Welcome to Work in Progress! Tumblr's official ask box, where we try to answer as many questions as we can about Tumblr: what we're working on, hope to work on, or even your suggestions! We hope it can be a little halfway between staff and you fine folk, the community.
Please note if you're experiencing an issue/glitch/bug on Tumblr, do not send here at WIP—please file a Support request instead of sending us an ask.
Hi!
I want to ask if it's possible to move the community button somewhere else now that everyone knows about it?
Changes in the outlay of the lower four buttons on mobile are always really disorienting, and making the dashboard button smaller is causing me to end up in search accidentally a lot (i imagine it's worse for people with bigger fingers).
I think communities are cool and they're a good idea! It's a very exciting development.
But maybe you could put them next to the shop or, even better, as one of the tabs for dashboard and "for you" page?
Thank you for your answer!
Answer: Hi, @ladystardustinblackjeans!
This is a good question. Right now, we are not planning to have a Communities tab on the dashboard. The Communities icon in the navigation bar will remain the place for everyone to find the communities they have already joined and to discover other communities—we really want people to find them quickly! But it’s great to see people using the feature, and we appreciate all the feedback—we would also point you to the Feedback Community to see what other users are saying.
Thanks also to @robin-you and @scallioncreamcheesebagel, who got in touch with similar questions.
Have a great day, and keep the questions coming folks!
Are there any plans for more badges we can either earn or buy? For example: I'd absolutely love a "vampire" badge! Perhaps in the form of a red drop? 🩸
The possibilities are endless of course, but my mind has been stuck on that one since I got myself the moon aka "werewolf" badge. 🌕
Thanks in advance! :)
Answer: Hi, @thegamingcatmom!
We love the idea of vampires, wolves, and other mystical badges! There’s a lot of potential with this, and it would be great to enrich our badge collection.
While we don’t think we have the bandwidth for this at this moment, it would be nice to add a few new badges when we get the chance. There's a lot of enthusiasm for this on our side, so leave it with us—and we hope to have some good news on this request very soon.
Keep the questions coming, folks.
Will there be a way to reblog a post made in a community to my blog?
I keep getting recommended posts in communities I'm not part of and I've wanted to reblog a few but didn't see a way to. Some the most famous Tumblr posts were those that "broke containment" and if there is no way for a post to ever leave a community I'm afraid there will be gems no one ever sees.
Answer: Hi there @blueboxbeagle!
As it happens, we have been discussing this a lot internally about whether reblogs should be allowed on community posts and other ways that posts could break containment (such as being recommended outside of the community).
For now, we want communities to be discoverable (hence the recommendations), but interaction is still only for members—so they continue to be the safe space we want them to be. This is a good question, though, and we will continue to think about it, discuss it, and work on it where it’s needed.
Thanks for getting in touch here. Keep the questions coming, folks.
How come all of your posts still appear in reblogs after you deleted your own account? Why aren't they deleted?
Answer: Hey, @vmqtyart!
Thanks for your question. It’s a good one, but this is really just how Tumblr works! You can delve into this more over at the Help Center article about deleting your account, which you can find right here.
Once a post is reblogged, that reblog becomes the property of the blog that reblogged it. While deleting your account or blog will remove your posts, it will not affect anyone else’s reblogged copies.
We hope this helps. Keep ’em coming, folks.
I have a suggestion about videos especially regarding tumblr premium, when can tumblr premium users post unlimited video length? Like on Tumblr the length goes up to 20 minutes. In the future, can we post videos regardless of length? Like 1hr, 2hr, 3hr, etc? Instead of the 20 minutes being the only long form video length for Tumblr premium users?
This is my only issue with Tumblr premium.
Answer: Hello, @medazzawhore!
So, there’s a shorter answer and a longer answer.
The first: great idea! We love this, and we’ll see what we can do. It may only require a simple update.
The second: that said, as much as we like the idea, even YouTube doesn’t allow it. There are then piracy considerations, and it is a potential content moderation nightmare. Like, for example, the whole Bee Movie. We love this idea, just as we love Bee Movie, but it will require thought and discussion before anything is (potentially) implemented.
Thanks for your suggestion. We will advise you, as always, to keep an eye on @changes for any news on this one.
We love your ideas. Keep 'em coming, folks.
Hello, how curated (or not) is the “for you” tab? I have noticed two issues: A) I keep getting posts there that are blocked by my content and tag filters. So they don’t load, which is great—but why is blocked content populating in my “for you” feed at all? B) I keep getting waves of bizarre (to me) content, that I keep clicking “not interested” to try and dissuade, but then that content—sometimes even from the same user multiple posts in a row—keeps repopulating. Shouldn’t the feed remember that I don’t want to see a tag or group of tags, and stop showing it to me? It’s almost like my negative engagement is seen as a positive. It makes me reluctant to use this feed.
Thank you for your time/attention/response!
Answer: Hi, @cuidadolasllamas!
So, first things first. This should not happen, so we suspect that this is a bug. We will look into it, but would also point you towards Support where you can fill out the report form in as much detail as possible.
As for how it works, that’s a little simpler! We have this thorough, albeit long explainer in the Help Center. It’s a dense read, but it’s intended to be informative and transparent—we hope it helps.
Thanks for your questions, and keep ’em coming, folks!
To combat anonymous harassment/abuse, have you considered implementing user-facing IP logging so individuals can identify/report/block the offending accounts?
Answer: Hello there @wideeyedloner!
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, we will not be doing this. The answer is simple: there are simply too many ways it could be used for abuse itself, or reveal personal information like relative physical location. So we would ask that you please continue to report harassment like this to us, and we’ll take care of it.
Keep the questions coming, folks.
Hey there, I was wondering if it would be possible for Tumblr to allow Premium subscribers to post higher resolution and larger file size images and gifs? I think it would be beneficial for artists who work with large files, and could be a nice perk that’d make Premium feel more worthwhile for some! Maybe the ability to post more images in a single post could be an idea as well for long comics and such?
Answer: Hi there @spicyseal!
This is a great idea, and it’s something a few of us on the team have shown real enthusiasm for.
So, we would love to have this, and it would be very cool to have it. We can say for sure it’s something we can certainly play with behind the scenes, so leave it with us for now. We’ll look into it and, hopefully, there will be some news for you soon.
Have a great day! Keep the ideas coming, folks.
hello! I'm just curious, is there a chance the merch shop will ever reopen, even temporarily? I wasn't in a position to buy during the first run, but I am now, and I was thrilled at the concept of actual tumblr shoelaces etc. is there a chance there's ever another run?
Answer: Hi, @tsukiqumi!
This is a good question. After all, who amongst us is not thrilled at the concept of actual Tumblr shoelaces?
Unfortunately, as things stand right now, there are no plans to do so. Then again, our intention was always to be able to pop up the shop if we ever wanted to again. So consider this one a classic never-say-never situation—and we hope something might come of it again someday.
Will you be making it possible to fully opt out of communities? it doesn't interest me as a feature and it is very annoying to have suggestions for communities constantly on my dashboard, in search results, and the button at the bottom of the mobile app taking up space. it would be nice to have a toggle to just not be shown any of this.
Answer: Hi, @fabioafterdark!
Unfortunately, there will not be a way to fully opt-out of Communities.
That said, we may introduce more fine-grain controls for how community content is visible on Tumblr, just as we do with other types of content and controls for feeds. Thanks for your question here—while it’s not what we hope to hear, we certainly appreciate the feedback. And we can tell you that we’re actively working on it, and hope to have some news for you soon.
Two suggestions for Premium:
and/or,
2. Have you considered letting that (and the included monthly Blaze) stack/roll over from month to month?
Please, I keep forgetting.
Answer: Hi, @okayto!
So regarding question one: friendly reminders like these sound like a great idea! We love this, in fact. We’ll take this one back to the drawing board and see what we can do, as it would be very useful to have.
As for the second suggestion, as much as we love it, it’s just not something we are considering right now and, as things stand, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon, unfortunately.
Thanks for your questions, and keep ’em coming!
About a year ago, WordPress CEO Matt Mullenweg mentioned that Tumblr would support the Fediverse, but there haven’t been any updates on this since then.
While the Fediverse is an interesting idea, I believe Tumblr should consider supporting AT Protocol instead. With Bluesky being the fastest-growing social media platform and the only one currently using AT Protocol, implementing this on Tumblr would not only provide strong competition but also make it easier for users to move between platforms.
This could help prevent monopolies and promote decentralized social networking. Are there any plans for Tumblr to adopt AT Protocol, or could this be considered in the future?
Answer: Hi, @mohdasif!
Good news! While it is still on the list, the Tumblr to WordPress migration will definitely unlock ActivityPub for Tumblr! In fact, one big reason for the migration itself is to get us into the Fediverse. When that’s done, we’re in.
The migration is still a work in progress, as we’ve previously detailed here, but we can say for sure that it will include support for WordPress’s existing ActivityPub plugins. We hope this comes as good news.
Thanks for your question, and we hope it won’t be too long. Keep the questions coming!
1. when i search my blog why can't i refine it to see asks?
2. when i view my activity feed why can't i see activity by the month?
3. when will you guys fix the search function?
Answer: Hey, @visuls!
Thanks for getting in touch, here! We will address your questions one by one.
1. when i search my blog why can’t i refine it to see asks?
This is possible! You can do so by searching for something, opening the filters tab, and then selecting it from the drop-down menu, as displayed in the screenshot below.
2. when i view my activity feed why can’t i see activity by the month?
Unfortunately, we are unsure how helpful this would be, given that we only store and show activity from the last three months.
3. when will you guys fix the search function?
We are not sure if you mean the blog search in this question or overall, so we would suggest that you report any issues with searching on Tumblr to Support, giving as much detail and specificity as you can, and they will be able to take a look into it.
Thanks for your questions. Keep ’em coming, people.
If my post gets reblogged to a Community I’m not in, will I get a notification about that? Or any indication of the activity on that post within the Community?
Also, can we get notifications when Community members are reacting to our posts within a Community? Right now I only see the reaction emojis people in the Community have put on my post if I go into the Community and look at the post again.
Thanks!
Answer: Hey there, @themirokai!
If my post gets reblogged to a Community I’m not in, will I get a notification about that? Or any indication of the activity on that post within the Community?
Not right now, but we actually have this ticketed! It may even be implemented before this answer goes live—you can see the latest over at @changes.
Also, can we get notifications when Community members are reacting to our posts within a Community? Right now I only see the reaction emojis people in the Community have put on my post if I go into the Community and look at the post again.
Hmm, now that’s an interesting idea to discuss with the team! We love this idea, but we don’t support that yet. It’s a good next step after we add activity items that your content was reblogged to a community in the first place. Leave this with us, and we hope to have news for you before too long.
Thanks for your questions, and keep them coming! Have a great day.
can we get a more descriptive notifications tab? specifically when showing us anything for text posts
> 90% (literally.. i have counted before with a sample of 100) of my text post notifications just ambiguously show that someone interacted with a text post, but i have no way of telling what the actual post was without having to open every one individually, this is extremely time consuming and not helpful to me as a user.
this seems like something i should be able to know at a glance, even just truncating the first sentence would be extremely helpful. sharing examples of what I'm talking about with red boxes around blank text notifications and a green box around the one text post notification that was actually helpful.
i want all of them to be like the green box example, or to have a toggle that lets me make all of them that descriptive because what we have right now isn't helping.. this is one area where less is not more on the UX side and I'd rather have a little more clutter that's extremely useful and time saving than having to work with this for the sake of a more tidy looking notifications tab, it's a lot of extra work none of us need to be doing yk?
Answer: Hey there, @kuromi-hoemie!
This is not working as it should be, and so this feels like a bug to us. If the post has text, we should always show a summary for text posts!
So this feels like a great chance to direct folks to the Support Form instead, for bugs experienced on Tumblr, where you can fill all of this in as much detail as possible and file it as a Support request. From there, someone will take a look into it pronto.
We hope this helps. Thanks for your question!
Is there anyway we'll be getting an inbox tab for mobile? Or timestamps on asks in mobile?
I'm using android mobile and I'd love to be able to see timestamps for asks and to have a separate tab for inbox.
Answer: Hey there, @bloodykingkris!
Good news! Inbox on mobile already exists. You can find it by selecting settings (the cog wheel in the top-right) and then "Inbox" from the list. It's here on iOS and Android.
If you meant to ask, however, whether it would be moving that to the Activity tab instead, then we can confirm there are no plans to do so at this time.
As for the timestamps, it might be that you are missing the timestamp because of the dashboard setting:
Toggling that on should show the timestamp on asks as well as the dashboard. On mobile, you can find this toggle by selecting settings (cog wheel in the top-right), and then "Account settings", and then "Dashboard preferences" from that list. You will find the timestamp toggle in the list that follows.
It is much the same on desktop: find the settings tab from the left-hand scroll menu and then "Dashboard" from the menu on the right, where you will see the timestamp toggle.
We hope this helps. Keep the questions coming, folks!
