Beginner's Guide to Chat

Internet Relay Chat - IRC

Internet Relay Chat - or just chat for short - is a series of servers in a network that people connect to world wide to communicate real time by typing. This offers you the opportunity to meet new people with similar interests, hold a business meeting on line, cut down your long distance phone bills to your best friend who just moved to Abu Dhabi, or indulge in a little role playing fantasy. From your Internet America connection, you can connect to any chat network world wide. Internet America has it's own server associated with the Esprit network and offers a child safe server "kids world." This is monitored and maintained for kids only. Internet America provides IRC software with its software suite called Pirch. It's easy to set up and just as easy to use. What will be covered here is the essentials to get you started on IRC. If it really sparks your interest, you can learn how to master all the program's features by accessing Pirch's extensive Help files.

Setting Up the Program

The first time you open the program, you will need to do a little setting up of the program. One of the first things you will need to do is indicate the server you will be connecting to. You only have to do this once, if that's any consolation (there are also other servers pre-configured in the software). The first window you will encounter looks like this:

By clicking on the first button to the left, "Login," you will access the "Server Connection" screen.

This is where your personal and login information is kept. Chat can be a great recreation or a positive communication tool - it can also be abused. For this reason, we recommend that you do not put your actual personal information in this screen. You never know who you are talking to on IRC unless it is a friend or family member your have prearranged to meet. Even so, others can access your chat program's personal information if you are logged on to a server. You do, however, have to put some information here. On the Name line, you can just enter My Name and on the Username line, you could enter a@a.a. Remember, even though the e-mail address you enter may not be yours, it could be someone else's, please do not enter an address that could be real. It is just better to be safe than sorry. Rest assured, though, that it is the information that is in the above window that is accessed when someone wants to identify you on IRC. It is NOT any other information on your computer.

In the section that says Logon Nick Names you need to enter 2 different "nicknames" that you will be known as while you are logged on. The purpose for two nicknames is so that if someone else is already using the first one, you will automatically be logged on as the second. Here's your chance to be creative. If you wanted the nick Bob , but, someone is using it already, you could be B0B (as in B-zero-B). You can name yourself just about anything and you can change it at any time too. Have some fun with it! But beware, you are restricted to only the characters on the keyboard, no spaces and only up to 9 characters.

Once you have assumed your new identity, you can leave every thing else as it is in the picture above and click on the "Edit Server List" button at the top, right of the window. You will go to the "Network Explorer" screen.

Click on the Add Network button on the toolbar. You will notice that another little set of computers will have appeared next to those in the white box for you to fill in (right now it says "New"). This is where you will type in "Esprit". The lower panel of the window is now blank.

This time, click on the Add Server button on the toolbar.

Insert the same information that you see above. Next to Name and Address type irc.iadfw.net. Next to Ports, type 6667. Click on OK, then close the "Network Explorer" window. You will return to the "Server Connection" screen. Save this new information by clicking on the "Save Profile" button. This will bring up a "Save" window. Don't change anything and hit the "Save" button. This will take you back to the "Server Connection" window. Now put a check mark in the little box next to "Auto Connect" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. You are done with the configuration.

Let's Chat!

First, as with all internet applications, make sure that you have logged in with the dialer that is appropriate for your computer. Now click on the "Connect" button located on the "Server Connection" window, and it will automatically log you on to the Esprit Network through Internet America. If this is your first time on IRC, it is worth reading all the "junk" that quickly scrolls across the screen on the left. It will show you some things you don't really care about (how many people on line, your IP address, etc), but it does have some very important information you should know. "Your Fearless Leaders" are those persons you can message if you are having and trouble while on chat. Also, below that states in plain English what NOT to do. There is the name of the Internet America technical support channel (#IA_tech). This channel is only for Internet America customers and is there if you have a internet related question. Read the disclaimer while you are at it. It may not apply to you directly, but it's worth knowing.

Once you've read all the information in the left side of the screen it should look like this:

By clicking on the button that says Channels, it will list all the channels (chat rooms) that are active on the server in the right hand window. Below the two large windows on the screen you will see long rectangular blank space with a flashing cursor. This is where you will enter commands and type your conversations.

To join a channel, type in /join followed by the name of the channel you want to join. As an example, if you wanted to ask one of Internet America's technical support people about getting a 56K modem, you would want to join #IA_tech. So you would enter in the blank space /join #IA_tech and hit the enter key on your computer. Like this:

You should get this:

On the left is the ongoing conversation and on the right are the people logged on to that channel. You type in your conversation in the blank line where you entered the /join command. Your conversation is not entered into the channel until you hit the return. This is what it looks like while you are chatting in a channel.

You can join several channels at once, and participate in various conversations. You can say whatever you would like, as long as it is in the appropriate forum. If you want to show pictures and talk about your new puppy, you would do that in a group devoted to pets, not in a channel named something like "#sexyhotub". Likewise, if someone comes into a channel devoted to preteens making lewd suggestions, that is inappropriate as well. Both of these scenarios are violations of Internet America's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and should be reported to one of the systems ops listed on the initial log on screen.

Just remember to use good common sense while you are out there. For instance, don't give your address or phone number out in a chat channel.

Extensive information regarding IRC can be found on our support pages here including other programs that are used for IRC, error messages you may see, and commands.

There's a big world out there so you may chat with someone next door or half way around the world. Have fun in your explorations of the global chat community.

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