irc

#microformats on freenode

The microformats channel is hosted on the freenode.net server. See Joining a server and channel help for further information.

The idea of having IRC meetups (a set time for a meeting on IRC) has been suggested by Ryan King, as it appears to work well for the WordPress community and may help us from time-to-time. As of yet, there are no plans to have meetups.

Logs

<a href="http://rbach.priv.at/Microformats-IRC/">IRC Logs</a> are available, as well as an <a href="http://microformat.makedatamakesense.com/log_feed/">atom feed</a> to keep you up to date.

People on IRC

See our list of IRC regulars and their normal timezones.

Our channel has regular admins, who are also mailing list and wiki admins. If you want to get their attention, just say "adminhelp".

Bots on IRC

The IRC channel uses these bots:

• mfbot - logs all edits to this wiki.
• mflogbot - logs the irc channel itself to archives on the web. (Contact: Robert Bachmann)
• jibot

Greeting Bot

To display a brief description of who you are each time you join the channel, you can use “JiBot” to create a definition for your username. To do so pass the ?def command using something like the following convention (be brief):

?def jdoe is John Doe and can be found online at http://www.example.com

More information about using JiBot commands can be found on the jibot website

Getting started with IRC

Basic commands

Please note: These directions relate specifically to the services that Freenode offers. Other IRC servers may differ with the services they offer and how to operate them.

Joining a server and channel

Most clients will offer you a connection dialogue showing the required fields for connection. The details to connect to the server are:

• Server: irc.freenode.net
• Port: 6667 (usually default)

You should also fill in any fields to set your alias, real name and email address. If available, save these settings for later to speed up connecting in future.

More on setting a password protected alias can be read here.

Once connected, you will most likely be presented with the "MOTD" (message of the day). For the first visit, it is advisable to read this to find out about the server's policies and other important pieces of news and help, otherwise it can be ignored and you can either authenticate your alias or join a channel.

Your client may display to you a listing of all available channels. Locate #microformats and select to join, or type /join #microformats into the command line available to you in your client (where you've just been shown your connection).

Assuming you've connected correctly, you should now find youself in the microformats channel!

More detailed, but general, advice can be read here.

Creating a registered nickname

Registration means that a password becomes associated with your alias/nickname/sign-in name and from the point of registration authorisation is required to communicate using that alias.

Registration of a nickname is required for some channels, and should be done to protect your identity.

To register with Freenode, you must communicate with their service known as NickServ. The two basic command you will need to get started are:

For registration: /msg nickserv register password

For authentication (login): /msg nickserv identify password

With password being a value of your choice. You can also associate an email address with your nickname, which is optional, but advisable, should you want to request a password retrieval:

To add your email address: /msg nickserv set email email

Where email is your email address.

Your client may offer you an option to set your alias and password, so that you will not have to manually enter this information on each join. Refer to your client's help files for more on this.

These commands can be typed directly into the server window upon join, or whilst in a channel, just as you would normally send a message.

More detailed user registration command information can be found in Freenode's FAQ

Communicating

Sending a message to a channel may be as simple as joining the channel and typing into the window, just as you would with an Instant Messenger. You can refer to your client's help files for quicker/alternative methods of doing the following. For all clients the following commands are available (the parts in bold must be used, but are not seen by others):

Sending a message to the entire channel you are currently in:

Command: /msg Hello world!

Result: <Bill> Hello world!

Sending an action/emotive/3rd person statement:

Command: /me dances a code jig

Result: Bill dances a code jig

Sending a message to one person only (private chat):

Command: /msg Bob Hi, would you like to code jig?

Result (for Bob only): <Bill> Hi, would you like to code jig?

Clients

The following clients are recommended by #microformats participants:

Windows

• mIRC — Popular Windows client. Trial version only.
• X-Chat — Popular cross-platform client. Free Windows version available.
• AdiIRC — Simple C# based IRC client.
• Miranda — Lightweight, muti-protocol instant messenger.

Mac

• Colloquy — open source, free
• Fire — open source, free
• Snak
• X-Chat Aqua — X11 based IRC chat
  • now has PortableApps version — MacUpdate link
• Conversation
• Minerva
• Xirc

Cross-platform

• Chatzilla — Cross-platform IRC extension for Firefox
• Pidgin — Popular open-source multi-protocol windows client, using libpurple
• Irssi — Unix client, often run from a shell, sometimes in conjunction with 'screen'.
• jIRCii

IRC and microformats

hCard

How do we maintain info about ircing in our hCards (nick, network, fav-channels?)?

Related discussions

• chat chat examples, chat formats, and chat brainstorming

See also

• irc-meetups
• Other discussion fora