Post by GM Barretta, Flyers on Jul 25, 2007 13:41:14 GMT -5
Hey all,
I know a lot of people have been saying that they have been having problems connecting to the chat room that GM Williams graciously provided for everyone. Seeing as this chat is going to be the site of drafts and other important league meetings, I spent the past hour and a half setting us up with an IRC channel. It's a lot more stable and everyone should be able to connect to it without a problem, as long as you follow these instructions. It's not as hard as it looks, trust me.
Okay, so the first thing you need to do to join the chat room is download an IRC client. For those of you who don't know, IRC (short for internet relay chat) is a type of internet chat protocol that is widely popular on the internet. There are many different IRC clients out there, and if you are experienced with IRC you might have one that you prefer. For the sake of these instructions, I'm going to assume that you have never used IRC before.
Therefore, I'm going to recommend that you download the basic IRC client, mIRC. You can get it here: www.efnet.org/clients/win32/mirc/mirc621.exe
If you downloaded mIRC, skip the section below.
***SKIP IF YOU DOWNLOADED MIRC***
Alternatively, if you can't/don't want to download anything, you can always just use this Java applet to connect. No downloads required. The applet is found here: www.jwirc.com/chat.html
Once the applet loads, you'll see a login screen. This is what you should enter for each section:
Nick: GM_yourname_team
IRC Network: DALnet
Pass: Once you register your name, enter your password here. The first time you log in, leave this blank.
Channels: #nfhl
The rest of the info you can leave alone. The applet doesn't have all the features of mIRC but if you are at work or something and want to chat with your fellow GMs, it works fine. Now that this is done, scroll down to the bottom of this post and find out how to register your nickname.
***IF YOU DOWNLOADED MIRC, START READING HERE***
So download that program (the IRC installer) and then just follow the on-screen instructions to install IRC. mIRC does not contain any spyware so don't worry.
Alright, now run the mIRC program. When you open the program for the first time, you'll see a screen that asks for your full name, email address, and nickname (don't worry about the "Alternative" field for now). You don't have to provide your full name or email address, I didn't. So if you don't want to fill those out either, don't.
What does matter here is the "Nickname" field. For the sake of keeping our channel organized, I'm going to ask that everyone uses a nickname with the following format:
GM_<lastname>_<team>
So, my last name is Barretta, and my team is Philadelphia. Therefore, my nickname is:
GM_Barretta_PHI
See? Easy. Now you have to pick the server that you want to connect to. There are thousands of IRC servers on the internet, but the one we will be using is called DALnet.
Look on the left-hand side of the window you just entered your nickname in. You should see a white menu with a bunch of different options. Click on the one entitled "Servers" which is directly below "Connect".
So now you see a scrolling menu with a bunch of different IRC servers. They all look like little folders. Luckily, they are in alphabetical order. Scroll down the menu until you find the D section, and then find the folder entitled "DALnet". Once you find this folder, double click on it and then in the menu that drops down, double click on "Random Server".
Now you should be set up to connect to the server, so press "OK" to get out of the configuration window and then click on the yellow lightning bolt icon under "File" in the main IRC window. If you did what I told you to do, you should now be connected to DALnet. You'll see a bunch of welcome text and the message of the day from the DALnet server, but that's not important. What you have to do now, is register your nickname (which should follow the format I mentioned above).
To register your nickname, type the following:
/nickserv register <your desired password> <your email address>
For this command, make sure you enter your real email address, because you'll be getting a confirmation email from the server with instructions for validating your email.
So once you get the email, at the bottom of the email message, you should see a link that you can click on to validate your nickname. Do that, and then you're done setting up. Now all you have to do is join the channel.
Go back into mIRC and type /join #nfhl
Now you should be in the channel, congratulations. If it didn't work, get in touch with me and I'll help you get connected.
Sorry if it seems confusing. I'm sure most of you must have had at least some experience with IRC. I made it as detailed as I could just so that there was no room for error. The upside to this is that we get a stable chat room that everyone can connect to.
So, there you have it. If you need further help, you know where to reach me.
I know a lot of people have been saying that they have been having problems connecting to the chat room that GM Williams graciously provided for everyone. Seeing as this chat is going to be the site of drafts and other important league meetings, I spent the past hour and a half setting us up with an IRC channel. It's a lot more stable and everyone should be able to connect to it without a problem, as long as you follow these instructions. It's not as hard as it looks, trust me.
Okay, so the first thing you need to do to join the chat room is download an IRC client. For those of you who don't know, IRC (short for internet relay chat) is a type of internet chat protocol that is widely popular on the internet. There are many different IRC clients out there, and if you are experienced with IRC you might have one that you prefer. For the sake of these instructions, I'm going to assume that you have never used IRC before.
Therefore, I'm going to recommend that you download the basic IRC client, mIRC. You can get it here: www.efnet.org/clients/win32/mirc/mirc621.exe
If you downloaded mIRC, skip the section below.
***SKIP IF YOU DOWNLOADED MIRC***
Alternatively, if you can't/don't want to download anything, you can always just use this Java applet to connect. No downloads required. The applet is found here: www.jwirc.com/chat.html
Once the applet loads, you'll see a login screen. This is what you should enter for each section:
Nick: GM_yourname_team
IRC Network: DALnet
Pass: Once you register your name, enter your password here. The first time you log in, leave this blank.
Channels: #nfhl
The rest of the info you can leave alone. The applet doesn't have all the features of mIRC but if you are at work or something and want to chat with your fellow GMs, it works fine. Now that this is done, scroll down to the bottom of this post and find out how to register your nickname.
***IF YOU DOWNLOADED MIRC, START READING HERE***
So download that program (the IRC installer) and then just follow the on-screen instructions to install IRC. mIRC does not contain any spyware so don't worry.
Alright, now run the mIRC program. When you open the program for the first time, you'll see a screen that asks for your full name, email address, and nickname (don't worry about the "Alternative" field for now). You don't have to provide your full name or email address, I didn't. So if you don't want to fill those out either, don't.
What does matter here is the "Nickname" field. For the sake of keeping our channel organized, I'm going to ask that everyone uses a nickname with the following format:
GM_<lastname>_<team>
So, my last name is Barretta, and my team is Philadelphia. Therefore, my nickname is:
GM_Barretta_PHI
See? Easy. Now you have to pick the server that you want to connect to. There are thousands of IRC servers on the internet, but the one we will be using is called DALnet.
Look on the left-hand side of the window you just entered your nickname in. You should see a white menu with a bunch of different options. Click on the one entitled "Servers" which is directly below "Connect".
So now you see a scrolling menu with a bunch of different IRC servers. They all look like little folders. Luckily, they are in alphabetical order. Scroll down the menu until you find the D section, and then find the folder entitled "DALnet". Once you find this folder, double click on it and then in the menu that drops down, double click on "Random Server".
Now you should be set up to connect to the server, so press "OK" to get out of the configuration window and then click on the yellow lightning bolt icon under "File" in the main IRC window. If you did what I told you to do, you should now be connected to DALnet. You'll see a bunch of welcome text and the message of the day from the DALnet server, but that's not important. What you have to do now, is register your nickname (which should follow the format I mentioned above).
To register your nickname, type the following:
/nickserv register <your desired password> <your email address>
For this command, make sure you enter your real email address, because you'll be getting a confirmation email from the server with instructions for validating your email.
So once you get the email, at the bottom of the email message, you should see a link that you can click on to validate your nickname. Do that, and then you're done setting up. Now all you have to do is join the channel.
Go back into mIRC and type /join #nfhl
Now you should be in the channel, congratulations. If it didn't work, get in touch with me and I'll help you get connected.
Sorry if it seems confusing. I'm sure most of you must have had at least some experience with IRC. I made it as detailed as I could just so that there was no room for error. The upside to this is that we get a stable chat room that everyone can connect to.
So, there you have it. If you need further help, you know where to reach me.
). Read the original post for instructions.
