Before it is possible to chat in an IRC room, you need to connect to an IRC server. There are many to choose, but for the purposes of this article, we will connect to Talk City — one of my favourite places to hang out.
Server Connection
When you run mIRC you need to provide details of the server you are connecting to. You require two essential pieces of information: the server address and the port you need to connect. This sounds confusing but it is quite simple!
The server address is a URL. Not an "http:\\"-type address that you use in your browser, but an IRC address. This designates which server you wish to connect. To connect to Talk City, you would enter:
chat.talkcity.com
Now we need a port. This is where you gain access to the IRC server. Most IRC servers use port 6667. Talk City is no exception. You may need to check this out with an IRC server's web page.
We now need some way of identifying ourselves while we are in an IRC room. This identification is done by using a Nickname. Nicknames can be almost anything you like, but must be unique to the server at the time of logging on. mIRC allows you to have a main nickname and an alternative if your main nickname is in use. I usually use my main nickname followed by the back quote character " ` ". That way people still know it's me!
Very often, you may be asked to provide your real name and your e-mail address. This is quite standard. Once we have completed this information, you are ready to connect to an IRC server.
You will see "logging on messages" and usually a MOTD Message Of The Day. Read this for any important rules or information you should be aware of. At Talk City there are CSA's who act as "policemen" to guard against people being rude or abusive (yes — cretins get into IRC channels as well!). Once the MOTD has been displayed, you will be sitting in the status screen. This window is used to display any system messages that occur from time to time.
First thing to do is find a room! To do this you need to select the channel you wish to talk in. A channel is another name for a room. Rooms have topics (usually) or are designed for a certain group of people (whether it is teenagers, fans of Star Trek whatever).
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