User blog:Lost Labyrinth/The Beginner's Guide to IRC

Hey guys!

I've noticed some frequently asked questions about IRC and I thought that it would be efficient if a blog was made to help anyone who is stuck with IRC.

Accessing the channel
As new users use this client for IRC, I thought that I should make this tutorial based on that. Please note that other clients (such as Chatzilla, mIRC, XChat etc.) may vary for this.


 * 1) Firstly, choose your desired nick.Irc help nick.png
 * 2) In the "Channel" field, type "#wikia-sims" (without the speech marks) if it doesn't already say that.
 * 3) Once you've entered the text from the CAPTCHA, click connect and you'll be taken to the IRC channel.

Registering with Freenode
It is advisable to register with Freenode, which is the IRC server. The advantages of registering are:
 * 1) You can get a cloak to hide your IP. You can apply for a Wikia cloak here or you can enquire in #freenode and get an unaffiliated cloak. Cloaks are optional.
 * 2) If you're an admin, it will allow you to obtain operator flags in the channel.
 * 3) It will stop an impersonator from using your nick.

To register, just type "/ns register " without the speech marks and substituting the password and email fields with your actual details. Then you'll need to check your email for instructions.

To login with NickServ when you join IRC, you can type "/ns identify " and you'll identify to your account.

Some commands
Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, I'll list some commands.


 * "/me" allows you to perform a third-person action. For example, if your IRC nick was Blah and you typed "/me went to the shop", it would come out as "Blah went to the shop".
 * "/nick" allows you to change your nick. This is useful if you fancy using a different name or you're going AFK (away from keyboard).
 * "/join #channel" allows you to join another channel. Substitute #channel with the name of the channel.
 * "/query user" will allow you to send a private message to another user.
 * "/part" will allow you to leave a channel. You must be viewing the channel you want to leave when you're using this command.
 * "/quit" will allow you to leave IRC completely.

A few rules...
Let's face it - the rules are pretty self explanatory but it doesn't hurt to mention a few things.


 * While profanity isn't banned on the IRC channel, using it to troll/flame another user isn't tolerated at all.
 * Repeatedly changing your nick in a short amount of time can be considered as flooding and may be addressed by a chanop depending on the severity and frequency.
 * An obvious one: spamming, trolling, flaming and flooding are unacceptable and will be dealt with on site.

Clients
There are many different clients for using IRC. Most people generally tend to use webchat. However, some clients provide you with more options than others. Here is a list of clients you can use:


 * Chatzilla - a free IRC client for Firefox.
 * mIRC - a client for Windows which isn't free but there is a 30 day free trial and you are able to purchase if you wish.
 * XChat - a client for Windows which isn't free but there is a 30 day free trial and you are able to purcahse if you wish.
 * XChat Azure - a version of XChat for an Intel based Mac OS X which is free.
 * XChat WDK - a free version of XChat for Windows (which is what I use).
 * Colloquy - an IRC client for Mac OS X.
 * Rooms - an IRC client for iOS (not free and used by MTDM :P)

There are many more clients available but these are among the most popular.

"Yay, Georgie has finally stopped talking!"
So there we are with some general stuff related to IRC. If you need any help, feel free to ask an IRC regular, op or myself and most of all, have fun! :)