The freenode network has "chat rooms" dedicated to Wikipedia 24-hours per day, in which Wikipedians can engage in real-time discussions with each other. Many Wikipedians have chatting open in one window and hop back and forth between it and other windows in which they are working on Wikipedia. The chat rooms most relevant to English Wikipedia are listed below; a more complete list of channels (for other language Wikipedias, other languages, and recent changes feeds) exists at m:IRC channels. "Chat room" is another name for an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel. IRC chat takes place on a network of servers, the network that hosts the Wikimedia channels is known as freenode. To participate in the chat, you need a type of program or plug-in called an IRC client. Popular clients include mIRC (Windows), Colloquy (Mac OS X), irssi (Linux), and ChatZilla (Firefox) and X-Chat (most platforms). There are also scripts available to enhance your IRC client, and java-based chat clients that work in most web browsers if you are travelling or do not wish to install separate software. Use and anonymity on IRC are covered in more detail below. Note that IRC needs more care to maintain anonymity than Wiki editing does.
[edit] How is Wikipedia IRC related to Wikipedia?The Wikipedia channels on freenode are an unofficial place for Wikipedians to chat using IRC. As far as their influence on Wikipedia goes, IRC is equivalent to a conversation in a pub — the discussion may be conducted between a small number of people but may be overheard by hundreds, or more if the logs are published. When the channels are used to attack Wikipedians, or when IRC discussions are cited as justification for an on-wiki action, the resulting atmosphere is very damaging to the project's collaborative relationships. [edit] IRC tutorial and host masking
[edit] Anonymity and maskingAs on Wikipedia itself, you can use IRC with a name that hides your IP, and allows you to remember your preferred settings. If you have any special access rights to any channel, those will be remembered under your name too. On IRC these are two separate matters - registering a nickname is quick and easy (like on Wikipedia itself, and that name is then password protected for your own use, and cloaking is the request to have the account configured to hide its IP from other users. These matters are all covered in the IRC tutorial. To request that your IRC account be cloaked, go here to request an IRC cloak. Sean Whitton (irc: seanw) then processes these by hand. This step is optional, but a good idea. Note that anonymity is maintained with more difficulty on IRC than on Wikipedia. Without a hostmask, your IP address will be visible, and indexed on some Internet websites. Even with a hostmask, your IP address is at risk to be revealed due to the nature of the IRC protocol (due to the effects of a "ghost" session). If you are concerned about your anonymity, you may wish to consult with someone familiar with IRC. Another straight-forward way of guaranteeing anonymity on IRC (and elsewhere) is to subscribe with a VPN service provider. This will re-route all your internet traffic and effectively replace your IP address with the service provider's. [edit] Accessing IRCThe usual way to access IRC is via an IRC client. These are often well-featured and make it easy to watch multiple chats at a time. Scripts to enhance your IRC client are available online available at Wikipedia:Scripts. Popular clients include: There are also java-based chat clients that work in most web browsers if you are travelling or do not wish to install separate software. Useful alternatives are:
[edit] Use of IRCOnce you are connected to the freenode IRC network, you can choose which public channels you join and which chats you engage in. If you are authorized to join non-public channels then you can take part in those too. Consider also requesting a cloak if your anonymity is important. In general on IRC, each channel operates autonomously and each has its own norms and policies - these may cover conduct (including civility, appropriate topics, and language), on/off-topic chat, who may join, and who may be asked to leave. Each channel is autonomous and in general there is no appeal from a decision by the operators of that channel to an outside body (which may have any or no reason), so it is worth checking the channel norms and rules before accidentally making a mistake of conduct. That said, in general most channels used by Wikimedia communities are friendly and do have people you can contact in case of problems. (See problems and help below.) Once connected, some users stay logged-in to the chatrooms whenever they are on Wikipedia, and check in on the discussions from time to time, to read what is been accumulating there and to participate. Some programs used for chatting "beep" you whenever there is activity in a chat room so you will not miss anything. Often, users jump onto a chat room to draw the attention of others there of something on Wikipedia that needs attention. [edit] Non-public channelsA number of non-public channels exist, for freenode use itself, as well as for Wikimedia communities. The best known of these on English Wikipedia is the administrators' channel, but others exist also for groups such as the mediation committee, the arbitration committee, checkuser collaboration, and the like. Access to these channels requires use of a registered account, described above. In general this page covers the public channels (that anyone may join), and the en-admins channel (below) only. To request access to such a channel (and consider requesting a cloak if your anonymity is important):
[edit] List of useful channels
[edit] General channelsThe main general-purpose channels relevant to English Wikipedia are:
[edit] User groupsFunctional groups:
General collaboration:
WikiProjects:
[edit] Channels for specific tasks
[edit] Social channels
[edit] Technical channels, and technical support for toolsTechnical:
Tools, and support for tools:
[edit] #wikipedia-en-admins
All current English Wikipedia administrators, and former administrators in good standing have a presumption of entry to this channel, subject to appropriate conduct, but this list is by no way exclusive -- a number of non-admins have been allowed to join the channel, although this is rarer now than it used to be. No clear rules on who is entitled to access exist at this time. For information on how to gain access, see the general information above. Once an editor is granted access, he or she generally retains it indefinitely. The process for any long-term removal of access has so far been addressed by the channel operators on a case-by-case basis. Formal access to the channel will not usually be long-term revoked unless a participant refuses to abide by the standards of conduct expected of channel members. For this reason the channel has not always removed access following a forcible (Arbcom) desysopping, depending on whether the reason is felt to be an significant problem to the channel or so harmful to the project as to merit removal. A few forcibly desysopped users are still therefore permitted access to the channel. [edit] Help[edit] Problems and helpHelp for accessing IRC itself is best requested on the talk page, if you have read the tutorial and other information and are still unable to use it. Once you can access IRC by some means, there are help and information channels on most Wikimedia-related topics listed above, type /join #channelname into any window, to join them and ask your question (eg, /join #wikipedia-en-help). It is customary on IRC to just ask, not to ask if you can ask :-) Within the Wikimedia and English Wikipedia channels, your first recourse if you have difficulty, is to ask to speak to a channel operator, if any are around. You can identify channel operators in most of these channels since they will appear as having the "o" flag in a list of channel users and flags. Type /msg chanserv flags #channelname for a list of users and their access levels (this can sometimes have hundreds of lines). Further help can be obtained as follows:
If the problem relates to user conduct in any channel, your first recourse should be to try and resolve matters with the person involved, failing which, ask to speak to someone who is a channel operator. If your problem cannot be resolved by channel operators, then it may be raised further as above.
[edit] Pending requests for access to channelsIf you wish to access a non-public channel, please add your name and details below. Alternatively it can be quicker to leave a note on the talk page of any user of that channel (who might be able to help, or can add you to the access list) who may see it, or another appropriate talk page. Please also register your nickname before adding a request (type in /msg nickserv register password email@address.tld, replacing password with one of your choice). You may also optionally register a cloak (see above). Format for requests (add to end of list):
* Username and rights links: {{Userrights|Wiki Username}} ~~~~
:* IRC account: IRC Username
:* (Optional) cloak: None
:* Channels and evidence: en-admins, [[Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Wiki Username]] or other link
Add new requests to this section - access will be given when checked: [edit] See also[edit] Information
[edit] Tools
[edit] User essays
[edit] SubpagesAs of February 2008, there are two subpages to this page:
[edit] Other discussion venuesPágina espejo de la WikipediaDirectorio de Enlaces Directorio dmoz Directorio espejo dmoz Pedro Bernardo |
