https://chat.dataverse.org describes how current and potential Dataverse users and developers can chat with each other.
This git repo contains the static site (index.html, hosted on GitHub pages) as well as code, docs, and metrics for previous chat solutions (i.e. IRC, Matrix, etc.).
Here we document some details about the current chat service, which is Zulip.
Our Zulip instance can be found at https://dataverse.zulipchat.com
In January 2026, Philip Durbin talked about Zulip from the Dataverse perspective (slides, video, discuss). This was part of "tools trial" webinar hosted by CSCCE.
First, do you really need a whole channel? Take the yearly community meetings, for example. So far we've gotten by with a topic per year like this:
If possible, simply create a topic instead instead of a channel, probably under #community.
If you definitely want a channel, here are the steps:
- Generally, follow https://zulip.com/help/create-a-channel
- Under "Who can access this channel", select "Web-public" (for transparency).
- Check the box for "Default channel for new users".
- Click "Continue to add subscribers" and then make everyone subscriber. They can unsubscribe later if they wish.