The eXtension Chat Server at chat.extension.org is implemented using the open source Openfire server which implements many of the jabber protocol features.

Jabber is an instant messaging system and standards-track protocol designed as an open standard so that anyone can set up their own instant messaging server. There are many clients that support jabber. Some of them are strictly for jabber, others support jabber among many other IM protocols. Jabber is used as a basis for Google's Google Talk service - and is also used for Apple's iChat Server. There are hundreds of other implementations of jabber servers.

Connecting to the eXtension Chat Server

Authentication to the eXtension Chat Server uses your eXtensionID, which you can obtain at https://people.extension.org. It is strongly recommended that you use an encrypted connection to the server (either SSL or StartTLS). Jabber servers allow you to log in with multiple clients/from multiple locations if you so desire. Most Jabber clients allow you to set a resource name when you connect to the server. If someone has connected to the Jabber server from multiple clients, the resource name allows you to select with which of the person's clients you want to chat.

Information for connecting to our Jabber server at a glance:

• userid(JID): your eXtensionID
  

NOTE: your JID is actually userid@chat.extension.org; however, some clients have you log in with just your "userid" part; you will need to use the full JID when adding someone to your "buddy list"

• password: your eXtensionID password
• server: chat.extension.org
• port: 5222 if you are using StartTLS (or not using SSL), 5223 if using "old-style" SSL

Recommended Jabber Client

If you are not going to be using any other instant messaging systems besides Jabber, we would recommend using Spark.

Recommended IM clients that support Jabber and other IM services

Jabber Presence and Buddy Lists

In creating buddy lists, Jabber was designed to respect your privacy. However, our server is not configured to do so. Anyone requesting to be notified of your presence on the server will be allowed to do so.

Typically, with other servers, and in connections between our servers and others, in order to add someone to your buddy list, you must request from the person to be notified of his/her presence. The person can then accept or deny your request, resulting in your being notified, or not notified when the person is online/offline/away/etc. When requesting notification of someone's presence, you will need to enter the person's full JID (i.e. userid @ servername; e.g. jayoung@chat.extension.org) You are not limited to adding people to your buddy list that are on our Jabber server. You can add anyone who has a Jabber account on any public Jabber server that support server-to-server connections (e.g. Google Talk).

Groupchats

Jabber supports Groupchats (or "chat rooms") that allow multiple users to a many-to-many "conference" using their jabber client. Several clients (including Psi and GAIM) allow you to browse for groupchats on a server (as well as other services). Others require you to specify which groupchat you want to join.

Groupchats can be dynamic - lasting as long as there's a person in the "room" - or they can be setup to persist across sessions.

When you connect to an existing groupchat, the Jabber server will allow you to see the last several messages sent to that groupchat so that you can see the context of what is being discussed

(PLEASE NOTE: In order to provide this history capability - chat room discussions are logged These logs are currently not available publicly, but may be made available in the future for some chatrooms.)

Dynamic Groupchats can be created on the fly merely by entering the chat room name and server in your chat client. The servername for groupchats on our server is conference.chat.extension.org.

Note: Anyone can create a permanent groupchat room if the client supports room configuration. Currently Exodus is the recommended client for creating and configuring groupchats.

Support For Other Chat Protocols

Some chat clients, such as Adium, Spark, and eXodus provide the potential to connect to other chat protocols, such as AIM (Oscar), Yahoo!, or MSN. There are two classifications of clients with respect to supporting multiple protocols. Clients which natively support connections to the other protocols, and clients which are smart enough to communicate with an IM Gateway that handles all of the details for the client.

Multi-protocol Clients

Multi-protocol clients natively support connections to multiple chat protocols. Which protocols are supported is up to the implementation of the client. For example, iChat supports the AIM protocol in addition to Jabber. However, it does not support MSN or Yahoo!. On the other hand, Adium supports AIM, Yahoo!, and MSN. Multi-protocol clients establish a direct connection to the servers associated with the respective protocol. Your user name and password are only saved on your local machine. A high level view of the connections between a multi-protocol client (such as Adium) and the various services it is connected to can be seen below.

Jabber Clients That Support IM Gateways

Some Jabber clients do not support multiple chat protocols natively, but are smart enough to make use of a plugin service which runs on the eXtension Chat Server in order to communicate with different chat protocols. Clients like Spark and eXodus provide support for using IM Gateways. The only catch with using an IM Gateway is that your user name and password for each non-jabber protocol must be stored on chat.extension.org because the IM Gateway handles connection, authentication, and sending messages to the non-jabber protocol. A high level view of the way the eXtension Chat Server is configured to function as an IM Gateway can be seen below.

Connecting to Non-Jabber Protocols

If you're using a multi-protocol client, you'll most likely have to create another account which uses the desired protocol. This process should closely mirror that of setting up your client to use Jabber, and may be even simpler in many cases.

If you're using a client which supports IM Gateways, chances are the clients graphical user interface will show you which protocols are supported.

In the case of Spark, you can connect to AIM, Yahoo!, and MSN. To do so, simply click on the desired protocols icon, as seen above. You can then enter your user name and password, and then you will be connected.

Note: Because your user name and password are stored on the eXtension Chat Server, if you do not specifically close a connection to an outside protocol, it can remain open. This can result in notification messages telling the user that they are logged in to the service from multiple locations.