Usability/Glossary

This page is a collection of technical terms that happen to escape into UIs and to confuse potential users.


 * XMPP
 * Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol - the underlying technical protocol used for chat, IoT and other things. Based on XML.


 * Jabber®
 * The original name of the XMPP protocol, mainly used in the context of instant messaging. Registred trademark with some usage limitations.
 * "Jabber" is to "XMPP" what "email" is to "IMAP" and "web" is to "HTTP". Or at least that would be a good analogy in the context of IM.


 * JID (Jabber ID)
 * ... / user address / XMPP identifier.
 * The JID is an address, typically in the form user@domain, identifying an entity on the XMPP network.
 * Recommended term: "Jabber ID" in user-facing software.


 * Roster (contact list)
 * The roster is specified in RFC 6121 and contains all contacts of a given user, grouped/tagged by user-defined terms (see below).
 * Recommended term: "contact list"


 * Roster group
 * Each entry in the roster can have zero or more "groups" attached. Nesting is supported via XEP-0083, but not very common.
 * Recommended term: "tag"


 * Presence subscription
 * The technical means to see your friends' online status. Sometimes there is asymmetric presence subscription ("from" and "to"), which is typically not needed in IM context and only confuses users.
 * Recommended terms: ideally hidden behind "add contact", possibly "request authorization"?


 * MUC (Multi-User Chat)
 * group chat / chat room / channel
 * A MUC is a chatroom with a dedicated JID, typicall hosted on a MUC service that is part of an XMPP server. MUC protocol specification
 * Recommended term: "group chat"


 * MIX (Mediated Information eXchange)
 * MIX is a potential successor to MUC, as soon as it gets fleshed out. MIX protocol specification
 * Recommended term: "group chat" (users shouldn't need to care whether their chats are hosted by MUC, MIX or some other technology)