IRC FAQ


I’ve said in the past (probably on deaf ears) that the web client should be used if you can’t access a stand alone client. When I look, the people who constantly get disconnected from IRC are those using the web client, so a change would likely reduce the amount of problems seen. I’ll talk about three basic clients: mIRC, Colloquy, and ChatZilla.

  • To change your username: /nick <desired nick>
  • To register your username: /msg nickserv register <password> <email>
  • To group multiple usernames: /msg nickserv group <main nick> <password>

The next option gives you the same kind of host I use. If you /whois me (Raug or Hiiragi), you’ll see yuri.no.kyoukai instead of a bunch of numbers and letters.
You can have something similar there, but it cannot resolve Ex: It cannot be something like 918thefan.com because that website exists.

  • To use a vhost: /msg hostserv request <your host>
  • After it is approved: /msg host serv on
  • If you have multiple grouped nicks: /msg hostserv group

Everything here assumes you have already registered your nickname so others can’t steal it. Make sure you have looked at the previous section to make sure you registered your nickname and applied your vhost if you so desire. It’s short and doesn’t explain much, but if more is required, I will revise it.

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Here are the instructions for the three more popular IRC clients

    mIRC is probably the most widely used IRC clients for Windows. Although it does say that you only have 30 days to try it, you can pretty much use it indefinitely as the continue button will always become clickable after a time.

  • Download mIRC: download
  • Go through the installer and then start up mIRC
  • Fill out the information on the next dialogue as appropriate. You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) use your full name where it says full name. Using your nick is enough. After that’s filled out, click on servers to the left.
  • Scroll down on the server list until you hit Rizon. Double-click and click random server and then hit select. Most people will not need to edit it to change ports so you can ignore the edit dialogue. You’ll be brought back to the original starting page.

    These next steps are technically optional, but they will make using mIRC much easier every time.

  • Click on options and check the first box that says connect on startup.
  • In the same options dialogue, click on Perform… and check the box at the top.
  • Then click the Add button and scroll down to Rizon and add it. In the large text box at the bottom you will put the various commands you want run after you connect. Here are some examples:

    /msg nickserv id {password}
    /join #918thefan

    Both commands will be run as soon as you connect identifying yourself and then joining the 918theFan channel.

That basically does it for mIRC. Remember to go through the preferences so you can make mIRC more to your liking and become more familiar with it.

    Colloquy has been my choice of IRC client on OS X for many years. It’s not exactly the same as mIRC, but it works in a similar way.

  • Download Colloquy: download
  • Install Colloquy as you would any other app and start it.
  • On the small dialogue right click and make a New Connection.

      These next steps are optional but will make things easier when you connect from now on.

    • When you return to the dialogue in step 1, right click the connection and click on Get Info. You can now fill in your information to automatically identify yourself by filling in your nick and password as appropriate at the bottom.
    • You can also add #918thefan to the list of rooms you automatically join by checking the box at the top and adding the channel to the list.
    • When you’re finished, just click on the connect button and you’re set to go. Of course you can browse the Colloquy site and get themes and go through the preferences to make it how you want.

    ChatZilla is a Firefox addon and thus works almost anywhere. I’m not particularly fond of it but some might fight it easier to use, as it’s already part of a browser they use.

  • Add ChatZilla to Firefox: download
  • Go to Tools -> Add-ons -> ChatZilla and click on Preferences
    note: I’m using OS X right now, and it might be slightly different in Windows
  • Fill out the information in the general tab such as Nickname and Username. The rest are really unimportant.
  • Next, head to the startup tab and click on Add in the Auto-connect URLs section. You want to add this url: irc://irc.rizon.net/918thefan then apply the changes. Now you’ll automatically connect and join #918thefan when you start ChatZilla.
  • There is no easy way to automatically identify yourself, so make sure you do so after you join by typing: /msg nickserv id {password}
  • That’s about it for ChatZilla. It’s a bit short as I don’t care for the interface but it should suffice for normal usage.