IRC Guide
From Seed
1. Downloading an IRC client. Some people may prefer their uber l33t scripts or various other makeover clients, but in this guide, I've decided to keep it clean and simple.
First off, you can go to The mIRC Website and download their client. It's shareware and after 30 days, it'll only beg you to register a copy, not force you to.
2. Installing and running. Installing mIRC is pretty simple. Open up the self-extracting .exe file, or compile the linux version if that's what you're using (however, I'm not going to supply you with a step by step guide to compiling linux programs. I expect you guys have the brains required to do that...). Select a directory for installation (default: c:\mirc\) and press Install.
Once mIRC is done installing, you can chose to launch it right away. Do that, as it'll save you a few precious seconds!
3. Joining the Seed channel. Write in some information in the popup box that shows when you run mIRC, such as Full Name and Email. Those two are not important though, but you do need to fill them out with -some- kind of information nonetheless. The only really important thing is your Nickname.
Click OK, and write /server irc.seedthegame.com (or click this link: Seed IRC) in the chat bar, and watch as the client connects to the server (firewall notice: IRC uses port 6667; make sure your software / router firewall is set to allow traffic on this port, or you will not be able to connect).
Once it's beeped at you and you're on the server, a popup box will show up, allowing you to join a channel. In here, you can type #Seed and press join. If you decide not to have this box pop up in the future, join the channel by typing /join #seed in the chat bar.
4. Talking and enjoying yourself. Once you're on the channel, the current topic will be shown to you (make sure to always read this, as people usually get mad at you if you don't, and start asking just the questions that the topic answers). Now it's just about chatting away. :)
The people with @ in front of their name, in the box on the right, are channel operators, and if you have questions, they definitely can help you, but be sure to ask the channel first. Many people don't like if you PM them without asking for permission first.
5. When in mIRC. mIRC has some funny commands once you're in. One of them is using colors (Some people don't like this, so make sure you don't annoy anyone with colors).
If you press Ctrl+K while having the chatbox active, you produce a small square and a color selector pops open. To change the font color, enter []xText here, where x represents one of the numbers in the color boxes. If you wish to change the background color, add a comma after the first number and add another; []x,xText here.
Using Ctrl+B, it is possible to create a square that gives you bold text. It can be inserted anywhere in the text, and you end the bold text mode by adding another Ctrl+B square. So, Hello []luu[]. produces "<YourNick> Hello luu."
With Ctrl+R you can reverse the black and white colors that are standard in mIRC, and instead have a white text on a black background. All in all a pretty useless feature, but it's there nonetheless.
A smart feature to have in mIRC is the highlighting feature. In the options box (Alt+O), find the IRC->Highlight tab. Press Add, and write "$me" (no quotes) in the box, and change whatever additional settings you like. Color makes the text containing your name turn into a different color, and the Sound adds a sound that gets played whenever you're highlighted. You can add whatever words you wish to have highlighted (only one word at a time though).
