Have you heard of Slack? It’s a live chat environment that has changed collaboration in a dramatic way.
We’ve decided not to adopt Slack for a variety of reasons. We’re instead trialling a concert of technologies that provides many of the benefits of Slack with more security and flexibility.
Say hello to Matrix/Riot!
4iforum runs its own Matrix homeserver, federated with other servers all over the world. This is group chat but decentralised. It allows us to build a structure for the online community but what you do with it is up to you—start your own rooms or request to get invited to our “official” ones.
Here's how to get started
The chat system has been designed to use your 4i membership login. That means you need to become a member on this website before you can use it. We recommend you pick a username which includes your real name, for example: anthony.other.
The simplest is to use our Riot chat interface. You’ll find it at chat.4iforum.com.
You could also download the Android or iOS mobile version of Riot. You’ll need to click Advanced and specify our homeserver when you log in: disrupt.4iforum.com and you can read more about the mobile app on the Riot website.
Your 4iforum website login, created when you became a member should allow you into the chat server as well. That’s not enough though: many of our Peer Chat Rooms are invite-only, which means you’ll need to get a current member to invite you. That can of course be someone on the exec team, so please send us a message on the form below to request an add to the rooms that are relevant for you.
As you register your new account on the server, you’ll be advised to create a passphrase and key. This is a necessary step to make sure that you can always read messages you’ve written in the past. We advise that you allow your keys to be backed up on the server – they’re useless without the pieces of data you create during the registration process, so keep those in a safe file on your computer.
You’re now free to find other members who you might have seen in video forums or on the discussion forums in this site. Start new rooms and keep the conversation going! Get in touch with us if you need any help.