Wikipedia:Not The Wikipedia Weekly/Helpful Hints

Skype at first is a somewhat confusing environment. Nevertheless, with a little effort you will find that it can be a useful tool. To that end, there are some useful workarounds and information that should be beneficial.

General Skype tips
Here are a few tips:
 * There are two methods for having a discussion with several people at once; Skype conference calls and Skypecasts.
 * Skype conference calls are peer to peer. Skypecasts go through a server in Europe and if the server is overwhelmed, can suffer from poor sound quality and difficulty in connecting to the cast.
 * Skype conference calls often have better sound quality than Skypecasts, but the host has a little less control over spurious sounds and cannot turn off people's microphones on a Skype conference call. Also, if the host loses connection in a Skype conference call, everyone in the Skype conference call also loses their connections.
 * Sometimes text sent in a Skype instant message will not go through. Dialing the person will clear this.
 * Since Skype is peer-to-peer, your machine will be used by others in the network. To prevent this, and improve sound quality and performance, some firewalls that stop two-way traffic can be used (I think Zone Alarm is one). My suspicion is that the Windows program SkypePM.exe also helps route other users through your machine and so I kill it with no ill effects, and often experience an improvement in sound quality and performance (do not kill Skype.exe as it runs or you will lose your connection).
 * I suggest that you go to tools and then select options and in the general area, uncheck the box that lets Skype adjust your sound levels. This allows you to adjust the sound levels from your microphone yourself, which I think has some benefits.
 * To adjust your microphone levels and speaker levels, go to the main Skype window, and click on the picture of a headset in the lower right hand corner. Two slider bars will appear, one for the microphone and one for the speakers. You can both monitor sound levels on both devices, and adjust the gains with the blue knobs
 * Sometimes the chosen microphone and speaker sources shown above the two slider bars change from what you originally chose. At this point, your voice might not be transmitted and you might not receive any sound. You can select the appropriate device from the menus above the slider bars to correct this.
 * Make sure under Main Skype window > Tools > Options, in the Advanced > Connection section, that ports 80 and 443 are selected as alternatives for incoming connections. Without this, the program behaves erratically.
 * If you have sound problems, dial the Skype Test Call (echo123; it should be in your contact list. If it is not, do a search by going to Tools > Search for Skype Users and looking for echo123) to test your sound and microphone.
 * To add people to a Skype conference call you are hosting, use the "add callers" button in the upper left hand corner of the Skype window (the field will be greyed in unless you're the host).
 * To add people to a chat or instant message session, use the "add" button in the upper left hand corner of the chat window.
 * To turn the chat into a conference call with you as the host, use the "options" button at the top of the chat window.
 * If you are dropped from a Skypecast, you can find it again under your history tab at the top of the main Skype window and redial. If you are dropped from a Skype conference call, you have to have the host readd you. If you are the host of a Skype conference call, you have to set the Skype conference call up again.
 * This is the page for general Skype assistance.

Security tips
Here are some hints to try to guard your privacy and protect yourself from computer security problems in Skype:


 * In Skype, go to Tools > Options > Chat and Tools > Options > Chats & SMS (or Tools > Options > Privacy Settings for both) and accept chats and calls from those on your contact list only to be cautious. You might have to drop this temporarily to be added to the main Skype chat and Skype conference calls etc, especially until you build up your contact list. You might want to reject video calls from people you do not know for sure as well by the same means.
 * Be very cautious about accepting requests to be added to your contact list from people you do not know or someone has not vouched for. Be careful if someone is pretending to be someone else. Verify first if in doubt.
 * If someone is bothering you, remove them from your contact list and block them (click on menu in a chat window with them and select "block").
 * There are security risks but I would rather not describe them in detail here. If you want more details, contact User:Filll.

NTWW Skype chat

 * A short guideline:
 * The NTWW Skype chat supplements the "official" skypecasts associated with NTWW. As a rule of thumb, only established and trustworthy Wikipedians are allowed in the NTWW Skype chat; civility and consideration is mandatory for continued membership in the chat. Others can be invited into the NTWW Skype chat with approval of the host.
 * The NTWW Skype chat is often accompanied with an associated voice chat, which also uses the Skype protocol. Generally, if one is welcome in the NTWW Skype chat, you're also welcome in the voice chat. There will not always be a voice chat on; to enquire if there is one, and to ask to be invited, simply ask in the NTWW Skype chat. Recording is not permitted, except with the express permission of all involved, in voice chats and text chats.
 * NTWW Skype chats are constantly available and the NTWW Skype hat is often used for informal chat when there is no ongoing Skypecast.
 * Please note that Skype is not a safe environment, and it is not Wikipedia. If you're at all in doubt, don't use it.


 * A few tips:
 * Once you've joined our NTWW Skype chat, bookmark it. That way, you won't have to come back to this page or rely on something being posted so that you can join (which make the chat window pop up).
 * If you click "Leave" in the chat windows, you will be removed from the participants list and will have to be manually readded by a host (if you're not familiar with Skype jargon, that's basically a chat administrator; the role is very similar to an IRC channel op).
 * If the "new chat message" notification sounds annoy you, switch them off/on in Chats > Chat Notification Settings.


 * VOIP collaboration
 * Collaborative article-building is encouraged via Skype chat. Editors who have participated have found that a text/voice environment is conducive to editing. See Quality Contributions.

Podcast hints (see also how to host a conference)
Turning a Skype conference call or Skypecast into a podcast involves three steps:


 * 1) Recording the discussion
 * 2) Editing the recordings
 * 3) Creating mp3 and ogg files

Recording the discussion
Most people are interested in free software for recording the discussions, at least at first. Skype has a recorder named "Pamela" built into it, but the free version has a recording limit of 15 minutes. To install Pamela, go to Tools> Do More > Get Extra. Pamela produces mp3 files. A paid version of Pamela has no recording limits and more features.

Call Graph is another recording program for Skype, but there are no limits to the length of files that can be recorded. Call Graph produces mp3 files.

Freecorder is a free program with a 30 minute recording limit. Freecorder has a paid version with more features and no limits. Freecorder also produces mp3 files.

Editing the recordings
Although there are many tools for editing the recordings, Audacity is a very useful and free tool that is fairly easy to use. The Audacity help files are not particularly helpful, but many others have placed Audacity tutorial websites on the internet. There are also many helpful youtube and google instructional videos about Audacity.

Creating mp3 and ogg files
Audacity will convert mp3 and other file formats into ogg format. To enable Audacity to write mp3 files, the LAME dll has to be loaded and linked into the Audacity software. Wikipedia Commons has a limit of 20 megabytes for uploaded files, so one should bear this in mind when creating ogg files to upload to Commons.

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Future plans
Part of the efforts at NTWW are devoted to exploring new technologies such as video podcasting, whiteboarding, remote screen control, speech recognition, etc. Some of these are discussed here.