MetaFilter FAQ

MetaFilter Chat is a group space where MetaFilter members can talk to each other in real time. It was first set up for the 2012 US election night (MeTa thread), and has been running on a trial basis since.

We ask that people:

1. Keep Chat separate. Don't bring interpersonal stuff to Chat from the main site, and vice versa.

2. Keep Chat civil. Normal "Don't be an asshole" guidelines apply. Harassing or bullying other members is a bannable offense.

Users should be aware that Chat transcripts are logged. Contact us if you are having trouble connecting or want to report a problem.

(MetaFilter Chat is different from MetaChat, which is an independent site.)
(tags: chat social subsites jabber ) December 15, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

You log in using your MetaFilter username and password, but with some small changes. You can use Chat from a web browser or a chat client.

Using a web browser:
The easiest way to try it out is to click on the "Chat" link at the top of the page, or visit chat.metafilter.com in your browser. Use your MetaFilter username and password.

Using a chat client:
The chat server uses the Jabber/XMPP protocol. If you don't want to use a browser-based chat, you can also connect with various Jabber clients that support group chat. These include Adium, Pidgin, or Spark. On an iPhone, JabberB and OneTeam both work with the MeFi chat server. Android users can try Jabiru. And there's a longer list of clients for various systems here.

To log in with a chat client, format your MetaFilter username as a Jabber ID. Use all lowercase, even if your MetaFilter username contains uppercase letters:

username@chat.metafilter.com

(This whole string is your Jabber ID.) If your username contains spaces or punctuation, for chat clients you'll also need to escape those characters. To escape a space, use \20. (For other special characters, see this link.) So a name like Example User would login using:

example\20user@chat.metafilter.com

If you use an alternate client, you'll also need to know the name of the group chat room:

mefi@conference.chat.metafilter.com

You can join that room once you're connected to the chat server.
(tags: chat login troubleshooting social subsites jabber ) May 28, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

If you contribute to other online communities, you can link to your profile at other sites from your MetaFilter profile page in two different ways.

The first way is using the link button in the "Blurb about you" box. Just click on "Preferences" or "Prefs" at the top of any page, and scroll down to the bottom of the "Personal Info" section. Click inside the "Blurb about you" box and follow these instructions on how to use the link button that appears at the bottom of the box.

The second way is by using the Social Apps widget. Note this widget will let you link to some of the major social media sites. Links posted via this second way will appear in the "Also On" section of your profile, with a clickable icon of the link.

To add a specific link that appears in the "Also On" section, click on "Preferences" or "Prefs" at the top of any page, and scroll down to the bottom of the "Customize Metafilter" page. Under the heading "Social Apps", choose a service name from the drop-down menu and then enter your username at that site. If you want to add another link, click "add another service" and you'll get another menu/name combo. When you're finished, click "Save your Preferences" to save everything.

If you want to remove a link to a site you've added, go back to editing your profile. Clear your username for the link you want to remove and click "Save your Preferences". The link won't show up on your profile anymore.

Adding a Flickr, Vimeo, or LibraryThing username to your profile will give you the option to add a widget with your recent activity from those sites to your profile page.

(The "Also On" feature was originally announced in this MetaTalk post.)

It's not always easy to figure out your username at other services, so here's a quick guide to finding your username/id at some of the more challenging sites:

airbnb
Go to your airbnb user profile page. The URL should look like this:

https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your airbnb ID in your MeFi profile.


Amazon
Finding your Amazon profile ID is a little tricky. Go to amazon.com and click the "Your Account" link in the upper right corner. From there, look for the "Personalization" section at the bottom of the page. Under the "Community" column, click "Your Public Profile". Note the URL. It should look something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A6N8HSYO8DN1R?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya_56

The section you want to copy is everything after the final slash and before the question mark. In this case that's: A6N8HSYO8DN1R. Copy that ID and paste it into your MetaFilter profile.


Blogger
Go to the blog you want to link and look at the URL. It should be in the form of [prefix].blogspot.com. Note that prefix and add that at your MetaFilter profile.


Facebook
To add your Facebook account to your profile you'll need your Facebook URL Name. To find it, go to Facebook and click on your name in the upper-left corner of the page. On the following page note the URL in your browser's address bar, it should look something like this:

http://www.facebook.com/[url name]

Copy the entire url name and paste it here. Sometimes the URL Name contains periods, but keep in mind it will never contain a space.


Fitbit
Log into Fitbit and find your "view profile" link. Note the URL, and copy everything after user/. It's typically a short string of numbers and letters like this: 224MH2. That's what you want to copy and paste into your MetaFilter profile.


Flickr
Your Flickr photostream URL does not necessarily contain your Flickr username, and your Yahoo! login is not necessarily your Flickr username. To find your Flickr username, sign into Flickr and take a look at the line at the top of the page that says, "Signed in as...". Whatever appears there as a link is your official Flickr username. Make sure your Flickr profile isn't set to hide your profile from searches.


Glitch
You'll need to find your Glitch URL ID to add it. Visit your glitch profile and take a look at the URL in your browser address bar. Here's what it looks like:

http://www.glitch.com/profiles/PUVRH0T8ICE28JA/

Copy everything after /profiles/ and before the closing /. That long alphanumeric string is your Glitch URL ID. Copy that and paste it here.


Goodreads
Log in and click on "My Books" at the top of the page. You should be at a URL with a numeric ID:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your Goodreads ID in your MeFi profile.


LinkedIn
Go look at your public profile page (you'll have to log in if you haven't already). Your profile page will show you your public profile URL and whatever is at the end is what you need to enter. You'll need to customize your profile URL to be something memorable/personal on this page if you haven't already. When you're done, your profile URL should look like this:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/[some name]

Grab [some name] and enter it as your LinkedIn Name in your MeFi profile.


SportsFilter
Log into SportsFilter and click on your profile page. You should see a URL like this:

http://www.sportsfilter.com/member/[some number]

Jot down the number, and enter it as your SportsFilter ID in your MeFi profile.


Steam
Log into the Steam website, and click the "View my SteamID" link toward the top of the page. You should see a URL in your browser address bar like this:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/[some name]

Use the name as your Steam Name in your MeFi profile. If you see a URL like this instead:

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/[some long number]

Go into your Steam profile settings and set up a "Custom URL". Note what you enter for that custom URL value and use that as your Steam Name in your MeFi profile.


Strava
Log in and click on "My Profile" in the nav at the top right of the page. You should be at a URL with a numeric ID:

http://app.strava.com/athletes/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your Stava ID in your MeFi profile.


Tumblr
Go to the blog you want to link and look at the URL. It should be in the form of [prefix].tumblr.com. Note that prefix and add that at your MetaFilter profile.


Userscripts
Log in and click on your name at the top of the page. From there click 'public profile' on the left and note the URL:

http://userscripts.org/users/[some number]

Jot down the number, and enter it as your Userscripts ID in your MeFi profile.


World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft profiles are character and realm specific, so you'll need to specify the realm name and the character on that realm. To do that, find your character at World of Warcraft and note the URL. It should look like this:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/[realm]/[name]/simple

Now that you have the URL, copy the realm and character name as it appears in the URL and paste it into your MetaFilter profile. You should have a something that looks like "realm/name". We need both pieces separated by a / to link to your WoW profile.

(tags: social users profile userpage ) August 8, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

This feature gives you an easy way to share links on two major sites. The Twitter link will give you a short URL to use for a thread as well. If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off in your preferences. Here's the thread where it was discussed in MetaTalk.
(tags: twitter facebook share preferences social ) January 14, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

There is a page on the MetaFilter wiki called SocialStuffs which is where you can suggest a new social site. That page has additional information on the information that we need in order to add the site. We try to add a group of new sites every few months.
(tags: socialstuffs wiki alsoon profile profilepage social ) March 6, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

Use the handy Mefi Social Explorer.
(tags: social users twitter facebook google+ etsy ) October 21, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

This profile area contains lists of your contacts. See here for more details.

About the relationship terms, do not be alarmed. The system allows a person to select a "relationship" label when they add you as a contact, and sometimes people add jokey labels. Crush or muse generally means someone liked a comment or post of yours. There is no obligation to be reciprocal with people who make you a contact.
(tags: linksto linkedby contacts social etiquette ) December 13, 2012 - permalink - back to questions