How To Try Out Gobby
Gobby is a client-server application. To try out writing in Gobby simultaneously with others you have to connect to a host, which is a client also acting as a server, or to a dedicated server.
The Host
To be able to host a Gobby session on the internet you will most probably need a port forwarding from your router to the port on the host computer, thus be reachable from the outside world. The standard port for Gobby is 6522. This is not necessary on a local network (which you could even use Zeroconf to automatically detect open hosts).
To retrieve your public IP address just use a site like whatismyip.com. Tell the others you invite to your session this IP and the port number you chose.
The Client
You do not need to forward a port if you only want to join an existing session hosted on another computer. Just enter the IP of the host and its port.
The Dedicated Server
If you are a server administrator and see the need for a dedicated server either in your local network or on the internet, just try out Sobby which you could get at the usual location. It provides you with a password-protectable standalone server where others could easily connect to. You could even autosave your sessions at regular intervals and publish it on the web. (A PHP script to use this feature is provided in obby/contrib/obby_web).
The only current drawback is that documents which are once created on the server are not removable. This will be fixed in a future version of Sobby which supports access control lists.
Gobby is also used for "tings": These are regular or irregular online meetings using different colloborative software in combination but centered to a collaborative editor. Sundays on 18:00 UTC are the regular tings. See the ting-wiki please. The organisers love participation!