F.A.Q.

How do I use this forum?

To make full use this forum, you need three things:

The Lagrange browser

provides the first two and the means of creating the third, and I recommend using it with this forum.

How do I create a certificate?

These instructions apply to the Lagrange browser.

Look to the top of your browser window; to the right of the arrow keys (<- and ->) is a third button colored white and black. Click it, and a sidebar window will open. On the sidebar, click the icon of a person, then the "+ New..." button at the bottom of the sidebar. A new window will open; change "Not Used" to "Current Domain: maiaforum.net". Enter a value for "valid until..." (if you wish it to never expire, set it 100 years in the future), enter a common name (this is only a means for YOU to identify the certificate, not us), and leave the "Temporary" field be.

After that, all that's left to do is to register!

How do I register?

Click here.

Why am I told that I am not logged in, or receiving errors regarding not being authorized?

Most likely, you are not sending your certificate when you request a page.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟, 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞. On the menu to create your certificate (titled "New Identity") change "Use on:" to "Current Domain: maiaforum.net." Then you won't have to touch your certificate settings again.

What is "Titan?" How do I send a Titan request?

Titan is a sister protocol to Gemini which allows uploading data from clients to a server. It is needed to create posts and register on this forum, among a few other things.

Using the Lagrange browser -- which I'd recommend generally, but especially to the less technically inclined -- you may send a Titan request to a page simply by pressing the buttons control-U. Thence, into the window which will pop up, you may supply the "body" of your text into the large window, and a "token" in the small window below."

Alternatively, right-click anywhere to open a menu. Click "Tools," then "Upload with Titan..." to enter the Titan upload menu.

How do I create a thread?

Navigate to a subforum where you have permission to post a thread. For new users, that will be only the "Introductions" subforum. Then click the link "Create Thread" and follow the instructions there.

How do I create a post?

Navigate to a thread where you have permission to post, then send a Titan upload request to the page. You may title your post by including it as a token.

How do I edit a post?

In each thread, you will see a link at the bottom to display the page with links to individual posts. This display is disabled by default since it's hard to make it look great aesthetically. Then click the link that appears under the post you wish to edit (obviously, you cannot edit other users' posts), and you will be taken to a page displaying that post. You may send a Titan upload to this page to make an edit. If you send a token, this will replace your post's title.

How do I log in?

If your certificate was set to be used on this domain, there is nothing for you to do -- once your application is accepted, you will be "logged in" automatically (i.e. every time you make a request to a page on this forum).

Otherwise, make sure you're sending your certificate with each request you make. On Lagrange, open your certificate menu, right-click the certificate you use with this forum, and click "Use on this page."

Why is the Titan protocol required to use this forum?

Titan is required to create posts because Gemini itself does not provide a method for uploading much data to servers. Section 3.2.1 of the Gemini specification allows for "a line of textual user input" to be requested from clients, but this input is sent back to the server as part of the URL, which is subject to URLs' 1,024-byte limitation in length. Since the URL includes the protocol specification and hostname of the server, and because UTF characters comprise multiple bytes, the maximum possible length of user input becomes even shorter. I would like longer posts able to be created, and a protocol like Titan is the only way to achieve this in a sane manner.

I am aware that most Gemini clients do not include support for Titan, and some users may not wish to use a forum incompatible with their favorite client, or have other reasons to prefer forum usable with "pure" Gemini. Unfortunately this hard limitation on URL length severely limits users' ability to post content.

If using Titan concerns you, I'd ask you to consider how simple of a protocol it is to implement. A simple standalone client can be written in under an hour; with a little more effort, it should be relatively easy to patch a simple existing Gemini client to include support.

Thanks for reading!

-eriounious.

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