Basic IRC

Before we begin, there is an excellent indepth primer available from irchelp.org. Read the IRC Primer.

What is IRC?


IRC is an acronymn for Internet Relay Chat. IRC allows users to connect to a remote server, and chat with users from all around the world. Here at DLN we are running our own private IRC serer. To access it, open up your IRC Client, and type /server dln.uvm.edu.

Quick Overview

Stolen from irchelp.org ;)
Channel names usually begin with a #, as in #irchelp . The same channels are shared among all IRC servers on the same net, so you do not have to be on the same IRC server as your friends. (There are also channels with names beginning with a & instead of a #. These channels are not shared by all servers on the net but exist locally on that server only.) Each user is known on IRC by a "nick", such as smartgal or FunGuy. To avoid conflicts with other users, it is best to use a nick that is not too common, e.g., "john" is a poor choice. On some nets, nicks do not belong to anyone, nor do channels. This can lead to conflict, so, if you feel strongly about ownership of such things, you may prefer networks with "services" like Undernet, DALnet, or other smaller networks. Channels are run by channel operators, or just "ops" for short, who can control the channel by choosing who may join (by "banning" some users), who must leave (by "kicking" them out), and even who may speak (by making the channel "moderated")! Channel ops have complete control over their channel, and their decisions are final. If you are banned from a channel, send a /msg to a channel op and ask nicely to be let in (see the /who command in the next section to learn how to find ops). If they ignore you or /who gives no response because the channel is in secret mode (+s), just go somewhere else where you are more welcome. IRC servers are run by IRC admins and by IRC operators, or "IRC ops". IRC ops manage the servers themselves and, on EFnet and many other networks, do not get involved in personal disputes, channel takeovers, restoring lost ops, etc. They are not "IRC cops."

Basic Commands

All IRC commands begin with a leading foward slash, "/" Anything that does not begin with "/" is assumed to be a message to someone and will be sent to your current channel. Commands are not case sensitive.

/server servername - Connects you to server servername
/nick MyNickname - Changes your nickname to MyNickname
/quit reason - Quits IRC, stating reason
/help command - Prints help on command
/whois user - Displays information on user
/whowas user - Displays information on a user who just left
/away reason - Mark yourself as being away, for reason.
/msg user message - Sends a private message, message, to user
/query user - Starts a private conversation with user
/ignore user - Ignores all text from a user, user

Channel Commands

IRC has many different chat rooms, which are refered to as channels. Channels MUST begin with #, or & if it is a local channel (existing on that server only).

/join #channel - Joins channel, #channel
/part #channel (reason) - Leaves a channel, displaying an optional reason
/who #channel - Displays users on #channel
/me msg - Sends a 3rd person message to a channel, ie *** Mynick is hungry
/invite user #channel - Invites user to join channel #channel


IRC Clients
[Secure Version]
http://dmdl.uvm.edu/irc.shtml
Last Modified: Tuesday, 16-Nov-1999 16:31:39 EST
Copyright 2000, Digital Media Development Lab
Questions or comments, email webmaster@dmdl.uvm.edu