I'm probably missing something, but wouldn't it be far easier to redirect people to install page of extension for their respective browser? Such extension could then transform the button as needed to point to whichever social web instance.
this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2022
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An extension could work, but some users won't want to install an extension and other users can't install them (work computer/mobile browser).
Mastodon Share is really good for Firefox :)
There are a couple share project listed on https://delightful.club/delightful-activitypub-development/
@0x1C3B00DA @tchambers Currently I have been using a Chrome extension that lets me save my instance info so that when I click the Mastodon share button on my toolbar it opens a tab and fills out the post box with the link and title of the page. It could use some extra features but so far it streamlines my sharing flow. But yes, we need a better approach for web publishers to embed the sharing code in their templates.
We just need specific portals for sharing that remember your homeserver. See for example https://mastodonshare.com/.
@0x1C3B00DA a 'share on social web' will be one of the key ways to get Mastodon to be more mainstream. To make it easier to share stories here.
(and this is one of the cases where I would have preferred a way to 'quote tweet')
It would be a key way to get the fediverse more mainstream. The best part of this idea, to me, is that it could work for any service
I love my Mastodon plugin, but wish I could have a Lemmy plugin to easily share stuff. It would be much more constructive than sharing on Mastodon too, as the format for sharing content that is made by someone else is more suited to Lemmy in my opinion.
This is why I think using a rel link built in to the software is better than an extension. Each service builds the sharing feature in instead of third-party devs having to build extensions for each service and users having to install an extension for every service they use.
While I think a custom URI protocol would make Mastodon infinitely easier to use (it was implemented but they removed it [1]). Using meta tags would likely run into web security frameworks (CSP/CORS/etc.) which makes implementation rather annoying.
However, for the share API, I think implementing Web Share would be a better solution. An installed PWA can register a share target and you end up being able to share content through the OS native share dialog. This way you can share content through the native Mastodon/Lemmy/Pleroma app on your phone or on desktop.
None of these solutions are of much use until the people responsible for the server software start implementing any of this. I hope this changes soon, but I'm not holding my breath.
[1]: Every time you opened a Mastodon page, the page popped up a protocol handler prompt, and that was annoying. That's the reason Mastodon removed the feature all together and why they're extremely hesitant to implement it again.
@0x1C3B00DA There is a discussion of a similar proposal on SocialHub forum: https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/suggestion-a-custom-url-scheme-handler-as-a-streamlined-ux-for-cross-instance-interactions-on-the-web/504
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, discussion seems to have stalled in 2020.