#OperHelp's Official guide to IRC.
Author: adro (Dr. Adrian R. Rhodes) adro@daydream-ridge.com
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, which was created by Jarkko Oikarinen in August 1988 to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser Talk) on a BBS (Bulletin Board System) called OuluBox in Finland. Oikarinen found inspiration in a chat system known as Bitnet Relay, which was operated on the BITNET.
IRC has, as seen above, existed for many, many years (21 years from August 2009, actually) and has been its entire duration of existence. As of May 2009, the top 100 IRC networks served more than half a million users at a time, with hundreds of thousands of channels (the vast majority of which stand mostly vacant), operating on a total of roughly 1,500 servers worldwide
There are literally hundreds of IRC clients, written for every platform and operating system imaginable.
Connecting to a server
If you have not read your client's documentation yet, I suggest you do it now, for its advice may be better than mine for your client in specific.
Launch your IRC client, and type “/server insertaserverhere” without quotes and replacing “insertaserverhere” with a real IRC server. For OpenIRC users, it would be irc.OpenIRC.net t Once connected, it will display the server's MOTD (message of the day). Then, congratulations, you just connected to a IRC server!
Connection Issues
If you are having difficulty connecting to an IRC network, the solution in almost all cases is to try a different server on that network until you find one that works for you.
However, if you are unable to connect to any servers on any IRC network, it may be that you are running anti-virus or firewall software that is blocking mIRC and preventing it from connecting, or Windows itself may be blocking mIRC for some reason. You would need to add mIRC to the allowed/exceptions list of your anti-virus or firewall software to allow it to connect.
There are also a few other situations where you might have difficulty connecting to an IRC network and these are described below.
Unable to resolve server
If you try to connect to a server and see this message, the problem could be:
An invalid or non-working server address
You might be trying to connect to an IRC Server that is currently not working, or perhaps is an old address and does not exist anymore. You should try another IRC Server.
Your internet connect is not working correctly
This problem would also result in your being unable to connect to other internet services such as web sites. You should try again later.
Unable to connect to server
If you try to connect to a server and see this message, the problem could be:
IRC server is not working
You might be trying to connect to an IRC Server that is currently not working. This is the most likely problem. You should try another IRC Server.
Invalid port number
The IRC Server address might be correct but you have specified the wrong port. Most servers operate at least on port 6667, so you should try that port to see if it solves the problem.
Other messages
If you try to connect to a server and get Disconnected and see the message Closing Link followed by a comment such as No Authorization or No More Connections, it might be that you are too far away geographically from that server, or that the server is full and cannot handle anymore users, or there may be other reasons. You should try a different IRC Server until you find one works for you.
Join a Channel
Once you have connected to an IRC Server, you can join a channel to talk to other people. There are several ways to join a channel. Each is explained below.
The Favorites Folder
The easiest way to join a channel is through the favorites folder where you can store a list of your favorite channels. mIRC automatically pops up this folder the moment you connect to an IRC Server. You can join one of the listed channels by selecting it and clicking the Join button.
You can also view the favorites folder by clicking on the favorites folder button in the toolbar or through the Tools menu.
The Channels List
Another way to join a channel is to retrieve the list of currently active channels by using the Channels List dialog. To retrieve the channels list, you can click on the Get List button. The list can be quite long, often thousands of channels, so it can take several minutes to retrieve it. mIRC will save this list once you have retrieved it, so if you wish to view it again later you can just click on the Apply button. However, if you want an updated list you will need to retrieve it again.
If you click your right mouse button in the channels list window, a popup menu with various options will appear.
Note: You can also specify a filename for the channels list which can be useful if you regularly visit different IRC networks.
The /join Command
The format of the /join command, which is a Basic IRC Command, is /join #channel where #channel is the name of the channel you want to join. So if you wanted to join channel #mIRC, you would type /join #mIRC and press enter, and a moment later the #mIRC window will open indicating that you have joined it.
Creating a new channel
You can create a new channel if it does not already exist just by joining it. If you want to create a channel called #bubbles, you would just type /join #bubbles. If it does not exist it will be created for you. If it does exist, you will join it.
Talking on a channel
You can talk to other people by typing in a message and pressing the enter key. Your message will be sent to the channel and everyone on the channel will see it. A good first message is just to say hello to everyone with a smiley face :-)
The listbox on the side of the channel window lists all of the people who are currently on that channel. If you click your right mouse button in the listbox, a popup menu with various options will appear.
Popup menus are actually used everywhere in mIRC, you can even click your right mouse button in the status window, or in the channel window itself, and a different popup menu will appear. These popup menus are configurable, you can change them in the Popups dialog to perform whatever functions you require.
Leaving a channel
You can leave a channel by clicking the channel window close button, or you can use the /part command, which is another Basic IRC command similar to /join. The format of the /part command is /part #channel where #channel is the name of the channel you want to leave. If you type /part without a channel name and press enter, you will part the current channel.
Hint: you can click the top left corner button/icon in any window in mIRC to view the System menu which contains useful features.
Channels List
The Channels List dialog allows you to retrieve the list of currently active channels. You can view this dialog by clicking on its button in the toolbar, through the Tools menu, or by typing key combination Alt+L.
Get List
This retrieves a list of all of the active channels from the IRC server. This list can be quite long and depending on your connection it might take several minutes to download. The IRC Server actually sends the whole list, regardless of the filters you specify. You will not be able to do anything on IRC until this retrieval has been completed.
Apply
This allows you to re-specify the list parameters without having to retrieve the whole list again from the IRC server. Just change the parameters and then click on apply to have them re-listed according to your new criteria.
Match text
You can enter several words (separated by spaces) which mIRC will look for in channel names. Only those channels which match any of the words you specify will be listed. If you leave this empty then all channels will be listed.
Match text in topics
If this is turned on then mIRC will apply the Match Text procedure to channel topics as well. So only channel topics that match any of the words in the Match text editbox will be listed.
Number of people on a channel
This allows you to limit the channels list to those channels which contain a number of people ranging between the specified minimum and maximum.
Lock/Unlock
This allows you lock the Hide parameters with a password thus preventing anyone from changing the Hide settings. The same password must be used to unlock this.
Hide channels which match...
You can enter several words (separated by spaces) which mIRC will look for in both channel names and topics. Any channels which match any of these words will be excluded from the channels list.
Hide non-alphanumeric channels
This will filter out any channels that begin with characters that are not numbers or letters.
Hint: You can click your right mouse button in the Channels List window to pop up a menu with useful options.
Basic IRC Commands
IRC commands allow you to perform specific functions on IRC, such as maintaining control of a channel and the users on it. The following list of basic IRC commands will help you get started. There are also other mIRC Commands that you can look at later.
General Commands
/away [message]
Leaves a message indicating that you are currently not paying attention to IRC. When someone sends you a message, they will automatically see your away message. Using /AWAY with no message marks you as no longer being away and removes your previous message.
example: /away Off to get something to eat, back in a moment.
/invite nickname #channel
Invites a nickname to a channel that you are on.
/join #channel
Joins the specified channel.
example: /join #irchelp
This will make you join the #irchelp channel. Once on a channel, anything you type will be seen by all the users on this channel. The #irchelp channel is very useful, so say hello and then ask any questions you want. If the channel you specified does not exist, a channel with that name will be created for you.
Some channels may also have keys ie. a password, which you need to specify when using the /join command.
example: /join #irchelp trout
This will make you join the #irchelp channel using "trout" as the password.
/list [#channel] [-MIN #] [-MAX #]
Lists currently available channels. You can also tell mIRC to show only channels with a minimum and a maximum number of people. If you specify a #channel then mIRC will only list information for that channel. If you specify wildcards, eg. *mirc* then mIRC will list all channels that contain the word mirc in them.
example: /list
example: /list -min 5 -max 20
example: /list #mirc
example: /list *mirc*
/me message
Sends an action message to the current channel or query window. To send an action message to a specific channel or nickname, see the /describe command.
/msg nickname message
Sends a private message to nickname without opening a query window.
/nick nickname
Changes your nickname to a new nickname.
/notice nickname message
Sends a private message to nickname without opening a query window for either you or them.
/part #channel
Leaves a channel that you are on.
/query nickname message
Opens a query window to this nickname and sends them a private message.
/quit [message]
Disconnects you from IRC and will give the optional message as the reason for your departure. (this message only appears to people who are on the same channels as you).
/topic #channel newtopic
Changes the topic for a channel that you are on.
/whois nickname
Shows you information about a nickname.
Channel and User Commands
If you have Op status, the following commands give you control over both a channel and the users on it.
/kick #channel nickname
Kicks a nickname off a channel that you are on.
/mode #channel|nickname [[+|-]modechars [parameters]]
This is a powerful command that gives channel operators control of a channel and the users on it.
Channel modes
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ModeChar Effects on channels
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
b <person> ban somebody, <person> in "nick!user@host" form
i channel is invite-only
l <number> channel is limited, <number> users allowed max
m channel is moderated, (only chanops can talk)
n external /MSGs to channel are not allowed
o <nickname> makes <nickname> a channel operator
p channel is private
s channel is secret
t topic limited, only chanops may change it
k <key> set secret key for a channel
User modes
-------------------
ModeChar Effects on nicknames
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i makes you invisible to anybody that does
not know the exact spelling of your nickname
o IRC-operator status, can only be set
by IRC-ops with OPER
s receive server notices
v gives a user a voice on a moderated channel
Here a few examples of the MODE command:
To give someone op status: /mode #channelname +o nickname
Giving someone op status means giving them control over the channel and the users on it. Give this out sparingly and to people you trust.
To op several people: /mode #channelname +ooo nick1 nick2 nick3
To de-op someone: /mode #channelname -o nickname
To ban someone: /mode #channelname +b nickname (or user address)
To unban someone: /mode #channelname -b nickname (or user address)
To make a channel invite only: /mode #channelname +i
You must now invite a user for them to be able to join your channel.
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Services: OpenIRC offers services for users to enhance their IRC stay.
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NickServ - nickname management services. NickServ allows your users to register their nickname to prevent others from stealing their nickname. Your users will also be able to kill any ghost connections with their nickname and will be able to group their most-used nicknames together so they can use the same set of settings and access for all of their nicknames.
ChanServ - channel management services. ChanServ provides the ability to register your channels. This way ChanServ can be used to give channel operator status to regular operators, or to lock other modes or a topic for your channel. Our version of ChanServ provides a very complete set of features for channel management, allowing complete control over your channel.
MemoServ - send memos to users or channels. MemoServ offers a way to send short messages to users who are currently offline, or to entire channels if you wish. This allows you and your users to quickly tell offline users something, without a chance of forgetting it.
OperServ - operator utility services. OperServ provides a very complete set of functionality for IRC Operators, allowing them to operate their network in a very efficient way. Including often used features like akills and session limiting, this black box for IRC Operators ensures a safe and easy to manage IRC network.
BotServ - channel bot services. BotServ allows you to create several bots for your network. These bots can join channels and take over most actions from ChanServ, making things just a tad more intuitive. Additionally, BotServ also adds a few features like fantasy commands and kick triggers.
HostServ - virtual host services. HostServ offers a way to easily provide virtual hosts to the users on your network. If your IRCd supports virtual hosts HostServ can be used as a very easy interface for setting them, and enables the virtual host every time a user joins the network.
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To learn the basic commands of these services type /msg service help
In order to use IRC Services you must register your nick with NickServ
/msg nickserv register password email@address. You must specify a valid email address as email verification is required.
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OpenIRC Rules and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
=====RULES of OpenIRC.Net======
1. Refer to MOTD
2. Respect Each other
3. Dont carry on with bullshit
4. Have fun on IRC
5. Dont beg for O:Lines
6. Be involved in the chat
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OpenIRC POLICY AGREEMENT (T.O.S)
CONNECTING TO OpenIRC IRC Network: Upon connecting to our network, you agree to the terms and conditions set forth in our MOTD and /rules.
Connecting to this network is a privilege, not a right.
1.1 All users are welcome to our our main room #OpenIRC. Everyone is welcome to make their own rooms and join other rooms and chat with others. If you want to create your own channel, you firstly have to register your nickname with NickServ
1.2 Spamming/flooding is not welcome here. Posting links repetitively, or flooding the room with non-sense can result in a ban from the channel. If you are found to be spamming and flooding other rooms in the network, you will be banned from the network.
1.3 The content we allow on this network is pretty much anything. However, there are some things we do not allow here. Anything regarding illegal hacking, using our network as a way to store bots for botnets, making a room promoting underage sexual conduct, or distributing content that is deemed underage will result in a network wide perma ban, and you IP forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
1.4 In regards to running bots here, please refer to the bot motd /botdmotd
1.5 If you wish to see the rules here on OpenIRC.Net refer to /rules
1.6 If you want to link a server, fill out the server application form on the website.
1.7 Network Staff will NOT interfere with channels on the IRC Network, Network Staff are not responsible for the conversations and type of language used within the rooms, if you do NOT LIKE what is being stated in certain rooms, you dont have to be apart of that certain channel. If ANY network staff be it OpenIRC IRC Staff or any Janus Staff is found to be interfering with channels, OpenIRC IRC Staff will be suspended.
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Server Linking Application
Routing Policy
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OpenIRC IRC Network Routing Policy is as follows.
Your nickname MUST be registered with NickServ for a minimum of 10 days before submitting a Application. If you wish to link a server (NOT PyLink) to the OpenIRC IRC Network then it has to be operating on at least a VPS machine or higher, be it co-location or dedicated. Shell servers will currently not be accepted unless they are from an area which is not already serviced by an OpenIRC IRC Network server.
The VPS server must have the following specs at the bare minimum.
1GB Ram
10gig HDD
100Mbps connection to the internet
Unlimited Data transfer per month
*nix flavoured operating system
The server administrator must have permission of the owner of the system to run an IRCd from their locations. A server will NOT be looked at for linkage unless a completed server application form has been submitted. A Server Administrator may have one staff member during the test-link period, after the test-link period the Server Administrator may appoint a Co-Server Administrator, and add 1 to 2 more staff members. The testlink period lasts for 7 days upon server linking to the OpenIRC IRC Network A testlink server is NOT added to the web site, dns pools or given services access until testlink is completed It will be the Routing Teams decision at the end of the day if the server gets linked or not.
Routing Application is available to complete here! Server Routing Application.
OpenIRC IRC Network runs the UnrealIRCD to run its servers.
Current Running Version 4.0.17
Available here --------------------------> Unreal Current OPENIRC
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