= IRC - Internet Relay Chat =
Blinkenshells official IRC chat channel: '''#blinkenshell @ irc.blinkenshell.org, Port 6697 SSL''' (irc://irc.blinkenshell.org:+6697/blinkenshell). The channel is located on Blinkenshells IRC Network [[BlinkenIRC]].

If you do not have an IRC client installed on your computer you can use the [[https://webirc.blinkenshell.org/|Webchat|target=_blank]] to get started.

== New to IRC? ==
IRC is a chat protocol mainly focused on group chats. Blinkenshell has an IRC channel (or room if you prefer) called '''#blinkenshell''' where all members can hang around and chat. All members are required to stop by now and then to show that they are active. You will also have to visit the chat if you want to sign up for a new account here. Most people have their IRC client running all the time, but they might not be actively chatting or they might not even be in front of their computers. If you ask a question in the channel when it's quiet, it might take some time for people to notice and respond. Please leave your IRC window open in the background and wait for a while if no one responds right away.

== IRC Clients ==

If you prefer to use a standalone IRC client take a look at one of these howtos: [[Howto/XChat|XChat/SilverX]], [[Howto/mIRC|mIRC]].

Here are some other common IRC clients:

 * [[https://hexchat.github.io/|HexChat]] - GUI client based on XChat. Free software.
 * [[http://www.mirc.com/|mIRC]] - Popular old IRC client, maybe not be the best anymore. Shareware (free trial 30 days).
 * [[https://quassel-irc.org/about|QuesselIRC]] - Another cross-platform GUI client
 * [[irssi]] - Popular CLI client for UNIX-like OSes. (Also runs on Windows now.)
 * [[http://www.weechat.org|weechat]] - Another CLI client for UNIX-like OSes. Extensible via scripts (ie Perl, Python)
 * [[Howto/TheLounge]] - Web based IRC client
 * More: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients|Comparison of IRC clients on Wikipedia]]

General description on how to connect to Blinkenshells chat:

After starting up your IRC client, try finding some way to connect to a custom server or to add a new network. Our IRC-network is not the most common, so it's probably not in the list of known networks that comes with your IRC-client. Add the server '''irc.blinkenshell.org, Port 6697 with SSL'''. When you are connected to the network, join the channel #blinkenshell and start chatting with us! :)

== #blinkenshell ==

[[Blinkenbot]] is an IRC-bot in the #blinkenshell channel that generates [[http://blinkenbot.blinkenshell.org/index_new.html|channel statistics]] ([[http://cl_iff.blinkenshell.org/chat_links/chat_links.html|Posted URLs]]) and has some [[Blinkenbot|useful commands]] to help users in the signup process.

Blinkenshell members can get autovoice from blinkenbot if they want to, use the signup program to request it.

=== Rules ===
 * No flooding or spamming (in channel or PM)
 * No advertising
 * No auto-rejoin after kick
 * English only please (use #non-english for chat in other languages)
 * Be nice! Don't start flamewars, insult others etc
 * No Trolling or nick jumping
 * No Ban Evasion 

== IRC Related articles ==
 * [[NickServ]] - Protect your nickname with NickServ
 * [[Info/IRC/SASL]] - Authenticating to NickServ using SASL
 * [[Howto/Register_Nickname|Howto: Register nickname with NickServ]] - Step-by-step instructions for how to use NickServ
 * [[Howto/IRC|Howto: IRC with irssi + screen]] - Getting started with irssi and screen
 * [[Info/Bitlbee|Bitlbee]] - Access other instant messaging protocols through IRC
 * [[Blinkenbot]] - Blinkenshells IRC bot

== Notable IRC Networks ==
 * [[BlinkenIRC]] (Blinkenshell)
 * [[IRCnet]]
 * [[EFnet]]
 * [[Undernet]]
 * [[DALnet]]
 * [[Quakenet]]
 * [[rizon]]
 * [[libera]]

== External links ==
 * [[https://webirc.blinkenshell.org/|Webchat]]
 * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC|IRC on Wikipedia]]
 * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IRC_clients|Comparison of IRC clients on Wikipedia]]

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