Pidgin - Group Chat's

[undisclosedtoyou]

I was just wondering, how in the world do you initiate a group chat?  For the life of me I can't figure it out.

[jouzinka]

It's been a while since I used Pidgin, but I would hazard that you just invite a new person into an existing chat?

Depends also on the protocol and if that supports group chats, I believe.

[undisclosedtoyou]

It supports it, but there's no real 'add person to chat' button or such that I can see. 

[jouzinka]

Would any of this help, by any chance? :-)

http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Pidgin#HowdoIcreateachatroom

[undisclosedtoyou]

It sort of does.  I was thinking more group chatting as in the messenger equivalent, not the irc or "chat room" equivalent.  But I guess that will do for now, thank youuuu.

[jouzinka]

You're welcome. :-)

I know that this probably isn't much help, but Skype has very good group-chat features. ;)

[undisclosedtoyou]

No, that is very helpful, thanks for the info :D.

[jaybee55]

Hi Undisclosed,

I've been a Pidgin user for years, since it was still called "Gaim", and even contributed code to the project once upon a time.  So if you still want/need help let me know.

Just FYI: When I want to set up a multiuser chat I generally create a "room" on an XMPP (i.e. Jabber) server that supports the MUC extension (also known as "Multi-User Chat" or, more cryptically, XEP-0045).  But that presupposes that you have access to such a server (see http://xmpp.net).

I'm not sure whether the El IRC server supports it, but you can also set up a private IRC "room" like this: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Private-Channel-in-IRC (with almost any IRC client, including Pidgin).

There are other ways, using other protocols, but nearly all require cooperation on the server end (because Pidgin is just a client).

[undisclosedtoyou]

Hey Jay,

Oh, I can definitely still use some help.  I have a question:

Can I access a private irc channel in Pidgin that's hosted on Mibbit?

[jaybee55]

Hey Jay,

Oh, I can definitely still use some help.  I have a question:

Can I access a private irc channel in Pidgin that's hosted on Mibbit?

Mibbit is a web-based IRC client, just as Pidgin is a non-web-based IRC client (among other things).  I don't think the Mibbit folks host any IRC servers themselves, but I could be wrong.  In any case, user rights on IRC servers - like whether you can create a private channel or not - are handled entirely on the server end.  In other words, if the IRC server allows private channels you should be able to create/connect/invite/whatever regardless of which client you (or any of the other participants) happens to be using.  The channels themselves are not hosted or even facilitated by the client in any way, shape, or form.

As far as I know most (if not all) servers hosted by the "big" IRC cooperatives (EFNET, DALNET, UNDERNET, etc.) allow private channels by default.  The same is true of most lesser-known IRC cooperatives - at least the ones I'm familiar with.

If you tell me which IRC server you're using I can probably tell you whether it supports user-created private channels or not - and there's a very high probability that it does.

And feel free to ask more questions if I just made things more confusing instead of less :-)

- - -

Quick edit: I almost forgot that some IRC clients do support subsets of the DCC family of protocols.  DCC can be used to set up limited peer-to-peer (i.e. not server-relayed) chat groups if all clients support the proper functions.  To quote ancient cartographers: Here there be dragons.  In other words, not for the faint of heart.

[undisclosedtoyou]

Sounds so complicated, lol.  I really don't know much, if anything about servers, and I only access the irc via here, or Mibbit, so that's pretty much a dead end.  I think I'll probably give up on group discussions in Pidgin, since it seems to be so complicated.  But thank you for your helpppp :D

[jaybee55]

Hmm... I seem to have succumbed to the urge to spew tech-babble.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes I forget that other people don't do this sort of thing as a hobby  :P

According to some quick testing I just did, the Elliquiy IRC server is perfectly capable of handling private channels.

1) Connect to the Elliquiy IRC server in the usual way (i.e. via Mibbit)
2) Have the other people connect, too
3) /join #mychannel (replace "mychannel" with the name of the channel you want to create)
4) /invite some-other-user #mychannel (where some-other-user is someone from step 2)
5) Repeat step 4 until everybody is connected to the same private channel

That's all there is to it.  By the way, the channel you create will show up as a separate tab in the Mibbit client.

There are other things you can do (such as set the channel to be "private" - it defaults to "pubilc" - or set the mode or set the topic)... see the link I sent previously (http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Private-Channel-in-IRC).  And of course this: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=133323.0

[undisclosedtoyou]

That information is great Jay, thanks a lot for it!  And it's okay spewing tech-babble just makes you look smart, which is always a good thing.

[jouzinka]

That information is great Jay, thanks a lot for it!  And it's okay spewing tech-babble just makes you look smart, which is always a good sexy thing.

Fixed! ;D

[undisclosedtoyou]

Fixed! ;D

I am suitably corrected. :D

[jaybee55]

LOL...