Quick guide to IRC and the #divxstation channel


Index

[1] What is IRC?
[2] What is an IRC channel?
[3] How to connect to IRC (and specifically the "ZiRC IRC network")
    [3.1] Via a webbrowser
    [3.2] Via an IRC client
            [--] How to register my nickname on IRC
            [--] How to identify to my registered nickname
[4] Some general info and basic rules
    [4.1] How to send (offline) messages
    [4.2] User modes and what they mean
    [4.3] Basic rules


What is IRC?

Internet Relay Chat, simply an abbreviation to describe a way of communicating. There are a ton of IRC networks consisting of any number of servers for you to connect to. If you connect to one server you're connected to that entire IRC network and you can communicate with everyone on it.



What is an IRC channel?

Basically it's just a room. People that join the room are then able to talk each other. Everything you type into a channel is visible for anyone in that channel. You can join and talk in more than one channel at a time. You can create channels by simply using the join command with a new channel name, ie. /join #mychannel. You can even register a channel with ChanServ, so it stays yours: ChanServ: /cs help commands.



How to connect to IRC (and specifically the "ZiRC IRC network")



Via a webbrowser: http://www.zirc.org/chat/



Input your DS nickname, and the DS channel #divxstation and hit Login.





Chat or type a command to join the trivia channel. For registering your nick, and more, look below, as the principles are the same.



Via an IRC client

Download mIRC or any IRC client - this tutorial will focus on mIRC though -
www.mirc.com

Install and run.....





Click the Options button, 2nd button from the left.





Choose the first item in the Options list, and fill in your DS nickname.




Navigate to Display, Options.





If you want mIRC to minimize to your system tray when you're away from the computer, you can set it here. (It'd be nice if you would leave mIRC idling if you're online 24/7 anyway)





Go to Connect, Servers, choose ZiRC from the top listbox and click the button "Connect To Server" (or click OK and type in the status window /server irc.zirc.org 6667)





Then when you're connected to the ZiRC IRC network, type the command shown above to register your nickname. You will get an email with an authorization code to confirm the registration, so make sure you use a valid email address.
You can set all kinds of options on your nick, via NickServ, see the help: /ns help commands and for ChanServ: /cs help commands.





Once you're registered, you have to "identify" to your nick every time you connect to the ZiRC IRC network, so that the services really know it's you.

Manually you have to type: /identify yourpassword

BUT WAIT, you can also do this automatically (and every other command you can think of, like automatically joining channels, etc) by adding a command to your Perform-list. Go to the Options dialog again, and navigate to Connect, Options and click Perform. Everything in Perform will be executed upon connection.





Click Add, select "ZiRC", click OK. "ZiRC" should be selected in the Network listbox. Enter the identify command in there as well as any chans you want to automatically join upon connecting to ZiRC network. Click OK. Then reconnect or manually type the join commands to join any channels.





To join the Divxstation channel #divxstation, type: /join #divxstation





Type here to join in.... :)

Some general info and basic rules

You can type (m)IRC commands into any window. Here are a couple:
/nick newnickname
/part #channel_you_want_to_leave
/me waves (shows as * yournickname waves)
/query nickname (opens dialog for private messaging)
/msg nickname (sends message, without opening seperate dialog)
/notice nickname (sends msg which will show up in either recipients' status or active window)
/topic #channel new topic (only for ops)

..for more commands, see mIRC help: /help


How to send (offline) messages

To send registered people a message, even while they are offline, you can use MemoServ: /ms help commands



User modes and what they mean

You will notice people in channels with the following symbols in front of their nickname:
@   These people are channel operators or "ops". They have the power to kick/ban you from the channel.
%   These people are half-ops, and have some of the op-power, such as kicking and sometimes changing the topic.
+    These people are just valued by the ops and are called voices. Also if the channel mode +m (moderated) were set, only voices and above would be able to speak.



Basic rules

Keep the following in mind:

* No warez!
* No spamming!
* No flaming/fights!
* No (aLtErNaTiNg) CAPS!
* Keep it english, and decent.
* Be sure to always read the topic.
* Do NOT send PMs to anyone without asking for permission first!



Hope to see more of you in the channel, or maybe for a game of trivia.


Cheers,
phaelox


Last modified: 2003/12/20

Nice guide Phae ... I finally joined the irc channel