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wikiHow to Find Alternatives to Chatting on wikiHow

Six Methods:wikiHow ForumswikiHow Email SystemwikiHow IRC RoomEmailSocial Networking SitesInstant MessagingCommunity Q&A

Has someone asked you to tone down the chatting on wikiHow talk pages? Our talk pages are mainly used for collaboration on wikiHow articles and projects. Additionally, chatting creates more work for our volunteers. Every edit on wikiHow, including talk page messages, must be patrolled by a volunteer editor. If they have to review chatty talk page messages, that creates more work for them. However, there are a variety of different ways in which you can chat easily with your friends on wikiHow.



Method 1
wikiHow Forums

The wikiHow forums is a great place to talk with people from wikiHow without having to clog up talk pages!

  1. 1
    Go to wikiHow Forums mainpage This is the forum's homepage, containing a few different categories.
  2. 2
    Click on "General Chat" either under the Bug Reports or in the sidebar to the right. This is the section of the forums dedicated to chatting with other users. Try introducing yourself on this thread!

Method 2
wikiHow Email System

If you both have an email address specified in your wikiHow preferences, you can email another user from their talk page on wikiHow! This is quite a lot safer than regularly swapping email addresses, because you don't have to write your email address on a talk page where everyone can see it.

  1. 1
    Check your email preferences. Go to your preferences page and see if you have already written your email there. If you haven't you can specify an email address by writing it in the box next to "Email" and then hitting "Save" at the bottom. You will then get an email from wikiHow to authenticate your email address; just follow the instructions within it. Once your email address has been authenticated go back to your preferences page and make sure you have ticked the box next to "Enable e-mail from other users" before hitting save!
  2. 2
    Go to the userpage of the person you want to email. Click on the little blue envelope next to their username.
    • If they have also set up an email in their preferences, a page will open letting you email that user.

Method 3
wikiHow IRC Room

wikiHow has its own IRC (Internet Relay Chat) room, where you can chat with other users or find help with wikiHow if you need it. For more detailed instructions on logging in and alternative methods of doing so read how to log in to the wikiHow IRC room.

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Choose a nickname and enter #wikihow as channel.
  3. 3
    Enter the captcha and click connect.

Method 4
Email

Email can be a really effective to keep in touch with online friends. Although a little slower than instant messaging and chat rooms, emails are fun and a great way to communicate.

  1. 1
    Get an email address. If you don't already have an email address, there are loads of sites on the Internet where you can get a new and free email address quickly and safely. As always, weigh up a few different sites and choose the one that suits you best. Some of the best and easiest to use sites include:
    • Yahoo! Mail
    • Gmail
    • Hotmail
      • Once you have chosen an email service, you will still have to choose your email address. For example, if you choose Gmail, then your email address will be something @gmail.com. For more information on choosing an email address, read how to choose an email address.
  2. 2
    Swap email addresses with your friend and send them an email!

Method 5
Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites are awesome places for chatting, simply because they were designed for just that! There are lots of different social networking sites, in which you can communicate with people in lots of different ways. This could be posting comments on Bebo profiles, talking in Facebook chat, sending a tweet, etc. Have a look around and pick the one you like the best!

  1. 1
    Choose a social networking site. Have a look around at the different sites and see which one you think is the easiest to use and create an account, the one that looks the best or the one that one of you has already! Some of the most popular social networking sites include:
  2. 2
    Create an account. Once you're done making a profile, send the link to your profile to the other person and get chatting!

Method 6
Instant Messaging

Instant messaging is one of the easiest and most private ways to chat over the Internet. This involves downloading programs that were made specifically for chatting, which you can run on your computer and chat with anybody you have added as a contact.

  1. 1
    Choose a program to download. Have a look at a couple of different programs, as again, each has their quirks and each will look a little different. Once you've found the program you want to use, go to its site and download it. Try to pick a reliable instant messaging program that is fairly well-known, like some of these examples:
  2. 2
    Add the person you would like to talk to as a contact. Usually this involves putting in their email address once you've set up the program, and after that you can chat all you like. Some instant messaging programs even have the capacity for video chat too!

Community Q&A

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Tips

  • If you're concerned about privacy and safety, you can always make new accounts or email addresses for your online friends and be extra careful, keeping them separate from the accounts you use with your real-life friends.
  • Omegle is a site which connects someone to a text chat with randomly selected people from all over the world. This can be a good way to talk to people, though you must beware of trolls and never give out your personal information!
  • Tinychat is a chatting website that lets you talk to other people via text, audio or video. Once you have created an account there it will also let you create your own chat rooms with which to talk to other people with similar interests. This can be used as a great tool to talk to new people on the Internet and also even to talk to some of your wiki friends more easily!

Warnings

  • Avoid video chats with total strangers. You never know who could be watching and what could be waiting on the other camera!
  • Don't give out any personal information like your address or telephone number to strangers on the Internet. This is said a lot, but people on the Internet could be literally anybody, not necessarily who they say they are.

Article Info

Categories: Talk Pages

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