A social experience anchored by your domain – WordPress.com News

WordPress.com is an organization like others at Automattic that is heavily invested in open source and the democratization of the web. We truly believe that everyone should be in control of their presence, their data, and even their social experience. That’s why we’re really excited about some of the work that Bluesky is doing.

What is Bluesky?

We’re building a new foundation for social networking that gives creators independence from platforms, developers the freedom to build, and users choice in their experiences.

blueskyweb.xyz

Think about all the different parts associated with any of your social accounts;

• Your username – how people identify you on that platform
• Your connections/network?
• Content you create
• Your uploaded media
• The conversations you have had with others
• Your connections with influencers, brands and businesses
• Shopping on a specific platform

Now imagine being able to bring all of that with you when you’re frustrated by one social network’s changes and rediscover the magic of one you’d *almost* forgotten about. 😉

This is exactly what Bluesky is trying to accomplish with its AT protocol, and we can’t see it developing.

That’s so cool! Why is it cool?

So glad you asked.

We are all probably familiar with the “blue sign of officialdom” used on May’s social platforms. It is essentially a way for users to discover real accounts of famous and notable people/brands/things.

Bluesky lets you claim a domain you own as your username/handle and they automatically verify it by checking your domain simple text entry. It may sound complicated, but actually quite simple, especially on WordPress.com.

Think of it like any type of certificate you might receive, which often requires a signature from you as well as an official before it’s considered a verified document. It’s exactly that, except instead of collecting dust, this unlocks digital superpowers; a consistent way for anyone to find the real you (potentially) anywhere on the web.

How do I add a text entry to my domain?

I’ll go over some simple steps for those of you who manage your domains here at WordPress.com. If you have domains that are registered on the Internet, you should check the documentation of that registrar. If you prefer to just manage it here, you can check out the steps to transfer it.

Note: You will need an invitation to join Bluesky’s private beta in order to create an account and use this feature.

6 easy steps

Step 1: Navigate to the site your domain is associated with on WordPress.com. if you only have one site, you can just go to WordPress.com.

Step 2: Use the left hand menu to navigate to updates/domains.

Step 3: Select the range you want to use and click the vertical ellipses on the right. Click “view settings”.

Step 4: Click the arrow to the right of DNS Records to expand the information. Click Manage.

Step 5: Click the + Add Post button at the top of the screen.

Step 6: Change the recording type from “A” to “TXT”.

Step 7: Add Bluesky information to your posts.

• Add _atproto In the “Domain name (optional)” field.
• Add Bluesky “Value” to the “Text” field.

Step 8: Click the Add DNS Record button.

I’m always pleasantly surprised at how fast our DNS is. In this case, I was able to check the post in the Bluesky app less than 30 seconds after saving it to WordPress.com. Here’s what the app looks like when you’re set up, after it’s approved and your handle is officially updated.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re at least a little bit interested. Let us know what interests you in the comments.