1. Introduction and Basic Commands

1. Introduction and Basic Commands
1.1. Introduction to IRC
What is IRC?

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a multi-user, multi-channel chatting system. Imagine sitting in front of your computer and "talking" through typed messages with either one person or many other people from all over the Internet, all in real time! Best of all, once you get set up, chatting on IRC is totally free!
Some Other Help Files

There are many help files designed to introduce you to the exciting and sometimes bewildering world of IRC. This tutorial that you are reading now is intended to walk you through the important commands one by one so that you can learn by doing. If you are brand new to IRC, you may wish to first read the very short IRC Prelude (or its many translations) to get yourself oriented. Then later you may check out one of the standard references, such as the alt.irc newsgroup's frequently asked questions (FAQ) list, or the long but extremely thorough IRC Primer which is organized like a textbook.
Client / Server

IRC is based on a client-server model. You run a client program on your own computer which connects you to a server computer on the Internet. These servers link to many other servers to make up an IRC network, which transport messages from one user (client) to another. In this manner, people from all over the world can talk to each other live and simultaneously.

To join in the fun, all you need is an Internet Service Provider to get you connected to the Internet (if you're able to read this web page, you're already connected), and an IRC client program. The most popular clients are mIRC for the Windows operating system, ircII for UNIX, and Ircle for Macintosh. A good provider should have installed one of these for you already, if not you can download them yourself for free. (Ircle and mIRC are shareware, meaning you get a one month free trial, then if you like it and keep it, you are bound by an honor system to pay the author a modest fee.)
Networks, Servers, and Channels

Once you are set up with a provider and a client, you are in control. Choose a nickname you wish to be known by, then connect to one of the many different IRC networks catering to different geographical locations, interests, or philosophies. The largest networks have tens of thousands of people online at any given moment, drawn from an order of magnitude or more of regular visitors. These people create thousands of channels (sometimes incorrectly called "chat rooms") where people may meet and mingle. You may join these channels and participate in the group discussion, or you may elect to chat privately with individuals.

Conversations on a channel are like those at a party: everybody who is present hears everything that everybody else is saying. If somebody is late to the party or leaves early, however, they will not hear what is said in their absence. All channels on IRC have names starting with #, such as #irchelp where you can get technical IRC help, or #new2irc where new users are welcome to join and chat. Usually, the name of the channel shows what it's for, but not always.
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1.2. Quick Start

We will assume you or your provider has installed one of the mainstream IRC clients already. If not, see the links in the previous section. Once installed, most clients have shortcuts for getting started quickly, using default nicknames, servers, and ports on those servers. (To help distribute the load better, each server permits connections on many different openings or "ports", usually leading to redundant connections to the same IRC network.)

For example, mIRC has a connection dialog that lets you pick your nickname and suggests some server choices. From the UNIX prompt, ircII may be launched just by typing irc which should connect you using your login name as your nickname and a default server. Ircle has a few icons in its folder such as #macintosh and all you need to do is double-click on them to join that channel, which happens to be on a network called Undernet.

If these quick starts don't immediately work for you, don't worry, they are just like teaser movie previews compared to the full IRC experience. In the next section, we will show you how to make a proper connection to a server, then how to list available channels and join them, as well as how to find your friends and like-minded people.
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1.3. Basic IRC Commands

Every IRC client has an input area where you can type what you want to say or issue IRC commands. You issue IRC commands by typing on a new line something beginning with a / (forward slash) character. Anything that does not begin with a / is assumed to be a message you are typing to someone or some channel. In the following I will describe the more common commands used in everyday IRC life. Commands you are supposed to type will be shown in red, while text which you will see in response will be shown in blue.

In addition, the graphical clients such as mIRC or Ircle allow you to use a mouse to point and click your way around IRC, so that you don't have to type many of these commands manually. You should still learn the commands properly, because often they are the only way to specify precisely what you want done, and also they are often faster and easier than navigating through the labyrinth of buttons, menus, and dialogs that are supposed to make your life easier.

/HELP [optional command name]

The first and most useful command is the on-line help built into all good IRC clients just by typing /help where you normally type to chat. This should bring up a list of all commands. You can also get specific help for a command, such as /help who for the /who command.

You can get a quick introduction to IRC built into your client. mIRC users type /ircintro while ircII users type /help intro or /help newuser.

If you are not sure about the spelling of a mIRC command, just type in the first few letters. The help window, which shows commands arranged alphabetically, will open to approximately the right place so that you can choose to learn about a specific command.

If you are not sure about the spelling of an ircII command, type the first few letters and press the ESCape key twice. ircII will give you a listing of COMMANDS and ALIASes that start with that prefix. Don't forget the "/irchelp/" in front of the command, though.

For example, you type the following:

/W


You get as a response the following (this is just an example. Your screen may show more or less aliases or commands):

*** Commands:
*** WAIT WALLOPS WHILE WHO
*** WHOIS WHOWAS
*** Aliases:
*** W WA WH WI

/SERVER new-server-hostname

Each server is known by a "hostname" such as irc.ais.net, us.undernet.org, irc.dal.net, or irc.webbernet.net, which are sample servers for the networks EFnet, Undernet, DALnet, and IRCnet, respectfully. Just specify the hostname to connect or switch to that server. For example:

/SERVER irc.psinet.com

You then see the following messages indicating your client has successfully connected to that server.

*** Looking up your hostname...
*** Found your hostname, cached
*** Checking Ident
*** Got Ident response
*** Welcome to EFNet IRC - the Internet Relay Chat Network foo
*** Your host is irc.psinet.com, running version 2.8/hybrid-5.3
[remaining server messages truncated]

/NICK new-nickname

Change the nickname by which you are known. Nicknames are usually limited to 9 characters. For example, if your default nick was "foo" and you want to change it to "YourNick":

/NICK YourNick
*** foo is now known as YourNick

/LIST

Lists IRC channels, number of users, and topic for each. This is how you find places to go meet people and chat.

/LIST
*** Channel Users Topic
*** #test 1 this is a test channel
*** #IRChelp 18 Ask questions on the channel or see www.irchelp.org
[remainder of list not shown]

If you're on a big network, this list may be very long, up to many thousands of channels! It may even cause you to flood yourself off so that you get disconnected from the server. If that happens, try using different servers on that network, or instead use the searchable EFnet channel list web page which is updated hourly, or the less frequently updated but more comprehensive Liszt channel list.

You can also search for specific keywords by using /LIST keyword in mIRC, or /LIST *keyword* in ircII. Note this may or may not be any faster or safer than a full list depending on the network. On networks like EFnet and IRCnet, for example, your client gets the full list first and then does the filtering internally before displaying matches to you. On Undernet, the server filters the list and sends only the matches to you, which can be much faster if you're on a slow modem.

/NAMES #channel-name

Shows the nicknames of all users on that channel. While theoretically this is supposed to work whether or not you are on that channel, in practice most people these days are set to be "invisible" and thus do not show up on such queries unless you are in the same channel already.

/NAMES #demo
Pub: #demo @YourNick +buddy DeepMpact @FunGuy PrettyGrl

The "@" symbols show that YourNick and FunGuy are "channel ops", and that buddy has been given a "voice". These terms will be described in more detail in the channel modes section later.

/WHOIS nickname

Shows information about the nick specified.

/WHOIS buddy
*** buddy is abcd@dialup-6.provider.com (Think different.)
*** on channels: @#demo #test123
*** on irc via server irc.psinet.com (PSI Net EFNet IRC Server)

The "abcd@dialup-6.provider.com" looks like an email address but actually abcd is buddy's identifying "username" on dialup-6.provider.com, which is the "hostname" of the computer buddy is using for IRC. One cannot arbitarily change the hostname, because it is the computer's address on the Internet, and it is required in order for the IRC server to communicate with one's computer properly. Next, in the parentheses, buddy shows a personal message instead of the real name which is supposed to go there.

The second line shows he is on the "public" channels #demo and #test123, and the @ symbol means he is an operator on #demo. It doesn't show other, "secret" channels he might be on. Finally the third line shows which IRC server he is using. We will discuss public/secret channels and operators later in part 3.

/AWAY away-message-here

Leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying attention to IRC.

/AWAY getting coffee, be back in 5 mins
You have been marked as being away

If your friend does /whois YourNick now, they will get the 3 lines as described in the /whois section above, plus a final line saying:
*** YourNick is away: getting coffee, be back in 5 mins

/AWAY without any additional argument will remove the away message.

/AWAY
You are no longer marked as being away (or something to that effect)

/QUIT [optional farewell message]

Exits IRC (also leaves any channels you may be on).

/QUIT hasta la vista, baby!
*** Signoff: YourNick (hasta la vista, baby!)

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