by haegemonia » Mon May 21, 2012 9:19 pm Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, is basically multiplayer Notepad. To win in IRC, you go and talk, and be popular, and have friends, and get ops. Now for most things in life, you can just go read Wikipedia, but IRC is confusing as fuck, so let me break it down.
Clients
There are quite a few options to consider when choosing an IRC client. Here are a few.
mIRC (Windows)
mIRC is one of the most popular IRC clients out there.
Pros
- Very widely used.
- Sets the standard for IRC clients: logging, scripting, etc.
- Window arrangement. (able to see multiple channels windows at a time)
- Scripting language is unusable in other clients, meaning that scripts are not portable without re-writing it in a different language.
- 30-day trial, have to buy to use after that.
ChatZilla (Cross-platform, firefox extension)
An OK client in the form of a Firefox extension. It's got the basic stuff an IRC client should have, like logging.
Pros
- Easy to use.
- Can be run in its own Firefox tab; just type "chrome://chatzilla/content/chatzilla.xul" in the address bar.
- Easily acquirable, even by morons. Because of that, anyone who doesn't bother to configure their settings is usually ridiculed in some of the more serious parts of IRC.
- When logging, it creates a new file for every day. Not good if you're someone who likes to go back to look at old times.
HydraIRC (Windows)
Another okay client for Windows.
Pros:
- Channel Monitor window allows you to view messages from all channels.
- Still in beta, and hasn't been worked on in ages.
- Advertises itself in /quit messages.
http://www.hydrairc.com/
KVIrc (Windows & Linux)
This client is best known for its customizability; nearly every aspect of its theme can be changed.
Pros:
- Themes can be customized and changed if you're into that sort of thing.
- Activity Monitor option displays a neat little colored icon besides each nickname, showing how active they are. Helpful if you're an op and want to clean out spais/lurkers.
- Scriptable.
- As with mIRC, scripts made for KVIrc can't be used in other clients. Not like there are many scripts out there for it anyhow.
- Tends to get rather slow on older computers.
- Like ChatZilla, logs are split into days, making them harder to search through.
irssi (Cross platform)
Console-based IRC client. Despite that, it's one of the best clients out there, if you know what you're doing.
Pros:
- Uses Perl as its scripting language. No need to learn a language you're only going to use for one purpose!
- Because it's console-based, you can put irssi on a shell and run it from any computer with an SSH client.
- Very fast, so it's great for old computers.
- May be hard to use if you're used to GUI-based clients.
- Can't do much without scripts.
XChat (Windows, Linux, OS X [as XChat Aqua])
Nice, clean client with a good amount of features.
Pros:
- Able to use Perl, and a few other languages.
- Some popup menus are customizable, as are a group of buttons under the userlist.
- No longer outputs all IRCop blabber to your active window. It puts it all nicely in the 'status' window of the server you are connected to.
- Open Source, can compile
- Windows version is sets you back 20 bucks, because compiling it is soooooooooo hard /s
http://www.xchat.org/
http://www.xchat-wdk.org/ (free)
jmIrc (J2ME-enabled devices, such most cell phones)
An IRC client for...your cell phone? Yeah, a lot of apps like this one exist, but this seems like the best free one out there.
Pros:
- Well, with this, you can IRC IRL.
- A "Favorites" list allows you to keep a list of frequently-used commands.
- It's made for a cell phone, so you're not gonna see a lot of features.
- On some phones, it may freeze up when trying to send a message.
http://jmirc.sourceforge.net/
Guide for new users
- Type '/server (server)' or use the connect to connect to a new IRC server (use '/server -m (server)' to connect in a new IRC window without disconnecting from the current server. There are several large networks like EFnet (irc.efnet.net) and Rizon(irc.rizon.net). Of other note are private servers, you'll have to find those on your own. Some places, like Rizon or Chatnets, or really any place except stone-age EFnet, has a NickServ. Register with NickServ (type '/msg nickserv register passwordhere realemailhere') and then '/msg nickserv identify password' to be identified. Some places, like #4chan on Rizon, require you to be registered with NickServ to join.
- Type '/j #channel' or '/join #channel' (it's the same) to join a channel. To part, just close it with the red X, or type /part #channel somemessage if you want to be fancy.
- To change nick, type '/nick newnickhere'. There is a limit on how long the nick can be; some networks only allow a maximum of 9 characters, while others let you go up to 18.
- To send a private message, use '/msg nick message here blah blah dongs'. In most clients, private messages appear in a little new window.
People on IRC
- Channel founders, +q, have a ~ by their name, and are the creators of the IRC channel. They can change all channel settings and modes.
- Super-ops, aka +a or admins, have a & by their name, have the same powers as ops, can access some ChanServ commands, and cannot be kicked by normal ops.
- Ops, aka +o, have an @ by their name. They can ban, kick, add and remove ops, change the topic, and make your life hell.
- Half ops, aka hops or +h, they have a % by their name. They can ban and kick, add and remove voice, change the topic and set a few modes.
- Voiced, or +v, have a +. They are just regular users who we trust for the most part and have been there a while. Also, if the channel is set +m (moderated, basically mute) they and the +o, +h and +v people can talk, while regular users can't. A few channels set +v on join, usually if it's +m so that ops can remove voice from people who spam or whatever.
Note about Lurking: SAY SOMETHING EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. Many channels get sick of people just joining and watching, at least let them know who you are so someone doesn't kick you or something. So, you can lurk, but be sure to talk occasionally. The IRC world is extremely intolerant of newbs.
Tips for more experienced users
Secure noticing
To send a message to everyone on a channel with a certain level or higher, type this:
/notice (~|&|@|%|+)#channel message
where the symbol represents the minimum level to send the message to (see "People on IRC").
Use this to share sensitive information without spais finding out.
HostServ
With a registered nick, you can replace your plain old hostname with a vHost, which is basically just a fake hostname.
To request a vHost, type:
/msg HostServ request vhost@goes.here
You will then have to wait for your vHost to be approved. Some networks do it automatically after about a few hours, while other nets have it to where it must be manually approved.
If a mod wants to clean up the formatting, I am totally ok with that, I recognize it's pretty ugly.
