In an attempt to settle down the confusion surrounding a new Talkbass chat, I'll try to make it nice and easy for everyone here to join the IRC channel created by iScott.
Pidgin users, here's the whole setup process, use it with irc.freenode.net, on channel #talkbass
Quick little intro
Getting a client
Getting to the talkbass channel
Choosing a name
Joining, and saving the previous steps for next time
Additional info: registering your nickname
Pidgin users, here's the whole setup process, use it with irc.freenode.net, on channel #talkbass
Quick little intro
What is IRC? It stands for Internet Relay Chat. It is the ancestor of instant messaging networks, such as ICQ, MSN, AIM, and more recently Google Talk. IRC is a server-centric process, where networks, the name for a big server, run channels, chatrooms.
So iScott set up a channel named #talkbass, on the Freenode network. We want to connect to it.
So iScott set up a channel named #talkbass, on the Freenode network. We want to connect to it.
Getting a client
I'll do the walkthrough with a Firefox plugin named Chatzilla, because FF is pretty common and Chatzilla is a very simple IRC client.
You can get chatzilla by typing "chatzilla" in your FF address bar, or going [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Download it, restart firefox.
You can get chatzilla by typing "chatzilla" in your FF address bar, or going [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Download it, restart firefox.
Getting to the talkbass channel
So you are on Firefox, and launch Chatzilla by the Tools menu, or the icon if it appeared in your toolbar. Its window opens, and greets you with a ton of text. What is important, is that the last line lists you the available networks. We're looking for Freenode, so click on that.
A new tab opens. This time, the Freenode server greets you with everything an expert needs to know. Assuming that you're following my instructions, you don't need to know much about this. One thing you should be aware of, is that your nickname is network-wide. Before joining #talkbass, you should change it.
A new tab opens. This time, the Freenode server greets you with everything an expert needs to know. Assuming that you're following my instructions, you don't need to know much about this. One thing you should be aware of, is that your nickname is network-wide. Before joining #talkbass, you should change it.
Choosing a name
In the menu, go to IRC -> status -> change nickname. Enter what you want. The server will get back to you about whether the nickname was already taken or not. It might tell you that it's already reserved by someone. I'll get to this a little later but for now, you have to choose something else.
Joining, and saving the previous steps for next time
Once you have your nickname, it's time to join the talking! To do so, you have to ask it to the server using a command. The command in this case is /join, so let's type that.
This opens a third tab, which is the actual TB chat! Enjoy.
You might want to skip the previous steps next time you start Chatzilla. While on the Talkbass channel, go back to the IRC menu and check "Open this channel at startup". It will now fire up the TB chat every time you start Chatzilla.
Code:
/join #talkbassThis opens a third tab, which is the actual TB chat! Enjoy.
You might want to skip the previous steps next time you start Chatzilla. While on the Talkbass channel, go back to the IRC menu and check "Open this channel at startup". It will now fire up the TB chat every time you start Chatzilla.
Additional info: registering your nickname
So you realize that no one is named "John" yet, and you want to keep it for yourself. There's a way to do it. The Freenode server has a bot user named NickServ which administrates nicknames, and allows you to register your username by giving it a password. Here's how it works.
While you're connected to Freenode, type the following command. It's okay if you see your password, everything here happens in plain text:
Basically, you're sending a private message (/msg) to Nickserv that you want to register your current nickname with the said password.
The NickServ user will get back at you saying that you have registered and will repeat your password to make sure. It will also send an email with a confirmation code, from which you'll have to copy-paste a command to verify your identity. Voilà, you are registered.
However, you'll disconnect when you close Chatzilla. The next time you fire up Chatzilla, Freenode will ask you to log back in to gain your rights, so here's the other command you have to know. It's also written in the server's message, so you don't have to come back to this thread every time. You lucky you.
While you're connected to Freenode, type the following command. It's okay if you see your password, everything here happens in plain text:
Code:
/msg NickServ register [yourpassword]Basically, you're sending a private message (/msg) to Nickserv that you want to register your current nickname with the said password.
The NickServ user will get back at you saying that you have registered and will repeat your password to make sure. It will also send an email with a confirmation code, from which you'll have to copy-paste a command to verify your identity. Voilà, you are registered.
However, you'll disconnect when you close Chatzilla. The next time you fire up Chatzilla, Freenode will ask you to log back in to gain your rights, so here's the other command you have to know. It's also written in the server's message, so you don't have to come back to this thread every time. You lucky you.
Code:
/msg NickServ identify [password]
