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Quickguide to mIRC (and "AndTalk" Android client)
Santiak
Member Posts: 130
Heyho folks.
Since I've heard a few would like to get out of the browser-based IRC client, but either don't know, or can't remember, how to set up a client, I thought I'd make a small, very basic guide, that'll get you into the channel, and help you register your nick, so no shennaningans can be committed in it while you sleep.
Edit (29th of April): Click to jump to the Android guide at the bottom of the thread. 
- First, you'll need to download and install a client, in this case mIRC, which you can do from here.
If memory serves, the "evaluation period" can, just as with WinRAR, be ignored.
After you start the program, you'll need to type in your nick - this is the only piece of necessary information. Real name, e-mail, and so on, are optional.
- Next you'll need to set it up to connect to the right server, in this case freenode.net, which we'll do in "Options: Connect -> Servers":
- Just to make things a bit easier, in "Connect -> Options" remember to set it to auto-connect, and turn off "Show connect on startup":
- Then, you should add the channel you want to join - in this case "Division66", and we'll set it to auto-join. Don't worry about the sharp (#):
- To avoid aforementioned shennanigans with your nick, you'll need to register it after you've connected to the server:
In any window - to avoid accidentally writing out sensitive information, it's always prudent to write this in the "Status" window - type in "/msg nickserv register [password] [email]" - by which - for the sake of clarity - is meant your password and your email, without the brackets, of course.
This will register your current nick under that password and mail-address.
- You should then get an email containing a validation code, copy/paste this, and type in: "/msg nickserv verify register [nick] [validation-code]"
You should recieve a message from Nickserv in your Status window that "[nick] is now verified!", after this, type in:
"/msg nickserv set enforce on"
This will demand that anyone changing to your nick identify themselves. (Cheers to Rhiaden for reminding me of this step ^^)
- Finally, we'll make sure you won't have to identify yourself manually each time you log in (/msg nickserv identify [password]):
Once more for posterity, [password] being your password, without the brackets.
That should set you up with what you'll need to connect to the official IRC channel, outside of the provided browser-based client.
On a final note, if you want mIRC to minimize to your tray, so it isn't constantly showing at the bottom of your screen when it's minimized, but you'd still like to be connected, this can be done in "Options: Display -> Options: Tray..: Check "Place mIRC in tray when minimized":
Hope to see more of you in there soon. ^^
Comments
Seeing as a few others are operating on more than one IRC network, I thought it would be prudent to add a short guide on how to set mIRC up to do so as well, in case you've been casually using mIRC, but find it a bit intimidating trying to set it to connect to two networks simultaneously.
- First: Open "Scripts Editor", and go the "Remote" tab. There, type in (or copy/paste):
on *:START:{
server irc.freenode.net -j #Division66,#chan-n+1
server -m irc.quakenet.org -j #chan1,#chan2,#chan.etc.
}
Freenode being the network TBW uses, and quakenet acting as a placeholder, in this case. Merely replace it with whatever server you want to connect to, other than freenode.
Depending on how many servers you want to join, you can add an additional line for each server, e.g.:
on *:START:{
server irc.freenode.net -j #Division66,#chan-n+1
server -m irc.quakenet.org -j #chan1,#chan2,#chan.etc.
server -m irc.synirc.net -j #you-know-the-drill
}
Complimentary visual aid:
For various reasons, it's not advised to add sensitive information in scripts, so I've left that part out.
Right-o, seeing as some people are also running into unfortunate situations where their usual nick is already registered, here's a quick guide on how one might possibly get it released, seeing as freenode has a policy of potentially releasing nicks that haven't been used in over 10 weeks.
Before anything, follow the above guide to try and register your nick. If you get a notification that it's already registered - or magically get renamed to "Guest25720" or some such, follow this guide:
As always, remember to type these commands in the "status" channel (top left, "freenode"), as it's just good practice for avoiding blurting out your password in a channel.
- First, check how long it's been since the nick was last used:
/msg nickserv info [the nick you want]
This will return a message from Nickserv in your status window, the one of interest being the line "Last Seen". If it's been less than 10 weeks, I'm afraid there's little you can do (that value will be listed in parentheses), if it's been more than 10 weeks, you'll need to find a Freenode staff member to help you. You can do this two ways:
1: Either get a list of the current staff online by typing:
/stats p
This will return a list, in your status window, of the staff that are currently on-duty, which might look like either:
p 0 staff members
End of /STATS report
or
p Nick (~Nick@freenode/staff/nick)
p 1 staff members
End of /STATS report
Depending on whether or not there are any staff on-duty, and how many.
You'll then have to message one of the staff, using the example above, you'd do this by writing:
/msg Nick [your message here]
If no staff members are online, you can go to the other option:
2: join #Freenode, and ask if there's anyone there who can help you (Staffmembers are "voiced", i.e. have a + prefixed to their nick in the userlist):
/join #Freenode
They will then look into getting the nick released, and this might take some time. If they do, you should be notified, and can proceed registering as normal. On a side-note, seeing as there aren't that many staff-members online most of the time, you might have to be patient before they reply.
Cheers ^^
Thought I might add another guide, in case your nick is locked, due to, for example, being disconnected while not using your original nick, causing your identify to fail, changing back, and not realizing you need to identify in time.
- First, identify you are the owner of the nick:
/msg nickserv identify [nick] [password]
- Then, remove enforce, and release the nick:
/msg nickserv set enforce off
/msg nickserv release [nick] [password]
- Finally, revert back to your nick, and reinstate the enforce setting:
/nick [nick]
/msg nickserv set enforce on
If you want to avoid this in the future, you can alter your perform task to include what nick you are identifying for, regardless of what nick you're currently using when you log on/reconnect - see the first guide for how to alter your "Perform" tasks:
/msg nickserv identify [nick] [password]
Thanks for this. I'm not technically minded and even I could figure it out
Do you know if there are any similar mobile based versions? I'm not always able to get to the PC and it would be nice to keep an eye on things while I'm going to and from work.
You're welcome.
As for Android devices, as Nighean mentions, there are quite a few clients to choose from - I gave them all a quick glance, and I think I would recommend "AndChat", which is free, without ads, and lets you add "perform" commands; which are all features that other clients - from what I was able to glean - lack one or more of.
So, as always.. *drumroll* .. *catbug impression* guide-time! o/
While it is a bit self-explanatory in and of itself, just to help ease your mind, if you were already weary about setting up mIRC, here you are:
- First, download the client via the link above - or look it up in the app store, it should be one of the first result you get.
- Next, when you open the app, you'll get a "First Run" message, which in and of itself is a quickguide, but I found it somewhat confusing, so I skipped ahead. If you choose to follow that guide, there's no need to read on, otherwise, when you get to the main screen, click "Add a server".
- Under "Server Details", fill in what you want to call this setup, and what server you'll be connecting to (2nd image from the left), and also fill in your prefered nicks - if the first one is taken, it will rename to the second, and so on, and of course the channels you want the app to autojoin when you connect (3rd image).
- In terms of identification, you can choose to either use the built-in authentication method by pressing the "Set up..." button, and a window will popup, where the 2nd option will be "Authenticate with Nickserv" - check that, and write in your password below.
Your other option, considering that it is a mobile device, and a steady connection isn't a given, you can set it up to authenticate your account specifically. You do this just below the "Autojoin List", named "Autorun List". Click it, and type in:
/msg nickserv identify [your-nick] [your-password]
- note that this may pop-up a pm window, but there's no need to be alarmed.
After that, the connection will show up in a list using the "Name" you gave it under "Server Details", each time you open the App - simply click it, and it should connect you automatically.
Grouping nicks:
If you want to use a seperate nick for when you're using the mobile client, but still want to avoid people potentially doing some shennanigans with it, you can attach it to your current account.
I won't include visual aids, as it only requires 2 commands to set up, and it can be done in your regular IRC client - the steps for using the nick while using the mobile app is the same as above, simply write your "Field name" (mobile app) name instead of your "Agent name" (normal client).
- First and foremost, log in to your regular account (/msg nickserv identify [nick] [password])
- Then change your nick to your desired "Field name":
/nick [field name]
- Finally, you attach it to the account you previously logged into, by writing:
/msg nickserv group
This secures both your normal nick, and the new nick you had when messaging nickserv the above command.
Other useful commands for mobile devices:
Quite a few commands can be shortened, which may come in handy while in the field:
/join #[channel] -> /j #[channel] joins the specified channel
/msg [nick] -> /m messages the specified user
Other commands
/part /part #[channel] parts the current or specified channel
/topic #[channel] displays the channel-topic
/clear /clearall clears text from current window, or all windows in the latter case.
Right-o, hope that is of some use.