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THIS IS GOING TO BE THE ENGLISH IRC CHAT HOWTO AND IS BEING TRANSLATED STEPWISE. DON'T GET CONFUSED BY GERMAN PARAGRAPHS AND GERMAN SCREENSHOTS. ANY HELP (TEXT AND SCREENSHOTS) IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

Introduction

To join an IRC network chatroom there are various programs for nearly every operating system. The (inofficial) chatroom for the Content Management System Contao is called #contao and can be found on the Freenode network.

The aim of this chatroom

The chat provides a possibility to get together with other users and exchange opinions/views/experiences, ask for help or just chit and chat about this and that. However, it is NOT a substitution for reading the manuals or using the search engine on the board !

Useful commands for the IRC/Chat

If you are a beginner with IRC you better start here and come later back to this section.

Help

Whenever you need help about a command just type:

/msg nickserv help

Server / Chanels

The Server and chanels where the contaowiki chat hosts are:

/server irc.freenode.net
/join #contao  ;english chanel
and/or
/join #contao.de  ;german chanel

Handling about nickname

To check if your nickname is free type:

/msg nickserv info whatever_nick_you_like

If free you get:

from(NickServ)whatever_nick_you_like is not registred.

If free, you can change to your nick with:

/nick whatever_your_nick_is

If the change worked you get the message:

YOU are now known as whatever_your_nick_is

If the Nickname is used you get the Answer:

=== The nickname "whatever_nick_you_like" is allready in use, use the /nick command to pick a new one.

You can try later with the specific nick, or you take a other one.

Nickname registration

Similar as in a forum, you can register your User/Nickname. The advantages are:

• Nickname ist just used from you.
• Userspecific settings are possible.
• Founder/OP's (On the Top of Userlist, they are like admins in a forum) can give you advanced rights for moderation/administration etc.

You can register a nickname but it is not necessary!

How to register

Caution: Commands, witch include a password should always typed in the servers-window and not in the chat-channel. IRC/Chat-commands start always with a / in the beginning. If you forget or type a wrong character, the command will be send as a normal message and other Members can see what your command was (also a password) !

To register you use:

/msg nickserv register <passwort> <email> ;syntax
/msg nickserv register 1234 contaouser@example.com ;example (use your data)

You will get a e-mail to the specific e-mail-address with the activation code for your regisration. To activate use:

/msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER <username> <registration-code> ;syntax
/msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER contaouser rmcotwcvsuhb ;example (use data from YOUR registration mail)

If everything is fine, you'll get this from the Server confirmed as:

from(NickServ) contaouser has now been verified.
from(NickServ) Thank you for verifying your e-mail address!
               You have taken steps in ensuring that your registrations are not exploited.

Note:

The registration has to be done within 24 hours or your nickname will be released again!

Now you an identify you with the password as:

/msg nickserv identify <password> ;syntax
/msg nickserv identify 1234  :example (use your password)

Next steps show how to use the IRC-Client Chatzilla with mentioned commands.

Firefox with Chatzilla

This Howto limits itself to the Firefox add-on Chatzilla. Firefox is a widely known browser and available for the lion's share of all operating systems. If you are an advanced IRC user and join the channel with another software: Please feel free to add your tutorial and share your knowledge with the world!

Install Chatzilla

Firefox provides a built-in installer for add-ons to enhance itself. Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/16/ and click 'Add to Firefox'. After the installation you need to reboot Firefox.

Configure Chatzilla

After the installation and the reboot of Firefox we need to configure some basic settings to connect to the Freenode network and get the chatroom started.

The add-ons can be found in the add-on manager (Navigation bar Tools --> Add-ons).

Choose the plugin 'Chatzilla' within the add-on manager and click on 'settings'.

After clicking on the tab 'General' you will find the fields 'Description', 'Nickname' and 'Username'. Add your username to both, the Nickname and Username. Description is optional and up to you what you want to write there. Then confirm all the windows.

Use Chatzilla

Chatzilla is launched via Tools --> Chatzilla.

Chatzilla has saved some IRC networks by default. To connect to a server of the Freenode network, we click on the link 'Freenode' or type the following command in the textfield:

/server irc.freenode.net

Note:

If you have a firewall installed you have to make sure that port 6667 is opened

Now there is a new tab entitled 'Freenode' and the dial-up starts. The dial-up can take several seconds and is indicated by an orange 'Connecting'.

As soon as the connection to the server is established, Chatzilla confirms this with a green 'Connected'. The last step is to join the chatroom (also called 'channel'). To join the channel #contao we need to type in the following command and confirm with 'Enter'.

/join #contao

The chatroom window opens in another tab and is divided as follows:

1. Tab for the room #contao
2. Textfield: type in text and press 'Enter'
3. List of all the users in the chatroom
4. Chatroom window: Here you will see all the messages

Please note!!

It does not necessarily mean that a user is really in front of the computer, if his or her nickname appears in the nicklist. Maybe they are doing something else in the background, are busy in some other way or even not in front of the computer. Some users also rely on bots (Eggdrop) or bouncers (Bouncer) that remain connected even if the user has turned off the computer.

--Toflar 08:22, 28 May 2010 (UTC)