Serpentsounds
ケロケロ
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
- Messages
- 356
- Reaction score
- 100
What is mIRC?
mIRC is a popular and very functional windows client for connecting to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) networks. IRC is an easy and fast way of instant communication among a large number of people. Bulbagarden has its own channel, or chat room, on an IRC network. You can get there by clicking on the "IRC Chat" link on the quick links bar at the top of the page. If you've ever been, you know that it can be interesting and lots of fun. So why would you ever need to use mIRC? For one thing, web irc clients are lacking in functionality by comparison, and will only allow you a basic chat experience. Every square inch of mIRC can be customized to operate how you like, so chatting on IRC can be personal on multiple levels. You'll never need to open your browser to use mIRC, as the program runs independently on the desktop (using considerably less resources than most browsers, I might add).How do I get mIRC?
You can download and install mIRC just as you would any other program! Simply visit http://www.mirc.com and get the official download from there. You will be taken to a CNET page for the download, but rest assured that this is the official trusted download. Be careful not to get it from anywhere else, because you never know what sorts of malicious things people may try and do to you. You can go ahead and install the program with the default settings, and soon you will be ready to roll!
Configuring mIRC
Now come sthe more challenging part. But with any luck, it will be short and sweet, and you won't have to worry about it again. The first thing you will see is a popup saying you have 30 days left for evaluation (link). You can just continue past this, even after your 30 days have expired, you can still continue to skip past this screen after a couple seconds of waiting. Methods to remove this while avoiding registration will not be discussed here and are not endorsed by Bulbagarden.
The next thing you will see pop up is the connect dialog (link). Since this is our first time using mIRC, it does not know who we are, or where we want to connect to. In the Full Name and Email fields, fill them in accordingly, though it is not required that these be valid. For Nickname, fill in what you would like to be called on IRC (how you will show up to everyone else). No spaces or extraneous characters are allowed. You may use A-Z, 0-9, and the characters []|`-\{} for your nickname. The Alternative space is what you would like to be called if you cannot use your preferred nickname (somebody may be already logged on using that name on the the network).
Don't click connect or anything else yet. After you've filled out the above information, click on the Servers option, which is branched out from the Connect (link). You'll notice the current server is set to Efnet, which is the default for mIRC. However, Bulbagarden's IRC channel is not located on Efnet, so we will not be using that network. Instead, click on the Add button to add the server we need to the list. For Description, fill in SystemNet and for IRC Server, fill in irc.systemnet.info and then hit Add (link). Leave Port at 6667, and leave Group and Password both blank. You will notice that SystemNet has now been added to the bottom of the list. Highlight it and hit the Select button (link).
When you hit the select button, you should be taken back to the first Connect menu where you entered your user info, except where it once read Efnet, it has been replaced with SystemNet. Go ahead and click the connect button to connect to the network (link). If Windows alerts you with a firewall block, be sure to give mIRC the access it needs. Note: you can also connect to this network by typing "/server irc.systemnet.info" (no quotes) in the small text box where you typed (called the editbox).
Once you connect successfully, the once blank window (called the Status window) will now be flooded with text from the server. If it doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. This stuff isn't very important to you right now (though, you can read the logon notices if you want). However, this may be obscured by the favorites popping up.
The favorites menu is mIRC's method of managing channels that you visit frequently. You will see a bunch of random channel names here, but those are all irrelevant. We will now add Bulbagarden's channel to the favorites so we can join it easier. Click on the add button (link) to bring up the add favorites dialog. Here, simply enter #bulbagarden in the channel box, and check the Join on Connect checkbox. Then, hit the OK button (link). You will be taken back to the main favorites menu, with #bulbagarden added to the list. From here, you may want to uncheck the Pop up favorites on connect checkbox, because from now on #bulbagarden will be joined automatically, so the favorites menu could just become a nuisance. To join #bulbagarden now, simply highlight and hit the Join button on the favorites menu (link). Note: you can also join #bulbagarden by typing "/join #bulbagarden" (no quotes) in the editbox and hitting enter.
So now, you should be in #bulbagarden! Welcome! You may want to resize or maximize your windows, so you have a larger area to see. If you go to the View menu in the toolbar, you can uncheck things such as the switchbar or treebar that may make things seem cluttered (link) (link).
You are basically all set to start chatting. If you explore the options and help files of mIRC, you will find there is a lot to see. But if the basic IRC experience is enough for you, that's fine as well. Some examples of things you can change are the color scheme by clicking on the crayon icon (link), having mIRC connect you to your default network (ours is now SystemNet) automatically (link), and adding useful timestamps to all messages (link) (link)! The options menu is accessed by click the options icon, pressing alt+o, or Tools > Options.
If you are left with any further questions, then feel free to ask around in #bulbagarden, or type /join #mIRC and ask in that channel. I hang around in both under the nickname Serpentsounds. I and the rest of the IRC community hope to see you there!
If you want to know more about how IRC in general works, be sure to read Kaji's IRC Primer for some helpful hints and explanations for beginners (no sense in me rewriting what he has already posted).
If anyone thinks of anything mIRC specific that could be useful for beginners, by all means post it.
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