Global Channel Directory

Introduction
Star Trek Online has a pretty robust Global Channel System. Anyone can create a new global channel at any time, and for any purpose. A few of these channels have grown in size and popularity to be the best channels in the game, or at the very least, the most populated. This page will keep a list of public and popular channels, help and advice channels, etc. Please do not add Fleet or Alliance channels. Channels used as personal playgrounds or personality cults are prohibited as well. Channels with abusive moderation will be removed as well.

Joining a Global Channel
Right click on any Chat Tab in the chat window to bring up the Chat Configuration Window. Click on the Channels Tab and enter the name of the channel you wish to join (or create) in the Join/Create window. Then click Join. Alternatively, you can type "/channel_join ChannelName" where ChannelName is the channel.

The maximum number of channels you may be subscribed to is twenty.

Official Channel
STOWiki has an official Global Chat Channel. You may use it to discuss articles, ask guideline questions or simply hang out with your fellow co-authors while playing the game. Simply follow the instructions above and join STOWiki.

Global Channels
The following is a selection of global chat channels that are both open to the public and have at least 100 subscribers:

Accessing Global Channels Outside of Game

 * Note that now Perfect World accounts will be mandatory, players report that merging accounts has no impact on their XMPP access. Past issues seem to be resolved, however it should be noted that Silver Accounts do not have access to this service and will receive an error when trying to connect from outside the game.

Setup
Since May 2010, the use of XMPP chat made it possible to chat to users in global channels (but not local or zone) or to send private messages to users on your friends list. This can be set up on a chat client program, such as Pidgin with the following directions taken:
 * Note that Pidgin only works for gold members.
 * Start the Pidgin client
 * Click on Accounts > Manage Accounts
 * Click the Add... button
 * On the Add Account dialog fill out the following:
 * Protocol: XMPP
 * Username:  (the login name used for Holodeck/Live server)
 * if your Account Name is an email address, substitute the '@' for a '\40' (e.g. name\40name.com)
 * Domain: CrypticSpace.com
 * Resource:  Name appearing in front of @handle, when chatting from Pidgin
 * Password: 
 * Remember Password:  (if desired)
 * Click Add

NOTE: For those who joined the game after the Cryptic/Perfect World account name merge, your PWE account name (your email address) will not work in XMPP. You will need your Cryptic user id, which can be found by logging into the game, then selecting Logout from the menu. The string of numbers and pound signs that the client fills in for your username on the following login screen will work in XMPP.

Global Channels
Once the client is set up, a Buddy List can be accessed. To add global channels to it, do the following:
 * Click on Buddies, Join a Chat...
 * On the Join a Chat dialog add the following:
 * Account: 
 * Room:  (Replace any spaces with the \20 - IE: "My Room" becomes "My\20Room")
 * Server: channels.crypticspace.com
 * Handle:  
 * Password:  
 * Click Join!

Fleet Chat
Now your in-game fleet channels can be added in the following way:
 * Click on Buddies, Join a Chat...
 * Server: guilds.crypticspace.com
 * Click "Room List" button
 * On "Enter a Conference Server" list: guilds.crypticspace.com, then press "Find Rooms"
 * In Room List window, click your fleet (format is holodeck!Fleet\20Name\20Here), and "Add Chat" (The \20 represents a space)
 * The Alias is how it will appear in your buddy list and Group will be which category its in