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JOINING THE FORMATION

Onboarding Stuff

UNOFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

This guide is maintained by community volunteers. While we aim for accuracy, always cross-reference with GanderSocial.ca.

Logging In to Gander (No Passwords)

Gander has moved away from passwords and now uses one-time login codes sent to your email. This is called passwordless login and improves both security and ease of use.

Instead of remembering a password, you confirm your identity using a code sent to your email.

How Login Works Now

Step 1 – Open Gander

When you open the app, you will see the welcome screen. Tap Continue to Gander, then choose:

  • Your account
  • Other account
  • Add account

Step 2 – Request a Login Code

After selecting your account, Gander will send a one-time code to your email.

Tap Send to email.

Login Page One

Step 3 – Enter the Code

Check your email for the login code and enter it into the app.

The code:

  • Is usually 6 digits
  • Expires after a few minutes
  • Can be resent if needed

Once entered, you’ll be logged in.

Login Page two

Why Gander Removed Passwords

Gander moved to passwordless login because:

  • People reuse passwords across sites
  • Password databases get leaked
  • Password resets are a major source of account takeovers
  • One-time codes are more secure and easier for most users

In simple terms:

Your email becomes your key instead of a password you have to remember.

Visual Identity

Your profile is your digital transponder in the Nest. Understanding these interface markers will help you navigate your own identity and engage with other members of the flock.

Profile Interface

  • Profile Image: Your visual signature in the Nest. Use a clear headshot or a clean brand logo if building a creator presence. This appears next to every Honk you emit.
  • Edit Profile: Use this to update your bio, link your landing pages, or swap your profile image.

  • Settings (Gear Icon): Access deep-level account configurations, notifications, and security protocols.

  • Display Name: Your human-readable name. Unlike handles, this can include emojis and spaces to reflect your personality. You can change this at any time to reflect your evolving voice.

  • User Handle: Your permanent @address on the AT Protocol. This is how the flock mentions you in conversation. While you can change it, switching your @handle after building visibility can disrupt how people find and tag you.
  • Account Stats: A real-time readout of your Followers, those you are Following, and your total volume of Honks (Posts).
  • Profile Description: Your mission statement. Use this space to define your signal so others know why they should join your formation. You used to have up to 4000 characters, which has no been reduced to 300 characters(Unknown what happens if you edit at this point). Use clear beats to signal your interests and help the right "flock" find you. Hyperlinks and emojis are permitted.

The bottom navigation bar is your primary tool for moving through Gander's sectors:

  • 🏠 Home (Alerts): Your primary dashboard for activity and community alerts.
  • ▶️ Flicks Feed: A dedicated stream for video-first transmissions and short-form visual content.
  • ➕ New Honk (Post): The central button to initiate a fresh transmission to the Nest.
  • 💬 Messages: Direct, encrypted communication lines between you and other individuals in the flock.
  • 👤 Profile: A quick shortcut back to your own command center to view your history and boards.

💡 TACTICAL TIP: POSTS VS. BOARDS

Just above the navigation bar, you can toggle between your Honks (Posts) and your Boards. While Honks are your chronological transmissions, Boards are curated folders where you can organize intel by topic for others to explore (coming soon).

The Display Name VS Handle

In the Nest, your identity is split into two distinct layers. Understanding the difference is key to navigating the AT Protocol.

  • Display Name (The Mask): This is your human-readable name (e.g., J.G. Butterfield 🇨🇦). It is purely cosmetic and can be changed at any time. You can use emojis, spaces, and special characters here to reflect your current mission or personality.
  • User Handle (The Transponder): This is your permanent address (e.g., @jgbutterfieldwrites.gander.social).
  • The Technical Bit: Because Gander is built on the AT Protocol, your handle acts as a unique pointer to your data.
  • Portability: In the future, the AT Protocol allows you to move your "User Handle" and all your data to different servers (instances) without losing your followers or history.

Tactical Summary

Your Display Name is how the flock sees you; your Handle is how the network finds you.

Build 115 introduced two new optional profile fields: Location and Website. These help improve discovery, profiles, and how people connect with each other on Gander.

Location (Optional)

You can now add a Location to your profile. This field is completely optional, but it will become more useful over time as Gander introduces more local and community-based features.

In the future, location may be used to help surface:

  • Local posts
  • Community updates
  • Regional feeds

You do not need to enter a precise address (there is a drop-down for city, select the nearest) — most people will just enter a city or region.

Example:

  • Toronto, ON
  • Halifax, NS
  • Vancouver, BC
  • London, UK

Think of Location as a way to help build local community, not as a tracking feature.

Website

You can now add a Website to your profile. This field allows you to add a clickable link to:

  • Personal website
  • Blog
  • Linktree
  • Portfolio
  • Business page
  • GitHub
  • Online store
  • Newsletter

This is important because profile descriptions no longer support clickable links, so if you want people to visit your site, you should put your link in the Website field instead of your bio.

Profile Interface

Security & Recovery

Managing your transponder settings is critical for maintaining your presence in the Nest. Access these by tapping the Gear Icon on your profile.

Profile Interface

Account Commands

Navigate to Settings → Account settings to manage your core credentials:

  • Email Management: View or update the primary contact address associated with your flock identity.
  • Username (Handle): View your current @handle.gander.social. Note: Changing this may affect how others find you on the AT Protocol.
  • Password Control: Initiate a secure reset of your access codes.

Moderation

Navigate to Settings → Moderation to manage your blocklist:

  • Blockes Accounts: View or update blocked accounts you've deemed not in your flock v-formation.

Data Privacy

Gander emphasizes user sovereignty. In the Data privacy section, you have full control over your footprint:

  • Export My Data: Download a complete archive of your transmissions, media, and social graph.
  • Deactivate Account: Temporarily silence your signal. Your data remains on the server but is hidden from the public feed.
  • Delete Account: Permanent termination of your identity and deletion of your data from the AT Protocol instance.

Operational Oversight

The main Settings menu provides access to further mission-critical sectors:

  • Moderation: Configure your content filters and manage blocked signals to keep your feed clean.
  • Content and Media: Adjust how the Nest renders images and video to optimize for your current bandwidth.
  • Get Help / Legal: Access official briefing documents and report technical "Signal Drift" to the dev team.

MISSION LOGOUT

To safely exit the app, use the Sign out command at the bottom of the Settings menu. Ensure you have your credentials saved, as the Nest requires a fresh handshake for every new session.

Content & Media Preferences

Your experience in the Nest is customizable. Within the Content and media sector of your settings, you can toggle how the app handles transparency labels and third-party intel.

Transperancy Toggles

Navigate to Settings → Content and media to adjust your viewing parameters:

  • Show labeled AI content: * ON: Displays posts that creators have tagged as AI-generated.

  • OFF: Silences transmissions with synthetic metadata, prioritizing purely human-made signal in your feed.

  • Show bias + fact-check ratings: * ON: Displays third-party media bias and factuality labels on link previews (e.g., CBC ratings).

  • OFF: Hides these labels for a cleaner, marker-free interface.

The Verification Philosophy

Gander defaults these settings to ON to support the "Truth & Transparency" mission. Disabling these markers reduces your available intelligence on external links and synthetic content.

Content Settings

And a new 115 setting Your Interests. You can select a number of interests and they will surface users from similar interests on the For You feed under the "Based on your interests" section. It will also show up in the Feeds >> Topics feed. Each of your interests will have a button to see specific content related to that interest.

Your Interests

UNOFFICIAL BRIEFING

Data based on Release 1.0.1 (115). This is community-observed intelligence.