If you have Java installed, click here to connect to our chatroom.
It is also possible to connect to our chatroom using a standard IRC client. Here's the general IRC info for IRC adepts:
Server: irc.enterthegame.com
Channel: #orgnetwork
Link: irc://irc.enterthegame.com/orgnetwork
Index
A) Downloading and Installing mIRC
B) Connecting to EnterTheGame, the server that hosts the Warboards chat
C) Tricks of the trade
A) Downloading and Installing mIRC
Now, let's get started. If you like trivial pieces of info, IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, and as long as you don't accept anything from other users, your computer will be 100% safe using mIRC.
First you need to download the newest version of mIRC from the mIRC website located here: http://www.mirc.com/get.html From there, click on one of the downloads closest to you - as seen in the picture below.
If you're too lazy to do that, just get it from here: http://www.ctech.ca/dl.php?file=mirc612.exe
Run the installer, and install it in the default location, unless you really want to install it elsewhere. The installer itself is REALLY straightforward, however, if you have any problems, just contact me and I'll walk you through it.
Next, you must RUN mIRC! Run mIRC from start > programs > mIRC > mIRC.
You'll get a greeting with a funky looking man on it. Ignore that registration bit for now. Exit everything until you're at a screen like the one shown below:
Go to the options, by hitting alt-o, or clicking the link in tools as seen below:
Now you'll want to input some general information. Click on the connect tab on your left hand side if you're not already there. Fill in the information in the various boxes - Full Name and Email Address do not have to be real if you want to disclose that information. Your nickname and alternative nickname are what people on IRC will see you as.
B) Connecting to EnterTheGame
Next, on the sidebar, click servers, as demonstrated below:
Now hit the drop down box under the label 'IRC Network' and scroll down or up until you find EnterTheGame. Click EnterTheGame, and click connect to server. This is where the magic begins. If for some strange reason you cannot find the EnterTheGame server, scroll down to the Tips//Tricks section of this guide, and follow the 'adding a new server' instructions using irc.enterthegame.com as the server, and EnterTheGame as servername and group.
You'll see a message "* Connecting to irc.enterthegame.com (6667)". Once it properly connects, you'll be bombarded with text on server information and rules. None of it is really important though, so I wouldn't worry too much about reading it.
If you are attempting to connect to the server, but it says connection denied and then on the third try it says "Unable to resolve server", there's a simple fix for you. Wait until the third time, where it says unable to resolve server, and in the top left corner, hit the disconnect button (looks like a lightning bolt in 2 parts). Right after you disconnect, hit the button again to reconnect. With some luck, the server will resolve and you'll be connected. For some more information on why a server would be unable to resolve, scroll to the bottom of this tutorial.
Now you'll want to connect to the #orgnetwork chat. At the top of the IRC client, hit the folder with the '#+' on it. This will bring up another dialogue box with a list of mIRC channels. In the box under the label "Enter a channel name and click join" type in orgnetwork, as seen below:
Hit enter, and you'll be in the chat! Awesome, wicked, cool!
So that's the very barebone basics to mIRC. Enjoy the chatting, and just hang out in IRC whenever you're on your computer. Now, if you'd like information on how to use IRC more easily, I'd suggest you read the next section.
C) Tricks of the trade
Okay, so you've got IRC up and running, but it's just not jibing with you. This is likely because you're not used to IRC, and you're not used to the tricks to IRC yet. There are a few neat commands and customizations that make IRC a lot more enjoyable to use. Here's a few of them:
Commands
/nick - changes your nickname
/tnick - changes your nickname to a temporary one (this way you don't have to change it back to the original name the next time you connect)
/join #[channel] - joins a channel. ie. /join #warboards
/me - allows you to emote.
ctrl + k - changes the colour of your text, if coloured text is allowed in the channel
ctrl + l - sets line markers. Every time you minimize the IRC window, mIRC will set a line marker on the last text said. So when you return to IRC, you can hit ctrl + l and a line will appear just before what you missed while you were gone.
/ignore [nickname] - ignores a certain person. ie. /ignore Fenguin ^_~
/ignore -x [nickname] - removes the ignore.
/server - changes servers. ie. /server irc.enterthegame.com
/server -m - changes servers, opening a new server window. This is especially useful, as you can connect to multiple IRC networks.
Tab - if you type the start of a person's nickname and then hit tab, it autocompletes the nickname. ie. I type out the Rad in Radlin, hit tab and it fills out to Radlin. This is extremely useful if you're talking to many people at once about different subjects, and want to address the people separately.
Adding New Servers
Say you want to join a new server, but you can't find it in the server list! This can be most upsetting, but there's an easy way to accomodate the new server. Just follow these simple steps (as an example server, I'll use DevCore, the previous IRC server we used):
Go back the the toolbox (options) in mIRC. Click on the servers tab.
i) Click the 'Add' button - a dialogue box will pop up
ii) Fill in Description: DevCore, IRC Server: irc.devcore.co.uk, Port: 6667, Group: DevCore - see below for screenshot:
iii) Click 'add'.
Perform List |------> The perform list allows your mIRC client to do a number of tasks once it connects to a certain server. Here's a quick description on how it works:
Open up your tool box (AKA options) again, and on the left hand side, click the tab labelled 'options' underneath connect. You should see this:
Now click the button labelled perform. A new dialogue box will open. Click the button that says "Enable perform on connect" so it has a checkmark in it. Now click on the dropdown server list and scroll down and click EnterTheGame. Move to the box under the label 'perform commands:'.
Now you'll want to enter all the perform information in this box. To start off, type in '/join #warboards', as seen below:
Whatever else you want to add is up to you. You could join a few other channels on the server, or if you wanted, open up an entirely new server window (using the /server -m command). This is incredibly useful if you have a number of servers to connect to every time you go on IRC (I have about 15 servers I connect to regularly).
Remote Commands and Aliases |------> One of the best aspects about mIRC is the fact that you can customize it as much as you want. In this section, you will learn to create auto-reply text and aliases to your favourite commands.
The first thing you'll need to do is hit 'alt + r'. This will open up your scripts editor. This is where you'll be able to customize IRC to a tee.
I'll start off with the aliases, so quickly click the aliases tab as seen below:
The basis for this is quite simple. If you want to bind a certain key combination with another command, just do so here. For example, say you didn't want to have to type out /server -m irc.gamesurge.net every time you wanted to connect to GameSurge. You could easily bind '/sg' to the aforementioned command. This would allow you to type only /sg to connect to the new server, instead of the giant mess you had earlier.
I won't go too much more in depth on the syntax here, because you can basically learn what you need using the aliases already in the script editor.
Next I'll quickly cover remotes. Click the remote tab on the script editor. It is here that mIRC scripting comes into play. In this window, you're able to create your very own scripts for mIRC. You can have mIRC auto-respond to people, greet people that just joined the channel, hell you can make your own text-based RPG if you have enough time.
Here's one simple command that auto-responds when it hears the text "Hello Radlin": on *:TEXT:*Hello Radlin*:#orgnetwork:/msg $chan Hi there friend. How are you today?
The scripts can get much. . . much more advanced, and I definitely cannot explain the advance concepts in this wee thread, so instead I'll point you in this general direction: http://www.mircscripts.org/
Some popular IRC networks
I would imagine the problem some people have with IRC is that nobody EVER talks in #warboards, and it can get somewhat boring. That's exactly why I encourage everyone to join other networks and channels as well. Here are some networks you can always find me in: GameSurge - irc.gamesurge.net Stratics - irc.stratics.com EnterTheGame - irc.enterthegame.com EfNet - irc.efnet.net QuakeNet - irc.quakenet.org
As for what channels you can join, I know Stratics lists all their endorsed channels when you join the server. EnterTheGame doesn't have a list of channels anywhere, but there is a list of channels being recorded here: http://www.b0x.nl/ircstats/. GameSurge, as far as I know, doesn't have a list either. But you can find some channels here: http://www.gamesurge.net/ (right hand bar has most-popular channels). I'm not sure where you can find channel information for the other servers.
If you're desperate for a place to chat, you can always ask me as well, as I have quite a few channels I frequent.
Server Not Resolving!
I grabbed this tidbit of information from this site here: http://www.newircusers.com/resolveserver.html
...."Unable To Resolve IRC Server"....
If you can't get mIRC connected to one particular IRC server and you get this error you should first give another server a try. The most common reasons that you can't connect to a server are (1) it's a private server (2) no more connections are available on that server (3) the server is down. Try several other servers and see if you can get connected. If you can connect to some other servers, you should check to see if perhaps you made a typo in the setup of the server address you could not get connected to (Go to File/Connect/Servers/Edit).
If you get this error with all IRC server addresses you try, it is very likely your providers DNS (Domain Name Server) is down, malfunctioning, or very slow, especially if mIRC previously worked flawlessly for you. Aside from waiting or giving your provider's helpdesk a phone call, you could bypass the need for the DNS lookup by specifying the IP Number in your server setup instead of the IP Address for every server.
mIRC needs a DNS to translate (resolve) the IRC servers' IP Address into an IP Number. For example, the IP Address irc.law.emory.edu resolves to the IP Number 170.140.50.195. Once you get mIRC back up and running, you can see the IP number of an IP Address by typing in the command "/dns irc.law.emory.com".
Under File/Connect/Servers/Add or Edit server, specify your IRC servers like : Description : irc.law.emory.edu (Emory University) IRC Server : 170.140.50.195 Port : 6667
