This page is here to give those of you who are new to the world of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and mIRC a simple introduction. There are many more detailed pages on the World Wide Web for those seeking an in-depth guide and these can be found using any of the main search engines.
The guide consists of five parts:
Introduction
Installation
Start-Up
Operation
IRC Language
The most popular Windows client software used for chatting is mIRC and
this is what the author of this page uses. Go to the mIRC
Home Page to download your own copy of this software. There are instructions
there for download-newbies so follow those if you have any problems.
Once you have downloaded the relevant file (mircXXs.exe or mircXXt.exe where XX is the current version number) installation is a fairly simple procedure.
1. Open up Windows Explorer and find the file you downloaded, then double click on it. This will bring up an installation dialogue box.
2. In most cases you can continue with the installation without changing
the default settings. If you prefer to change the directory into which
mIRC is installed select "Browse" next to the destination directory and
enter your chosen location. Once you have made any changes, select "Continue".
Now mIRC is installed on your computer. Either use the Start Menu or Windows Explorer to start up the software. At this stage it is strongly recommended that you read the IRC Intro file that came with mIRC - this help file has valuable information and covers what you need to know in more depth than is accomplished on this page. You can access this file through the "Help" menu in mIRC itself or through Windows Explorer, where it will be found in the mIRC directory.
When mIRC starts up you will see the mIRC Setup dialogue box. Here you must select an IRC server, nickname and ID for yourself. Remember not to put your full name in the "Real Name" box - this is not a good idea on IRC because there are some people around who like to cause trouble.
#Lesbian_Europe is to be found on the DALnet IRC network - to find us
select "Random DALnet Server" and then click "Connect to IRC Server!"
An IRC network is a collection of computers across the globe, all connected to each other. When you select a network you can use any of their servers (computers) and you will still see the same people and channels. However, there are several different networks - the main ones are DALnet, EFnet and Undernet. On these networks there can be up to ten or twenty thousand users connected at a time with thousands of channels in operation. This can be quite overwhelming if you don't know where to go!
When you connect to DALnet you will see a long message scrolling past stating rules etc. You will most likely get a warning from NickServ (one of the services on DALnet, discussed below) telling you that your chosen nick belongs to someone else and that you will have to change. Try another nickname and keep doing this until you find one that isn't registered. This may take some time as most of the popular nicks will already be registered to someone. Be original!
Now you are connected and ready to go. Here are some commands that will come in useful. All commands are prefaced with a forward slash.
/list - gives a list of all channels
currently open, the number of people in them and the topic of discussion.
/nick UKDyke - this would change
your current nickname to UKDyke.
/who #channel - gives a list of
the people in any channel. Although some channels appear empty this may
not be the case because the people in channel have invisibility turned
on. This is used to prevent unwanted harassment from people you don't know.
All channel names begin with a hash.
/mode yournick +i - will turn on
invisibility for yourself.
/join #channel
/part #channel
/me eats a biscuit
- this is an action statement and will show in channel as *Yournick eats
a biscuit
/whois nick - returns information
on a specific nickname, what channels they are in, how long they have been
connected etc. Here is an example of a response to the whois command.
[^Phantom] is Whiplash@dialup-07-40.netcomuk.co.uk * The truth shall
make you free.
[^Phantom] on @#lesbian_europe
[^Phantom] using spider.ca.us.dal.net WebMaster, Inc. - www.webmaster.com
[^Phantom] has been idle 8mins 11secs, signed on Tue Jun 16 21:04:17
End of /WHOIS list.
Whiplash is the User ID/Email.
"The truth shall make you free" is what has been entered in the place
of a real name.
The @ sign before the channel name indicates that this user is a Channel
Operator in that channel (i.e. can make use of special commands to run
and protect the channel). If the user is in more than one channel they
will all be listed.
spider.ca.us.dal.net is the server this user is connected to.
/ignore nick - stops you receiving
any messages from a nick that is harassing you or being rude.
/ping nick - will return the "lag"
time or delay between you typing a message and the other user seeing it.
Acceptable lag is up to 5 or 10 seconds with the norm being 1-2 seconds.
/query nick - allows you to open
a private message window with another user. For a more secure communication
use:
/dcc chat nick - a Direct Client
to Client connection which, once established, allows private chat between
two users and is not reliant on any IRC server.
On DALnet there are some additional commands through which you can make
use of DALnet services.
Nickserv - manages use of nicknames, allows a user to register a nickname
and protect it so no other person can use it.
Chanserv - manages channels, prevents takeovers and maintains the list
of channel operators.
Memoserv - a messaging service allowing short memos to be sent between
two registered users (if a friend is not online and you want to send a
short msg use this service)
To access the services type /msg nickserv/chanserv/memoserv help or see the DALnet Home Page for more detailed information.
Here are some things you will commonly hear people talk about or say in channel. If they complain about the lag monster or ask for a ping they think they are lagging from the rest of the channel - i.e. they are experiencing a long delay before seeing anything other people in channel type. The only solution to this problem is to change server - otherwise just wait it out, in most cases lag will fall away quite quickly.
Some popular abbreviations used in channel include:
BRB - be right back
LOL - laughing out loud
ROFL - rolling on the floor laughing
ROFLMAO - rolling on the floor laughing my arse (or ass if you're American;)
off
BBIAB - be back in a bit
IMO - in my opinion
BBL - be back later
If something you don't understand is said in channel just ask the person
who said it what they mean - they are friendly and will explain to a newbie
in most cases.
If you experience problems that you can't solve with connection etc. either look in the mIRC help file, ask in channel, search the www or email us at lesbianeurope@oocities.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Have fun and see you there!
Visitors to this page since 29th June 1998:
Made in the United Kingdom.