Desktop Stoat Workaround for windows

These steps are just a temporary solution since there is currently no native way in the desktop app for stoat to login to a self-hosted instance. I wanted to put out a resource in a place that I myself typically go searching for answers and I hope that this helps someone else in the process.

As I said though this is a temporary solution and I would highly recommend that anyone that does this leaves the updater for the app enabled in their start-up apps.
I would also suggest subscribing to this github Feature Request:

• Search for stoat in your search bar click where it says open file location

• Click on the shortcut of stoat in that directory then press CTRL+C on your keyboard, make sure you DO NOT PRESS CTRL+X (the name of the directory you are in should be a directory labeled izzy if not remember the name of the directory)

• Go to the directory above your current directory it should be labeled programs then from there go to the one labeled Start-up

• Now that you are in this directory press CTRL+V as long as your stoat shortcut appeared your stoat will now boot with your system.

• The only thing left to do is to navigate back to the izzy folder (or whatever yours was named) and make sure the shortcut is in the folder from before if it isn't... YOU PRESSED CTRL+X YOU MONSTER

• If its there right click it and open file location

• Now right click anywhere in blank space in the directory not on a file and click open in terminal (no need for admin privileges)

• Then run the following command: ./stoat-desktop.exe --force-server="https://your.stoat.server/"

• Now you can close file explorer open the start menu and search stoat and if what we just did worked it should load the server.

• Now you can login and we have a few more steps to make sure our start-up settings take hold so our server gets loaded and not the official stoat servers.

• Click account icon

• Then click open settings (in the middle of the screen)

• Then click desktop and make sure Start with Computer is disabled (I would suggest making sure Discord RPC is disabled as well unless you want your discord status to permanently Just be STOAT)

Now you should be done, you can double check by rebooting and seeing if your stoat instance comes up when you log into windows

Given there have been some queries about Stoat's moderation practices recently, I wanted to explain how our systems work internally.

Obviously, I'm not at liberty to explain all our processes and how everything works. Security by obscurity is a poor protector, but giving away a guide of what to do the opposite of is worse.

Support

So, first of all, support. People with all sorts of questions. We do our best to answer them.

Support emails appear in our self-hosted instance of , which we use for handling tickets. Zammad lets us do lots of stuff. We can directly respond to tickets, we can use all sorts of templates we've written (really handy when several thousand people ask us the same question at once), we can

We have some pretty slick filters and sorting systems that organise and tag tickets to be actioned. This helps us triage based on priority and identify duplicates and whatnot.

Based on the ticket content, we take necessary action or answer questions or similar, and then we close the ticket. We usually mark the close as pending for a few days so that people can submit follow-up queries they forgot to ask or whatever.

As you can gather, handling support queries is pretty straightforward, though extremely time consuming -- especially when there are unique or new enquiries.

Moderation

Moderation is a lot more complex. It is really difficult to moderate fairly and properly at a platform level. If you've ever moderated your own server or community, you're no doubt familiar with the moral quandaries and drama the task is embroiled within. On a platform level, this is even greater of an undertaking.

We have a trained team with an extensive, forever updating set of policies and procedures they're expected to abide by. We have a clear chain of escalation and take a collaborative approach to ensure a diverse range of viewpoints are considered.

Moderation on Stoat starts with you, our users, and the in-app reporting feature. That is the proper method to lodge a report and lets us take action most effectively. Sometimes we get screenshots or reports of off-platform actions, but we're rarely able to act on them directly, as they can be easily doctored and thus can't be considered admissible evidence. Reports appear in our bespoke, internal moderation dashboards.

Reports are then automatically marked and grouped based on some criteria, so moderators can make informed decisions when assigning them to cases. Many reports against or from a specific user are grouped, for example, as are reports with a reason deemed to require urgent action.

Moderators take these reports and compile cases with them. Cases are comprised of multiple reports and provide an overview of the involved users, what content has been reported and why, etc. Moderators can then dig deeper into individual parts of a case. For example, if a message reading 'I'm 12' was reported, a moderator would look into the context to discern if the user is underage.

To do this, moderators are shown some other messages surrounding the reported one so they have necessary context. Without this, it is very easy for a report to be misrepresented. Moderators are also provided with other information, like the users involved, so they can refer to their profiles if they've freshly joined the platform, or other things of that nature.

The goal of showing this is to help moderators make informed decisions and to avoid false bans or trickery.

We then have a comprehensive set of classifications we can apply to a case, and after choosing one, we apply necessary account actions with a note of the case ID so we can reference what happened in future. The case ID system is especially valuable for re-evaluating cases down the line if ever they draw controversy or an appeal is lodged. We also often send out a notification with the outcome to reporters.

For more serious and sensitive matters, we have connections with relevant authorities to facilitate escalation where necessary.

One thing that people are often concerned about is that moderators might be snooping on personal messages. This is a valid concern, as Stoat does not yet have end-to-end encryption (E2EE). It is very strictly against our internal policies to do such a thing, and our admin panels don't have features to allow arbitrary viewing of private message exchanges.

We also have our moderators sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), legally binding them to not share moderation information externally. It is because of this and our dedication to privacy that we don't share information about specific moderation cases.

We entirely understand that this can be frustrating, but reports are often lodged by multiple parties, affect multiple parties, and are relevant to multiple parties. In more serious matters, such as unsavoury occurrences which include minors, we have a blanket rule against sharing specifics. It isn't correct or respectful for us to publish or comment on sensitive affairs.

I'd also like to mention that a core principle of our moderation procedures and training is 'moderation based on intent'. It is very easy to have a 'three strikes' rule, which is what we largely operate on, but sometimes intent matters more. For example, a long-established account in good standing violating a rule can be taken with more nuance than a three-minute-old account that has decided to spam slurs. There is more to it than these simple cases, but I hope you can appreciate that some flexibility based on intentions is required.

I do hope this clears up any misconceptions, qualms, or queries people might have. I understand that this isn't completely comprehensive, but I can hope you understand why it can't be. Feel welcome to leave questions in the comments for the team to answer, though please remain respectful.