Update New (and improved) Board Chat Channel

[Buffy Summers]

Though we are still investigating exactly what was happening with the last IRC channel, to put everyone's minds at ease I have registered us a new channel (actually on the IRC server I wanted to use in the first place). This one is run by someone I know and respect, who has a strict abuse policy, so I don't anticipate any further problems.

As always, if anything is going on on the board or on the channel that is making someone feel threatened or uncomfortable, please bring it to the attention of a staff member right away.

Connecting to the Chat

You will need an IRC client (program). I recommend:

mIRC - mIRC: Internet Relay Chat client

or

Ice Chat - IceChat IRC Client :: IRC Client Extra-Ordinaire :: The Chat Cool People Use

But you can use any client you wish.


You will have to input some information in order to connect to the server.

> irc.vbirc.com for the IRC server
> 6667 for the port (probably there already by default)
> Your nickname should be your username. You can put whatever you want for Full Name and email if your client asks you for it (they don't have to be real).
> The channel is [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG] (you may have to type the following in the main window to join the channel: /join [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG])

> To register your username, type the following once you have connected to the server:

/msg nickserv register password email

Where "password" is the password you wish to use and "email" is your email address.

Anyone who tries to use someone else's username or pretends to be another user in the chatroom will be banned from the board.

If you have a firewall like ZoneAlarm, you will have to set it to allow IRC (In ZoneAlarm, IM Security > Settings > Advanced > Uncheck Block IRC).

🙂

 

[Buffy Summers]

If you have problems using an IRC client program, you can connect to the server using the following website:

Mibbit.com Webchat

Just select "Other Server" from the drop down then enter irc.vbirc.com as the server name. Fill in your username, and the room name [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG], then click Go...

 

[Veyron]

Thanks to the Buffster for setting this up, again!

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

TK bothered me into making a step by step guide for someone, so I thought I might as well post it here to help anyone not on yet! :silly:

---

Ok, to get involved in the IRC chats, I would reccomend using IceChat. Not neccessarily becasue it's so much better, but cause I know how to use it! THIS IS A GUIDE FOR PCs! I don't know about Macs, so maybe someone else can add a section? So, here's what you do:

Follow this link, and click on the big Download button:

IceChat IRC Client

A dialogue box will pop up. Choose "Save File" then browse to you're desktop. Save the file there.

Open the installer that is on your desktop. Choose "Next" twice.

Specify a path for the program to be installed to if you wish, but I always leave it at the default. Click "Next".

It will ask you what components you want installed, I'd say take them all. Click "Next".

If you want a folder in your start menu (no reason why not), click "Next". If not, check the box.

Choose if you what a Desktop and Quick Launch button, then click "Next".

Finally, click "Install".

When it's done, click "Next", then "Finish".


Ok, so now you have the IRC client installed. All that remains is setting it up to get into the BuffyBoards channel.


Firstly, when you open up IceChat for the first time, it'll ask you to input a NickName. Enter your BuffyBoards username, with underscores instead of spaces. Note, that despite the fact it says there may be a nine letter limit, there isn't. Also, it's become fairly standard for people to add a prefix to their name to denote what house they are in. Add "D-" for Drogyn, "VH-" for Vahla ha'Nesh, "M-" for Merrick, and "R-" for Raiden.

When it asks for a Server, click in the box and type "irc.vbirc.com", and click the next arrow twice.

Now, IceChat will open. It may all be a bit overwhelming, but ignore everything it says. It's not important.

Click on "irc.vbirc.com" in the Favourite Servers tab, then click Connect at the bottom left.

A whole bunch of nonsense will pop up, just ignore it.

Now, click in the chat bar at the very bottom, and type "/join [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG]"

You're into the channel, and can start chatting!


Now, that may be you in, but there's a lot you can do to improve the experience.

Firstly, we're going to make it so that IceChat automatically joins the BuffyBoards channel whenever you open it.


Click on "irc.vbirc.com" again. Then, click the "Edit Server" button to the bottom left (near connect).

A window will pop up. Leave the Basic settings as they are, and click on "Startup" Check the "Autoconnect on IceChat startup." box.

Next, choose the "Auto Join list" tab. Type "[HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG]" in the box at the top, then click "Add". Click "Save" to close the window.


Now every time you open IceChat, you'll be taken right to the BB chat.

One more thing, colours. Most people choose a colour for their text, and stick to it. This way, when a lot of people are online at once, it's easy to tell who's who at a glance.


Click "Options" at the top, choose "IceChat Editor...", then select the Scripts tab.
Copy the following, and paste it into the empty window.

Function OUTTEXT(OutGoingText)

Dim OutColor
OutColor = "40" 'change this number to the color number you want

if left(OutGoingText,1) <> "/" and left(outGoingText,1) <> "." then 'this is not a command or using a "." to not use colors
if left(OutGoingText,1) <> chr(3) then 'check if a color was already used, if not add one
OutGoingText = chr(3) & OutColor & OutGoingText
end if
end if
OutText = OutGoingText
End Function

Click "Save".

THIS NEXT STEP IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT! Make sure that you click the "Save As Type" dropdown, and choose "IceChat 5 Script (*.ice)". It MUST be a .ice file to work.

Now, if you are using Vista, save to the following filepath, insering your username:

C:\Users\*YOUR USERNAME*\AppData\Local\IceChat\Scripts

If you are using XP or earlier, save to this filepath:

C:\Documents and Settings\*YOUR USERNAME*\Application Data\IceChat\Scripts

Call it what you want, then click save. Now click "Save and Exit".

Your messages should now come up in an ugly orange. To choose a colour, click on the colour pallette in the very bottom left, and choose the colour you want. In the txt box, a number will pop up.

Go back into the IceChat Editor, and then the Scripts tab. Replace the number in the script with the number you want and click "Save and Exit".


Now all your messages will come up in whatever colour you want!

Just one more tip. Whenever you send a message, it will come up as "<Username> What you said". To send an action, i.e. "Username thanks Five by Five for his awesome guide", type "/me" before your message.

I hope this helped you get into the chat!

Five by Five

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Another client that I've found works awesome is ChatZilla. It's a Firefox extension - I'm not sure if it works with Firefox 3. I'm assuming it doesn't, but you never know.

To register your nick, go into the Tools menu in Firefox and click on the ChatZilla link. The program will open, and then click on the ChatZilla link there, and then click on Preferences. Under General there's a menu labeled 'Identification' where you can set your away message and the nickname you want to use most of the time, along with a description.

Under the Lists tab you can go to 'Nickname List' and list a couple more nicknames, just in case, for whatever reason, someone took your name. Which is a bad bad very bad thing to do, but I always list a couple extra names just in case.

Now, let's take into account I know next to nothing about IRC, so if I tried to help and failed miserably, I apologize.

 

[Blondie Bear]

I followed all the instructions, but I keep getting the following error message:
Socket Error: 11004 : Valid name, no data record of requested type (Server)

Help?
[br][/br]
Edit:
[br][/br]
HA! I got on using Chatzilla. Thanks, MR!

 

[wiccianslayer]

Just downloaded icechat it seems good

 

[Brian]

We keep irc.vBirc.com freshly stocked with healthy servers. Alternatively, you can use one of the addresses below.

Below is a list of the currently connected servers, you can manually connect to them by typing : /server servername 6667

`-irc.vbirc.com
|-irc.wetalksoccer.com
|-leaf.vbirc.com
|-irc.vbirc.net
`-irc.vbirc.org

Each of our servers listens on ports 6667 (6665-6669, 7000 and 9000)

 

[Perny]

I still can't figure out how to enter IRC! It bugs the hell put of me. I'm confused, and frustrated. all these things to click.. Can anybody make a picture show, showing how to do?

 

[Angelic Slayer]

Here's some photo step-by-step instructions to get into the IRC chat for those of you who are having troubles!

I'm posting the instructions for the online chat, in my experience it's the easiest way to get in. If you really want to use a program like IceChat, you're going to follow FbF's instructions above. 🙂

So to start, you want to go to the mibbit home page: Mibbit.com Webchat

From there, follow these steps..

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Step Four

Step Five

 

[Brian]

The channel service bot has been renamed to Buffybot upon your request.

* &Operator (channel@service.bot) has left [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG] (UNASSIGN from Brian)
* Buffybot (bot@buffy-boards.com) has joined [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG]
* Buffybot sets mode: +ao Buffybot Buffybot

 

[Buffy Summers]

Thank you so much Brian! - in case you read this before I talk to you, in case you were wondering, Buffybot is a character from the show, which is why everyone on the channel was clamoring for that name 😉

 

[Brian]

Aurg.. I'm trying to post some mIRC guide for you guys but my usergroup doesn't allow me to do so.

You are only allowed to post URLs to other sites after you have made 15 posts or more.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I'll up your post count for you Brian 😉 And thanks for the assist!

 

[Brian]

This mIRC Guide will guide you into downloading, installing and using mIRC to chat on our servers.

Let’s Get Started:

The first thing you want to do is go and download mIRC. I suggest going to their website and downloading the newest version. Once you have downloaded the file, run the setup program.
Installing mIRC:

• The first thing that you see when you open mIRC, is a basic screen that pretty much says "Welcome to mIRC"

Just click next to get to the next screen

• After this, you will be faced by the license agreement. You can read it if you want, but I’d just click "Yes"
• You will now come to the basic installation screen. Here you can change the installation path if you wish, however, I suggest that you just leave all of the settings the same. Now click "Install"
• After the installation is complete, click the "Finish" button. Don’t bother checking the Launch mIRC box.

Running mIRC:

Now that you installed mIRC, this Guide will continue with getting it up and running.

Open mIRC by using the desktop icon or a start menu icon.

Simply close the About mIRC box, and now you’re ready to use mIRC!
After closing the About box, a new box will popup, the Options Box.
Configuring mIRC:

Now that we got mIRC installed, and running, it is now time to configure it!
You will see this screen:

Fill in those fields:

• Full Name – Put your Name into the box (Whatever name you like)
• Email Address – You can put your e-mail, or a fake one such as mirc@irc.com
• Nickname – Put your nickname for mIRC. This is how you will be identified on the server.
• Alternative – A nickname to use in case your current one is taken. I usually put Schucz or MrBrian.

Next, you need to setup the server that you want to connect to.
In Servers, you can choose the IRC server you want to connect to.

Our network is not in the list, but you can add it with 'Add'.

Details are:
Description: vBirc
IRC Server: irc.vBirc.com
Port: 6667
Group: vBirc

It will look something like this.

There is no password needed so just leave that field blank.
If you are already connected to another server, to connect to vBFans you can type /server -m irc.vBirc.com in the status window.

Now, you want to go to the IdentD tap and you will be faced with a screen like this:

Usually, this will already be filled out for you, but just in case you want to check it.

• Be sure that Enable Identd server is checked
• User ID – Your Username (for me it’s Brian)
• System – UNIX
• Port – 113
• Check Show IdentD requests
• Check Enable only when connecting

Click OK to close this menu.

Now, I’ll explain the buttons:

Right now, there are only three buttons that you need to know about:

• The lightning button – Connects you to the server
• Hammer/Folder Button – Brings up the options tab
• The world with a # button – Brings up the channel search

Connecting to the Server:

Go back to the server option box, search for "vBirc > Buffy-Boards IRC" double click on it and this will connect you to our server. To join our channel type /join [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG].

Once you have connected to the server from Connect, you will need to register a handle (unique username to connect to vBirc Network user system) with /msg nickserv REGISTER pass email (where pass is your password and email is your email address.) This will register your currently used nick.

If you connect another time, to auth you need to type /msg nickserv IDENTIFY pass .To make your life easier, you can put that command in your IRC Perform list, so it is executed every time you connect to vBFans by going to Tools -> Options -> Connect -> Options -> Perform. You choose vBirc from the list then you type the AUTH command replacing 'handle' and 'pass' with your details.

Changing Nick

At any time, if you choose to change your nick (for a mini perhaps), use this format /nick [HASHTAG]#Whatevernick[/HASHTAG]

For me it’s /nick Brian

You are now ready to start playing Magic through mIRC!

nJoy!

 

[Buffy Summers]

If you are having trouble using an IRC program or Mibbit, you can know access the chat via the link at the top of the page or Buffy-Boards - User Unregistered Chatting on [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG]@irc.vbirc.net:6667

 

[Senior Watcher]

its asking me to register and pay $20. i have no problem with that as long as everyone else did it.

let me know. thanks!

 

[Faith]

its asking me to register and pay $20. i have no problem with that as long as everyone else did it.

let me know. thanks!

Don't pay for it (unless you really want to). In all my years using mIRC I have never paid, I just click out of the 'donation' box.

 

[Airam]

So I just tried to get this set up and I was following along great till this:

Connecting to the Server:

Go back to the server option box, search for "vBirc > Buffy-Boards IRC" double click on it and this will connect you to our server. To join our channel type /join [HASHTAG]#BuffyBoards[/HASHTAG].

Can't figure out how to do that part, I'm pretty much completely lost at this point 🙁

 

[Kean]

So I just tried to get this set up and I was following along great till this:

Can't figure out how to do that part, I'm pretty much completely lost at this point 🙁

Ok, do you have icechat downloaded onto your computer?