XMPP

From working2gether

Open Social Media and micro-blogging via mathaba.info and Pidgin

This is a great way to stay up to date with mathaba.info and to receive notices, replies and post notices without the need to use the web page itself, nor to keep refreshing it.

1. Go to www.pidgin.im and download Pidgin for your computer, whether Windows or Linux. For Mac see here: XMPP/MacOSX

2. Install Pidgin.

3. Open Pidgin and follow these instructions:

• On the Pidgin menu go to Accounts > Manage > Add
• Add the following information to create your account:
• From the drop-down Protocol: select XMPP
• For Username: put whatever username you wish to use, it could be the same as on mathaba.info site or not
• For Domain, write exactly like that: mathaba.info
• For Resource, (optional) type PC, laptop, mobile, home, work or whatever you want in that box, in case you log in from more than one place
• For Password: put whatever password you wish to use -- please use a password that you do not use in any other place
• If this is your computer, you can tick "remember password" if it is not your computer, do not tick that box, and make a note of your password so you don't forget it
• For Local Alias (optional), either leave blank, or put whatever you want to show on your chat window only when you are in chat alongside your comments instead of your whatever@mathaba.info account name, for example your name. No one else sees it.
• Leave the box "new mail notifications" blank, as there is no mail service.
• Use this buddy icon for this account (optional): either leave blank, or use whatever image you want to show as Avatar when in chat or on other friends contact lists.
• Be sure to tick (check) the box at the bottom to "Create a new account on the server"
• Leave all other things as they are in Advanced, and touch Proxy only if you need to because of corporate settings.
• Go to Accounts > Manage > and put a tick (check) in the box next to the account you created, to enable it.
• Go to Buddies > Add and select the correct account from the drop down and add the following buddy username: bot@mathaba.info and as Alias put mathaba for group you can do anything either a new one, leave it as it is, or select from the drop down
• Be sure to click Authorise when bot@mathaba.info asks for authorisation at the bottom of your contact list.

4. Go to https://mathaba.info and login to your account there (or register one first if you don't have one).

5. After you are logged in, go to "Connect" on the top menu and then click on the "IM" tab.

6. Tick the IM preferences boxes as you like (you should probably tick "Send me notices through Jabber/GTalk." and then click "Save"

7. Now on the same IM page, add your username from the account you created above, example: whatever@mathaba.info

8. If you are logged in to Pidgin you should get a message from bot@mathaba.info with a link to click to verify that you want that account to be able to connect to mathaba.info

9. Just start a chat with bot@mathaba.info and type: help -- this will give you a list of commands. If you start anything with something other than one of those commands, it will post a notice on mathaba.info site.

If you make mistakes, you can always go to mathaba.info log in and click on the mathaba.info logo top left to go to the main page. There you can delete your wrong messages.

NOTE: You may like to install OTR for very secure private communications with other XMPP users, if you add each other to your XMPP Pidgin buddy lists:

Go to www.cypherpunks.ca/otr and download and install Off-the-Record plugin for Pidgin.

After, open Pidgin, and on the menu go to Tools > Plugins, scroll down, and put a tick in the box to enable Off-the-record.

Secure Direct Communication With Mathaba via Pidgin

1. Go to www.pidgin.im and download Pidgin for your computer, whether Windows, Linux or Mac. Install Pidgin.

2. Go to www.cypherpunks.ca/otr and download and install Off-the-Record plugin for Pidgin.

3. Open Pidgin and follow these instructions:

• Open Pidgin, and on the menu go to Tools > Plugins, scroll down, and put a tick in the box to enable Off-the-record.
• On the Pidgin menu go to Accounts > Manage > Add
• Add the following information to create your account:
• From the drop-down Protocol: select XMPP
• For Username: put whatever username you wish to use
• For Domain, write exactly like that: mathaba.info
• For Resource, (optional) type PC, laptop, mobile, home, work or whatever you want in that box, in case you log in from more than one place
• For Password: put whatever password you wish to use -- please use a password that you do not use in any other place
• If this is your computer, you can tick "remember password" if it is not your computer, do not tick that box, and make a note of your password so you don't forget it
• For Local Alias (optional), either leave blank, or put whatever you want to show on your chat window only when you are in chat alongside your comments instead of your whatever@mathaba.info account name, for example your name. No one else sees it.
• Leave the box "new mail notifications" blank, as there is no mail service.
• Use this buddy icon for this account (optional): either leave blank, or use whatever image you want to show as Avatar when in chat or on other friends contact lists.
• Be sure to tick (check) the box at the bottom to "Create a new account on the server"
• Leave all other things as they are in Advanced, and touch Proxy only if you need to because of corporate settings.
• Go to Accounts > Manage > and put a tick (check) in the box next to the account you created, to enable it.
• Go to Buddies > Add and select the correct account from the drop down and add the following buddy username: mathaba@mathaba.info and as Alias put mathaba for group you can do anything either a new one, leave it as it is, or select from the drop down

You will then need to wait for authorisation which may take up to half a day depending how busy we are and you will also need to authorise us -- when we request it you will see on your contact list at the bottom a request for authorisation for mathaba@mathaba.info - be sure to click Authorise. If it is someone you don't want to authorise to communicate with you then you will click Deny.

Note: we do not accept unencrypted communications, you must have OTR enabled by following all the above instructions carefully. It will say "unverified" in the bottom right of the chat, this is not a problem.

Note: you may have to request authorisation again in future, as due to large number of contacts the authorisation may not be persistent across more than one communication session. If so, and you need to communicate again, just re-request authorisation by right-mouse clicking on mathaba in your contact list and selecting (Re-)Request Authorisation.