SolarPluralBuddy

User Concepts

PluralBuddy concepts for anyone

PluralBuddy uses many terms which may be confusing in nature, which is what this page is supposed to explain.

Compared to Other Bots

PluralBuddyTupperBoxPluralKit
Proxy TagsBrackets-
System TagsNo Alternative-
Auto-proxyAuto-proxying-
AltersTuppersMembers
TagsTupper GroupsGroups
NudgingNo AlternativePing Author
Message Infoproxy action-

- means that feature's name is the same as PluralBuddy

Component User Interface

PluralBuddy, uses a technique called a Component User Interface, essentially meaning instead of using commands, many actions can also be preformed using native Discord buttons, forms, and other related components.

This can be done due to Components v2, a new Discord components UI API addition, which allows configuration menus to be very comprehensive

Examples of this in action are the following commands:

  • pb;system config - Opens the visual configuration for your system.
  • pb;server-config view - View server configuration interface
  • pb;nudge-preferences - Configure settings about nudging

Nickname Proxy Mode

The nickname proxy mode allows users to automatically change their nickname after proxying as a certain alter. This can make typing indicators and other native signals show the alter's name as opposed to the hosts name.

Nickname Format

Nickname formats tells PluralBuddy how your nicknames should be formatted. By default, it is @%username%.

  • In a nickname format, the following placeholders are replaced:
    • %username% is replaced with your alters username
    • %display% is replaced with your alters display name.
  • Nickname formats can be at most 40 characters

Nickname formats can be set using pb;system nickname-format:

  • pb;system nickname-format <new format> - Set the nickname format for alters, where %username% is the username and %display% is the alter display name in new format.

Nudging

Nudging allows other users to ping your host account, which can help when somebody wants to get your attention. It is on by default, however can be disabled. You can also block specific other users from nudging you.

All of the nudge settings are configured in a seperate command: pb;nudge-preferences.

DM Replies

DM Replies is apart of the PluralBuddy nudging feature. DM Replies is a feature that will automatically send you a DM when another user, regardless of whether the author is proxying or not, replies to one of your proxied messages.

Storage Limitations

Webhooks on Discord cannot be reply pinged. If you try to, the reply ping is cleared when your message hits the server. This is why DM replies are always on regardless of what the replying user specifies for reply pings, as in reality the user doesn't have a choice.

Proxying

PluralBuddy's core feature, "proxying", is the act of indexing, processing, and redistributing user messages as Webhook-based messages made for the purpose of resembling both user messages at it's content and making the message look like it's sent directly by an alter.

However, PluralBuddy isn't perfect at exactly replicating how Discord handles messages, due to just the restrictions of Webhooks. Unlike other plural bots though, PluralBuddy takes a completely different integral approach to rendering messages.

PluralBuddy, uses Components V2 to render messages as opposed to traditional message properties like content or embeds. In simpler terms, this means that PluralBuddy has greater layout freedom, in exchange for giving up some features that naturally exist without using Components V2.

Differences

Native FeatureNotes
Embedding LinksEmbedding links is possible on PluralBuddy, however PluralBuddy has to get link metadata by itself as opposed to Discord getting it from their backend. This means that link embeds may not look exactly correct.
ImagesImage rendering might not always look perfect since Discord seems to mess up on image sizing in rare circumstances.
StickersStickers are natively supported since they are automatically converted to images. Again, sticker sizes may not be correct to their normal sticker size counterpart.
EmojisAll external emojis are supported, regardless of if PluralBuddy is in the server that the emoji comes from.
EditsDue to the overall complexity of Components V2, you are only allowed to edit the message text content, nothing else.
Audio MessagesDue to Discord limitations, audio messages may not be inline playable due to how they are converted to audio files, and sent as a File Display.
RepliesReplies are formatted like: Replying to (user): (message contents linked to message). However, replies are a separate Text Display. Additionally, in rare circumstances, replies may break and the link wont format correctly. Please report this to the support server if this happens.

System Privacy

PluralBuddy runs on the philosophy that everything is private, by default. What this means for you, is if you create an alter, a system, or a tag, all data of it is automatically private by design.

Since PluralKit is public by default, importing from PluralKit will make everything public, unless you've set that differently in your PluralKit settings.

However, you can easily set settings for your system to make it less or more public.

pb;system config
pb;edit-alter config <alter>
pb;edit-tag config <tag>

All of those above commands can help you set privacy settings.

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