Since I saw many people asking for this feature (on #weechat), I finally decided to change the default value ("366" removed from default value of option irc.look.display_join_message).

The default value of irc.look.display_join_message which handles what happens when you join a channel, is "329,332,333,366". Now, beyond the rather ugly (presumably RFC-based) values for this variable, 366 is the element discussed here.

366 basically executes /names every time you join a channel (including when you open WeeChat).

Now, apart from the fact this spams users' chat logs, it is not actually that useful. WeeChat by default has a nicklist on the right-hand side of the screen, rendering /names irrelevant. I presume 366 was made a default before the nicklist bar was put in place.

Furthermore, the output is not very friendly, especially on large channels; it is much easier to read nicknames from a nicklist separated by new lines as opposed to an endless stream of names separated by mere spaces.


Therefore, I propose changing the default value of this to not display a list of nicknames by omitting the 366 element from the list of values.

I'm submitting this because for me personally, WeeChat's success is due to its sane defaults. Without them, I would never have tried an ncurses IRC client, and I am glad WeeChat is around to show me the best way to UX. This is a simple configuration change that could go a long way towards improving the little things about WeeChat's UX.