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IRC - Internet Relay Chat

[ Description | Terminology | Software | Using IRC ]

Internet Relay Chat discussions take place on a channel. In any channel a number of discussions may be going on at once much like the conversations of a group of people at a party. At any one time there are thousands of channels open. You can join in on a conversation or start one of your own by typing and sending your message in your IRC software.

Messages sent by you or other channel participants are constantly updated by the server, allowing all on the channel to see each message shortly after it's sent in your IRC software window. In most IRC clients you will see a list of all participants in the channel you are on. Messages may be sent to the group or privately to an individual.

Here's a list of some of the terminology you need to know to use IRC.

Term Description
Channel An IRC chat room or discussion area
Channel Op Channel Operator - the people running the channel
Netsplit A temporary interruption at the network server
Nick Nickname - your 'name' on the channel. Your nick can be anything you select.
Kick Throw someone off a channel
Bot A robot program. Often acts like a real person, not allowed on many channels.
Whisper Private message to another user
Lag Amount of time it takes for messages to reach the channel
MOTD Message of the Day. Appears in status window when you log on to an IRC server.



IRC Software

There are many good IRC programs available. One of these is MIRC. You will need to read the help documentation with your software to learn the necessary IRC commands.


Using IRC
  • Set up your Profile. Your profile includes your name, your nick, your username and for some channels, a password.
  • Connect to a chat server. There will be a number of default servers to choose from in your software.
  • Join a channel. This opens a window with the channel you are joining and announces your arrival to the rest of the participants in the channel. MIRC contains a list of preset channels or the option of listing all current channels available.
  • Join in on the conversation.

Basic IRC commands
In order to use IRC you must first know a few basic commands.

IRC commands start with a / followed by the command. For example /quit will quit the IRC session.
Description Command Note
Nickname Change /nick nickname Replace 'nickname' with the name you wish to use.
Join a Channel /join #channel Replace 'channel' with the channel you wish to join.
Leaving a Channel /leave #channel Replace 'channel' with the channel name
Sending a Private Message /msg nickname message Replace 'nickname' with the nickname you wish to send a private message to.
Listing users in a channel /who #channel Replace 'channel' with the channel name.
Listing Channel names /list -min 20 This lists all channels with at least 20 users currently in the channel.
Display User Info /whois nickname Replace 'nickname' with the users nickname
Perform Action /me action Example: /me smiles will output Matt Smiles
Help /help Displays Help Information
Display the Date and Time /date /time will display the same information.
Quit IRC /quit This command will quit the IRC session.

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