Wikipedia:Ambassadors/IRC/Guide

For general Wikimedia IRC help, see Wikipedia:IRC and m:IRC.

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Guidelines

See also Wikipedia:Online Ambassadors/Guidelines.

• Help out the newbie. Find out what newcomers have come to IRC for, and focus on answering their questions and helping them fix whatever problems they've come with. Address their main concerns first, then fix a few things yourself as an example or give a gentle suggestion or two. Don't dwell on minor issues.
• Be civil. Hold yourself to the same standards of civility you would in public spaces. Participate in a respectful and considerate way, and avoid directing profane and offensive language at other users.
• Be positive. While you must help out the student by providing thoughtful suggestions on how to move forward, you may do so only in a positive tone. As newbies they will often make mistakes. You shouldn't be trying to point out every wrong thing they are doing, which can be very discouraging. Don't chastise students for doing things wrong, help them do things better.
• Don't be too silly. Avoid joking in the channel, and if you must, do it as a part of the broader effort to help someone.
• Avoid jargon! The abundance of abbreviations for pages in the Wikipedia namespace are useful only for the seasoned user and would only confuse the newbie.
• Keep in mind the intended use: While #wikipedia-en-classroom ^connect is meant for helping WP:USPP students and classes only, #wikipedia-en-ambassadors ^connect, the back channel is meant for discussion and coordination among ambassadors. Avoid tangents or long discussions between ambassadors in front of students. Use the back channel for this purpose.

Channels

These are the most relevant channels (on irc.libera.chat) for Wikipedia Ambassadors:

Channel	Description
#wikipedia-en-classroom connect	This channel is for working with students, holding IRC office hours, and collaborating on public policy content.
#wikipedia-en-ambassadors connect	The channel is for ambassadors to coordinate their activities and socialize. Conversations may sometimes may be off-topic.
#wikimedia-outreach connect	A channel for Wikimedia outreach activities, including the Public Policy Initiative, Wikimedia staff often coordinate their outreach work here.
#wikipedia-en-help connect	This is the general help channel for English Wikipedian. If there's nothing going on in the above channels and you're looking to help newcomers, this is the place to go. Also, if you need more help in another channel, the regulars here may be able to help. It also features a live feed of CAT:HELPME. Helpers are voiced. Poke JohnReaves, werdan7 or nixeagle if you need autovoice.

Bots

There are several bots that are sometimes available in the ambassador channels. The bots have several handy functions.

WPAmbassadorBot

WPAmbassadorBot has as ambassador-specific commands and links and is maintained by ANowlin.

Helpmebot

Helpmebot is the general help bot developed for the help channel, and is maintained by Stwalkerster.

Commands

See also List of Internet Relay Chat commands.

Getting started

• Register your nick:

  /msg nickserv register <the password you want> <your email>

Basic IRC commands

• Private message (PM) someone:

  /msg <nickname> <your message>

• Talk about yourself in third person:

  /me <your message>

• Change your nickname:

  /nick <new nickname>

• Check your new memos:

  /msg memoserv read new

• Type someone's nickname quickly: begin typing their name, then press tab to autocomplete it

Commands for channel operators and owners

• Add a new ambassador: "/msg chanserv access #wikipedia-en-ambassadors[or classroom] add <IRC handle> ambassador" (grants voice and other channel flags)
• Grant permission flags: "/msg chanserv flags #wikipedia-en-ambassadors[or classroom] <IRC handle> +[or -]<flags you want to give>
• Change the rights for the "ambassador" template: "msg chanserv template #wikipedia-en-ambassadors[or classroom] ambassador +<flags you want to give them>
• Make someone an op: "/msg chanserv op #wikipedia-en-ambassadors[or classroom] <IRC handle>"
• Change the entry message delivered by ChanServ (must be an op to do this): "/msg chanserv set #wikipedia-en-ambassadors[or classroom] entrymsg <text of the new entry message>". Setting "NONE" as the message will remove it.

• Relevant flags:
  • +v : voice
  • +V : auto-voice upon entering channel
  • +o : channel operator
  • +t : right to change the channel topic
  • +i : right to invite people to the channel