Why blocked instances are still visible
Why blocked instances are still visible
So I want to block hexbear.net. I see it's in the instance blocked list. However I still see their communities on community search. HOWEVER, I also can't block them from my profile, it doesn't give me the option. Known bug? User Error?
You're viewing a single thread.
Presumably this is because a block is different from the content being removed. It simply means the servers stop communicating with each other regarding new communities, posts and comments. This could allow the instance to be unblocked and the old content to continue existing – say for example when an instance has been acting badly, but it gets fixed some time later.
Blocked instances should probably not show up in search, but if you have a direct link to an old post, perhaps this should still be available? Not being able to block a community when its instance is already blocked makes sense, and probably doesn't matter if you mostly check for new content, but I can see it being a bother when its shows up in other situations. One could call this a bug, or an oversight, but I suppose it depends on what the intended result is.
TBH, I find the search feature on the block instances on your profile tab useful, HOWEVER, it shouldn't require the instance to exist or show up in search. It should let me put in any string. Just in case search is broken somehow.
I just don't know what blocked means then. It looks like I can see hexbear communities, probably comment on the, and even subscribe to them. But I guess they can't comment in programming.dev communities or see our stuff?
hexbear is defederated, which is basically a firewall block
you can comment on content that was previously copied to our instance yes, but your comment won't get mirrored over to hexbear, and they can't see it or reply either
I believe you also can't see their newer content. I'm still subscribed to a community in hexbear from before my server blocked it but the last post I can see in it is from before the block.