View source for Wikipedia:IRC/Tutorial

{{notice|Please make sure you have [[Firewall (networking)|firewall]] and [[antivirus software]] installed before following the tutorial below.}}
{{shortcut|WP:IRCT|WP:IRC/T}}

This tutorial is specifically for the [[Libera Chat]] IRC network, the network that Wikipedia uses for IRC communication. Some features on this network aren't necessarily on other networks, and features on other networks aren't necessarily here.

== Option 1: use IRC in a browser tab (easy) ==

In a modern web browser follow '''[[WP:IRC help disclaimer|this link]]''' to visit Wikipedia's help channel.

== Option 2: choose which IRC client to use (advanced) ==

Alternatively, to access the Libera IRC servers, you can choose an IRC client. Some popular IRC clients are listed below, or see [[Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients]].

{{Wikipedia:IRC/Clients}}

{{TOCright}}

==How do I connect?==
Once you have a client, you'll need a server. You can simply use '''irc.libera.chat''' to reach the main rotation of servers. You can also find a full list by executing:
*<code>host irc.libera.chat</code> (Linux)
*<code>nslookup irc.libera.chat</code> (Windows)

====Having connection problems?====
After you've obtained your client and the name of a server, you may still need a bit of help in getting connected. Take a look at this [http://www.irchelp.org/faq/irctutorial.html tutorial] or this [http://www.irchelp.org/faq/ircprimer.html IRC primer] on [http://www.irchelp.org irchelp.org], which contains a variety of other useful information as well.

==About the network services==
===Nickname registration===
{{shortcut|WP:IRCREG}}
If you want to use a certain nickname on the network and don't want anyone else to take it, you must register it with the network.

You can do so by typing (in any window): <code>/msg nickserv register <font color="purple">password</font> <font color="darkgreen">email@address.tld</font></code>, of course substituting <code><font color="purple">password</font></code> for any password of your choosing, and <code><font color="darkgreen">email@address.tld</font></code> with your email address. Try not to make your password too predictable or guessable, but also avoid using any password you use elsewhere since it's very easy to accidentally type your password into an IRC channel revealing it to others.  You should now check your email for the confirmation message from Libera Chat, and complete the steps it contains. Please note that [[Disposable email address|disposable/throwaway]] emails are not allowed and using one could delay or negatively affect your registration.

Registering your nickname will also allow you to be added to a channel's access list; for example, some of the people in [[Wikipedia:IRC help disclaimer|#wikipedia-en-help]] have +'s beside their nicknames (to identify "helpers").

Note: You only have to register your nickname once. Every other time you connect from that point on, you need to prove who you are, with this command: <code>/msg nickserv identify <font color="purple">password</font></code> You can also configure your IRC client to automatically log you in when you connect; see the section below. There are some other options you can set (as well as privacy options), you'll want to get a list by typing: <code>/msg nickserv help</code>

===Setting your IRC client to identify upon connect===
You can configure your IRC client to automatically log you in when you connect. You can look up how to do this for your specific IRC client, configure [[Simple Authentication and Security Layer|SASL]] (if your client supports it), or supply your password as a server password to be forwarded to NickServ. See [https://libera.chat/guides/registration#logging-in Libera Chat's guide to logging in].

Some IRC clients allow you to automatically issue commands when connecting to a server, including logging you in:

{{ctop}}
====mIRC====
# Go to {{menu breadcrumb|File|Select Server|Options|Perform}}
# Go to Network, click Add, find 'Libera.Chat' in the list and click OK.
# In the Perform Commands section, add: 
#: <tt>/nick <font color="teal">your_nickname</font></tt>
#: <tt>/msg nickserv identify <font color="purple">your_password</font></tt>
# Click OK as many times as you need to get out of the menus and you're all done.

====ChatZilla====
# From the menu choose {{menu breadcrumb|ChatZilla|Preferences}}. Navigate to Global Settings.
# Navigate to the Startup tab. Scroll down to Locations.
# Click Add and use the following formats to add a <tt>network</tt> and <tt>channel</tt>, and to identify:
#: <tt><nowiki>irc://irc.libera.chat/wikipedia-en</nowiki></tt>
#: <tt><nowiki>ircs://irc.libera.chat/nickserv,isnick?msg=identify%20</nowiki><font color="purple">your_password</font></tt>
#: (in the last example replace <tt><font color="purple">your_password</font></tt> with your Freenode account password)
# Click Apply, followed by OK, to get out of the ChatZilla Preferences dialog
# To add all of your channels individually in the same format once you've joined them, right-click the tab of each channel and select "Open this Channel at Startup"
# To bookmark a channel without joining it automatically at startup, drag the tab for that channel directly to SeaMonkey's Bookmarks Toolbar or Menu

====HexChat (Windows version)====

# Go to HexChat. Select Network list.
# If the <tt>Libera.Chat</tt> network exists in the network list, then click on Edit and skip ahead to step 5
# If it does not yet exist in the list, click Add and type Libera.Chat, then hit enter and click on Edit
# Replace the string <tt>newserver/6667</tt> with <tt>irc.libera.chat/6667</tt>
# In the "User name" field, enter your nickname. Select "SASL (username + password)" for the "Login method" field.
# In the Password field, enter your NickServ password.

====Emacs (ERC)====
[[ERC (software)|ERC]] is part of the [[GNU]] project. It is included with recent versions of GNU [[Emacs]]. To run, type: {{kbd|M-x erc}} - if you run erc in this way you need to pass "irc.libera.chat" as server, "6667" as port, and your nickname (you can omit the password unless you have registered the nickname).

You can speed up connection process if you put this in your init file (~/.emacs)

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
  (defun irc ()
    "Connect to Libera Chat"
    (interactive)
    (erc :server "irc.libera.chat"
         :port 6667
         :nick "your_nick"
         :password "your_password OR nil"))
  
  (global-set-key "\C-ci"  'irc)
</syntaxhighlight>
Then you can run the IRC client with {{kbd|C-c i}}.

====Quassel====

# Go to {{menu breadcrumb|Settings|Configure Quassel...}}
# In the left pane, click "Networks" (under "IRC")
# Select the "Auto Identify" tab.
# Check the "Auto Identify" checkbox, and fill in the server (should be NickServ) and your password.
# Click "Apply" at the bottom, and then "OK" to close the window.
{{cbot}}

==Cloaks==
{{shortcut|WP:IRCCLOAK}}
=== Wikimedia cloaks ===
See the [[:m:IRC/Cloaks|instruction page]] on [[:m:Main Page|Meta-Wiki]].

==="Unaffiliated" cloaks===
If you would like to have a cloak that does not advertise Wikimedia, join <tt>#libera-cloak</tt> and say <tt>!cloakme</tt>. This will give your account a generic <tt>user/YourName</tt> cloak to hide your IP address. It should happen quickly; wait a while and try again if you're not immediately cloaked and kicked.

==IRC channel list==
{{main|m:IRC/Channels}}

==IRC client settings==
* The realname (or Full Name) can optionally be set to anything you want. It does not need to be your real name; some people enter their username here.
* The [[Ident protocol|ident]] setting should ideally be turned on, and again can be set to anything you want.

==What are some basic commands?==
Here are some basic commands for IRC: <small>(as taken from [[Wikibooks:Internet Technologies/IRC#Basic commands|Wikibooks]])</small>

{| class="wikitable"
!Command || What it does || Example
|-
|/attach <br/> /server || Sign on to a server || '''/attach''' irc.libera.chat <br/> '''/server''' irc.libera.chat
|-
|/nick || Set your nickname || '''/nick''' your_nickname
|-
|/join <br/> /j|| Join a channel || '''/join''' #wikipedia-en <br/> '''/j''' #wikipedia-en
|-
|/msg || Sends a message (can either be private or to the entire channel) || Message the channel: '''/msg''' #wikipedia-en Hello, World! <br/> Send a private message: '''/msg''' JohnDoe Hi, John.
|-
|/whois || Display information about a user on the server || '''/whois''' JohnDoe
|-
|/stats p || Displays a list of active, on-call network staff || '''/stats p'''
|-
|/clear <br/> /clear all || Clears a channel's text. <br/> Clears all open channel's text. || '''/clear''' <br/> '''/clear all'''
|-
|/away || Sets an away message. '''Note: Type /away again to return from away.''' || '''/away''' I'm away because...
|-
|/me || Sends an action to the channel. See example. || The following: <br/> '''/me''' loves pie. <br/> would output to the chat in the case of JohnDoe: <br/> '''JohnDoe''' loves pie.
|-
|/quit || Disconnects you from the IRC network. You can also quit with a quit message. || '''/quit''' Off to bed.
What happens: JohnDoe has quit (Off to bed)
|}

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[[Category:Wikipedia how-to|IRC tutorial]]