker instead of "happy" (demonstrated below). It can be a fun alternative to talking in the tags, since tags are strictly functional/organizational on Dreamwidth.
Got it. Now, how do I pick or change my mood theme on Dreamwidth?
First, make sure you’re logged in. You can’t change anything about your account if you’re not 😉
Second, go to the Customize Journal Style page. You can find it under the drop-down menu of the Organize tab. Once there, click the "Display" option. The ability to pick your mood theme should be at the top of the "Customize your theme" section. Or, for a shortcut, click this link!
Third, pick the mood theme you want from the drop-down menu. If you want to preview all of the mood themes before picking one, you can do so here. (It’s also linked right above the mood theme selection menu.) To view all of the mood images at once, find a mood theme you're interested in, then click the "View All" option on the right-hand side of it. Dreamwidth currently has two pages worth of free mood themes to pick from, so be sure to check them all out to find the one you like best! After you're done looking at the options, return to the journal customization page.
Finally, select the mood theme you want to use from the drop-down menu. A preview of the mood theme will pop up on the right, if you're worried about remembering which mood theme is which. After you’ve selected the mood theme you want to use, click the Save button at the bottom of the box. And you should be good to go!
Enjoy your fun new mood theme 😃
Okay, that’s cool and all, but I’ve seen accounts that have Star Trek or Pokémon mood themes. How do I get one of those?
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news there.
The good news is, anyone can get or make one of their own! In fact, I’ve set up a Dreamwith community for anyone who wants to make their own custom mood theme and wants some structure or friendly encouragement as they go: you can find it atmoodthemeinayear. Some people also have also made custom mood themes that they’re willing to share with the public, be they fandom or original. In fact, that’s what I was originally planning to do with my Fancy Rats and Jellyfish, before I learned how to submit them to be official site-supported themes!
The bad news is twofold: First, you need a paid account to set up a custom mood theme to use. As long as you get your custom mood theme set up and ready to go while you have paid time, you can keep using it after your paid time runs out, but only if your paid time runs out while you have it selected as your mood theme, and you cannot edit it without getting more paid time. This is fine if you can easily afford paid time, even just a month’s worth, or are enough in love with a custom mood theme that you don’t think you’ll be changing it any time soon, but is definitely a barrier! (I daydream about offering paid time to users who complete certain custom mood theme milestones at the community I linked above, but am not in that financial position at this time, alas.)
The second part is that it takes a fair amount of effort to set up a custom mood theme. Even if someone else made all of the images, you still have to upload them somewhere (Dreamwidth has image hosting, though it can be confusing to newcomers; Squidge.org is also an option I've heard) and match the image links in the custom mood theme setup and editing page. You need a minimum of 15 unique images for a "complete" mood theme, unless you want to use the same image for every mood.
That said, it can be done, and it can also be very rewarding! I had a blast making the mood themes shown above. Also, if the custom mood theme you create is entirely original art (no fanart, no screencaps from your favorite shows, basically nothing Dreamwidth can be sued over for copyright infringement), you can submit it to be a site-supported mood theme, which makes it available to all Dreamwidth users of all account types, free accounts definitely included! So depending on what you make, there’s a bit of a loophole to the "needing a paid account" thing 😉
I don't currently have a tutorial for uploading a custom mood theme, but I have added it to my to-do list.
Anyway, that’s the basics of Dreamwidth and mood themes! I hope that answers any questions you might have, but I’ll do my best to help if you have any others 💖
So what exactly is a "mood theme", anyway?
A mood theme is like a sticker you add to the end of your posts to indicate what mood you’re in. If you've seen the cute little cartoon-ish rats at the bottom of my posts, those are part of the mood theme that I use!
In the "Currents" section of the post creation page, there’s a drop-down menu with 132 moods to pick from, as well as a space to enter a custom mood. If you pick a mood from the drop-down menu, it will upload one of the aforementioned stickers on your post. If you enter text as a custom mood instead of using the drop-down menu, there will be no sticker. But, if you do both, you can get a sticker and have it display a custom mood name for you!
For example, if you pick "happy" from the drop-down menu, you can enter "pleased as punch" in the custom mood field, and your post will say that next to the sticker instead of "happy" (demonstrated below). It can be a fun alternative to talking in the tags, since tags are strictly functional/organizational on Dreamwidth.
Got it. Now, how do I pick or change my mood theme on Dreamwidth?
First, make sure you’re logged in. You can’t change anything about your account if you’re not 😉
Second, go to the Customize Journal Style page. You can find it under the drop-down menu of the Organize tab. Once there, click the "Display" option. The ability to pick your mood theme should be at the top of the "Customize your theme" section. Or, for a shortcut, click this link!
Third, pick the mood theme you want from the drop-down menu. If you want to preview all of the mood themes before picking one, you can do so here. (It’s also linked right above the mood theme selection menu.) To view all of the mood images at once, find a mood theme you're interested in, then click the "View All" option on the right-hand side of it. Dreamwidth currently has two pages worth of free mood themes to pick from, so be sure to check them all out to find the one you like best! After you're done looking at the options, return to the journal customization page.
Finally, select the mood theme you want to use from the drop-down menu. A preview of the mood theme will pop up on the right, if you're worried about remembering which mood theme is which. After you’ve selected the mood theme you want to use, click the Save button at the bottom of the box. And you should be good to go!
Enjoy your fun new mood theme 😃
Okay, that’s cool and all, but I’ve seen accounts that have Star Trek or Pokémon mood themes. How do I get one of those?
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news there.
The good news is, anyone can get or make one of their own! In fact, I’ve set up a Dreamwith community for anyone who wants to make their own custom mood theme and wants some structure or friendly encouragement as they go: you can find it at
moodthemeinayear. Some people also have also made custom mood themes that they’re willing to share with the public, be they fandom or original. In fact, that’s what I was originally planning to do with my Fancy Rats and Jellyfish, before I learned how to submit them to be official site-supported themes!The bad news is twofold: First, you need a paid account to set up a custom mood theme to use. As long as you get your custom mood theme set up and ready to go while you have paid time, you can keep using it after your paid time runs out, but only if your paid time runs out while you have it selected as your mood theme, and you cannot edit it without getting more paid time. This is fine if you can easily afford paid time, even just a month’s worth, or are enough in love with a custom mood theme that you don’t think you’ll be changing it any time soon, but is definitely a barrier! (I daydream about offering paid time to users who complete certain custom mood theme milestones at the community I linked above, but am not in that financial position at this time, alas.)
The second part is that it takes a fair amount of effort to set up a custom mood theme. Even if someone else made all of the images, you still have to upload them somewhere (Dreamwidth has image hosting, though it can be confusing to newcomers; Squidge.org is also an option I've heard) and match the image links in the custom mood theme setup and editing page. You need a minimum of 15 unique images for a "complete" mood theme, unless you want to use the same image for every mood.
That said, it can be done, and it can also be very rewarding! I had a blast making the mood themes shown above. Also, if the custom mood theme you create is entirely original art (no fanart, no screencaps from your favorite shows, basically nothing Dreamwidth can be sued over for copyright infringement), you can submit it to be a site-supported mood theme, which makes it available to all Dreamwidth users of all account types, free accounts definitely included! So depending on what you make, there’s a bit of a loophole to the "needing a paid account" thing 😉
I don't currently have a tutorial for uploading a custom mood theme, but I have added it to my to-do list.
Anyway, that’s the basics of Dreamwidth and mood themes! I hope that answers any questions you might have, but I’ll do my best to help if you have any others 💖
How to Back Up Your Tumblr Account
Apr. 14th, 2025 09:09 pmsoc_puppetEven if Tumblr doesn't end up dissolving into so many pixels, it's a good idea to export and/or otherwise back up your account if you have something you want to keep! There's a couple options I know about for how to do it:
Option one: Go to blog settings and export your blog. This is Tumblr's built-in option. Unfortunately, it can take a while, and IIRC isn't recommended for blogs with 10k posts or more. It is also not possible to do via the app. Which is when we get into...
Option two: Export your Tumblr to Wordpress. Wordpress is ultimately owned and run by the same people (person) as Tumblr, so if you don't like how things have been going since Automattic picked things up, you may want to consider...
Option three: Using a Python script. I've done this twice now, and it takes a while, but I'm pretty sure I got everything. There's a tutorial you can use here, which should reduce headaches at least a bit. Important note if you're using this method: The directions for getting your API Key are in the Google doc (first link in this option). It can take a bit for the less computer savvy (like myself) to figure everything out here, but if you have more stuff in your account and don't trust Wordpress, it's probably your best option.
Best of luck!
Option one: Go to blog settings and export your blog. This is Tumblr's built-in option. Unfortunately, it can take a while, and IIRC isn't recommended for blogs with 10k posts or more. It is also not possible to do via the app. Which is when we get into...
Option two: Export your Tumblr to Wordpress. Wordpress is ultimately owned and run by the same people (person) as Tumblr, so if you don't like how things have been going since Automattic picked things up, you may want to consider...
Option three: Using a Python script. I've done this twice now, and it takes a while, but I'm pretty sure I got everything. There's a tutorial you can use here, which should reduce headaches at least a bit. Important note if you're using this method: The directions for getting your API Key are in the Google doc (first link in this option). It can take a bit for the less computer savvy (like myself) to figure everything out here, but if you have more stuff in your account and don't trust Wordpress, it's probably your best option.
Best of luck!
New Mood Themes
Jan. 17th, 2025 11:08 pmysabetwordsmithIf you've been waiting for the fancy rat and jellyfish (choice of blue, green, orange, purple, pink, or yellow) mood themes by soc_puppet to become official Dreamwidth themes, here they are! You can now use them on your blog if you wish.
soc_puppet to become official Dreamwidth themes, here they are! You can now use them on your blog if you wish.ysabetwordsmithMost people who like New Year's resolutions or other year-beginning goals will be setting them on December 31 or January 1. goals_on_dw provides a place to share yours plus lots of resources on making resolutions or other goals. If you have a single goal or a small cluster that fit in a paragraph or few, you can put them in a comment below that post. Longer lists or discussions should go on your own blog, with a link to that post and maybe a summary of your approach in a comment below. Visit the 2025 New Year's Resolutions and Other Goals post for resources on goals and networking with other folks setting their resolutions now. You might also like the Fannish 50 in 2025 challenge, which is the runaway favorite. This is a great opportunity to make new friends and find active blogs.
goals_on_dw provides a place to share yours plus lots of resources on making resolutions or other goals. If you have a single goal or a small cluster that fit in a paragraph or few, you can put them in a comment below that post. Longer lists or discussions should go on your own blog, with a link to that post and maybe a summary of your approach in a comment below. Visit the 2025 New Year's Resolutions and Other Goals post for resources on goals and networking with other folks setting their resolutions now. You might also like the Fannish 50 in 2025 challenge, which is the runaway favorite. This is a great opportunity to make new friends and find active blogs.Buy Nothing Day
Nov. 29th, 2024 05:05 amysabetwordsmithToday is Buy Nothing Day. Take a break from being a consumer, and be a creator for day. How do you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? Here are some ideas...
( Read more... )
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Community index
Nov. 3rd, 2024 09:52 pmysabetwordsmithSee the Community index page for information about Dreamwidth communities. Aside from the usual FAQ stuff, there are sections on Recently Active Communities, Recently Created Communities, and Official Dreamwidth Communities.
Feeds on Dreamwidth
Oct. 28th, 2024 08:18 pmysabetwordsmithDreamwidth allows the creation of RSS feeds from outside sources. Subscribe to those and they will appear on your reading page.
See a list of popular RSS feeds on Dreamwidth. This is organized by number of subscribers. I haven't found a listing that is alphabetical or topical, let alone a search function, so it can be difficult to find what you want.
The same list page has a place where you can create new feeds. All account types can create RSS feeds on Dreamwidth.
Find new RSS feeds, or share ones you have created, throughdw_feed_promo.
See a list of popular RSS feeds on Dreamwidth. This is organized by number of subscribers. I haven't found a listing that is alphabetical or topical, let alone a search function, so it can be difficult to find what you want.
The same list page has a place where you can create new feeds. All account types can create RSS feeds on Dreamwidth.
Find new RSS feeds, or share ones you have created, through
dw_feed_promo.
