Welcome Newbie!If you are new to the concept of IRC chatting/file receiving, then this tutorial will help get you started! It is my job as the channel mascot to make sure you know what to do when you want to join us in our chat channel #soul-society. This is the very basic of the basics, so after you familiarize yourself with your IRC client, then I suggest you to search for more in-depth tutorials on Yahoo! or Google.

Getting Started
- What is IRC?
- Downloading and Installing the IRC client
- Setting up your Nickname and Preferences
- Connecting to a server

Commands
- How do I join a channel?
- How do I change my nickname while I'm connected?
- How do I register my nickname?
- How do I do an action in the room?
- How do I get files from Fservers in the channel?
- How do I check on other people in the room?

Random Questions
- What are those symbols next to some nicknames?
- How can I copy and paste in IRC?
- Why do people get angry at me?
- Why do they call me a "Leecher"?


What is IRC?
IRC is another way to chat and meet others online. One of the key differences is that there are many people that serve specific files available for downloading in certain channels.

IRC is a very fun place once you familiarize yourself with it and will most likely suck up many hours of your life while you chat and leech files.

Downloading and Installing the IRC Client
To get the very basic program of IRC, go to mIRC.com to download their latest client. It's free so don't believe all those begs for donation on their page! (Don't worry about getting other programs for now, this will be the very basic you need).

Once you download your mIRC setup file, simply install it onto your computer and make sure you know which folder you install it in (you'll need to know later if you feel like changing IRC programs).

If you do not know how to install a simple program onto your computer, how the heck are you surviving in the online world?! Get with the program you! *waves a stick at you*

Setting up your Nickname and Preferences
Go open your mIRC program and it should automatically open an options window. First things first, type in your name settings. I strongly reccommend that you NOT type in your real full name and email address (since it can be seen by other people). Type in two nicknames you desire to be on IRC. I also suggest they be very unique nicknames (for example rather than the nickname "Rukia" you can type in "Rukia1234") since it is most likely somebody owns that nickname already. If you are unsure if the nickname you chose is registered or not, when you connect to the server later on, the server will notify you if you nickname is being used or owned by someone else.

Feel free to explore your other options in the window, although I again suggest you don't change anything if it is your first time.

Connecting to a Server
In your options window, Go to your "Servers" category (right under the "Connect" category on top). Leave the option "IRC Network" to All and go to your "IRC Server" option. IRC servers are all different networks where many different channels reside in. To join the #soul-society channel, you must connect to our server Mirc-X. In the dropdown menu, search for Mirc-X, in the most recent versions of IRC, you should have no problem finding it.

If for some reason you do not see Mirc-X in the server list, you can simply click on the ADD button and type in "irc.mircx.com" in the IRC Server inlet and just add it!

Once you have the Mirc-X server highlighted in your IRC Server window, just click "Connect To Server". It should only take you several seconds to connect (and if it takes longer, perhaps the server may be down and you should try again later).

When you connect, you should be prompted to join a channel when the Favorites window pops up. Type in #soul-society and then Join and Poof! You should be inside our channel!

How do I join a channel?
If you dislike using the favorites window, there is a very simple command you can type into the window to join a room.

Just type in: /join #CHANNELNAME

For example, if you want to join #soul-society, just type in /join #soul-society

How do I change my nickname while I'm connected?
If you are on another person's nickname and the server prompts you to change it immediately, then this is a simple way to do it.

Just type in: /nick NEWNICKNAME

For example, if you want to change your nickname to "ILoveRukia", you can type /nick ILoveRukia

Remember, most IRC servers do not support spaces in your nickname, so you may have to use a - or a _ if you want spaces.

How do I register my Nickname?
Some IRC servers are different when it comes to registering your nickname. I will describe to you how you can register your nickname on Mirc-X.

Just type in: /msg nickserv register YOURPASSWORD YOUREMAIL

If your nickname is owned by somebody else, nickserv will alert you and tell you so. If it is not owned by somebody else, Mirc-X will immediately send an E-mail to your E-mail address with a verification code to confirm your nickname. Just type in the verification code in after you receive it and your nickname should be fully registered.

Now nobody should be able to use your nickname but you. Every time you connect, you must confirm to the server that it is you on your nick by identifying yourself.

Just type in: /msg nickserv identify YOURPASSWORD

There are some people that do not let you message them unless you are on a registered nickname, so this comes in very handy!

How do you do an action in the room?
When you see people chatting inside the room, it's most likely you'll see them do an action once in a while like:

*Rukia waves at you

Wondering how they do that? Simply do this!

Just type in: /me DOES SOMETHING

So automatically in the channel window, it should say something like

*YourNickname DOES SOMETHING

How do I get files from Fservers in the room?
To get a list of the people serving inside the room, type in !list to see who is serving. You should get all the ads from the people that are serving in your chat window.

If you see an Fserv ad you'd like to go into, type in the Trigger that they show in the ad. You should automatically receive a DCC chat option window as the server connects to you.

Read the rules that the Fserver gives you and type dir to see what they have. The file names in CAPITAL letters are folders. To go into a folder, type cd FOLDERNAME and after it changes, type dir again to see the contents of the folder. Type cd .. to get out of the folder and back into the directory you were previously in.

If you see a file that you'd like to download, type get FILENAME. Remember, you do not need to type in the size of the file, just the file name/extension. The Fserv will then either send you the file immediately or put you in a queue list.

If you'd like to see the queue list on the server, type in queues and it will display the queues the server has. If you'd like to see the sends the Fserver is currently sending, type in sends and it will display the files and nicknames that are receiving sends.

After you are finished queueing your file, just cancel the window and it is done! DO NOT LEAVE THE WINDOW OPEN IF YOU ARE FINISHED QUEUING A FILE. Just wait for your queue to be sent and you will have your file!

How do I check on other people in the room?
If you have a desire to spy on somebody in the room, then all you have to do is this.

Just type in: /whois NICKNAME

It will display the channels the person is in at the moment and other details.

What are those symbols next to some Nicknames?
Those symbols show the status of certain nicknames in the channel.

@: The channel operators. They have the power the kick/ban unwanted people and the power to voice/op as well. It's best you don't bug an operator too much or they'll lose their temper and kick you too ^^

%: Half operators. Even though Mirc-X does not have this status, many other servers do. Half ops certain power and privilages that operators can do, but not all.

+: The voiced. These people are a step above the regular leechers in the room. Most of the time, they are ones that are serving in the room.

How can I copy and paste on IRC?
This will come in very handy if you want to type in a trigger to an fserv. With your mouse, just highlight the section of text you want to copy and let go. It should automatically copy. Then right-click into your text field and paste.

Why do people get mad at me?
People on IRC have little tolerance for newbies that have no respect for the channel rules. To make sure you don't anger somebody, do these three simple steps when coming into a channel.

1.) ALWAYS check the channel topic. The channel topic is the first thing you see when you come into the channel. Read it thoroughly to see if it answers any questions you might have. If it displays a !rules trigger, type it in so you can observe the channel's rules.

2.) Do not ask for files directly in the channel. The channel is mainly open for chatting and the people dislike it when their conversation is interrupted with somebody suddenly demanding "WHERE CAN I FIND BLAH BLAH BLAH?" It's very annoying! If you are searching for files, the best way to do it is to use the or !list option, not annoy other people about it.

3.) Do not rub an Op the wrong way. It's channel etiquette to not bother an operator too much or else they will reward your annoyance with a swift kick/ban out of the channel. Although ops are mainly there to help people, they are only human and will get extremely annoyed when a leecher irritates them. Yes, it's not fair. Yes, it's mean. But before you speak with an op, just think "What would piss me off if I was an op?" and try to avoid pestering them too much.

Why do they call me a Leecher?
A leecher is pretty much what it sounds like. Somebody that is leeching files in the room. Leechers are mostly referred to those people inside the channel that do not have a symbol next to their name.

The best way NOT to be referred to as a leecher is not to ask too many questions and to set up your own fserv so you can be a server as well. Just a suggestion ^^