Pidgin

Overview

Pidgin is a client for XMPP (née Jabber) that is used to receive Directorbot pings and access XMPP chat channels ("conferences"). Pidgin is not the only XMPP client, but if you are just beginning your XMPP journey and use Windows, it is strongly suggested you start with Pidgin, and it's what most Goons use.

There are other XMPP clients that work very similarly to Pidgin for other operating systems, like Adium for macOS.

Security

As our XMPP server is hosted internally, connecting to it poses no security risks. Connecting to other XMPP servers or other IM services may result in OPSEC breaches depending on how you use it.

Pidgin Configuration and FAQs

Installing and Setting up Pidgin

To begin, download Pidgin from the official Pidgin website and install it like any other application. After installing, start Pidgin and follow the steps in the image.

• Protocol: XMPP
• Username: Firstname_Lastname (Your username under GSF Jabber on the ESA page))
• Domain: goonfleet.com (if that doesn't work, and you are certain other information is correct, try jabber-server.goonfleet.com)
• Resource: - leave blank (optionally used to distinguish devices if you use multiple; ie "laptop," "work," or "phone")
• Password: hunter2 (External Services password from the ESA page)

Be sure to tick Remember Password and before clicking the Add button.

If you've done all this correctly, you should see something like this image.

If so - congratulations! You will now receive Directorbot broadcasts (pings) while you have Pidgin open, and can join chat channels. If you have any trouble, reach out for help on the forum, or the Little_Bees channel in-game.

• Quick Troubleshooting
  • Did you copy and paste your username or password? Make sure you didn't include any whitespaces - try typing both manually.
  • Make sure your username and password is correct, following the ESA page instructions, and using the ESA, not forum, password.
  • If you see "Authentication failed", double check your user/pass and try resetting your ESA password. Wait 15-20 minutes and try again.
  • If you see "Failed to connect" or "Unable to connect", you might have a local DNS issue. Try domain: jabber-server.goonfleet.com instead of goonfleet.com

Joining Chat Channels

There are many useful channels available through Pidgin/XMPP that allow you to interact with others from Goonswarm and across the Imperium coalition. Most of these rooms are public, and as you join SIG and Squad groups, you may get invited to some limited channels as well.

These rooms are open to everyone, and it's encouraged you join them!

• elysium (general channel; questions for Fireside meetings are asked here)
• gs_isk (industry and market discussion)

Joining a Channel by Name

If you have the name of a channel you want to join - for example, "elysium" - you can add it to Pidgin so it will be opened automatically when you connect.

• Find the Buddy List window
• Navigate in the toolbar: Buddies -> Add Chat
• Enter the room name into the Room field
  • Do not enter any other information
• Tick the automatically join when account connects box
• Click Add
• You will now have this channel added to the "Chats" section of the Buddy List, and can double-click it to open the window
  • It will also open automatically when you start Pidgin, if you ticked the automatically join...' box when adding
  • You can also right-click the room and tick or untick "Auto-Join" to change this setting

Tweaks

Dark Mode

Pidgin does not come with a pre-built "dark mode"; however, it is designed to support users modding the UI themselves. Detailed documentation can be found at the Pidgin website.

There is a forum thread here with information on using Tuzy's custom Goonswarm dark theme.

There is a slightly newer modification by Nodrakish available in this reply post as well.

Pidgin FAQ

Suppress all those "X has entered the room, Y has left the room"

In the Buddy List window, in the toolbar menu at the top: navigate to Tools -> Plugins, and tick the box for "Join/Part Hiding".

When you have that entry selected, you can click "Configure Plugin" to fine-tune the settings. You can set "rooms with this many people" to 0 to turn off all join/part messages everywhere.

Suppress "buddy" Logged Off Notification Sounds

By default, all Alliance directors are automatically "published" to your buddy list. With Pidgin's default configuration, you will hear a noise any time one of them goes offline. To change that:

In the Buddy List window, in the toolbar menu at the top: navigate to Tools -> Preferences -> Sounds, and uncheck "Buddy logs in" and "Buddy logs out".

Review past Directorbot broadcasts (pings)

While you can only see broadcasts sent while you have Pidgin open and connected, you can see a history of those you have received. To do that, in the Buddy List window, expand the "Director Team - All" section, and scroll down to "directorbot". You can then right-click the user in the Buddy List, and select "View Logs".

Get a list of all available conference rooms

Buddy List -> Tools -> Room List

Manually order conference rooms

Buddy List -> Buddies -> Sort Buddies -> Manual

Manually order your conference rooms in the Buddy List and they will open in that order upon Pidgin restarting.

Automatically join conferences when connecting

Add the conference you want under Buddies -> Add Chat..., then find it on your buddy list, right click it and mark Auto-join.

Altering broadcast sounds

Go to the Sounds section in Options, there will be a list of events, clicking each one you can change sound for it. Sound file has to be in .wav which is a bit hard to find.

Pidgin Emote Packs

Emote pack will be back soon.