Although mIRC comes with an excellent help file, while opping on IRC it has become evident that beginners have trouble with understanding the "technical" way it is written at times and my goal for these pages is to make it a bit easier to follow. For now I will cover the basics of getting started. To get started you will first need to download a copy of mIRC and to make it easy for you just click on the mIRC icon and you will be taken to the mIRC Home Page.
mIRC comes as a self extracting file that will install itself on your pc. When you are on the web site choose a site to download from that is closest to your area. Either double click the hyperlink or right click on it and select "Save link as". You will be prompted to choose a directory to save it to. It is important that you remember which directory you have saved it to. Once the download is finished, got to the folder you saved it in and double click on it. This will start the self extracting set up. You will see a prompt for where you want to install mIRC. The default directory is "c:\mirc" and the installation will create the folder for it. If you have previous copies of mIRC on your pc and you want to save the settings choose "Make Backups". At this time mIRC will ask you if you want to add an icon to your desktop as a shortcut to the program. If you do, choose "Add Icons" as well. All thats left to do is click on OK and the installer will do the rest.
Using mIRC for the first time
When you double click on the mIRC icon to open the program for the first time you will see a message from Khaled asking you to register your copy of mIRC. Checking the box in the lower right hand corner will prevent this message from appearing every time you start up mIRC. The next window to appear will be the "options window". On the left will be a list of options that you now have available to you. The body of the window is made up of a place to select which server to connect to ( my choices would be Dalnet, StarChat, or Starlink-IRC) and places where you have to enter some info before you can connect.Where it says "Full Name" you don't have to put your "real name" but it must be filled. People usually put something cute or a website or a funny little saying. As with "Full Name" you don't have to put your "real email" address in the space that asks for your email addy. This info can be seen by other users and unless you are in the mood for Spam it is not a good idea to put your real email addy here. At the bottom of the window there is a box to check off for invisible. This will keep you from showing up in the channel list by someone using the /names #channel command, but more on that in a bit. The "Nickname" you select will tell alot about your personality. Also keep in mind that some servers require you to register your nickname so others can't use it. If you use the first thing that pops into your head chances are it is already in use as mIRC is used by many people from all over the world. You can modify a nickname with a ^ or a _ to make it unique. Now you have to choose a server to connect to by using the servers list. There are many servers to choose from and I can't make the choice of which server for you to use but if you do choose Dalnet, StarChat, or Starlink-IRC, I guarantee that you will find friendly and helpful people in #mirc_Colors on Dalnet and StarChat and in #mIRC on Starlink-IRC. Ok you are almost there, all that is left to do before you connect is to select "Local Info" from the options list on the left. If you do not see this option just click on the word "Connect " in the list and the list will expand. Check the box that says "On connect always get "local host" and check the box that says "Normal". Now go to the list one last time and click the line that says "Identd". Fill in the box that says "User ID" with anything you want to use and click the box that says "Enable only when connecting". Now you are set up and ready to connect. Go back to "Connect" in the options list and click on "Connect to IRC server. If you do not connect at first, try again or try another server.
The Channel List
As with most commands usable in mIRC there are different ways to go about doing things. Once connected you will see a window pop up that says Status. In the edit box (thats where you see a blinking cursor and where you can type) if you type /list a window will pop up called the Channels window. In here will be a list of all channels on the server. You can also go to the tool bar and click on the channels icon which is the fourth button from the left and from there you can modify your channel listing. The IRC is a place where people come to chat about anything so there will be places you might find offensive. You can prevent these from appearing in your channel list by using the "Hide channels that match these criteria" check box and stringing words separated by commas (example: sex, hate). Use the "Match Text" if you only want see channels that pertain to the keyword you enter. "Match text in topics" is the better way to go to find a channel that is geared to the topic you want to chat about. Sometimes topics don't really have anything to do with the chat in the channel, but as time goes on you will find the channels that interest you the most and the ones to steer clear of.
Once you enter a channel you might find everyone is very quiet, but this could mean they are all in a private chat which I will cover soon. Hang back a bit and see what the conversation is about, people will say hello to you and remember if the channel is not for you, you have the option of leaving that channel.
Many servers have channels by the same name for example the channel #mIRC_Colors will always be a friendly place to go but you will not see the same ops or regulars on the channel on Dalnet as you would on Undernet.
The Channel Window
Once you choose a channel from the channel list you can either double click in the list to join the channel or type /join #channel name in the edit box of the Status window. After you do this you are in the channel and a window pops up that says #Channel name and it will show the modes set for the channel and the topic of the channel but more on this in a bit. The channel window is broken down to the area where the chat taking is place, the edit box (where you type), and the nick list. The nick list shows everyone in the channel in alphabetical order and what thier status is eg:ops (@) or voiced (+) but you guessed it, more on this later. In this channel the default text color is black with joins and parts appearing green and quits appearing blue. In the main or the chat area, you will see the nicks of the people chatting in front of what they have to say. From time to time you might see someone using abbreviations for words, these are called acronyms and save time typing.
The Status Window
The status window which I have already referred to several times is just that, it shows the status of whats going on in the channel you are in and also shows server messages. There are several commands which also show responses in the status window : Whois, Ping, DNS, and Version to name a few but again more on these later.
When you are starting out on IRC having too many windows open can be a bit distracting so you can minimize the status window and use the tile windows button in the tool bar to set the windows for you so you can see them if you are in more then one channel at a time. If you have channels you are in minimized, the name of the channel will change color to alert you that something was said in that channel.