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Introduction
With any luck, this little guide will help everyone
that has been asking questions about IRC, more specifically, the OverclockersClub.com IRC Channel.
What is IRC?
For those that don't know, IRC is an acronym for Internet
Relay Chat. The first IRC network came on line during the summer of 1988 when Jarkko "WiZ" Oikarinen created the first IRC
client and server at the University of Oulu, Finland. Two years later, EFNet was brought on line, and quickly became one of
the largest IRC networks. Today, there are thousands of IRC Networks, large and small. Our focus today is on a relativity
small IRC Network, XGNet, which is where the OverclockersClub.com IRC Channel currently resides.
IRC Clients
While there are a variety of IRC clients available,
the focus of this guide will be the use of mIRC, a Windows based IRC client. There are many different clients
available, some of the more popular ones include BitchX, XChat, Trillian, BeserIRC, Klient, ChatZilla (found in Mozilla Web Browser), and even the Opera Web Browser has IRC support in v7.50+.
Using mIRC
The first thing to do is obviously to download mIRC. At the writing of this guide, the current version of mIRC is
6.12.
After downloading mIRC, the next set would be
to install it. It's a simple process, and takes just a couple of minutes. If you need help on installing mIRC, please refer
to the mIRC documentation found here.
Now that you've gotten mIRC downloaded and installed,
its time to start up mIRC, and get it set up so you can connect to the network we use, as well as the channel.
The first thing you will see when you start up mIRC,
is the mIRC Options page.
Fill in the full name, using anything you want. You
can use your real name, your forum name, or whatever.
Below that is your email address. I strongly suggest
that you do not enter your email address in here. You need to enter something, and it needs to be in the format of an email
address. What you use is up to you.
Below that is Nickname, enter in here what you want
to be known as in the IRC Channel. You should use the name part from your email address as your nickname. Best thing to do
here is to use your forum nick for both. This also helps so people know who you are. For example, if you enter the email foo@bar.net,
then your Nickname would be foo.
The Alternative blank below that will be what your nick
will be should someone else be using your name. - Don't worry, we'll show you how to register your nickname later on so only
you can use it.
Now that we have those fields filled in, we want to
move on to the Identd option.
Using mIRC
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mIRC Options (Identd) Screen |
Select the option for Enable Identd server and the option
for Use ID from email address.
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mIRC Options (Identd) Screen |
If you have a socks4, or 5 Firewall or a proxy server,
you can configure the appropriate settings under the Firewall option.
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mIRC Options (Firewall) Screen |
You can configure mIRC to connect when the program starts
or if you become disconnected through the Options option. We'll be back to this options later to take a look at the preform
commands.
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mIRC Options (Options) Screen |
Now, let's get you connected to the XGNet Network. But
first, we need to add the server into the server list. First thing to do is still inside the mIRC Options screen (ctrl if
you exited out) is to click on the Servers Option.
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mIRC Options (Servers) Screen |
You should see an Add button, under the IRC Server drop
down menu. Click the Add button to bring up the add server screen.
Enter the following information:
Description: Random
XGNet Server
IRC Server: irc.xgnet.net
Port(s): 6667
Group: XGNet
Leave the password blank and click Add.
The server is added to the server list, and is brought
up when you return to the mIRC Options. To connect to the server now, click Connect To Server.
Using mIRC
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mIRC Options (Servers) Screen |
The mIRC Options will disappear, and mIRC will attempt
to connect to the IRC Network. Once it has connected, a favorites list will appear. Uncheck the box at the bottom that says
Pop up favorites on connect, and then click ok to close the window.
You should now be looking at the main mIRC window again.
You should see the Message of the Day (MOTD), server stats, your host name, and other relevant information.
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mIRC Window - Connected to McLean2.VA.US.XGNet.net
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Now, we'll join the OverclockersClub.com channel. To
do this, type:
/join #overclockersclub.com
Congratulations, you are now inside the OverclockersClub.com
IRC Channel. You're now free to chat, or do whatever. That is of course, as long as you follow the channel and server rules.
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mIRC Chat Window #OverclockersClub.com |
The mIRC (and most other IRC clients) screen is divided
into three sections. The center are is where the messages are displayed. On the right, you have a list of people in the room.
And the bottom, under the chat area is the text area where you input your messages.
Ops and Voices
You're
probably asking why some people have a @ or a + next to their name. These symbols next to a name or nick represents the status
or position of that person in the Channel.
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mIRC Chat Window #OverclockersClub.com - Voiced and Oped Users |
@ designates an Op, or Operator. This is used primarily
OCC Staff, and anyone else delegated to help moderate the OCC IRC Channel. Ops have the ability to kick users from the channel,
or ban users for violations of the rules.
+ designates a voiced user. For the purposes of the
OCC IRC Channel, these people are dedicated members of the channel, who help others. They have been voiced to distinguish
themselves from normal people in the chat. Keep in mind, this is only what the voiced + status represents in the OCC IRC Channel.
The actual intention of + status, is for what is called
a moderated IRC Channel. In these types of channels, only Ops, and voiced people are allowed to talk. This is common at developer
chats on networks such as irc.stratics.com and irc.enterthegame.com.
Registering a Nickname
The registration process for the XGNet servers is fairly
simple. First, you must tell the authentication server that you want to register the nickname. To do this, type:
| /msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net REGISTER <account> <password> <email> |
So, if I wanted to register the nickname bob with a
password of 1234, I would use this command:
| /msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net REGISTER bob 1234
bob@bobsemail.com |
The nick "bob" has now been registered. To
use this nick, "bob" would need to authenticate with the authserv by using the following command:
| /msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net AUTH bob 1234 |
Additional AuthServ
Commands
Occasionally you may encounter a problem where the AuthServ may not recognize your
host name when you attempt AUTH to your account, and the following error message is given:
| You host mask is not valid for the account <account> |
This is commonly a problem when trying to
AUTH to your account from a different computer. It can also happen if you change the host name of your system, or for several
other reasons.
In order to access your account on a computer
that has an invalid host, you have to have the AuthServ verify that it's really you. To do this, we have to tell the AuthServ
to send a key (or cookie) to the email address you registered your account to. This is done with the following command:
| /msg AuthServ authcookie
<account> |
In a couple minutes after issuing that command,
you should receive an email that tells you how to add the host mask to your account. The email should tell you to issue a
command similar to:
| /msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net COOKIE cookiename |
Other IRC Commands
Here are a few of the commonly used commands for our IRC network, these commands may or may not work on other IRC networks
you visit:
| AuthServ Commands |
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/msg authserv help |
Gives general help for AuthServ |
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/msg authserv help commands |
List available commands for AuthServ |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net register <account>
<password> <email> |
Register an account |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net PASS <oldpass>
<newpass> |
Change account password |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net AUTH [account] <password> |
Authenticat to an account |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net RESETPASS <account>
<newpassword> |
Reset the password for an account |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net SET email <new
email> |
Change the email for an account |
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/msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net SET info <whatever> |
Sets the infoline displayed by /whois | |
| ChanServ Commands |
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/msg ChanServ help |
Gives general help for ChanServ |
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/msg ChanServ ACCESS <#channel> <nick|*account> |
Displays information on a nick/account |
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/msg ChanServ USERS <#channel> |
Displays the userlist for the specified channel. |
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/msg ChanServ BANS <#channel> |
Displays the list of all permanent and timed bans in
the channel. |
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/msg ChanServ INVITE <#channel> <nick>
<reason> |
Invites a person to a channel |
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/msg ChanServ NETINFO |
Displays information about network-wide ChanServ statistics. |
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/msg ChanServ SEEN <#channel> <account> |
Tells when a person was last in a channel |
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/msg ChanServ PEEK <#channel> |
Displays the current topic, modes, and ops of the specified
channel |
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/msg ChanServ IRCOPS |
Lists all the IRC operators currently online. |
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/msg ChanServ STAFF |
Lists all the IRC operators and helpers currently online. | |
| Other Commands |
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/nick <new nick> |
Changes your nickname |
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/me <action> |
Preforms an action (eg "/me cries" will show "* User
cries") |
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/clear |
Clears the screen |
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/away |
Marks you as being away. Use again to be marked back.
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/quit <message> |
Disconnects you from the server - Message is optional
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/join <#channel> |
Enters a channel |
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/part <#channel> |
Leaves a channel |
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/leave <#channel> |
Same as /part |
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/whois <nick> |
Displays information on a nick |
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/list |
List the public rooms on a channel |
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/msg <nick> <message> |
Sends a message to a person |
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/names <#channel> |
List the people in a channel |
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/ignore <nick/address> |
Ignores a person. Use again to unignore. |
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/mode <your nick> +i |
Makes you invisable to /who and /whois |
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/invite <nick> <#channel> |
Invites a person to a channel |
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!up |
Will op or voice you if you are on a room's user list.
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!down |
Removes voice or op, reguardless of room's user list.
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!invite <nick> |
Same as /invite |
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!access <nick> |
Displays information on a nick/account |
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!help |
Gives general help for ChanServ - Same as /msg ChanServ
help |
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!setinfo <whatever> |
Same as /msg AuthServ@Services.XGnet.net SET info <whatever> | |
There are many additional IRC commands available depending
on the type of IRC server, server and channel restrictions, bots, and IRC client. Please check the user manual for your IRC
client for client specific commands.
Additional XGNet Servers
In adition to the irc.xgnet.net server that was used earlier in this guide, there are several other area specific servers
that you may wish to connect to.
| Random Servers (Will connect you to anything available)
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| Server Name |
Location |
| irc.xgnet.net |
Random XGnet IRC |
| chat.overclockersclub.com |
Random XGnet IRC | |
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| USA - East Coast |
| Server Name |
Location |
| McLean.VA.US.XGNet.net |
McLean, VA |
| McLean2.VA.US.XGNet.net |
McLean, VA | |
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| USA - Central |
| Server Name |
Location |
| Dallas.TX.US.XGNet.net |
Dallas, TX |
| Dallas2.TX.US.XGNet.net * |
Dallas, TX |
| Dallas3.TX.US.XGNet.net * |
Dallas, TX | |
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| USA - West Coast |
| Server Name |
Location |
| SanJose.CA.US.XGNet.net |
San Jose, CA |
| SanJose2.CA.US.XGNet.net * |
San Jose, CA | |
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* Coming soon |
Additional IRC Resources
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