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* [[irc:NPWatcher|#NPWatcher]] Help and discussion of [[WP:NPW|NPWatcher]]. |
* [[irc:NPWatcher|#NPWatcher]] Help and discussion of [[WP:NPW|NPWatcher]]. |
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| As of March 2008, this channel has adopted an [[User:Cbrown1023/Guidelines|internal code of conduct and newcomer information]]. This was in order to clarify areas that have gradually become norms during 2007, but historically were not clearly set out or were problematic "grey" areas. (It should be noted that 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 additional to any other internal or external policies or practices that may exist.) They also set out key "anti-abuse" provisions that consensus agrees the channel operators may drawn upon, if notified of a problem. |
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All English Wikipedia administrators, and former administrators in good standing, have a presumption of entry, but this list is by no way exclusive |
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 [[#Non-public channels|above]]. |
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Once an editor is granted access, he or she generally retains it indefinitely. No formal process for the removal of access exists and such matters have so far been addressed by the channel operators on a case-by-case basis. Formal access to the channel will not be revoked unless a participant refuses to abide by the standards of conduct expected of channel members. |
Once an editor is granted access, he or she generally retains it indefinitely. No formal process for the removal of access exists and such matters have so far been addressed by the channel operators on a case-by-case basis. Formal access to the channel will not be revoked unless a participant refuses to abide by the standards of conduct expected of channel members. |
Revision as of 19:37, 6 March 2008
- "WP:IRC" redirects here. For the IRC collaboration page, see Wikipedia:WikiProject IRC collaboration.
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) and X-Chat (multi-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 Wiki editing does.
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, the resulting atmosphere is very damaging to the project's collaborative relationships.
IRC tutorial and host masking
- To begin using IRC chat, see Wikipedia:IRC tutorial. The IRC instructions on meta may also be useful.
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.
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.
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 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:
- A Jabber 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.)
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.
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.
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.
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. In general this page covers public channels only, that anyone may join, and the en-admins channel (below). Access to these channels requires use of a registered account, described above.
To request access to such a channel:
- Post a request in the section at the end of this page, providing your cloak details and/or registered IRC nick. Someone will then process these by hand with /cs ACCESS #wikipedia-en-admins ADD nickname 5. Once done, you can get access to the channel by typing
/msg chanserv invite #wikipedia-en-admins
. You should then be able to join the channel as normal. (You may also consider pinging ops in #wikimedia-ops (with!ops
) which can expedite the process.) - If you wish, go here to request an IRC cloak. (Sean then processes these by hand). This step is optional, but a good idea.
- If you wish for 'automatic' access where a /cs invite command is not required, please ask an op while in the channel. A cloak is required for this, they will op themselves and do
/mode +I *!*@your/cloak/here
- The IRC instructions page may also be helpful.
List of useful channels
Main
- #wikipedia is the most-visited Wikipedia-related IRC channel, conversations are sometimes off-topic.
- #wikipedia-en is another channel, specifically for discussion of the English language Wikipedia, and is usually more on-topic but contains fewer users.
- #wikipedia-en-admins is a private channel used mainly by admins and some other users. Despite the name, the channel is — like every other IRC channel — completely unofficial. See below for how to obtain access.
- #wikipedia-en-help (formerly known as #wikipedia-bootcamp) is a help channel for Wikipedians. It also receives bot notifications when {{helpme}} is used about questions at the Help Desk and other places. Friendly helpers are voiced here.
- #wikipedia-en-unblock is a channel for the discussion and review of blocks and features live updates of CAT:UNBLOCK (this channel isn't associated with the mailing list). Trusted users are voiced.
- #wikipedia-en-accounts is the channel used to discuss the account request mailing list, which is accounts-enwiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org.
Social and Enquiry channels
- #wikimedia-social is a relatively new channel intended primarily for social discussion among contributors to Wikimedia projects.
- #wikipedia-social is similar to the above, for social conversation among wikipedians.
- #wikipedia-en-casual is a channel for casual discussion. All users are welcome.
General collaboration
- #wikiproject is especially for Wikipedia:WikiProject coordination and collaboration.
- #countervandalism for requesting voice in restricted channels and technical help running a countervandalism channel
- #cvn-wp-en is listing and discussing current vandalism on the English Wikipedia (requires confirmation).
- #wikipedia-en-spam is 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 ...and its associated talk channel.
- #wikipedia-SCV is a botfeed of all edits made to Wikipedia:Suspected copyright violations
- #wikimedia-otrs is a public channel for OTRS related matters and OTRS volunteers. This channel is for co-ordination and collaboration; it is not suitable for confidential discussion.
Technical
- #wikimedia-tech - technical issues related to the Wikimedia systems.
- #mediawiki - channel related to the mediawiki software.
Organizations
- #wikipedia-mediation is used by the Mediation Committee.
- #wikipedia-medcab is used by the Mediation Cabal.
- #wiki-hurricanes A channel for the Tropical cyclone WikiProject.
- #wikipedia-spotlight devoted to the Wikipedia:Spotlight collaboration, for concerted editing of specific articles in need of help.
- #wikipedia-en-roads is for Wikipedia:WikiProject Highways coordination and collaboration.
- #wikipedia-BAG is for Wikipedia:Bot Approvals Group coordination and discussion/monitoring of Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval, anyone is welcome to join.
- #wikipedia-1.0 is used by the Version 1.0 Editorial Team.
- #wikipedia-wikiproject-scripts is used by WP:US.
- #wikichem is used by the WikiProject Chemistry . Channel is open at all hours, regular meetings are scheduled every Tuesday, 1600 GMT. Agenda, minutes, and logs are posted here.
Tools
- #AutoWikiBrowser General discussion and support requests for AutoWikiBrowser.
- #vandalproof Information, help and support for VandalProof users.
- #wdm The help and discussion channel for WikiDiscussion Manager.
- #NPWatcher Help and discussion of NPWatcher.
#wikipedia-en-admins
As of March 2008, this channel has adopted an internal code of conduct and newcomer information. This was in order to clarify areas that have gradually become norms during 2007, but historically were not clearly set out or were problematic "grey" areas. (It should be noted that 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 additional to any other internal or external policies or practices that may exist.) They also set out key "anti-abuse" provisions that consensus agrees the channel operators may drawn upon, if notified of a problem.
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. No formal process for the removal of access exists and such matters have so far been addressed by the channel operators on a case-by-case basis. Formal access to the channel will not be revoked unless a participant refuses to abide by the standards of conduct expected of channel members.
Pending requests
Please register before adding a request (type in /msg nickserv register password, replacing password with one of your choice)
See also
Information
- m:IRC channels (main list)
- Wikipedia:IRC tutorial
- More details are on Meta.
- Meta:IRC channel cloaks provides information about obtaining a hostmask cloak.
- Graph showing what IRC clients are used in channel, and by how many people
Tools
- Wikipedia:Scripts#IRC channel scripts
- Wikifier and WikipediaLink plugins for the Colloquy IRC client makes wikilinks clickable.
- VandalFighter is a Java program that gives a nice, customizable front end to the Recent changes IRC channels.
- VandalProof is a Windows application that allows users to watch recent changes, watch lists, and user contributions.
- WikiGuard is an OSX program that monitors Recent changes IRC channels and attempts to approximate each edit's risk.
- Wikipedia:IRC channel scripts has some example scripts you may find useful in the Wikipedia IRC channels.
- #wikipedia stats by Fennec
User essays
- Category:User essays on IRC - other opinions on these IRC channels and their use by Wikipedians
Subpages
As of February 2008, there are two subpages to this page:
- Wikipedia:IRC channels/Personal views regarding IRC (written by members of the arbitration committee in January 2007)
- Wikipedia:IRC channels/History leftovers