Wikipedia:IRC
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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), ChatZilla (Firefox), irssi (cross-platform), and X-Chat (cross-platform). 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 Wikipedia editing does.
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[edit]
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 masking
As 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. Group Contacts then process these by hand. This step is optional, but a good idea.
The following are the requirements necessary to obtain a cloak:
- Must have a verified e-mail address
- Must have at least 250 edits on Wikimedia projects (such as Wikipedia)
- Must have a Wikimedia project (such as Wikipedia) account registered for at least three months
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 IRC
The 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 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:
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- A Jabber/XMPP chat room is available at wikipedia@conference.jabber.org if you are not an IRC user.
- A web browser-based access using Java is available at http://java.freenode.net. (This is a preferred method of access, as it retains the user's original hostmask, unlike CGI:IRC sites, and is officially sanctioned by freenode.)
- Wikivoices runs a Skype text chat room (members in here often also host voice chats) for established members of Wikipedia. Add thedurova, the channel contact, to your contacts list and request addition to the chat room. The interface is a simplistic version of IRC.
[edit] Error: Unable to join channel (invite only)
This error arises on a private channel which empties. Upon emptying, various modes (+i) have to be set up again by any channel operator. Solution – you can often ask Freenode's server to invite you manually using the "invite" command (see below). This will work because chanserv keeps a record of which channels you can ask for an invite in, and this is not lost when the channel empties.
[edit] Use of IRC
Once 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 channels
A 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):
- Post a request under pending requests, at the end of this page, providing your registered IRC account and links evidencing access.
- Any channel operator who checks you should have access, can then flag your account using the command:
/msg Chanserv Access #CHANNEL_NAME add USERS_NICKNAME usergroup (usergroup is channel dependent)
For example: /msg Chanserv Access #wikipedia-en-admins add USERS_NICKNAME admin
(You can also ask in #wikimedia-ops, using !ops to get attention.) - Once done, you can invite yourself at will to the channel by logging in on IRC (using the Identify command) and then typing
/msg Chanserv Invite #wikipedia-en-admins. - To gain automatic access to a non-public channel (without having to use the invite command each time), you will usually need a "cloak" or at the least, a fixed hostmask. Someone will need to op themselves in the channel with /msg Chanserv op #channelname user-name, then use the command /mode #channelname +I *!*@your/cloak/here. (Note: if the channel empties, this setting is lost and you will get an "invite needed" error. Manually invite yourself until it is fixed.)
- The IRC instructions page may also be helpful.
[edit] List of useful channels
- Non-public channels in green require user access to be specified in the irc configuration. See non-public channels and pending requests for access.
Contents:
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- General channels
- User groups (functional, general collaboration, WikiProjects)
- Channels for specific tasks
- Social channels
- Technical channels (including support for tools)
- General channels
The main general-purpose channels relevant to English Wikipedia are:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikipedia | General Wikipedia related chat. Conversations are sometimes off-topic. |
| #wikipedia-en | General chat focusing more on the English Wikipedia. Usually more on-topic. |
| #wikipedia-en-help | Help channel for Wikipedians. It also receives bot notifications when {{helpme}} is used on wiki. Friendly helpers are voiced. Poke JohnReaves, werdan7 or nixeagle if you need autovoice (if you have autovoice already, identify to freenode by typing /msg NickServ identify <nick> <password> to activate it). |
| #wikipedia-en-blp | On-topic discussion of BLP-related issues and actions to be taken. Receives bot feed of various BLP-related pages. |
- User groups
Functional groups:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikipedia-en-admins | Used by admins and some other users (i.e.: stewards and Wikimedia Foundation staff. (See below for more information) |
| #wikipedia-mediation | Used by the Mediation Committee. |
| #wikipedia-BAG | Used by the Bot Approvals Group for coordination and discussion/monitoring of Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval. BAG members are voiced; anybody is welcome. |
General collaboration:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikipedia-spotlight | Devoted to Wikipedia:Spotlight for collaboration of concerted group improvement of articles. |
WikiProjects:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikiproject | For Wikipedia:WikiProject coordination and collaboration. |
| #wikipedia-1.0 | For the Version 1.0 Editorial Team. |
| #wikipedia-ark | For WikiProject Arkansas. |
| #wikipedia-en-afc | Collaboration between members of Articles for Creation reviewers. |
| #wikichem | For the WikiProject Chemistry. Channel is open at all hours, regular meetings are scheduled every Tuesday, 1600 GMT. Agenda, minutes, and logs are posted here. |
| #wikipedia-en-dyk | For Wikipedia:Did you know collaboration. |
| #wikipedia-en-roads | For Wikipedia:WikiProject Highways coordination and collaboration. |
| #wikipedia-en-lgbt | For Wikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studies coordination, collaboration and socialization. |
| #wikipedia-en-milhist | For the Wikiproject Military history. |
| wikiphys | For WikiProject Physics. |
| #wiki-hurricanes | For the WikiProject Tropical cyclones. |
| #mediawiki-scripts | For WikiProject Userscripts. |
| ##wpapple | WikiProject Apple Inc. |
- Channels for specific tasks
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikipedia-en-unblock | For the discussion and review of blocks and features live updates of CAT:UNBLOCK. Administrators and trusted users are voiced. |
| #wikipedia-en-accounts | Used for coordination and collaboration between members of the account creation team. |
| #countervandalism | For requesting voice in restricted channels and technical help running a countervandalism channel. See m:CVN for details about the CounterVandalism Network. |
| #cvn-wp-en | For listing and discussing current English Wikipedia vandalism issues (requires confirmation). |
| #wikipedia-en-spam | A botfeed of all links added to English Wikipedia. Channel is for linkspam reverting. Feeds for other languages and projects also now exist. |
| #wikipedia-spam-t | Talk channel associated with #wikipedia-en-spam. |
| #wikipedia-SCV | A botfeed of all edits made to Wikipedia:Suspected copyright violations. |
| #wikimedia-otrs | A public channel for OTRS related matters and OTRS volunteers. This channel is for co-ordination and collaboration, and to find an OTRS user to speak in private; it is not suitable for confidential discussion. OTRS Agents are voiced. |
| #wikimedia-otrs-en | For OTRS collaboration and case related discussion |
| #wikimedia-otrs-watch | Used for patrolling edits on "at-risk" biographical articles. This channel is private and requires confirmation. Speak to a voiced user in #wikimedia-otrs-watch-request for access. |
| #wikipedia-en-adopt | Coordination and collaboration of users of the adopt a user project. |
| #wikipedia-en-abuse | Coordination and collaboration for the abuse response team and the long-term abuse project. |
- Social channels
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikimedia-social | A relatively new channel intended primarily for social discussion among contributors to Wikimedia projects. |
| #wikipedia-social | Similar to the above, for social conversation among wikipedians. |
- Technical channels, and technical support for tools
Technical:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #wikimedia-tech | Technical issues related to the Wikimedia systems. |
| #mediawiki | Discussion and technical questions related to the mediawiki software (including template help, and other questions). |
Tools, and support for tools:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| #AutoWikiBrowser | General discussion and support requests for AutoWikiBrowser. |
| #Vandalproof | Information, help and support for VandalProof users. |
| #Wdm | Help and discussion channel for WikiDiscussion Manager. |
| #NPWatcher | Help and discussion of NPWatcher. |
| #wikipedia-userscripts | Help and discussion of JavaScript tools. |
[edit] #wikipedia-en-admins
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As of March 2008, this channel has adopted an internal code of conduct and newcomer information. This was to clarify areas that have gradually become norms during 2007, but historically were not clearly set out or were problematic "grey" areas. (This is an internal decision, reflecting the established norms of the channel at this time, agreed and enacted by near-unanimous channel user consensus; they operate in addition to any other internal or external policies or practices that may exist.) The guidelines set out some "anti-abuse" provisions that consensus agrees the channel operators may draw on, if they are notified of a problem. However as with all guidelines, they are intended to be for the benefit of the project, with common sense, and not "set in stone".
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All current English Wikipedia administrators, and former administrators in good standing have a presumption of entry to this channel, subject to appropriate conduct. Stewards and people who currently work for the Foundation are allowed access, too. Access to this channel is set to "invite only". Administrators who want to join this channel have to request access to this channel before being able to join the first time. Access can be requested below.
Once an editor is granted access, he or she retains it unless he or she is involuntarily de-sysopped or requests removal of access to the channel. 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 or unless the user is involuntarily de-sysopped. If a user is theoretically unable to ask for and receive their administrator rights from the Bureaucrat's noticeboard, he or she will not be permitted access to the channel.
IRC/wikipedia-en-admins on Meta has more details, including a list of all users who have access to the channel.
[edit] Help
[edit] Problems and help
Help 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:
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- #wikipedia-en - ask to speak to a channel operator. If needed, you can often address such problems to administrators who are IRC users. (Please see the userlist of #wikipedia-en-admins for information.)
- #wikipedia-en-admins (the non-public admins channel) - has adopted its own code of conduct that covers problematic situations; please see that channel's guidelines and user information above, for relevant links and userlists.
- All other #wiki... channels - speak to a channel operator for that channel.
- Beyond that, the Wikimedia channels are supervised by the IRC Group Contacts (currently Cbrown1023 (kibble on IRC); Dungodung (dungodung on IRC); Rjd0060 (Rjd0060 on IRC); and Sean Whitton (seanw on IRC)), who can advise on serious problems that channel operators have not resolved appropriately.
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.
- You should not post logs on the wiki, or circulate them without permission from those involved; rather, if a matter requires logs then please obtain permission before circulating or publicizing them, and if in doubt ask a channel operator or other experienced user for advice.
[edit] Pending requests for access to channels
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- Ops: Please remember to update m:IRC/wikipedia-en-admins/User list when you add a new user.
If 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 and email@address.tld with your email address). 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: foo/bar
:* Channels and evidence: en-admins, [[Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Wiki Username]]
Add new requests to this section - access will be given when checked:
[edit] See also
[edit] Information
- Wikipedia:IRC/Channel access and configuration guide - how channel access works on Freenode IRC
- Wikipedia:IRC/Tutorial
- m:IRC
- m:IRC/Channels - main list
- m:IRC/Cloaks - provides information about obtaining a hostmask cloak
- m:IRC/wikipedia-en-admins/User list#Operators - list of channel ops for #wikipedia-en-admins
- m:File:Wikipedia IRC Graph.png - graph showing what IRC clients are used in channel, and by how many people (somewhat dated)
[edit] Tools
- Wikipedia:Huggle - Windows application that allows users to watch recent changes, and automates many vandal-fighting tasks
- Wikipedia:Scripts#IRC channel scripts
- VandalFighter - Java program that gives a nice, customizable front end to the Recent changes IRC channels
- VandalProof (no longer in use) - Windows application that allows users to watch recent changes, watch lists, and user contributions
- Wikifier and WikipediaLink plugins for the Colloquy IRC client, makes wikilinks clickable
- WikiGuard - OSX program that monitors Recent changes in IRC channels and attempts to approximate each edit's risk
[edit] User essays
- Category:User essays on IRC - other opinions on these IRC channels and their use by Wikipedians
- Wikipedia:IRC/Personal views regarding IRC - written by members of the arbitration committee in January 2007
