Getting started

First up, pick a nick. A nickname, commonly referred to as 'nick', is your IRC name. Yours will appear before all of your messages in IRC to identify who is talking. If another user types your nick, the text is printed in red. This is a highlight. Some clients also will flash the window, send a beep, etc.

You can select almost any nickname you like, provided nobody else uses it. If you choose a nick like 'justinbieber' or 'Ims0l33t4ndc00l', prepare to be ridiculed. Seriously.

The [ ] in the command indicate where to place your own choices. Do not include the [ ] themselves.

Connect to IRC

The easiest way to reach the IRC for new users is to use webchat. AnonOps provides an SSL encrypted web interface for this purpose. When you click the link a new page will open. On that page you will enter your chosen nick and for a channel name enter #opnewblood.
Before you click to join, we suggest you finish reading this page at least once before joining. This will save you alot of questions.

If you are ready then click here to join the AnonOps Webchat. After connecting, if you see a message about the nick belonging to another user, you will need to change yours.

To change your nick use :

/nick [your nick here] (remember do not include the [ ])

Example :

/nick mynewnick

Registering your nick

Registering is how you create an account on the AnonOps network; your nickname belongs you and nobody else can use it. There are other benefits, of course, including the ability to be recognised and given admin capabilities in channels, to make new channels, etc. All nick functions are controlled by NickServ.

To register your current nick, use:

/msg nickserv register [password] [fake email]

Example :

/msg nickserv register mysecretpaassword [email protected]

Please note if you lose your password, you will not be able to recover your nick and will have to make a new one.

Identify

You will need to log in to your nick every time you connect to the network. This is called identifying. You identify to your account using NickServ.

To identify to your registered nick, use :

/msg nickserv identify [your password]

Example :

/msg nickserv identify mysecretpassword

Important! READ THIS:

When you first enter any channel it prints the Topic for the channel and sometimes also an entry message. It is vital that you read these upon entry!

Joining channels

/join [#channel name]

Example :

/join #anonops

This will join you to the main network channel. Say 'hi' then just observe (lurk) a bit until you get a feel for it.

NOTE: When using webchat it is NOT necessary to open more browser tabs. Just /join the channel and it will be added to your open channel list.

Finding a channel

Most users come to AnonOps IRC for a specific purpose or interest. Those 'ops' you are looking for usually have their own channel. To find them, we use the /list function.

Issuing the /list will send the entire network channel list to you showing the channel name and the topic for each. This is a very long list. Luckily the list command takes arguments to fine tune your search. If you're using an IRC client like Hexchat it will open the Channel List window.

/list
This command will display a list of all the channels available

/list #op*
This command will show you a list of all channels that start with 'op'. This list is sent to the 'status' tab.

/list >20
Will send a list of all channels with more than 20 users.

A little practice with this command should let you find the channel you seek. If this fails, ask in #opnewblood.

NickServ

When you arrive on the IRC for the first time, you will be using an unregistered nickname. If you plan on becoming a regular user, it is vital to register your nick. This is important for several reasons :

• It ensures that nobody can impersonate you.
• It grants you various abilities which non registered users do not have
• It also allows you to use a vHost - this lets you make a clever hostname.

Remember- your IP is always masked from other users, even without a vHost.

When you identify (see above the how-to), this will tell nickserv that you are the real owner of your nickname. If you do not do this, you will not have access to registered-only chans or your vHost. For safety reasons, it is recommended that you type the command in your status window so, in the event of an error on your part, you do not post your password to an entire channel. If you are using an IRC client you can put the password in the field provided and you will be automatically logged in.

For more information about Nickserv :

/msg nickserv help or just /ns help

Nickname groups

If you plan to use more than one nickname, you can group them together. One use is to indicate that you are away. For example: a user called "JohnDoe" might be going out for a while but leaving his laptop on, in which case he could change his nick to "JohnDoe|Away" or "JohnDoe|AFK" to let other users know he was away. Whatever the reason for multiple nicks, managing them is easier when they are grouped.

This is important so as, for example, people will know why you are not replying to messages. He might also use the nick JohnDoe|Mobile to let people know he is on a mobile client, and therefore cannot use certain functions such as possibly receiving PMs or visiting links people might send him.

However, when you do this, you will lose any access levels, vHost, and other settings associated with your nick.

To avoid this, do this after switching nicknames :

/msg nickserv group [nick] [password]

[nick] and [password] are your MAIN nick and its password.

This ensures that these nicks will share passwords and settings.

For more information on groups :

/msg nickserv help group or /ns help group

vHosts

Obviously one of the main priorities of any Anonymous is to be, well... Anonymous.

When you connect to our IRC server, the server will automatically mask your IP address (your computer's "phone number"). This is the most important layer of anonymity. We also have a vHostServ. It gives you a fake host name, which masks the cloaked IP. It can be anything you want - for instance, if anyone ever tries to check where I am connecting from, they will see "fuck.off.you.bollocks" instead.

To get a vHost, you must be registered and identified. This is why it is CRUCIAL that you identify ASAP when you connect, as your vHost will not be activated until you have done so.

How to get a vHost:

• 1. Type /join #vHost in your IRC.
• 2. Once inside the vHost channel, type !vHost (insert.clever.name.here).

For example:

• !vhost my.new.vhost
• !vhost [email protected]

You can also apply your vhost to all nicks in your group with the !groupvhost command:

• !groupvhost my.new.host
• !groupvhost [email protected]

NOTE: You can indeed use whatever you want as a vHost - provided it is a valid one, i.e. no spaces, and must contain at least one dot. The most common way to do this therefore is.to.use.dots.as.spaces.in.your.vHost. When you have done this, vHostServ will automatically kick and ban you from the #vHost channel. This is normal and expected, and simply means the vHost has worked. You will be banned from the channel (#vHost) for 12 hours, after which you will be able to change your vHost if you like.

Now that you have a vHost, you are fully set up to use the IRC, any other settings you may set on your nick are purely optional.

*Note: If you join a #chan before you vHost, your new vHost information will not automatically update in the channel. Be sure to type /ns update or /msg nickserv update to make your vHost seen by everyone.

**NOTE: If you use Hexchat along with auto-join channels, you can tell Hexchat to wait longer before joining channels on server connect using the /set irc_join_delay X command, where X is the number of seconds Hexchat will wait before joining channels. Setting this to something like 10 seconds helps if you're using automatic channels. This will ensure that your vhost is displayed in all channels.

Ghosts

Let's face it, sometimes shit happens. Sometimes your internet connection will randomly decide to die on you. Sometimes your laptop's battery might run out, sometimes your IRC client will crash, sometimes you might accidentally close a window. There are many reasons one might suddenly find themselves accidentally disconnected from the IRC. The problem is that unless someone signs off in "an orderly fashion", the server will not actually realize they are gone. Think of it like somebody who puts down a phone and walks away, but without hanging up the call. Or like when your computer crashes without shutting down the correct way. In these circumstances, the IRC server does not realize you're gone, and assumes your nick is still connected. This situation remains until the next time the IRC pings your nick and gets no response ('ping timeout').

This can take a while though, and very often the person who has disconnected, will manage to get themselves back online before the server has time to realize they ever left in the first place. When this happens, the user's nick is already in use, so the server will assign them a new one (usually just by adding a _ to the end, so if JohnDoe tries to connect when there is already a JohnDoe connected, they will be signed on as JohnDoe_. The problem with this, of course, is that just like an un-identified nick, these nicks have no modes, no vHosts, no access levels because the "ghost" of the nick is still occupying them.

To force the dead session to disconnect and replace its nick with yours :

/msg nickserv GHOST nickname password

Where password is the pass to the original nick. This would, in this example, disconnect JohnDoe

And then you would type /nick JohnDoe followed by /msg nickserv identify yourpassword (or /ns identify yourpassword). When this happens, you will probably see something like this in the channel :

JohnDoe left the chat room (GHOST command used by JohnDoe_)
JohnDoe_ is now known as JohnDoe.

It is very important to do this as quickly as possible when re-connecting, as you will be locked out of your vHost until you have done this. (You have 60 seconds to do this.)

Invite-only channels (mode +i)

Some channels, for various reasons, are invite-only. Commonly this is because the channel has a very specific purpose and only users who have a specific job in the channel can access it - for example, there are private channels for operators and users who don't want their business to be public. Sometimes, a channel will also be set to +i if it is being invaded or flooded by bots or trolls.

If a channel is +i, you will not be able to join it using /join. You will simply get an error message telling you that the channel is invite only. However, if you are an operator yourself, or are on the invite exception list, you can force the server to let you in.

To do this, you send a message to another bot called ChanServ, which is not covered in this guide as in general only more advanced users will ever need to use it. However, to request an invite, type /msg chanserv INVITE #channel, where #channel is the channel you are trying to connect to. It is important to include the # at the start of the channel name, or ChanServ won't recognize it.

If you are on the list, you will then get a message asking you if you would like to join the channel. Otherwise, chanserv will tell you that you do not have permission. If you are NOT on the invite or operator list for a channel, but you feel you should be allowed in to it anyway, you can type /knock message, where message is your message to the channel admins. So for instance, if there was a channel called #brits only for British people, and you didn't have access, you could type /knock #brits Hey, I'm British, let me in! This will send a message to the channel admins, and cause your message to appear in the channel. The admins will then (if they decide to let you in), send you an invite just like chanserv does. You will receive the same message you would receive from chanserv asking you if you would like to join the channel.

NOTE: Knocking on a channel 10 times in a row is not going to amuse anyone. In all likelihood, it will actually make it almost certain that you will NOT be invited into the channel. If you receive no invite it either means the admins are not active at that time, or have decided for whatever reason not to invite you. If it does happen, you could maybe try again later, but don't knock 10 times in one minute, this is more likely to get you banned.

If no one replies to your knock, another option you have is to type /msg chanserv INFO #channel, where #channel is the name of the channel (again, include the # or chanserv will ignore your message). This will tell you what the channel is for, and who created it. You could then message the room founder and ask for access, but this is generally not recommended unless it is extremely urgent.

For information about Chanserv and it's uses for registering and administrating channels see the main services tutorial at https://anonops.com/services.html.