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Channel registration |
Our policies outline that channels on Libera.Chat fall into one
of three categories and two namespaces. Channels that begin with only a single
# character are either project or community channels. Channels that begin
with two # characters are informal channels.
Project channels are reserved for on-topic channels as per our
on-topic projects, represented by owners with an official
claim to that name. A registered project as per the
registration below can claim ownership over project
channels bearing the group's names or name prefixes. For example, Libera.Chat
itself owns the channel #libera and all channels beginning with #libera-.
As per our policies, these channels do not expire.
Community channels are reserved for on-topic channels as per our community groups. An official claim to the name is not needed, but not having it bears the risk of losing the channel should an on-topic entity with a valid claim start an official presence on Libera.Chat. Staff will try to find a good solution for both parties in such cases.
Informal channels are for topics not covered by our on-topic projects. As per our policies, such channels can exist on Libera.Chat as long as they do not disturb the operations of our network and our project and community channels, and adhere to the network policies. Informal channels are given out on a first-come, first-served basis. They will expire if unused for a long time, see our policies for details regarding when this occurs. You can contact us on IRC with a request to take over an expired secondary channel.
How to register a channel depends on what type of channel described above it is.
Primary channels in the namespace of an already registered project can be
registered directly via ChanServ's REGISTER command. So if e.g. the project
"MyFossCalendar" wants to add #myfosscalendar-social to the existing
channels, they can just grab it. For Projects not yet registered as such with
us, please see project registration. If you like to add
additional channel namespaces to your existing project, please contact the
projects and community team at [email protected].
Community channels in the namespace of an already existing community can be
registered directly via ChanServ's REGISTER command. So if e.g. the owners of
#linux would like to add #linux-social to the existing channels, they can
just grab it. For namespaces not yet registered as such with us, please see
community registration.
Informal channels that are not already taken can be registered by any user in
it who has channel operator status, which is usually the first user to join an
empty, unregistered channel. In this case you can use the REGISTER command
in chanserv to register it to your account. See /msg ChanServ help REGISTER
for details. If a channel is unregistered but nobody has operator status,
please contact network staff and we shall see if we can find a solution that
is acceptable for the local community.
Project registration allows your project or organisation to have an official representation on our services and relationship with us.
Projects considered to be on-topic for Libera.Chat are primarily free and open-source software projects, and other peer-directed projects, for instance Linux User Groups (LUGs), student societies, hacker- or makerspaces and other collaborative efforts. It can also cover projects/companies of general interest to our user base.
A claim to the name is given if your project is on-topic as per the above and named like that, or commonly called / abbreviated that. In case of name clashes, e.g. other on-topic projects already present using the same name or there being obvious trademark issues, our team will try to find a good solution. The same applies if your name contains characters that can't be used on our services for technical reasons.
The registration should be either done by or have received the official blessing of someone who is able to speak for the project. This could be:
- The project founder
- A lead developer
- Someone in a management position
- A board member
- ...
We recommend you contact us as per the Projects & Community team section before registering, so we can already check whether your project is likely to be considered eligible to a registration. Once done, we will need the following information from you:
# About your project
Your project name(s):
Your project description:
Can we list your project publicly, such as on the libera.chat website:
Libera Chat staff member you have discussed this registration with:
Links to places we can find out more about your project:
(e.g. website, source code repositories or similar)
# About you and your staff
Your NickServ account:
Your relationship to / position in the project:
NickServ of group contacts and if their status is hidden/public:
# Channels and cloaks (see below)
Channels you'd like to claim:
(typically #projectname and #projectname-*)
Would you like ONLY group contacts to be able to register these channels with
ChanServ?:
Cloak namespaces you'd like to claim:
(typically projectname/*)Group contacts are the members in your project that will be the official interface between Libera.Chat and your organization. They are the ones who can claim channels in your namespace(s) and request cloaks for your members/users. You can tell us whether these should be visible to the public or not. If you need specific rules or abilities for your group contacts, check with our team to get the option that fits your structure best.
Please send this information as an e-mail to [email protected].
Our team will then get in touch with you and do a claim verification. These are done per case and usually contain some sort of check of domain / code repository ownership or the likes.
Registered projects can profit from the following benefits:
- Channels in their namespace can be claimed
- Optional cloaks are available for members.
These replace the hostname part with a custom string, e.g.
@yourproject/developer/alexor@yourproject/taylor - We offer to send messages about important releases or events of your project as a "wallop" message to all our users who opted in to receiving these
Community channels on Libera.Chat are for topics that would otherwise be
eligible for a project registration but do not have an official representation
(e.g. #linux), or are significantly relevant to our intended userbase (e.g.
#windows).
We recommend you contact us as per the Projects & Community team section before registering, so we can already check whether your community is likely to be considered eligible to a registration. Once done, we will need the following information from you:
# About your community
Your community name(s):
Your community description:
Can we list your community publicly, such as on the libera.chat website:
Libera Chat staff member you have discussed this registration with:
# About you and your staff
Your NickServ account:
Your relationship / affiliation with the community:
NickServ of group contacts and if their status is hidden/public:
# Channels and cloaks (see below)
Channels you'd like to claim:
(typically #communityname and #communityname-*)
Would you like ONLY group contacts to be able to register these channels with
ChanServ?:
(The cloaks will be formatted like this:
about/YourCommunityNameHere/name or about/YourCommunityNameHere/role/name)group contacts are the members in your community that will be the official interface between you and Libera.Chat. They are the ones who can claim channels in your namespace(s) and request cloaks for your members/users. You can tell us whether these should be visible to the public or not. If you need specific rules or abilities for your group contacts, check with our team to get the option that fits your structure best.
Please send this information as an e-mail to [email protected], our team will then get in touch with you.
Registered communities can profit from the following benefits:
- Channels in their namespace can be claimed (with
/msg ChanServ CLAIM) - Optional cloaks are available for members.
These replace the hostname part with
@about/yourcommunity/custompart, and can be requested on#libera-communities.
The Projects & Community Team will act as your liaisons during the project registration or topic claiming process and throughout your tenure on the Libera.Chat network. If you wish to discuss the registration process, find out if Libera.Chat could be a good fit for your project or register your project, please feel free to drop any of the team members a line on IRC. If none are online, feel free to reach out to staff in general and they will forward your request to the team, which will get back to you as soon as possible. Once you have discussed your project with a staff member, you'll be asked to email [email protected] with the details of your request as per the above.