ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:IRC/Tutorial

For logs, see IRC/logs.

This tutorial is specifically for the freenode IRC network, the network that Wikipedia uses for IRC communication. Some features on this network aren't necessarily on other networks, and features on other networks aren't necessarily here.

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikipedia-or

Procedure for IRC (Internet Web Chat)

Open http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikipedia-or
Give your full name in "Nick: "
The Channel name should be #wikipedia-or (by default)
Type Displayed CAPTCHA
Press connect.
Now it will connect you to Internet Web Chat (IRC). Type in the bottom box just like normal chat and press "ENTER" to post your comment.

How do I connect?

Once you have a client, you'll need a server. You can simply use irc.freenode.net to reach the main rotation of servers; or, you can find a more geographically local server here.

Having connection problems?

After you've obtained your client and the name of a server, you may still need a bit of help in getting connected. Take a look at this tutorial or this IRC primer on irchelp.org, which contains a variety of other useful information as well.

What are some basic commands?

Here are some basic commands for IRC: (as taken from Wikibooks)

Command	What it does	Example
/attach /server	Sign on to a server	/attach irc.freenode.net /server irc.freenode.net
/nick	Set your nickname	/nick YourName
/join /j	Join a channel	/join #en.wikibooks /j #en.wikibooks
/msg	Sends a message (can either be private or to the entire channel)	Message the channel: /msg #en.wikibooks hello world! Send a private message: /msg JohnDoe Hi john.
/whois	Display information about a user on the server	/whois JohnDoe
/clear /clear all	Clears a channel's text. Clears all open channel's text.	/clear /clear all
/away	Sets an away message. Note: Type /away again to return from away.	/away I'm away because...
/me	Sends an action to the channel. See example.	The following: /me loves pie. would output to the chat in the case of JohnDoe: JohnDoe loves pie.
/quit	Disconnects you from the IRC network. You can also quit with a quit message.	/quit Off to bed. What happens: JohnDoe has quit (Off to bed)