Matrix.org
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Matrix is a decentralized/distributed real-time communication network that combines the openness and flexibility of solutions like IRC with the user-friendliness of modern centralized communication networks like Discord, Mattermost, Slack, Telegram, and so on.
Indeed, it is based on an open protocol stewarded by a non-profit with community participation, several open-source server and client implementations, ability to host your own server and federate it with the other servers, interoperability with other communication networks.
It comes with many conveniences of up-to-date solutions, like web interface and mobile apps, rich HTML, easy catch-up on missed conversation, search, notifications, read-message tracking, message editing, emoji responses, voice calls and video conferencing.
For the most techy and nostalgic people, the official Matrix client, Element, can also be used as an IRC client or bouncer.
To avoid confusion with various other things it is often referred to as matrix.org, after its main website.
Starting with Matrix
editThe easiest way to get started with Matrix is using the web interface of the standard client, Element (formerly Riot). To register, create a free Matrix account. You'll be able to use it both as a Matrix client and as an IRC client that can receive messages while offline.
There's also an Android and iOS app for Element, and a desktop app. Just install the appropriate version.
There's also a vast number of alternative clients, see “Try Matrix Now“ and “Clients” on Matrix website.
Using Element as an IRC client
editDue to technical difficulties, Element does no longer work as an IRC client. See T341314 for details. |
Register a Matrix account, as above. Your username does not have to match your IRC nick (although it's always nice for avoiding confusion).
The UI-specific parts of the instructions above assume you are using the Element web interface.
Configuring your IRC nick
edit(This is optional, but your default nick is <your matrix nickname>[m]
which is not very nice.)
- Start a chat with the Matrix-IRC bridge of matrix.org by clicking the (+) icon in the left sidebar next to "People" and entering
@appservice:libera.chat
and click the "Start Chat" button. - Wait until "@appservice:libera.chat joined the room." is displayed.
- In the "Send a message" area at the bottom, enter
!nick <yournick>
and press the Enter key
(Make sure your nick is actually available. If have are using an IRC bouncer, make sure to disconnect it first. If you are using IRCCloud, signing out is not enough; you'll need to click on the gear icon next to the "LiberaChat" heading in the upper-right corner, and choose "Disconnect" to release the nick.)
Authenticating with LiberaChat
edit(This is optional but currently many LiberaChat channels don't allow unauthenticated users due to spam problems.)
If you do not already have a LiberaChat account, you need to register one first; see instructions. In case you use Element for that, when the instructions say /msg nickserv <blah>
you just need to send <blah>
as a private message to NickServ (@NickServ:libera.chat
; see Send private messages section below).
Open a private chat with appservice as above, then type !username irc.libera.chat <your NickServ username>
and then !storepass irc.libera.chat <your password>
. This will permanently store your username and password on the Matrix application server and use it automatically answer NickServ queries. (In the past this was somewhat unreliable but these days it seems to be working well.)
You can then type !reconnect
to verify the bridge properly authenticates you to NickServ upon connection.
If you don't want to store your password, you can also just start a private chat with LiberaChat's NickServ and type identify <username> <password>
, as you would in an IRC client. (There is no way to use a secure protocol such as SASL, but your connection is to the Matrix homeserver and that part is always encrypted via HTTPS.)
Join IRC channels
edit- Click on the
button near the top of the left-hand sidebar to bring up the room directory. Open the drop-down server list menu by clicking the button under the search field. Click "Add a new server" and add
libera.chat
. Now just simply search the channel name in the search field. (i.e.#wikipedia-en
) - If you can't figure out the above step, just enter the channel address (such as
#wikipedia-en:libera.chat
) in the input field, and click the "Join" button in the input field or press Enter. - Click "Join the discussion" in the dialog that comes up (only the first time).
- In cases of private channels, you can get an invite by messaging
!join #channelName
to@appservice:libera.chat
.
Send private messages
editClick the (+) icon in the left sidebar next to "People", enter the username and click the "Start Chat" button. You can use the full Matrix ID which is @<username>:libera.chat
for LiberaChat users (e.g. @tgr:libera.chat
for the tgr
nick), but just typing the username into the dialog and relying on search should work too. If you are already on the same channel then you can also just click on the username in the right sidebar (there is a field for filtering at the bottom, in case it's too long) and then on the "Start a chat" option.
If you have already sent messages to this person before (or received messages from them), you can just click on their name in the "People" section of the left sidebar instead.
Linking to LiberaChat channels
editLiberaChat channels can be referenced within Matrix as <channel>:libera.chat
(e.g. #mediawiki:libera.chat
) and can be linked as https://app.element.io/#/room/<channel>:libera.chat
. On this wiki, you can also use the {{matrix-channel}} template.
Other
editIf you need further help with your LiberaChat connection, try issuing the command !help
in your chat with @appservice:libera.chat
. If that doesn't work, you can try asking for help in the #irc:matrix.org
room, where people who maintain the IRC bridge code hang out.
To allow messages from unregistered IRC users send !cmd irc.libera.chat MODE <your nick> -R
to appservice. Due to LiberaChat's spam issues, this is not advised.
Wikimedia-related rooms
editIn addition to bridging to IRC channels, there are a few rooms on matrix.org as well, hereafter grouped by language (some are just test spaces):
Bangla
edit- #wikipedia-bn:matrix.org matrix: Wikipedia-bn — Unofficial Bangla Wikipedia matrix channel
Bulgarian
edit- #bgwiki:matrix.org matrix: – The communication space of the Bulgarian-language Wikimedia projects
- #bgwiki-general:matrix.org matrix: – General Wikipedia- and Wikimedia-related discussions in Bulgarian
English
edit- #wikimedia-space:matrix.org matrix: — Wikimedia space: Unofficial Wikimedia Community space
- #wiki-welcome:matrix.org matrix: — Room is for welcoming users and discussions related to space
- #wikidata:matrix.org matrix: — Wikidata discussions, bridged with the IRC channel
- #wikisource-space:matrix.org matrix: — Wikisource space
- #wikisource:matrix.org matrix: — Wikisource discussions, bridged with the IRC channel
- #wikidata-space:matrix.org matrix: — Wikidata space
- #wikidata:matrix.org matrix: — Wikidata discussions, bridged with the IRC channel
- #english-wikipedia:matrix.org matrix: — English Wikipedia space
- #meta-wikimedia:matrix.org matrix: — MetaWiki space
- #cvn:matrix.org matrix: — Countervandalism network space
- #wikitech:matrix.org matrix: — Wikitech space
- #mediawiki:matrix.org matrix: — MediaWiki discussions, bridged with the IRC channel
- #mwstake-extensions:matrix.org matrix: — discussion room for the 3rd-party extension maintainer community
- #mwstake-general:matrix.org matrix: — MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group discussion / announcement room
- #mwstake-showcase:matrix.org matrix: — MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group Showcase Wiki discussion
- #mwstake-installer:matrix.org matrix: — MediaWiki Installer: MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group project to create a unified MediaWiki installer
- #wikimedia-hackathon:matrix.org matrix: — discussions during Wikimedia hackathons, bridged with the IRC and Telegram channels with the same name
- #semantic-mediawiki:matrix.org matrix: — Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) lets you store and query data within MediaWiki pages. Mirrored in the SMW Telegram, which you can join at https://t.me/joinchat/MCG84k3OMoaYZoFA9yhyMg
- #commons-wikimedia:matrix.org matrix: — Commons space
- #emwcon:matrix.org matrix: — Enterprise MediaWiki Conference related discussion
- #swviewer:matrix.org matrix: — SWViewer related discussions, bridged with IRC channel
- #wmau:matrix.org matrix: — General discussion about WMAU and any other Australian/Wikimedian topics.
- #wikiclubwest:matrix.org matrix: — WikiClubWest, the Western Australian branch of Wikimedia Australia
French
edit- #wikimedia-fr-general:matrix.org matrix: General — General wikimedia discussions in French
- #wikimedia-fr-wikipedia:matrix.org matrix: Wikipedia — Wikipedia related discussions in French
- #wikimedia-fr-wiktionary:matrix.org matrix: Wiktionary — Wiktionary related discussions in French
- #wikimedia-fr-commons:matrix.org matrix: Commons — Commons related discussions in French
- #wikimedia-fr-wikinews:matrix.org matrix: Wikinews — Wikinews related discussions in French
- #wikimedia-fr-wikivoyage:matrix.org matrix: Wikivoyage — Wikivoyage related discussions in French
- #wikisource-fr:matrix.org matrix: Wikisource — Wikisource related discussions in French
- #wikifranca:matrix.org matrix: Wikifranca — Exhibition of topics related to wikimedia in Francophonie
Hungarian
edit- #wikipedia:grin.hu matrix: — Discussions related to the Hungarian Wikipedia and its sister projects
Spanish
edit- #wikidata-es:matrix.org matrix: Wikidata en español — Wikidata en español
- #wikimediape:matrix.org matrix: Wikimedia Perú — Wikimedia Perú
Portuguese
edit- #wikipedia-pt:matrix.org matrix: Portuguese Wikipedia
- #wikimedia_pt:matrix.org matrix: Wikimedia Portugal
Further links
edit- Element help
- Matrix FAQ
- Matrix wiki
- Moderation FAQ
- IRC bridge FAQ
- "IRC for the 21st Century: Introducing Element.io", Justin W. Flory, opensource.com, 19 May 2017
- Matrix help and homeserver list
- Documentation of Matrix used at other communities: Mozilla, KDE