Hi everyone,

I am excited to announce the launch of *WikiLounge*, a new, always-on IRC web client and bouncer built specifically for the Wikimedia community and hosted securely on Wikimedia Cloud Services (WMCS).

For many Wikimedians, IRC remains a vital platform for real-time collaboration, seeking help, and monitoring projects. However, traditional IRC drops your connection when you close your browser or go offline, causing you to miss out on conversations while you are away.

WikiLounge solves this by acting as a persistent bouncer. It keeps your IRC presence active 24/7 on Libera.Chat network. When you log back in via your web browser or mobile device, you can read all the channel history and private messages you missed.

We have just completed a major upgrade and deployed a new *Unified Web Dashboard* to make joining and managing your account as easy as possible.

*Key Features:*

- *Always-On Connection:* Catch up on missed messages when you return. - *Mobile-Friendly:* A clean, responsive web interface powered by open-source software (The Lounge). - *Automated Self-Service:* Securely log in using your Meta-Wiki account via OAuth to request access, change your server password, or declare a "Wikibreak" to pause inactivity limits.

*How to join:* To protect server resources and prevent abuse, WikiLounge requires users to have at least 500 global edits across Wikimedia projects.

If you meet the requirements and would like an account, you can read the full documentation and apply directly through the new automated portal:

- *Documentation:* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC/WikiLounge - *Public Portal:* https://wikilounge.wmcloud.org/

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me, drop a task in Phabricator under the *WikiLounge* project, or join us in our newly created IRC channel *#wikimedia-lounge.*

Regards, User:ZI Jony