Dummy Needs IRC Help

ATS16805

I realize there is an IRC sticky here, but i searched it and didn't find what i'm looking for. (after you read this, maybe someone will sticky an "IRC for dummies like ATS16805" thread)

i'm aware of IRC and I know a little bit about the value of it's diffrerent channels, but I don't know how to "register" my own IRC account. I've googled, and everything turns up more and more IRC channels.

i use the "all-in-one" client, Trillian, which has IRC compatability, but unlike the other clients it emulates, it doesn't offer an IRC registration for new users (i thought that was going to be my back-door! but, my plan was foiled...)

can someone please direct me to where i need to go to register as a new IRC user?

thank you!

LoganK

Most IRC servers/channels don't need registration. You can just go in, connect, and start chatting. You'll want to use a "/nick <name here>" command to set your nickname to whatever you want. There are some ways to protect a nickname, which is sort-of like registration - if you protect your nickname, others will have to enter a password in order to use it, which means that you're the only one who can use it. However, be warned - the password is sent in clear text and there is no "password" box on IRC clients so anyone watching over your shoulder can see your password appear as you type it. Or view the logs, since I'm pretty sure Trillian logs all conversations by default.

If you want to learn how to register and protect your username, do some research on something called "NickServ". It'll help you out! Otherwise, just use the /nick command for simplicity.

ATS16805

THanks, Logan. okay. two questions:

1) so, once i figure out how to get to this part, i just enter a channel, and start chatting? from what you've said about /nick, i get the impression that there's some basic syntax i should familiarize myself with? any resources you could think of to help me learn a bit about that?

2)is trillian an acceptable client? sorry, you don't have to tell me how to use my own software if you don't feel like it, but-- how do i get it going in trillian? i mean, w/ the IM client emulation, you just open trillian, and you're there, logged in and your buddies come up. because IRC is inherently different (i assume because of the channels), i'm not sure it will be easy as 1-2-3 for me to load it up for use. i guess there's just a little bit to be learned before trying to use it. i'll do some more googling when i feel it's time to subject myself to the time-suckkage that is instant messaging.

you're right about the Trillian conversation logs, but it can, of course, be disabled.

LoganK

1) The command is, very simply, "/nick <name here>" (without brackets). So, for example, if I joined an IRC channel or server and wanted my nickname to be "LoganK", I'd type this:

/nick LoganK

And the server will respond with either a success message (you got the nickname) or a failure message (either it's protected, someone else is currently using it, you have incorrect syntax or illegal characters, etc.).

2) I only used Trillian for one day before I got fed up with it. A few months later, I tried it out again and used some...um...programs to <cough> "fix" </cough> it to the pro version. Unfortunately, the pro version annoyed me just as much as the basic. It wouldn't remember my accounts (for example, I have all my accounts set-up - then I come back a few hours later, after losing internet, and my accounts aren't even there anymore!). It also would not work with some of the proxies I use, and, upon trying to change the AIM login server to something different, it worked on one of the many networks I visit everyday but not my other networks. Now I use Gaim and couldn't be any happier. IRC, AIM, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, and a whole host of other networks I've never even heard of are all supported by Gaim, and: it's free, the source-code is available, and there's plenty of extensions. To answer your question (because I've just typed a whole paragraph of irrelevant nonsense), I don't know how you can use IRC with Trillian. Just setup an account like you would normally, select IRC as the protocl, type in a server name and channel, and I assume it'll open up the channel in a window or add it to a buddy list...in any case, searching on the Trillian help sites / forums may help you out a bit more.