FeministWiki:Welcome
Welcome to the FeministWiki! This page will guide you through everything you need to know as a member.
What is the FeministWiki?
The FeministWiki is a website with different components, that aims to offer a rich digital platform for feminist information and activism. The components of the FeministWiki are:
- A wiki, where educational and informational articles on feminist topics can be curated by the community. Like Wikipedia, but for feminism. You're reading a page of the wiki right now.
- A blog platform where members who wish to publish articles can become authors on the shared main blog, or get their own personalized blog which they have full control over, such as: SocialJusticeWizardry
- A file-storage platform (similar to DropBox) where you can upload files you want to save, and optionally share them with others. For instance, you could upload PDF documents, information charts, recordings of seminars, or even just feminist memes, so you can access them from any computer by logging in to your FeministFiles account.
- A traditional web forum where members can hold discussions about all sorts of topics. If you're familiar with the British website Mumsnet, this one's a bit like that.
- A chat messaging system that can be used through the website or via smartphone apps. Like WhatsApp, but accessible for FeministWiki members only, and it doesn't need your mobile number.
Members of the FeministWiki can use all of these services by logging in with the same username and password in each of them.
Further, every member is given an e-mail address like janedoe@feministwiki.org which they can use to send and receive e-mails. This might be useful, for example, if you don't want to use your personal e-mail address for political purposes.
What sort of feminism is it for?
As explained on the Main Page, the FeministWiki is aimed at classical/radical feminism.
This includes, for instance, anti-prostitution and anti-pornography activism, female reproductive rights, opposition to gender stereotypes, support for female-only spaces, alliance with lesbian feminists and generally support for lesbian rights, and so on.
Genuine intersectional approaches are definitely valued, such as alliance with black feminists, support of women in poverty, etc., whereas faux-intersectionality that denies sex-based oppression and centers male interests is frowned upon.
How are new members added?
All members of the FeministWiki have a right to add further members as they like.
Please be careful in who you add, as communities like this are juicy targets for troll infiltration. The system internally keeps track of who was added by who, so in the absolute worst case the technician is able to find the source of a troll infiltration and issue a sweeping ban to bring back peace, but it would of course be ideal if something like this didn't happen in the first place.
That said, please bring in as many of your trusted friends as you can! The FeministWiki only has a purpose so long as there's a community making use of it.
Can I trust you with my data?
If you want maximum security, you should never use any FeministWiki service to store or transmit sensitive information. The technician(s) who have administrative access to the server can see your chat messages, emails, files uploaded to file storage, and so on, unless you use encryption on your computer before transmitting the data. There is also always the possibility of security holes in the server leading to data leaks, even if the technicians are not malicious and even if they follow common security best practices.
That said, the FeministWiki promises to show the utmost responsibility with regard to privacy and security. It doesn't expect you to provide any sort of personal information in your profile, and even if you choose to do so, the FeministWiki will never give that information out, unless forced to do so by German law enforcement.
Who runs the site?
The site was set up by a male computer programmer who wanted to do volunteer work for the radical feminist movement (and also train his server administration skills). For now, he prefers not to reveal his real-life identity, to deter abuse from anti-feminists. He is well aware of the repeated scandals surrounding "male feminists" and has no expectation of gaining the trust of all members. As such, he tries to create an open and well-documented infrastructure that should be easy to replicate by any other IT specialist in case something goes wrong. Also, the site does not expect members to provide any personal information. (See also the previous section.) This way, members shouldn't need to put trust in whoever is running the site, as they could take things under their own control if needed.
"Trust is good, control is better." -- German idiom, commonly attributed to Vladimir Lenin
Help topics
What happens if I lose my password?
Main help page: Help:Password
If you want to have safety against lost passwords, you can set a recovery e-mail address via the FeministWiki Account Settings page. This e-mail address should not be your FeministWiki e-mail address (like janedoe@feministwiki.org), because you need your FeministWiki password to access that one in the first place. (Chicken and egg problem.) The recovery e-mail address will be invisible to everyone except the FeministWiki technician.
If it's very important for you to keep your identity private, and if you don't trust the technician or fear data leaks, then you can use an e-mail address that isn't tied to your real identity. Just make sure that you can always access the e-mail that you use for this purpose, as otherwise you will not be able to reset your password.
Alternatively, you can contact the technician by sending an email to technician@feministwiki.org and ask for a manual password reset.
How does creating or editing wiki pages work?
Main help page: Help:Wiki
Getting the hang of wiki editing may take some time, but the community will surely be delighted by your contributions!
See the help page linked above to get started, or dive right into the official and comprehensive MediaWiki help page if you're already somewhat skilled with software or feel courageous.
How do I use the forum?
Main help page: Help:Forum
Forum front-page: https://forum.feministwiki.org/
An internet forum or web forum is a website that allows members to create "topics" (also called "threads") to discuss a certain matter. Once a topic is created, other members can reply (or "post") to the topic to add their insights. There is no limit to what these topics may be about, so the forum usually offers a number of categories (or "sub forums") under which the topics are grouped. A well-known example of a web forum is the British website Mumsnet.
For detailed instructions on how to use the FeministWiki forum, visit the forum help page linked above.
How do I use the chat system?
Main help page: Help:Chat
Chat web-interface: https://chat.feministwiki.org/
The simplest way to use the chat is by opening the web interface linked above, and logging in there with your FeministWiki username and password.
You can also access the chat from dedicated chat programs like Gajim or smartphone apps like Xabber for Android or ChatSecure for iOS.
For detailed instructions on how to set up some of these chat programs/apps, see the help page linked above.
How do I publish on the blog?
Blog front-page: https://blogs.feministwiki.org/
If you want to publish articles on the FeministWiki blog, ask the technician by sending an e-mail to technician@feministwiki.org, and your FeministWiki account will be granted the ability to publish on the blog. If you want, you can also get a personalized blog that you have full control over, under a name like "blogs.feministwiki.org/JaneDoe".
The blog uses a self-hosted installation of the well-known blogging software WordPress. While the WordPress organization controls blogs that are hosted on their own servers, they also release the software behind their blogging system under a free software license, so anyone can install it on their own servers. The FeministWiki has such a local installation of that software, meaning that the WordPress organization has no control over what's published on the FeministWiki blog. As such, you don't need to fear censorship.
For further information on the FeministWiki blog, visit the blog front-page linked above.
How do I use the file storage?
Main help page: Help:Files
Files web-interface: https://files.feministwiki.org/
The FeministWiki file storage lets you upload potentially very large files and save them on the FeministWiki servers. You can then access the files from anywhere, and optionally share some files with others via a link you send them.
To prevent accidental overloading of the server, every member is granted a quota of 1 GB storage by default. If you would like to store more data, just ask the technician to increase your quota.
For detailed information on how to use the file storage, see the help page linked above.
How do I use my FeministWiki e-mail address?
Main help page: Help:Mail
Mail web-interface: https://mail.feministwiki.org/
The easiest way to use your FeministWiki e-mail is by visiting the web interface linked above, and logging in with your FeministWiki username and password.
You can also set up any e-mail program/app on your computer or smartphone to use your FeministWiki e-mail address.
For further details, see the help page linked above.
Wait what? You have an IRC server?
Main help page: Help:IRC
The FeministWiki offers an Internet Relay Chat server for those who have been using computers for a long time and feel especially nostalgic, or those among the younger generations who have re-discovered IRC.
The server is only open to members. It rejects connections from those who can't authenticate with a valid FeministWiki username and password. The hostname is irc.feministwiki.org and only encrypted connections are accepted, on port 6697. To establish a connection, configure your IRC client so that your IRC nick is your FeministWiki username, and make your client use the rudimentary PASS authentication method with your FeministWiki password. (In most IRC clients this will simply correspond to a "password" text field that you fill out while configuring the connection.)
I have a friend who wants to become a member!
Interface: Add a member
Every member of the FeministWiki can add further members. Currently the above-linked basic web interface is the way to do so.
Simply fill out your own FeministWiki username and password, and then enter the desired username for the member you want to add. After you click the "Add member" button, the page will show some text saying that the operation was successful and show you an automatically generated password. Send the username and the generated password to the new member and inform them that they can change their password after logging in.