Whonix Forums

Usage Instructions[edit]

Creating an Anonymous Email Account for Support[edit]

Users can try Danwin1210.me ^[archive] (.onion) ^[archive] , CTemplar ^[archive] (.onion) ^[archive] ^[1] or ProtonMail ^[archive]. These links are not an endorsement! Users should not trust the providers with any of their personal information, but only use them for creating the forum account.

As a last resort, contact Patrick in chat with the desired user name and password. An account can then be created which does not require e-mail verification.

Posting Links for New Users[edit]

To prevent spam, posting hyperlinks in Whonix ™ forums is disabled for new users. An alternative is to use code tags for links; instead of just writing the link, surround it by prepending and appending an apostrophe ("`"). Example:

`https://www.whonix.org`

`https://www.whonix.org`

Or make a new line for a link and add 4 white spaces in front of it. Example:

    https://www.whonix.org

New users accounts that do not post spam are eventually permitted to post links.

Uploading Images for Support[edit]

Uploading images to Whonix ™ forums is unsupported. Consider using a free image upload service such as anonfiles ^[archive], then copy the links to the uploaded images in your forum post.

These links are not an endorsement! Users should not trust the providers with any of their personal information, but only use them for uploading images when intending to receive user support.

Pasting Logs for Support[edit]

It is acceptable to paste logs to Whonix ™ forums, even lengthy ones.

Sometimes the forum software does not permit the posting of lengthy logs. In this case, split the log into multiple posts if reasonable or consider using a free pastebin service instead such as AnonPaste ^[archive]. Afterwards, copy the link to the pasted log in your forum post.

These links are not an endorsement! Users should not trust the providers with any of their personal information, but only use them for pasting logs when intending to receive user support.

Best Practices[edit]

Avoid Oneboxing for Anchored Links[edit]

For a definition of oneboxing, see: What does "oneboxing" mean in Discourse? ^[archive]

When a direct, non-anchored link is posted, for example ./Tor_Controller ^[archive], no special consideration is required. Oneboxing is used automatically, unless a forum poster wishes to avoid it for some reason. ^[2]

Oneboxing should be avoided if posting an anchored link, such as ./Tor_Controller#Arm ^[archive]. To achieve this, add a space in front of the link. The reason is otherwise the reader might be confused by the onebox, particularly if the descriptive text attached to it is less informative than the anchor.

Before Creating a New Thread[edit]

Similar to the Reporting Guidelines for bugs, it is recommended to search the Documentation, existing forum topics, and other Internet resources for issues/topics of interest before creating a new topic thread. This is considered good forum behavior.

In many cases the issue has already been documented, identified or discussed before, often with a settled answer or solution. The easiest way to search the forums is to use the search link near the top of the page. Forum posts are also indexed by search engines, so combining "Whonix" with the relevant query might also find pertinent entries:

site:forums.whonix.org What I want to know

site:forums.whonix.org What I want to know

Whonix ™ forum moderators sometimes combine (or split) threads if they are closely (distantly) related. This helps interested readers to remain focused on a solitary issue, which improves the productivity of conversations.

Bumping Old Threads[edit]

Similar to the prior entry, it is suggested to 'resuscitate' (bump) old threads on an existing topic. This way all related talking points are in the same location -- reducing the amount of duplicated information and search-related noise in the process.

One exception to this recommendation may be threads that are already several years old. If the situation has significantly changed, it may be appropriate to start a new thread; for example, if software or protocol changes make older information irrelevant.

Clean Mediawiki Links[edit]

Please do not posts links such as https://www.whonix.org/w/index.php?title=Dev/mediawiki&stable=0s ^[archive]. This happens when a forum user shares a link to a page that was edited. These links are undesirable because it is interpreted as a bug (or strange feature) by mediawiki. ^[3] Instead, post 'clean' links like ./Dev/mediawiki ^[archive]. To switch from the 'bad' link to the 'good' link, click the "Page" button on the top left of the screen twice.

Clickable Quotes[edit]

A less well known, but useful forum feature concerns embedded quotes. When clicking on a quote posted in the forum, it will expand and show more context.

Editing Best Practices[edit]

Some forum posters seek to improve the quality of the forums and their posts by editing earlier entries with additional information. This is unrecommended because there is no notification feature built into the software to announce edits, meaning those who already read your post will be unaware of the changes.

Two better options exist:

Edit the old post and then make a new post confirming the change, with an additional request the notification be deleted after a short period. Later, either delete the notification post or wait for the forum moderators to do so.
Create a new post in the existing thread instead. So long as the reply is constructive, this approach is fine.

It is not useful to edit old posts for minor issues, such as typos or grammatical errors.

FAQ[edit]

Common questions raised in the Whonix ™ forums are answered below.

Why was my post moved by a moderator?

In this case, the post probably touched on a subject that was not related to the current topic. To avoid confusion and to keep the forums productive, the post was either moved to an existing thread or used to create a new topic discussion.

Where did my post/thread disappear to?

Possible answers:

It was moved to a different sub-topic.
Multiple users flagged the post/thread. When that happens, the post is automatically hidden from view until until a moderator has reviewed the post.
It was removed for legal reasons, see: Limitations on Free Speech on Whonix ™ Website
To clarify the thread/topic, the title may have been changed. When this occurs the thread cannot be located with the former title.

Why was my forum thread closed?

Similar to the answers above, the thread may have:

Contained off-topic discussions unrelated to Whonix ™ and technical matters.
Replicated existing posts/threads.
Otherwise run afoul of the forum policies.

In the event the content was similar to existing posts/threads, the latest post(s) will normally be moved to the existing thread before closure.

TODO: Expand this section.

Forum Feature Requests[edit]

Most requests for improvements to the forum software or functionality cannot be actioned by the Whonix ™ project. For further details, see: Privacy on the Whonix ™ Website.

Footnotes[edit]

↑ https://forums.whonix.org/t/which-e-mail-provider-is-more-adviseable-protonmail-or-lavabit-reloaded/3459/45 ^[archive]
↑ For example, when posting a large number of links in succession. This can take up unnecessary space in the post depending on the number of references.
↑ TODO: figure out if there is an upstream bug report at the mediawiki bug tracker.