Mastodon can credit a Fediverse profile when someone shares a WordPress URL. TSF outputs the tags that make that credit possible. Use this feature only if you have a Fediverse profile to credit and expect links to your pages on Mastodon or other software that supports fediverse:creator.

This article explains the fediverse:creator tag and Mastodon’s author-attribution check. It also covers the separate rel="me" website-verification link and how TSF stores handles and profile URLs.

What is the Fediverse?

The Fediverse connects independently hosted social platforms. Mastodon and many other platforms communicate through ActivityPub. You create an account on one server, and people on other servers can follow you.

The fediverse:creator tag identifies an account with a WebFinger handle: @username@server.example. That handle is not a URL. TSF stores the conventional leading @. The second @ separates the username from the server that hosts the account.

The handle domain is the account domain. It can differ from the host in the public profile URL. Some Mastodon servers put the web app on a subdomain (for example https://social.example.com/@jane) while the handle stays @jane@example.com. That is normal, so the profile URL does not reliably reveal the handle.

Mastodon 4.3 and later can attach that handle to a link preview when someone posts a URL. The preview itself still comes from Open Graph and similar tags. The creator tag only names the Fediverse profile that should appear next to that preview.

What does the fediverse creator tag do?

The tag sits in the page <head> and names a handle:

<meta name="fediverse:creator" content="@jane@example.social">

When someone posts that page URL on Mastodon, the instance fetches the page and resolves the handle to a Fediverse account. If the two-way check passes, the preview card can show a “More from @jane@example.social” byline that links to that account. Readers can then open or follow the profile without leaving Mastodon.

This tag does not change Google rankings. Google and Bing do not document support for it. X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord do not use it for their previews.

The draft FEP-2345 documents the protocol. Mastodon is the only server software that the draft currently lists as an implementation. Other Fediverse software may add support later.

Which Fediverse tags does TSF output?

TSF generates fediverse:creator when it finds a handle. It generates rel="me" when it finds a profile URL or can build one from a handle. There’s no separate on/off switch. When all handle and profile URL fields are empty, TSF produces no Fediverse output.

A page with both values produces this markup:

<meta name="fediverse:creator" content="@jane@example.social">
<link rel="me" href="https://example.social/@jane">

TSF always stores and emits a handle, never a URL, in fediverse:creator. Each profile also has a separate profile URL field for rel="me". Pasting a profile URL into a handle field converts it to a handle and fills the profile URL field. Pasting a profile URL into a profile URL field fills the handle field only when it is empty. TSF derives the handle from the URL host, and that guess can be wrong when the account domain differs from the profile host.

A URL is not a valid fediverse:creator value. Affected Mastodon releases, including 4.6.5, could abort the entire link preview after reading one. Mastodon 4.6.6 fixed that preview failure. Author attribution still requires a valid handle.

When a WordPress user has a Fediverse profile under Authorial Info, TSF adds that profile URL to the author’s Person entity as a sameAs value. Site-wide Fediverse fallbacks do not populate the author’s sameAs value. See structured data supported by The SEO Framework.

Search results, 404 pages, and exploited query pages do not receive these tags. BuddyPress pages also omit them, the same way they omit Twitter Card tags.

How does Mastodon credit an author?

Mastodon will not credit a profile from the tag alone. That would let any website name any account as its author.

The credited account must also list your site’s hostname under author attribution. On Mastodon, open Preferences → Public profile → Verification (the /settings/verification page). Under Author attribution, Mastodon shows a “Here’s how” snippet with the handle to copy. The same section contains a Websites allowed to credit you box. Enter a hostname such as example.com. A parent domain also permits its subdomains.

Use that snippet’s handle in TSF. Do not invent a handle from the profile URL if the hosts differ.

Mastodon publishes that allowlist as an ActivityPub property called attributionDomains. When a preview is built, Mastodon:

1. Reads fediverse:creator from the shared page.
2. Resolves the handle to an account.
3. Checks whether the page hostname is in that account’s attributionDomains.

If the hostname is missing, Mastodon ignores the creator tag and still builds the normal preview from Open Graph. If the hostname matches, the preview can show the author byline.

Author attribution is not the green checkmark next to a website on a Mastodon profile. That checkmark is website verification, covered below. You can enable one, the other, or both.

Mastodon documents both flows in its profile guide (link verification and author attribution). The feature shipped in Mastodon 4.3.

How is website verification different?

Website verification proves that a Mastodon profile owns a URL you listed on that profile. It does not credit authors on link previews.

You add an HTTPS website as a custom field under Edit profile → Custom fields. Mastodon fetches that page and looks for a rel="me" link whose href matches the Mastodon profile URL. When the two pages point at each other, Mastodon shows a green checkmark next to that website. Mastodon starts the check when you save the profile. If verification fails, delete the field and save the profile. Then add the field again and save once more.

Mastodon’s help may ask you to paste a visible <a rel="me"> into the site header. TSF already outputs the invisible equivalent: <link rel="me" href="https://server.example/@user">. You do not need the visible link.

TSF uses the stored profile URL for that href when one is set. If the URL field is empty, TSF builds https://{handle-domain}/@{user} from the handle. Fill the URL field when the public profile host differs from the handle domain, or when the profile lives only at /users/username.

Where do I configure Fediverse tags in TSF?

Configure Fediverse output in these WordPress settings:

• SEO Settings → Social Meta Settings → Fediverse: Set Website Fediverse Profile and Website Fediverse Profile URL. Then set Fediverse Author Fallback Profile and Fediverse Author Fallback Profile URL as the site-wide author fallback. The fallback fields show the website profile as their placeholder.
• Users → Profile → Authorial Info: Set the author’s own Fediverse profile and Fediverse profile URL. These fields override the author fallback. The handle placeholder shows the author fallback, or the website profile when no fallback is set. The profile URL placeholder follows the handle.

Use the handle shown under Mastodon’s Author attribution settings. You can paste a profile URL (https://example.social/@jane) into the handle field to fill the handle and profile URL. Correct the generated handle if its domain differs from the Author attribution handle.

The credited handle for a post is the first filled value in this order:

1. The Fediverse profile of the post author. On an author archive, TSF uses the profile of the archive’s author.
2. The site-wide Fediverse author fallback.
3. The website Fediverse profile.

rel="me" links include the website profile when it is set, and the current creator when that profile is different.

How do I test Fediverse tags?

Confirm the markup first. Then test on Mastodon. Do not use X’s card preview or Facebook’s Sharing Debugger for this tag — those tools never read it.

1. View the page source. Confirm that fediverse:creator holds the handle from Author attribution. The value must not contain a URL or a handle rebuilt from the profile URL. Confirm that a rel="me" link is present.
2. Add the hostname on Mastodon. Open Preferences → Public profile → Verification (/settings/verification). Under Author attribution, add your site’s domain. Save.
3. Post an uncached URL. Mastodon instances reuse a preview card for about two weeks. Posting the same URL after that period prompts a refresh. A new Mastodon post does not force a refresh during that period. Share a new WordPress page URL or add a fresh query parameter to an existing URL.
4. Wait for the card. The preview is built after the post is submitted. It can take a few seconds. Each Mastodon instance keeps its own cache.
5. Check website verification separately. Add the HTTPS site URL as a custom field, then confirm that the green checkmark appears. That test does not prove author attribution.

Correct page-source markup confirms that your WordPress site serves the expected tags. If Mastodon still omits the credit, continue with the allowlist, cache, server version, client, and fetch checks below.

Why does Mastodon hide the author credit?

Follow this order:

1. View the page source. With TSF’s default output, a missing creator tag means no handle is available, or you are viewing a search, 404, exploited, or BuddyPress page.
2. Confirm that the value matches the Author attribution handle. @user@domain is valid. A URL is not. If you pasted a profile URL and the hosts differ, correct the handle to the value from “Here’s how.” Keep the profile URL in the URL field.
3. Confirm author attribution on the credited account. The hostname of the shared page must appear under Websites allowed to credit you. The account you named in the tag is the one that must list the domain.
4. Confirm that the instance runs Mastodon 4.3 or later. Older Mastodon versions ignore the tag. Other Fediverse server software may ignore it too.
5. Try Mastodon’s web interface or an official app. The server exposes attribution through its preview-card data, but each client decides whether to display it.
6. Post a URL the instance has not cached. Stale cards can persist for about two weeks. There is no public refresh button.
7. Disable duplicate creator-tag output. Another plugin can add a second fediverse:creator tag containing a URL or a different account. Mastodon displays only one author and may read the wrong value.
8. Purge your site and CDN caches after changing the handle. Mastodon will then receive the new markup the next time it fetches an uncached URL.
9. Expect the description to disappear in some clients. Mastodon’s web interface replaces the Open Graph description with author attribution. Other clients can lay out the card differently.

The title, description, and image on the Mastodon card still come from Open Graph and related tags.