[IxDA Discuss] Chat link

[Jeff Garbers]

On May 22, 2008, at 2:05 AM, Lucy Buykx wrote:
> Jeff Garbers wrote:
>> http://ixda.org/chat
>> This link currently redirects to our #ixda channel on Freenode,
>
> Am I missing something ? When I click the link it goes to a blank  
> page.

You're probably missing an IRC client. This Web address redirects to a  
different protocol -- irc:// -- which needs its own handler; most  
browsers don't handle it natively. It's odd that you got a blank page,  
though. I'd have expected you to get an error along the lines of  
"protocol not supported".

Given the potential for confusion on this, I wonder if it might be  
better to have ixda.org/chat land on a page that contained a little  
explanation, including links to IRC clients and a prominent link that  
would take you to the chat room once your client was installed. Jeff  
Howard, if you're listening in, I'll be glad to compose a page like  
that and pass it along - if you like that idea, please email me off- 
list.

If you're using Firefox, I encourage you to install the Chatzilla  
extension ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16 ) which  
will let you access the IRC channel. Otherwise, if you're on a Mac,  
try Colloquy (http://colloquy.info/). I don't know what IRC software  
to recommend for Windows - perhaps someone else can offer a suggestion?

If you'd like to check out the channel, but don't want to install any  
software at all, you could try a Web-based IRC client like Mibbit (http://www.mibbit.com 
). Select the server "freenode.net" (it's way down in the list under  
"Techies") and the channel is "#ixda".  The downside here is that as  
far as I know, there's no way to get Mibbit to be able to handle the  
ixda.org/chat link directly, as it's currently configured.

Good luck - email me directly if I can offer any more help!