Plazer

Getting started with Plazer: from installing to your first call

Seven steps you go through once. You install Plazer, open an account with no email or phone number, save your recovery key and turn on notifications, then join a server and call your first person.

Open app.plazer.orgInstallation guide
Steps in this guide
  1. 1Install PlazerOpen app.plazer.org and add Plazer as an app.
  2. 2Open an accountA username and a password, no email or phone number.
  3. 3Save your recovery keyThe one key to your account that nobody else knows.
  4. 4Turn on notificationsOne switch in your account settings.
  5. 5Join a serverPaste the invite link you were sent.
  6. 6Write or callAll you need is the other person's username.
  7. 7Run your own serverFor community owners: inside Plazer or on your hardware.

1Step 1 / 7

Open app.plazer.org and install Plazer

Plazer runs in your browser at app.plazer.org, and from the same page you install it as an app: with an icon, its own window and notifications. On iPhone and iPad, do this before you open an account.

  1. Open app.plazer.org in Chrome or Edge, or in Safari on iPhone and iPad.
  2. Choose to install it from the browser menu, or add Plazer to your Home Screen.
  3. From now on open Plazer from its icon, not from a browser tab.
Full instructions for every device

2Step 2 / 7

Open an account with a username and a password

A username and a password are all your account needs. You give no email or phone number, and the keys Plazer encrypts your conversations with are generated on your device while you register.

  1. On the sign-in screen, choose to create an account.No account yet?Create one
  2. Pick the username people will find you by, and the display name shown next to your messages.
  3. Set a password and choose "Create account".

Open an account

Username

ola_heather

3 to 32 characters. Letters, numbers and underscore.

Display name

Ola

Shown next to your messages.

Password

At least 8 characters.

Your account keys are made in this browser

No email, no phone number

3Step 3 / 7

Save your recovery key before you go on

Right after you register, Plazer shows your recovery key: 32 characters in groups of four. It appears on that one screen only, so write it down straight away, somewhere other than the device you use Plazer on.

  1. Write the key on paper, copy it into a password manager, or download it as a file.
  2. Tick the box confirming you wrote it somewhere you can reach without this device.
  3. Finish the registration.Done, finish the registration

Write this down now

Example key

I have written the key down somewhere I will still have it if this device is gone.

Why nobody can reset it

End-to-end encryption

Your account keys are made on your device and encrypt your conversations before anything reaches a server. The recovery key protects them, and we have never seen it, so we cannot issue it again.

A second device

You add a phone or a computer to your account by confirming it with your recovery key, not your password.

Losing a device

If you clear your browser data or lose your only device, your password and this key are the only way back in.

4Step 4 / 7

Turn on notifications

Notifications arrive while Plazer is closed or in the background. They only say "New message" or "Incoming call", and the content stays encrypted until you open Plazer.

  1. Open your account settings and the Notifications section.Account settingsNotifications
  2. Turn the switch on and allow it when your browser or system asks for permission.Notify me about new messages
  3. Servers on their own hosts have a separate switch each, further down.

Notifications

Notify me about new messagesOff. Turning it on asks your browser for permission.

5Step 5 / 7

Join a server from an invite link

A community server holds the text and voice channels of your crew, clan or project. You join it from an invite link sent by someone who is already there. Plazer checks the server's key before it sends anything.

  1. Choose to add a server and join an existing one.Add a serverJoin a server
  2. Paste the whole link you were sent and check the server.Check the server
  3. On first contact, compare the server's key with the person who invited you, then join.Join

Invite link

https://chat.example.org/i/k7m2p9#420G1ABE

  • Server addressThe server the invite leads to, including one on its owner's own host.
  • Invite codeIt can expire or run out. Then ask for a new link.
  • Key fingerprintPlazer compares it with the server's key before you join.

6Step 6 / 7

Write to someone, or call them

Direct messages, groups and every voice call are end-to-end encrypted. For your first conversation, all you need is the other person's username.

  1. Choose to write to someone and type the other person's username.Write to someone
  2. In the conversation choose "Start a voice call", or "Start a video call" to see each other.Start a voice call
  3. On a server, step into a voice channel to talk with several people at once.
Ola@ola_heather

End-to-end encrypted

Hey, this is my new Plazer!

I can see you. Calling in a minute.

7Step 7 / 7

Running a community? Create your own server

You can create a server inside Plazer itself, ready at once, or on a machine you control. Then your community's channels, messages and files stay on your hardware, and people sign in with the same Plazer account.

  1. Choose to add a server and create a new one.Add a serverCreate a server
  2. On your own host, start the server from its Docker image and claim it from the app.
  3. Send your friends an invite link, then set up channels and roles.
How to run your own server
Plazer central serveraccounts, direct messages, groupsServer on a local networkYour serverAnother server

Questions to start with

What people ask most in their first minutes with Plazer.

No. You open an account with a username and a password, and save a recovery key while you register. Nobody sends you a text message code or an email link.

As long as you are signed in on one of your devices, your account works as usual. The key cannot be issued again though, because nobody but you knows it, so without it you cannot add another device or get your account back after losing the last one.

Plazer on your Home Screen has storage separate from Safari, so to your account it is a new device. Open it from its icon, choose "Add this browser to your account" and approve it from the Safari tab with your recovery key.

On the new device choose "Add this browser to your account". Your signed-in device shows a QR code or eight digits, and you approve the new device there with your recovery key.

The invite may have expired, run out or been withdrawn. The link has to start with https://, and a server on its own host needs the whole link with its address, not the code alone. Ask the person who invited you for a new link.

Check the switch in your account settings, under Notifications, and make sure your browser or system does not block notifications from Plazer. On iPhone and iPad open Plazer from its Home Screen icon, and turn on servers on their own hosts separately, below the main switch.

Read next

All set. See what else Plazer can do and how it protects your conversations.

Open Plazer

Start with step one: open app.plazer.org and install Plazer on your device.

Open app.plazer.org