The COMPLETE guide to optimizing your IRC experience

allright, i've been getting a little bored lately so i decided i'd write a little textfile to show people the in's and out's of IRC. first of all, for anyone who doesn't already know, IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. it is basically a way to meet up with other people with similar interests and talk in real time. i've tried to set up this tutorial to cover every aspect, starting with getting your IRC client.

in order to connect to an IRC network, you must first choose a client. choosing a client is completely personal choice, but i recommend you try out a few different ones to see which you like best. in this tutorial, i'll be using mIRC some clients are designed for windows, and others for linux. below is a list of clients, the OS they are designed for, whether they are GUI or CLI and where you can get them.

mIRC Windows GUI www.mirc.com
hydraIRC windows GUI www.hydraIRC.com
KVIRC windows GUI www.kvirc.net
irssi Linux CLI www.irssi.org
ircII Linux CLI www.ircii.org

some sites even offer a jIRC (or java-irc) client so you can connect directly with your webbrowser and not have to download a client. now, after you download the client of your choice, open it and follow the instructions to put in your info. now go to www.searchirc.com and do a search for whatever kind of channel you are looking for. the good thing about IRC is that there is a channel for almost everything you can think of. when you find a channel that you want to go to (the example used is going to be #informationleak on the server irc.thedigitaldream.co.uk) go to your irc client and type /server irc.thedigitaldream.co.uk and hit enter. this will connect you to the Second_2_None network.

first thing is first. register your nickname. to do so go to your status screen and type /msg nickserv register where is your password and is your email address. it should return a message telling you to remember your password for later use. everytime you connect you will have to verify that you are the owner of that nickname by typing /msg nickserv identify

now you can either type /join #informationleak to join the channel #informationleak, or type /list to get a list of every channel on the network with people in it. join one of these channels.

Now, on the right side of the channel window there should be a list of members. you may notice that some members have special symbols along side thier names. the symbols and thier definitions follow:
@ = Operator, this can mean merely the channel operator or it can mean the network operator. operators have the power to kick or ban you from any channels they are operator of.
% = Half Operator. this person has the power to kick members and a few other things.
+ = Voiced Member. being voiced gives you no powers. it simply means that should an operator decide to mute the channel, only people who are voiced or have operator ofr half-op status will be able to type in the channel.

a few commands that you may find useful when using IRC:
/server - allows you to connect to a server, you must type the server name after the command
example: /server irc.thedigitaldream.co.uk
/join - allows you to join a channel, you must type the name of the channel after this command (note all channels start with a #)
/part - allows you to leave a channel, you must type the name of the channel after this one too.
./me - lets you use an action. for example, if you're nickname is bob typing ./me is a 1337 mofo would show in the channel as *bob is a 1337 mofo
/nick - lets you change your nickname. just type the new nickname after the command
/away - marks you as being away, you can type a brief message after this command and it will show in all channels
/msg - typing /msg and a persons nickname will let you send a message to that person
/amsg - if you don't feel like typing out a goodbye in every channel you are in, type /amsg and the your goodbye and it will post in every channel you are in at that moment.
/quit - disconnects you from the server, you can put a message after this command too.

so you want to set up your own channel? well, type /join and the name of the channel (don't forget the #). make sure you are logged into your nick and then type /amsg chanserv register congratulations, you now own an irc channel. now type /msg chanserv topic and enter what you want the topic to read when people join your room. now for some useful commands you can use as operator of your channel:
+o = add operator status
-o = remove operator status
+h = add half-op status
-h = remove half-op
+v = add voice
-v = remove voice
+m = mute channel
-m = unmute

to use any of these commands you must use them in this format. /mode X where channel is the channel you are operator in, X is the command you wish to use, and is the person you want the action to be carried out on. for muting the channel you don't need to type a nickname.

well, now you know and understand the basics of how to make your way through IRC. you will often run into a server where no one really talks in the channels, but keep searching and you're bound to find one with some cool people.