Sticky [Guide] Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

I wrote this guide for another community, and certain references go to another network. Most of the information is still valid, other then cloaks on Esper.


Since most of the people here are from this generation and IRC is mostly older a few generations. I'll guide you to be able to IRC successfully and not feel stupid, nor be impersonated by myself.

Registering your nickname
The first step on any IRC network you should do is registering your nickname. Why? It's simple; if you have a nickserv account it is easy to validate who you are, and nobody will be able to take your nickname for more than a few seconds. Of course this has a few more advantages I will cover in this thread.

Step one: You have to get a nickname you'd like to use. You should always check if that nickname is not already taken to prevent some confusion so first do /msg nickserv info NICKNAME if you get any answer other than "15:35:06 -NickServ(NickServ@services.)- NICKNAME is not registered." you will need to get yourself another nickname. When you finally find a good unregistered nickname change to it by doing /nick NICKNAMEYOUWANT and /msg nickserv register PASSWORD EMAIL. You will then have to go check the e-mail adress you have specified in that line and copy the line specifed in the e-mail. (It should be a little something like /msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER NICKNAME RANDOMGIBBERISH)


Now that you've registered and validated your nickname you'll have to identify yourself every time you hop on the network, or you use a standalone client (This will be covered later on). To manually identify you have to go on your nickname /nick NICKNAMEYOUREGISTERED then/msg nickserv id YOURPASSWORD. It's that easy!

Another cool thing is, you can actually have MULTIPLE nicks onto one nickserv account. As long as the nickname isn't registered, you can change nicknames to it, once logged into your nickserv account, and type /msg nickserv group to get the nickname registered to your account.

One last thing, you should enable the ENFORCE flag, this makes it impossible for a user to use your nickname for more than a few seconds before changing it to a guest name. To enable it simple do/msg nickserv set ENFORCE ON, while you are identified.

The benefits of registering your nickname

You might think, oh I've done this, and it's a pain and annoying to do this EVERY time! Why did you make me do this? That 's quite simple, first of all NOBODY will be able to impersonate you (unless they know your password). It will be easy to validate if you're the person you say you are (using /whois NICKNAME).

Second of all you get a bunch of goodies for registering your nick. You will now be able to hide your IP using a user cloak and become truly anonymous. To get a cloak join #help (/join #help) and ask for a "cloak", it might take a little while but eventually you'll get one. You'll know when you do since when you join it will give out a something a bit like this. (15:50:27 -!- Dan [dan@ospnet/user/dan] has joined #somechannel)

Another advantage would be flags. What are flags? They're little modes set on your account for certain channels. Without a registered account flags cannot be set, so you cannot get automatically op'd or voice'd.

How to do some simple things

Sending PM’s - /msg user MSG or /query user
Joining channels - /join #channelname
How to chat – You type messages in the text bar and press enter.

How to operate in a channel

If you're ever designated to operate a channel there are a few key commands you should know.

Terms:
Hostmask: The IP or Cloak of the user under a textual form. (*!*@99.99.99.99 or *!*@ospnet/user/killeduser)

Banning a user - /ban NICK or /mode +b *!*@hostmask (This is a channel mode)
Quieting a user - /mode +q *!*@hostmask (Also a channel mode)
Kicking a user - /kick NICK
Voicing a user - /voice NICK or /mode +v user (This is a user mode, see that there is no need for hostmasks)
OP’ing a user - /op NICK or /mode +o user
Exempting a user - /mode +e *!*@hostmask
WARNING: THIS EXEMPTS A USER FROM BANS OR QUIETS, ONLY USE IT IF A USER OTHER THAN THE BANNED ONE NEEDS TO JOIN AND IS SHARING THE SAME HOSTMASK.

Unbanning, unquieting, devoicing and so on are pretty easy. For channel modes just do the same command by replacing +b or +q by –b or –q. Deop’ing can be done by /deop or –o mode and same for voice.

Using services and bots to your advantage

Services are a huge part of an IRC network since they can help you do many things. One thing as we seen was registration and nickname management from nickserv. However there are a few more services that can be used by normal users such aschanserv, memoserv and operserv (This cannot be used by normal users such as you and I)

ChanServ – Alias CS, This service allows users to manage and operate their channels through various means such as setting flags, banning/unbanning outside a channel and regaining control. When ChanServ is in your channel you don’t need to be an operator to moderate your channel, you only need the flags! You can use commands such as !kick USER or !ban USER. For any other in-depth on how commands work just do /msg chanserv help <command>

List of commands available via ChanServ:
FLAGS, INVITE, OP, RECOVER, REGISTER, SET , UNBAN, ACCESS, AKICK, BAN, CLEAR, COUNT, DEOP, DEVOICE, DROP, GETKEY, HELP, INFO, KICK, KICKBAN, QUIET, ROLE, STATUS, TAXONOMY, TEMPLATE, TOPIC, TOPICAPPEND, TOPICPREPEND,UNQUIET, VOICE, WHY


NickServ – Alias NS, This service is used to manage nicknames and such as. I’ve already explained how to register you nickname. A feature that I will talk about is ghosting, it’s simply killing a user with your name after you ID”d, very useful. For more help on NickServ just do /msg NickServ help <command>

List of commands available via NickServ:
GHOST, GROUP, IDENTIFY (ID), INFO, LISTCHANS, REGISTER, RELEASE, SENDPASS, SET, UNGROUP, ACC, CERT, DROP, HELP, LOGOUT, REGAIN, SETPASS,STATUS,TAXONOMY,VACATION, VERIFY

MemoServ – Alias MS, This is a really ungratified service that nobody uses, which I find awesome. It basically allows you to mail people online or offline and leave them nice memos. If you need more info on memoserv just do /msg memoserv help <command>

List of commands available via MemoServ:
DEL, DELETE, FORWARD, HELP, IGNORE, LIST, READ, SEND , SENDGROUP, SENDOPS.

Getting a decent client
Honestly, I don’t really need to say much here. Go download some client like xChat or KVIrc and simply run it, they have straightforward wizards to set up connections.

Golden.

That is a sexy guide right there waffleZ.

Thanks
It's an old guide I made, decided to add it here.

I wonder about the topic. ICR?

Oh ****, I was tired haha!
It's actually Internet Relay Chat....
Whoops!

No problem, I got nothing against a service that relays chats. ^^

I hope you don't
It happens to some people to fail once in a while.
Including myself.

Just stop by every now and then.

This is a common misconception and quite frankly an awesome way to have people paying for it.
It may tell you that the software has expired, but you can still use the client, rendering it technically freeware.