Combatter's (t00t-ingly Good) Guide to X-Chat (IRC)
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Downloading
X-Chat is a program for chatting on IRC networks and the official homepage is www.xchat.org. However, the Windows version that they supply there is time limited so you should download the version found at www.silverex.org as not only is this one not time limited, but it comes with a few handy plugins built in (and no it's not a "cracked" or illegal version so don't worry.)
Go to the Silverex.org download page and click the version number after "Latest X-Chat installer" to start the download.
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General Info
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It involves clients (people that want to chat) connecting to one of the many IRC networks and then joining one or more chat rooms (called 'channels'.) Channel names are always prefixed with the '#' symbol (e.g. the official t00t police channel is #tootpolice on the SorceryNet IRC network.) IRC has other features such as the ability to send private messages (i.e. messages to just one person) and the ability to send files to people but, when it comes down to it, IRC is about chat rooms.
Each IRC channel (including #tootpolice) has a number of channel admins or 'Ops' who are identified by a green blob next to their name in the user list (or an '@' symbol in other clients.) They also appear above other users in the list. Ops have the power to kick irritating people from the channel or even ban them for a period of time (kick them and prevent them rejoining.) They are basically there to keep the channel free from idiots, spam bots, etc.
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Connecting
Load up X-Chat and you will be presented with a small window looking something like this:
Fill in your details in the "User Information" section. The "Nick name" is what other people will see next to your messages in the chat. I'd prefer you to use "[TP]" followed by your chosen t00t Police nickname but u can set it to whatever you like. The "second choice" and "third choice" are only used if someone on the network is already using your chosen nick. "User name" and "Real name" can be set to what you want but user name should be one word only and neither should be left blank.
Select "SorceryNet" from the Networks list then click the "Edit" button...
Click "irc.eu.sorcery.net/9000" if you are nearer (or in) the European Union or "irc.us.sorcery.net/9000" if you are nearer (or in) the USA. Enter '#tootpolice' in the "Channels to join" box and enter a password you would like to use for your nickname in the "Nickserv password" box. Click 'Close'
NOTE: Once your nickname is registered with 'NickServ' (short for Nickname Service), nobody else will be able to use that name for longer than about 20 seconds without entering your password. I explain how to register your name with NickServ below.
Click the "Connect" button on the "Server List" window and, with any luck, you should see something like this as you connect...
NOTE: Whilst connecting, SorceryNet will scan your computer which could cause personal firewall software to warn you that something nasty is happening. Don't worry though, this is just them trying to make sure that they don't let compromised (hacked) computers connect to their network.
Once connected, X-Chat will automatically join the #tootpolice channel and select it as the active "tab" and u can begin chatting!
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Registering with NickServ
To register your current nickname with NickServ, select the "SorceryNet" tab and enter the following (including the forward slash at the beginning)...
/NickServ REGISTER your_password your@email.com
.. replacing your_password with your chosen password (the one u entered in the "Nickserv password" box earlier) and your@email.com with your e-mail address (used for password reminders)
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All this stuff is (c) Ben Kennish 2010 alright? So don't try and pinch it and pass it on as your own you filthy thieving git! ;P