The first thing people always ask me is "What is IRC?" In a nutshell Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, is an old-school way of chatting with people online. It has all the functionality of AIM without any of the annoying bells and whistles. It's also got some fun stuff that AIM doesn't, so it's definatly worth looking into.

Section 1- Download Visual IRC
Section 2- Setup Instructions
Section 3- Configuration
Section 4- Connecting To the Server and Logging Into A Room
Section 5- Useful Commands
Section 6- Requested Protocols


Section 1- Downloading Visual IRC

Your IRC adventure starts by downloading the wonderful and mystical application known as Visual IRC. This is actually just one of a great plethora of IRC Clients, but I've tried a few and this is the best freebie out there, far and away. It can be found here: [
Visual IRC Download]

Section 2- Setup Instructions

This is a fairly standard setup. You shouldn't need to make any changes to the defaults except: On the list of things it will install, you're probably better off unchecking everything except the first item. If you skip this though, I haven't seen any noticable drawbacks to having that extra crap.

Section 3- Configuration

When you first start the program you should choose the "New Unser Wizard" option. Go through that process. Most of it is just establishing useful personal settings, but there's one part in particular that's very important. It has to deal with filling in the fields with your information.

Nick/Alternate Nick: Fill in these two fields with 2 candidates for your handle. They should be somewhat clever, and if you can't manage clever, stick with concise.

Ident: For claritiy's sake, so we know who everyone is, put your first name in here. This is what is revealed in a room by using the "/whois" command.

Real Name: Think of this as more of a 'buddy info' type thing. I put the address to my website, but you can also throw quotes, personal ads, just about anything you want, into that little field. It's also revealed with "/whois"

Default Server: This is very important if you don't know what you're doing. If you're just coming from BrakBlog and want to get into our room, your default server is going to be "esper.net". In the larger scope of things, there are a great many IRC servers with an slew of rooms to go along with each. For our purposes here though, you only need to know 'esper.net'.

NOTE: When you actually are within the program, all of these settings can be changed by opening the File Menu, and selecting Configuration. This exact settings are under the tab labled Initial Setup.

Section 4- Connecting To the Server and Logging Into A Room

When your first arrive at the screen after completeing the wizard, you'll be a bit confused. The screen on Visual IRC should be blank. Do not fear though, you're very close to your goal. In the upper left hand corner, there's a button labled 'Start'. Push it.

The next screen that opens up will still look pretty blank. In the small text box at the top you should see 'esper.net:6667'. If you don't, simply delete that, and type in 'esper.net', and go back to the Initial Setup tab in Configurations and make sure you have 'esper.net' as your default server.

Once you've confirmed that, at the far left there should be a single button with two computers and a check mark. Push that. On your screen you should now see a lot of text scrolling on. When it stops it means you've successfully logged into the server 'esper.net'.

Now that we're in, you can finally come into the room! In the text field at the very bottom of the screen you see now, type "/join #awesome". This will open up a new window in which you should find some familiar faces.

Section 5- Useful Commands

/join #[room] If you find another room you think you'd enjoy on the esper.net server, then simply type this command replacing [room] with the actual name of the room, and you'll join it just like you joined #awesome.

/nick [new nickname]
If you're tired of your current nickname, this is how you change it

/me [actions]
This command allows you to step out and perform in the third person. For instance, typing "/me eats lots of cake" would appear onscreen as "* User eats lots of cake"

/whois [nickname]
This command shows you the details of someone in the room. A whois of someone will reveal their Ident; Personal Information (which is whatever you put under 'Real Name'); What rooms they're in; What server they're using; If they're away (and the corresponding away message);and how long they've been idle.

/away [message]
Type this command, then a short but clever message, to indicate you're no longer participating in conversation, but don't wish to leave the room. For example: "/away I'm eating lots of cake." will appear on a /whois display as "*** User is away: [I'm eating lots of cake.]"

These are the basic ones. Once you're in the room, ask someone if you need help with any of them. Try 'em out and get a feel for the way they work.

Section 6- Requested Protocols

Within the room #awesome there are 3 Operators, at least one of which should be in the room at all times. Your operator will be either Lizz, Ethan, or Tom, or some combination of the three. These are the people who can /kick you (as a warning) or Ban you for good. Their Ops status is indicated by the red color of their name, and the '@' symbol.

Do not ask to be made an Op, because that will only decrease your already non-existant chances, I suppose that sounds harsh, but we have our reasons.

On principal it's been asked that we not participate in randomly excessive topic changes, as this is obnoxious and is seldom funny.

If you're away, please indicate that by use of the "/away" command.

Other than that stuff, be nice and have fun.

.brak//SIGN
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