in element x you can’t yet manage spaces. It’s silly but it’s a relatively new app and and development goes slowly for some reason. you can create the space in element web though, probably element desktop too because they are the same thing.
about the difficulty of registration. you could recommend an instance to them, so they don’t need to choose themselves if they don’t want to. I recommend one that has set up single signon and element call, and is medium sized (so that it is somewhat prepared for spam waves). tchncs.de/en/matrix/ is like that.
what would be even better is if it was using tuwunel instead of synapse, because the former is the more efficient matrix server software, but the other is good enough too.
if you want to put in some more effort, you can have some insight into matrix servers with this tool: federationtester.mtrnord.blog/?serverName=tchncs.…
- overview tab shows at top the server software and its version. synapse is official but very resource heavy for the operator, tuwunel is more efficient
- well-known tab can indicate element call support by having defined org.matrix.msc4143.rtc_foci with livekit. I can’t believe there is no easier way to check this!
- single signon is supported when the element client’s login page for this server allows signing in with external accounts, like github, google, tchncs.de account, etc.
and you can find a list of public servers to check here: servers.joinmatrix.org
yes@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 days ago
To play around you can either use Element X or go to app.element.io/#/welcome and use the Element web version. It’s basically the same client. Then create your account with matrix.org - you should be able to create your own space + sub-spaces + rooms to play around with inviting users, get familiar with permissions, etc. There might be limits with video / voice calls - not sure about the public, free matrix.org server.
If Matrix is a good fit you can then look through the offerings of some of the respected hosters listed here: matrix.org/ecosystem/hosting/ Then you don’t have to do everything yourself. They will maintain the infrastructure and your base installation and you can focus on being just the super user / admin and build your community.
IMO the only real “hurdle” compared to traditional apps is that in addition to your username / password you also get a “recovery key”. That’s the key for encryption and people are not used to having an additional key. If you lose that key you can still log in and see new conversions but you will not be able to read old conversations that were encrypted using the old key. A workaround for your community might be to not enable encryption in your community rooms (when creating a room you can decide if its contents are encrypted or not). IMO totally worth the little bit of extra effort, but yeah - not something users are familiar with.
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
or another workaround is to tell them: if they don’t want to deal with the recovery key, that’s fine, but then they should treat it like signal where if you lose your devices, you lose your old messages.