Mastodon mascot grabbing for a cup of Gitea with text below reading, link verification.

Add Mastodon Link Verification for Gitea

  • Adam Douglas

The Mastodon link verification feature can be useful to identify which links you own or control. Unfortunately it is not always possible to have all links verified due to one’s circumstances. All one needs is the ability to edit the linked page and add the Mastodon verification link (HTML code). What some may not realize is that Gitea allows adding HTML code within the biography field of a profile page. Even I was not aware until recently talking to someone on Mastodon.

A process to cross-reference Mastodon profile metadata links to prove that you are the real owner of the links listed. Think of it is a user controlled link identity verification.

Info

Mastodon does not have a centralized authority to do further validation due to being a self-hosted and decentralized software.

Environment

Tested and verified with the following.

  • Mastodon v4.0.2
  • Gitea v1.17.3

Assumptions

  • A Mastodon account has been previously created
  • A Gitea account has been previously created
  • The Mastodon web application will be used as the primary base of reference
  1. Login to Mastodon.
  2. Edit Mastodon profile.

  3. Copy Mastodon verification link.

    Under “Verification” section copy the verification link by clicking on the “copy” button.

  4. Login to Gitea.

  5. Edit Gitea profile.

    Click on the avatar (top right corner) > “Settings” > “Profile”.

  6. Edit the Biography field.

    Paste the verification link into the Biography field.

    Here is an example of what my Gitea biography field looks like with my Mastodon verification link added.

     A technology enthusiast and privacy, security and FOSS advocate that specialized in DevOps
 for companies and individuals across North America and Europe. Founder and operator of
 Adamsdesk. <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@adamsdesk" rel="me">Mastodon</a>

    Note: The Gitea biography field only allows for a maximum of 255 characters.

  7. Click on the button “Update Profile”.

Note

The link back to the Mastodon profile must have the attribute, rel="me".

Mastodon Profile Example

Verified links on a profile will have a colored background and checkmark icon before each link. Unverified links will not have a green background or checkmark.

Here is my profile as an example with two verified links and one unverified link (Git).

Mastodon profile with two verified links and one unverified link.

Learn More

Gain better understanding of each a feature or enhance your Mastodon profile by reading the knowledge base article, Mastodon Profile Setup.

This is post 54 of 100, and is round 2 of the 100 Days To Offload challenge.

References
Changelog
    • change topic
    • remove tag gitea
    • change topic
    • change 100DaysToOffload message

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