What is Matrix?

Contents

Matrix is a communication platform. Think Discord, but hosted here and without its problems.

To get up and running, you only need to read the Getting Started section. Everything else here is just in case you want or need it.

Getting Started

Setting up Matrix is pretty simple.

Download, install, and launch Riot. You'll be presented with the following screen:

Create an account:

Under Advanced, click Other and enter in https://matrix.9iron.club:

Click Next and enter in your account details:

If you would like to set up encryption, follow the prompts. I would recommend doing so for account recovery. After that:

You're done!

After registering, you will automatically be added to the Welcome room. To find more rooms, hit "Explore". You can also create a room and invite other users to it.

Voice Chat

Matrix uses a plugin called Jitsi for voice chat. Each Jitsi chat is unique to its own room. To add one, click this button:

Depending on how the room permissions are set up, you may have to be an admin to add one. From here, pick Jitsi and follow the prompts:

Then, simply click this button to expand Jitsi and join the call:

You can also add other embeds, such as a Spotify playlist or a YouTube video. For now, these plugins are run on another server, but I may bring them into 9iron eventually.

Communities

Where Discord has a Server, Matrix has Communities. You can join a bunch of rooms together in a community and invite people to it. To make a community, hit the big plus button on the left side of Riot and follow the prompts.

Enabling Dark Mode

By default, Riot assumes that you light light mode. Nobody likes light mode. To turn on dark mode, click your name, click "Settings", then scroll down to the "Theme" section and pick "Dark theme". You may have to turn off "Match system theme" to do so:

Rules

The 9iron server as a whole only has two main rules:

Everything beyond that is up to the room's admins. Each room has its own different set of admins and I might not necessarily be part of it.

For the rooms I own (like #welcome and #adminbs), the rules are in the +9:9iron.club community.

Federation

The server on 9iron can communicate with other servers as well. If you want to chat with someone on Matrix.org or some other server, you can. When Setting up a room, add a local address and give it to the person on the other server:

In this case, I would give out #adminbs:9iron.club. With this, the user on the other server can join the room. You can also join theirs in a similar way (ie. you get given #room:matrix.org)

Contact an Admin

If the server goes down or you need to reach out to an admin for any reason, send an email to rehashedsalt@cock.li.