Getting Started with IRC

This was originally a script for a video I was making but I have now published it as a separate blog post. Enjoy

Hello this is Matt from MattsTech.co.uk, and in today’s video I will be explaining how to get started with IRC.

So irc is Internet Relay Chat which in simple terms is a form of moderated Internet Chatroom. Now there are thousands if users using this right now and it has been great use for me and many others, so that is why I am sharing with you about it.

So to get going you will need a client, these clients can be web clients or dedicated applications for use on the desktop or mobile. The best one to use for beginners is XChat for windows which can be downloaded from http://silverex.org/ . Just click the download button then the hyperlink for the latest version, and voila you and on and downloading!

Now to run the install if, we keep clicking through and running the install as standard by accepting the terms clicking next and ticking more options. So install is done lets run the program.

Now the program has loaded and infront of us we have a small network list, which in this we can see a number of networks we can connect to. So we are going to show you how to add a network, we begin by clicking ‘add’ this brings up a new section named new network, what we do is type in a name so for this I will use iPocalypse, once typed in hit enter. Now hitting enter is the only way to accept the changes as far as I am aware.

Now once this is highlighted, we must click edit. This then pops out a smaller window which we can use to edit the network details. Now what we must do first is select the server called, new server we must then once we have selected this must click edit, then type in the Server name which in our case is irc.ipocalypse.net , then hit enter as I said hitting enter is very important. Now you need to look down to where favourite channels are listed and click the small buttons featuring a … This then pops out yet another box, in which you should click the add button on the new window. This then brings a new entry in the table, now type your channel name you want to join, I am going to select #Matt.test and then hit enter again. When we have finished adding to this list we just click ok to end it. All channels must begin with #.

Finally we need to enter a password we want in the NickServ password field. The use of this will become much clearer in the future. So click close, then back on the network list select iPocalypse then click connect.

So as you can see we are in.

so we are connected to the network and are in the channel we entered earlier, as you can see no-one owns this channel that is why I got op on join, hence in XChat the green circle to the left of my name on the user list on the right. So if we want to change our nick name we should do /nick then the name of the new nick. to register a nick to protect it as ours, we do /MSG NickServ register password email. please note however that this will not work with nicknames already registered and nick names which you are not currently using. Make sure the password you use when registering is the one you entered earlier in the NickServ password field. in future if you fail to automatically authenticate use /MSG NickServ identify password . right so your in this channel and you want to gain control and protect it, ok so seen as no-one owns it and you have op to register it all you have to do is , /MSG ChanServ register channel password description, so once this is done if you are using XChat, you will notice that your name in the user list in the right will turn purple. So you own the channel and it cannot be registered by anyone else if you have been active in it in the last 30 days.

So to continue setting up your channel you need a bot, this bot we are going to add is a network service which is provided free and can be used to kick, ban, set the topic, op/deop people. this is also the only way in which fantasy commands would work. so to get this bot we will first do /MSG BotServ botlist , this command will send you a list of all of the Bots available. So when you see what you want, just enter the command /MSG BotServ assign channel botname . For me I would enter /MSG BotServ assign #matt.test iServe . If successful you should see your selected bot join your channel and instantly rankup to admin, also known as SuperOp which in XChat is shown in the user list with a red circle next to the bots name. need to kick/ban someone do !kick name, or !ban name. This is the way to make kicking and banning people simple and quick.

So now you’ve done it, you are welcome to allow people into your channel and you have the ability to setup and manage your channel, there are many more options and tools you can use and activate but they are for you to discover. However when in some channels you may see some people with custom hostnames such as @hatcraft.co.uk or @matt.iHost . Now these are called vHosts but on iPocalypse they call the service as iHost. Now you can request an iHost by complying with their policy found on there website at iPocalypse.net, but basically something.iHost is free for registered users and they can get it from #help by asking one of the staff for them. vHosts which feature domains can only be gained 1. If you own the domain , 2. If you donate or advertise iPocalypse in some way. I would go for the .iHost because they are simple and don’t require donations or advertising. once you have had your iHost assigned simply do /MSG HostServ on and to assign this to all your grouped nicks do /MSG HostServ group .

So Thankyou for reading,
Matt
MattsTech.co.uk

From
Matt