2. How is IRC organized?
There are many different IRC-nets such as: Undernet, EFnet, Dalnet, Superchat, StormNet,...
Each net consists of (one or more) servers. All servers from one net are connected so you can join a net through different servers.
Apart from this physical structure there's also a logical structure. A net is divided is several
channels. These channels deal with a certain topic (IRC help, Windows, science, ...) or they're
just for fun (chatting, games).
Each user on IRC also has to choose a name. It doesn't have to be your real name, you can use something you like. Such a name is called your nick (nickname). It's good to choose a nick and always use the same. That way you'll easily be recognized by the people on a channel. I suggest you try to find an original nick, because there can't be two Roberts on the same net at the same time. If you choose an nick someone else uses who isn't online at the moment, people can be confused when they see you. Some nets have a Nickserv. This allows you to register your nick.
When you login with your nick, you have to give the password. Anyone logging on who doesn't give the password can't do anything or is removed from the server.
3. IRC sounds like fun but how can I be part of it?
First of all you need an IRC client. A client is program that makes IRC child's play. All you
have to do is choose a server and the channel(s) you want to join. The program takes care of
everything else. The most famous IRC client is mIRC by Khaled Mardam-Bey. It's very good for beginners ;) Another good client is Pirch, but it's less popular. There are more IRC clients,
but they aren't as popular as mIRC or Pirch. The URL's of websites with these programs are at the end of this document. Please note that in this FAQ all examples are for mIRC. The basic commands work for both mIRC and Pirch, more advanced things may not work on Pirch. I hope to have a Pirch section for this document soon.
Back to IRC. After you downloaded and installed a client, you can run it for the first time.
First you have to fill in a nick in the appropriate fields on your screen (you can't miss them :)
If you don't, you will be prompted for a nick when you're connected to a server.
When you're ready with the nick you have to decide which net you want to join (a good choice
would be Superchat :). Just select a server that's connected to the net (all information is on
your screen).
Now, you should see something like "Connecting to irc.pitnet.net (6668)" in the status window.
Right after you're connected you should see a lot of text scrolling by. This is the message of
the day (MOTD). It contains information on what you can and can't do on that server, who is
responsible for the server, etc. If you can't connect to the server ("Connect cancelled"), just
try another. A server can be down, it can be full (all connections in use), etc.
4. I'm connected, what's next?
If you use mIRC you will get a popup window with a list of channels upon connecting.
It's a list that comes with mIRC and it contains the names of the most popular channels. If
you're on Superchat, the best choice would be #beginner :) Just select a channel and click the join button. A new window appears for that channel. You can start talking now: simply type
something and press enter. The biggest part of the channel window is where your text and the
replies from other users appears. Channel messages (users joining or leaving the channel,...)
also appear there. To the right is a list of nicks. These are the people that are currently
in the channel. The nicks that start with @ or + indicate a special class of users. The @ means that the person is an op, a + is for a voiced person. I will explain this later.
You can also join channels manually. If you type "/join #channelname" (leave out the quotation marks) you will get the channel window. If you want to leave a channel you can type
"/part #channelname" or you can close the channel window.
It's also possible to get a list of channels on a net. To get a list click on the 6th icon in
icon bar (mIRC). In the dialog window that just appeared you can enter limitations to your
search. I strongly advise you NOT to ask for a list off all channels (no restrictions). If you
try to get a complete you may get disconnected. The server won't allow you to send/receive large amounts of information (such as complete lists) because it could damage the server.
This is called flooding and it's very unpopular. It's good to use the minimum and maximum limits when looking for a list. The channel list appears in a seperate window. You can also ask for a list manually. The command is "/list -min x -max y" where x is the minimum number of users on a channel and y is the maximum number of users.
5. What is a channel topic?
It's a description of the channel. The topic appears in the title bar of the channel window or
next to the channel name in the list window. Sometimes all users on a channel are allowed to set the topic, but in general only operators (explained later) are allowed to change it.
6. What are channel modes?
Channel modes can help a chanop to keep control over the channel. You can set modes with the /mode command (chanops only). Here's the list of all possible channel modes:
7. What about user modes?
A user (you!) can set modes for himself/herself. Actually there's only one really interesting
user mode: invisible mode. By setting your mode to invisible only someone who knows the exact spelling can send you private messages. This way you are less vulnerable for attacks from malicious users (like flooding). The people in the same channel(s) as you can still see your nick. You won't appear in the channel list if someone from outside the channel tries to see who's in the channel.
Here are all user modes:
8. What is a bot?
'Bot' is short for 'robot'. It is a script (in a client) or a seperate program that performs
one or more tasks on IRC. Most nets have bots to keep channels open. They have op status so they can op (+o) the real, human chanops when. These bots also set the channel modes if they were changed. The bots don't listen to what is said in the channel, they only react to commands sent to them.
There are also other bots with other tasks (e.g. IRC games).
9. What do things like lag, ping and netsplit mean?
Lag is the time it takes for a message to travel from one computer to another. You can ping
someone to measure the lag between your and his/her computer. The command to ping someone is: /ping ctcp < nick > ping. You can also left click on a nick in the list, then right click to get a popup menu. Now choose CTCP, then PING. This will do the same as typing the whole command.
The result appears in your status window. Big lag (long ping times) make it impossible to have a decent conversation. This is a major problem on big nets (Undernet, EFNet,...) On smaller nets, like Superchat, there is harldy any lag.
You can't do much about lag, connecting to another server and hoping things will get better is
the only solution.
If things get too busy on the server it might disconnect itself from the rest of the net to
prevent damage (system crash). This is called a netsplit. If you're in a netsplit you will see
many people leave at once. The people on the other side see you (and other people) leave.
Usually the server tries to restore the connection with the rest of the net. It can take some
time though.
10. How can I find someone on IRC?
If you know the nick of the person you're looking for you can use the /whois command. Type
/whois < nick > to see if the person is on the same net as you. If there's a user with that nick
you will get some information about him/her (in the status window). Be careful, finding a nick
does not always mean that it is the person you're looking for. Someone else can be using your friend's nick.
11. I found my friend, how can we chat in private?
There are several ways to have a private conversation. The most basic way is to send notices to each other. The notices appear in the channel window, but only on your (and your friend's) screen. Notices are perfect for sending quick comments to each other. They're less suited for long conversations.
A second possibility is to use a query. If you type /query < nick > you will get a new window.
You can start typing there. The message is sent to the other user where it appears in a window similar to yours. Because of the seperate window the query is better for long conversations.
The third possibility is a DCC chat. To DCC someone type: /dcc chat < nick >. The DCC chat also has its own window but unlike the query there's a direct connection between the two computers. Should you get disconnected from the server, your DCC is still available (until you close mIRC). A query however would be lost as well.
If someone wants to start a DCC chat with you, you get a dialog box where you can accept or
refuse the chat. I advise you not to DCC with people you don't know/trust. Less friendly people might get you disconnected.
12. I have some files here I'd like to send to my friend. How can I do that?
This time there's only one possibility: DCC send. To start the send you can type
"/dcc send < filename >" or you can use the popup: left click on the nick, then right click, then
choose DCC and finally SEND. A dialog box appears where you can browse for the file.
13. You keep talking about DCC, but what exactly is it?
DCC stands for Direct Client to Client. It's a protocol that makes a direct connection between
two computers. Because the data doesn't pass IRC servers, lag is very low. Also, the connection isn't lost when a netsplit occurs.
You can use DCC to chat with someone or to send files to somenone.
14. What is CTCP?
CTCP stands for Client To Client Protocol. Using it, you can obtain (more or less) personal
information from someone. There are several CTCPs, the most famous (notorious ;) is the ping command. All commands look like this: /ctcp < nick > < command >. The results appear in the status window. Here's a list of commands.
15. What do things like lol, rofl, brb,... mean?
Those are typical IRC acronyms. On IRC you have to type everything you want to say, so
frequently used expressions are compressed. It's quicker and easier. Here's a list with the
important acronyms.
18. Can I ever leave IRC?
In theory you can, but once you've been there you'll never want to leave. Should it happen that you want to leave IRC, you can try the command "/quit". Be careful though: this command is highly experimental. We from #beginner do NOT encourage you to try this. Use of this command is at your own peril. The safest thing to do is to stay on IRC ;)
19. How can I make text appear in different colours?
To get colours in mIRC you have to press ctrl-k and then the number of the colour you want the
text to appear in. Then type your text. If you want a background colour you have to add a coma after the first colour code followed by the number of the background colour.
Here's a list of colour codes in mIRC.
| 0 | white | 8 | yellow |
| 1 | black | 9 | lightgreen |
| 2 | blue | 10 | cyan |
| 3 | green | 11 | lightcyan |
| 4 | lightred | 12 | lightblue |
| 5 | brown | 13 | pink |
| 6 | purple | 14 | grey |
| 7 | orange | 15 | lightgrey |
21. I often see things like [Sound SprudL]. What's happening?
It means SprudL is playing a sound in the channel. If someone plays a sound on IRC and you have a sound with the same name on your hard disk, then you can hear it too. If you don't have the sound you won't hear it and a message will appear. Of course you could ask someone to send you that sound, but it's better if you activate the other person's autosend. Yes, you can configure mIRC to automatically send that sound to anyone who wants it.
22. How do I set up mIRC for sounds?
This is a piece of cake. First you have to go to the general options (4th icon) and look for the
sounds section. There you have to check to first box to activate sounds. The second option
depends on your own taste. If you check it you won't hear another sound until the one that's
playing is completed. If you don't check it, a new sound will start and the old sound will stop
playing. I suggest you check the third box so you get a warning when someone is playing a sound you don't have. You'll see the filename of the sound, so you can get it. The fourth box
activates the autosend when checked. The fifth option sends your file requests as a private
message. This opens a query window on the other persons computer with your request in it.
The last two things in the dialog box show the directory where your wavs and midis (sound files) are. I suggest you don't put your sounds in the mIRC directory (default). Use a seperate
directory or your mIRC dir will be a mess.
If you want to play a sound just type "/sound #channelname wavname.wav < optional message > ".
If you don't specify a channel, the sound is played in the active channel window.
To get a sound all you have to do is type "!nick wavname.wav".
23. So far for the technical stuff. How do I behave on IRC?
Just as in real life there a are some rules to live by on the Net. It's is good to know the
Netiquette to avoid upsetting people. Most of the rules are derived from the two basic rules:
don't harass people and be polite. Actually these rules apply to real life as well.
On IRC you have to follow the channel rules or you might be kicked and/or banned from the channel.
Here are some rules that apply to all channels:
24. What if someone is flooding or harassing me?
There are some things you can do to prevent this. First of all always use invisible mode. That
way people have to know the exact spelling of your nick to send you private messages. Of course, someone in the same channel as you always knows your nick.
If someone found you, you can always change to another (strange) nick. Put the offender on your ignore list. This will block anything coming from that person. To ignore someone type "/ignore < nick >". If you want to remove someone from the ignore list type "/ignore -r < nick >".
Something you certainly have to do is tell a chanop what's happening. They can take action.
25. Where can I find IRC related stuff on the WWW?
http://www.mirc.co.uk
http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~frappa/pirch.html
http://www.superchat.org
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More links to come...
