Community Services Tips

Tip #311

July 3, 2023

Block Patterns are premade layouts that you can add to your Vivaldi blog‘s posts and pages. They make showing off your content super easy, as you won’t need to spend time fiddling with different blocks and their settings.

To add a pattern to your blog:

1. Open the post or page editor.
2. Click on “Toggle block inserter” and go to the Patterns tab. (Click on “Explore” for a bigger view.)
3. Browse through available patterns and click on the one you want to add to your post/page.
4. Replace the example content with your own text and images.

For an even bigger selection of Patterns, visit https://wordpress.org/patterns/.

Tip #309

June 29, 2023

Vivaldi Social (and other Mastodon instances) can be accessed in Vivaldi through a web page in a Tab or Web Panel and you can connect to the Fediverse from Mastodon’s desktop and mobile apps. If you’d like to have something between the two, you can install Vivaldi Social as a Progressive Web App, which allows you to use Vivaldi Social with the Vivaldi Browser, but in its own dedicated window.

To install Vivaldi Social as a PWA on desktop:

1. Open social.vivaldi.net in a tab.
2. Right-click on the tab to open the context menu.
3. Select “Install Vivaldi Social”.
4. Click Install to add an icon to your desktop.

You can also create a shortcut for Vivaldi Social in Vivaldi on Android:

1. Open social.vivaldi.net in a tab.
2. Open the browser’s main menu.
3. Select “Install App”.
4. Tap on “Install”.
5. Tap on “Add” or drag the icon to the Home screen.

Tip #304

June 22, 2023

If you follow many different types of accounts on Vivaldi Social, the main Home timeline can feel like a huge smorgasbord of content. To focus on one topic or group of people at a time, divide the accounts you follow into Lists.

To create a list:

1. Go to the Lists page.
2. In the text box that says “New list title” give your new list a name.
3. Click “Add list”.

To add people to Lists:

1. Open the list.
2. Click on “Show settings” > “Edit list”
3. Enter the usernames of the people you want to add to the list.
4. Click on “Add to list” next to their name.

Alternatively:

1. Visit the user’s profile.
2. From the account menu, select “Add or Remove from lists”.
3. Select which lists you want to add the user to.

Lists’ timelines can be accessed from the menu column on the right side of the page.

Tip #300

June 16, 2023

Vivaldi Browser aficionados, those who have just discovered Vivaldi, and everyone in between have joined either communities we have started or they’ve created their own space on the internet around their common interest – Vivaldi. We love to see your praise and feedback on Vivaldi, plus witness new online friendships being formed.😊

If you’re active on any of these platforms, join us!

• Vivaldi Forum
• Vivaldi Social
• Reddit
• Discord
• Telegram

Know of more places where Vivaldi users gather? Let us know!

Tip #294

June 8, 2023

Like any social media or public communication channel, Mastodon, including our Vivaldi Social instance, isn’t immune to spam and other bad actors. Luckily, it has many useful settings you can toggle on and off to make your experience on the Fediverse more pleasant. One of them is preventing users that you don’t follow from sending you a direct message.

To enable the setting:

1. Go to Preferences > Notifications > Other Notification Settings.
2. Enable “Block direct messages from people you don’t follow”.

Tip #289

June 1, 2023

Using Custom Icons with your browser theme, allows you to take the uniqueness of your Vivaldi to yet another level. You can create an icon for each toolbar button yourself or you can make use of the numerous Themes with Custom Icons the creative minds of Vivaldi Community members have shared with everyone.

To download custom icons:

1. Go to themes.vivaldi.net.
2. Click on, for example, “View all featured themes” to open a page with all the filtering options.
3. In the menu on the left, tick the box for “Custom Icons”.
4. Apply other filters, if you wish.
5. Find a theme you like.
6. Download it to get a preview and if you want to keep it, click Install.

To use custom icons from a different theme with your active theme:

1. Go to Settings > Themes > Editor > Icons.
2. Make sure “Use Icon Set from” is enabled and select a theme from the drop-down menu.

Tip #282

May 23, 2023

The Community on Vivaldi.net writes blog posts on various different topics. We’ve created a number of categories blog authors can list their posts in. That way, readers can read posts on topics they’re interested in more easily and bloggers can increase the visibility of their content.

To see a selection of blog posts on the topic you’re interested in:

1. Go to blogs.vivaldi.net.
2. In the menu on the right side of the page, click on one of the categories.
3. Browse blogs on the chosen topic.

Tip #278

May 17, 2023

Posts with tall images will require you to scroll more to get to the next post in the feed and if there are many posts like that, you’ll end up scrolling a lot. That’s why they’re cropped by default. If the content seems interesting you can click on the image to see it in full.

If you prefer to always see images in their full size and don’t mind scrolling, you can disable the cropping. To do that:

1. Go to Preferences > Post Layout.
2. Disable “Crop images in non-expanded posts to 16×9”.
3. Click “Save Changes” at the top or bottom of the page.

Tip #273

May 10, 2023

Not everyone needs to be able to keep track of what we post on social media. That’s why in Vivaldi Social you have the power to decide, who is able to follow your account.

To enable manual follow approvals:

1. Go to Preferences > Profile.
2. Tick the box for “Require follow requests”.

Then every time someone wants to follow you, you’ll get a notification and you can either approve or decline their follow request.

Tip #270

May 5, 2023

Two locked doors make it harder to get in than one. Similarly, requiring two different verification methods during login make your account a lot more secure. First you verify yourself with your login password and then either with a code that a special app generates for you or with a physical security key.

To enable Two-Factor Authentication:

1. Go to Vivaldi.net.
2. Log in to your Vivaldi account.
3. In quick links at the top of the homepage near your profile image, click on Account.
4. On the account’s profile, click on Enable Two-Factor Authentication.
5. Enter your account’s login password to continue.
6. Select whether you want to set up Two-Factor Authentication with an authenticator app or security key and follow the instructions.

It’s strongly encouraged to set up at least two Two-Factor Authentication methods. That way, if you’re unable to use one verification method, you’ll still be able to access the account using a backup method.

Check out our Help page about Two-Factor Authentication for more information.

Tip #268

May 3, 2023

Whether wondering how to use some feature in the browser, looking for a fix to an issue or just curious about Vivaldi in general, the Forum is the place where you should go to get your curiosity satisfied. With the combined wealth of knowledge our community and team members possess, you’ll get quality answers 24/7.

Use the search function first, though. With thousands of topics, it’s likely that someone has already asked the same question, so instead of creating a duplicate topic, you can just continue the discussion.

To ask a question on the Forum:

1. Log in to your Vivaldi account.
2. Look for the most relevant category for your question.
3. In that category, click “New Topic”.
4. Give your topic a clear title.
5. Ask your question and, when troubleshooting an issue, share as many details as possible.
6. Click “Submit”.

Tip #256

April 14, 2023

There are many active bloggers in the Vivaldi Community, who write on all topics imaginable. To see the latest posts from your favorite bloggers make sure to follow them. There are several ways to do that. But first make sure that you’re logged in to your Vivaldi account.

• Visit their blog and click ♥ Follow on the black menu bar at the top of the page.
• When you come across one of their posts on blogs.vivaldi.net, click ♥ Follow on the post preview (see image below).
• On the WordPress Dashboard > Reader click ♥ Follow on the post preview.

You can also see the posts from followed blogs in a few places:

• On the Community homepage on Vivaldi.net, below popular Forum discussions and featured Themes.
• On blogs.vivaldi.net/following.
• On the WordPress Dashboard > Reader > Following.