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SFF Net Chatrooms (IRC)

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Detailed Instructions Page Index What are SFF Net Chatrooms? How to use IRC Where do I get IRC software? Client Port Settings Quickstart mIRC Instructions Chatroom Netiquette Dealing with obnoxious users Chatroom Policies What are SFF Net Chatrooms? SFF has one major chat system - SFF Net IRC. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is the standard real-time chatroom system evolved over many years of global usage on the Internet. It is highly scalable and can support many hundreds of thousands of users in simultaneous conversation using global networks of many different servers. Dozens of IRC client software packages are available to make real-time messaging easier-to-use. Any standard IRC client will work with SFF Net's IRC server. What's a private IRC? Unfortunately, as a result of it's size and popularity, there is a large amount of "noise" on public IRC Servers as various (sometimes juvenile) users roam the various open chat areas. There are also thousands of conversations to sift through - some cryptic, many pornographic, or highly specialized, and as a result finding an engaging group of like-minded people to talk with can be difficult. For this reason, SFF Net runs a private IRC server that does not participate in any public IRC network. As a result, the "signal-to-noise" ratio on our server is very high. The IRC server is open to SFF Net Members, Guest and Friends with no restriction. How to use IRC Where do I get IRC software? You'll need an IRC client to access IRC. Download one of our recommended IRC clients for your system or use one of the dozens of freeware or shareware IRC clients available elsewhere on the net, for every hardware platform and operating system in use. Any of them will work with SFF Net's IRC server. You can find many of these additional IRC clients at Yahoo. Client Port Settings In your IRC client's setup, use irc.sff.net as the server name, and 6667 or 7777 as the server port. That's all there is to setting up most IRC clients! You'll need to read the documentation for the IRC client to learn how to send and read messages, since each one is different. I'm coming from AOL, what about me? AOL currently blocks access to port 6667 of machines outside of AOL, so you have to use port 7777 instead. Quickstart Instructions (using mIRC for Windows) Although the basics of IRC are very simple to use, there are a lot of options and special commands that can be a bit daunting to a new user. Fortunately, most of the special options and commands can safely be ignored until you're interested in learning more. Here are simple steps to getting started in your first IRC session. We'll use the Windows mIRC client for our examples, but other clients will have similar functions. Be sure your client is configured to use the irc.sff.net server. See the mIRC section in the How to Setup Your System help document for instructions. On the File -->Options page, be sure the SFF Net server is selected in the drop-down Server list as your active server. Connect to the IRC server. Do this by choosing File -->Connect from the menu, or by clicking on the Connect to IRC Server button on the Options page, or by clicking the yellow lightning bolt icon on the left side of the mIRC button bar. As your client connects to the server, you'll see the MOTD (Message of the Day) announcements scroll up in the Status window. This window is where you talk to IRC server itself, and where it talks back to you. Look at this window for any responses to IRC commands that you issue later on. When you have your IRC Channel chat windows open, you may wish to arrange your windows so that you can see the Status window too. Pull up the active list of available IRC channels. You can do this clicking the List Channels button (the one with the Globe and list picture, fourth from the left), and then clicking the Get List! button. This will pop a new window that shows you a list of all the currently active channels on the server and how many people are in each channel. If you don't see the List Channels results window, it is probably hidden behind your Status window. To join an active channel, highlight the channel name in the List Results window and double-click it. We suggest you try the #Lobby, which is where most folks in IRQ hang out first to say hello. When you join, a new Channel chat window for that channel will pop up. You've now gone "live" in the room. Anything you type in the bottom line of the window will now appear to everyone else in the room. Note: IRC chatrooms are ad hoc. In other words, they only exist while people are in them. If everyone leaves a room, that channel disappears. That's why a list of active channels will be different from day to day, or even minute to minute. What's the difference between the Channels List and the Channels Folder commands? The Channels List always shows you only currently active channels (ones with people in them). The Channels Folder (yellow folder with a "#+" sign icon, third from the left) is more like a permanent address book. Once you've listed the active channels using Channels List, they're automatically added to the Channels Folder so you can easily return to a channel without having to list the active channels each time. This is very useful if you want to easily return to the #Lobby or to another room that you usually visit. Simply double-click on the Channel name in the Channels Folder list that pops up when you first connect to the IRC server, and you'll be whisked into the room (if it doesn't already exist it will be re-created). The Channel Window When you're in an active channel, you'll use the Channel Window to read and reply to conversations. There are four main parts to the window. The Main Message Window is where all public messages in the room will appear. Messages appear preceeded by the nickname of the person who said them. Messages are often slightly delayed since everyone using the system connects at different speeds. Someone on a slow connection may have resonses that are lagged, appearing after others have already moved on. People in IRC are usually very understanding of lags, but if someone tells you you're lagging, you may want to disconnect and dial back in to see if you can get a faster connection. The Outgoing Message Line is where you type your messages (and IRC commands, see below). Your message will not be sent to the server until you hit [Enter], so you can use your arrow keys to edit the line in the event of a typo before sending. The User List shows everyone present in the channel. User names generally have an "@"symbol preceeding them. If you want more information about a user, you can use the Whois command. To get a Whois, highlight the name of the user in the User List and click the right mouse button. You'll get a pop-up menu with different options you can use. Select WhoIs to get the addtional information. Remember earlier we said you'll probably want to keep your Status window visible? This is one reason why. Results from a Whois will show up in the Status window. Window Toolbar - To quickly pull up any active window, such as the Status window. click on its icon here. How to Chat privately If you wish to have a private conversation with someone, you can request a DCC chat. DCC (Direct Client-to-Client) is a way for your IRC client to talk directly to another person's IRC client without going through the IRC server. This allows for truly private conversations, and also allows you to transfer files to someone else (caution - many IRC viruses use DCC file transfer to pass themselves along. Be very suspicious of DCC file transfers). To request a DCC chat, pull up the DCC Chat box from the menu - DCC -->Chat. Type in the nickname (including the "@") of the person you wish to chat with. They'll be asked if they wish to join you in private chat. If they agree, a new Channels window will open with just the two of you as users. To exit private chat, close the Channel chat window. Once you're comfortable with these basics, there are a number of other helpful and fancy features you can use. Feel free to explore on your own, the mIRC help files have a lot of information on other options and commands. Some Common IRC Commands If you're using an IRC client that doesn't have navigation or other command shortcuts (such as Java-based IRC clients), you can use command line instructions to find out what rooms (channels) are active, join multiple channels, manage channels of your own, etc. These commands and their resulting messages are usually entered in the Status window of your program (although some work from an active chat channel as well). IRC commands are always proceeded by a "/" - for example, to see a list of what channels are active on the server, you'd enter: /LIST Here are some common commands: You can find a more comprehensive list at IRChelp.org. /JOIN #channel Join (or create) a channel. example: /join #Lobby Entering this command will have you join the #Lobby general discussion/help channel. If the channel you specified doesn't exist, a new channel with that name will be created. Some private channels may also require a password, which you need to specify when using the /join command. example: /join #PrivateStampCollectors philologist will allow you to join the #PrivateStampCollectors channel using "philologist" as the password. /PART #channel Leave a channel. example: /part #Lobby /QUIT [message] Disconnects you from IRC and optionally sends everyone in your channels a message. example: /quit That's all folks! /WHOIS nickname Shows basic information about someone online. /NICK nickname Changes your nickname to a new nickname. /PASS password Supply a password for your nickname. /AWAY [away message] Leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying attention to IRC. Whenever someone sends you a MSG or does a WHOIS on you, they see whatever message you have set. Using AWAY with no parameters marks you as no longer being away. example: /away Be back in a few minutes - the dog ran after the postman! /INVITE nickname #channel Invite another online user to a channel. /QUERY nickname message Open a query window and send the user a private message. /MSG nickname message Send a private message to the user without opening a query window.   Chatroom Netiquette Until you're accustomed to the way conversations appear in Chatrooms, it may be a bit confusing to follow at first. Don't worry, you'll soon be getting the hang of how messages appear simultaneously and sometime in no discernable order. It's a good idea to simply observe conversations for a while until you're sure of the flow and tenor of the conversation. Just as in face-to-face communications, it is considered rude for someone to abruptly elbow into an existing conversation exclaiming "Just let me tell you about MY day!" It is, however, considered polite to say hello to the room when entering and goodbye when leaving. Also, as in other facets of life, the simple pleasantries of "Please," "Thank You" and simply listening and responding kindly are invaluable. Don't forget that Chatrooms are NOT private. Anything that is said can be recorded without your knowledge by anyone in the room - in fact many people make a habit of logging every conversation for their own reference. Don't say anything you wouldn't want to have repeated on the evening news. Be very careful revealing personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, etc. in a chatroom. Dealing with obnoxious users Very occasionally, you'll meet someone in a Chatroom that you don't get along with. Some immature folks tend to dominate the conversation, or actively seek to annoy others. If polite requests don't resolve the situation, you should ask if there are any Chat Admnistrators online - they have the ability to kick offending users offline. IF no administrators are online, you can try changing to other areas, or in extreme cases, convincing others to join you in a locked room excluding the offender. If you are ever threatened or harrassed in any session, please write an email to yog@sff.net detailing the identity of the person, date/time you were online and any other pertinent details of the conversation. Any such behavior is NOT tolerated. Read more in General Policies and Procedures.