IRC or "Internet Relay Chat" is a form of real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfers via Direct Client-to-Client.

The client you use is largely a matter of preference.  We have provided a pre-configured version of Vortec IRC that is probably the simplest and most accessible for most users.  However, there are other options, such as ChatZilla, which integrates itself into Firefox, as well as Pidgin and Trillian, which are useful if you want to use multiple messaging and chat protocols such as AIM, MSN, and others along with IRC.

Individual clients will be set up in different ways.  Taking the information from the main chat page, you have - Server: chat.walleforum.de:7000, Channel: #WALL-E.  These are the main two pieces of information you will need to connect.  In your IRC client preferences (usually Edit -> Preferences, Tools -> Options, or File -> Options/Prefences) find the spot for server and enter chat.walleforum.de:7000 (if there is a spot for "port" in your setup, leave off the :7000 and put 7000 in the port setting).  Now you can either connect to that server and type /join #WALL-E Forum, or you can find your "auto-connect" settings.  These are usually labelled as "List" or "Startup" commands.  If you find the appropriate portion of the settings, simply add /join #WALL-E to the list and you should auto-connect to the channel on start of your IRC Client.  You can also add other things to the startup commands, such as your password if you have a registered nick (discussed later).  If you are using the WALL-E Forum Vortec Client most of this will be set up for you already.

While Mibbit is useful if you are unable to install an IRC Client on your system (perhaps due to lack of Administrator privileges) or if you just aren't good with all this technical mumbo-jumbo, it's also not very safe compared to connecting directly via your very own client.  We make no judgments about the quality of hosting, privacy, etc. on Mibbit, but you should be aware that you are going through a third-party, and information will be stored on their servers.  If you are willing to take the risk we are allowing Mibbit for the time-being, although this is subject to change in the future.

Yes.  First you must sign up for a Mibbit account on this page.  Click Register and enter a username and password (note that you may be asked to enter an email address and confirm it).  Once you have an account, return to the main page and click on Account.  Note the place for information near the bottom of this page (Server, Nick, Pass, etc.)  Enter "chat.walleforum.de:7000" in the Server portion, enter your desired username in the Nick section, and enter a password if you are using a registered Nick.  Leave the next two drop-down boxes alone, and click Add.  Next, click "Channels".  Enter "chat.walleforum.de:7000" under Server, "#WALL-E" under Channels, and put a check in the box for auto-connect.  Finally, click Add.  You should now automatically connect and authenticate when you open Mibbit.

As you may or may not have noticed, Flash Chat used lots of resources.  It was constantly pulling information and putting it back out, resulting in a slow chat that became nearly unbearable when the user load got past a certain point.  IRC not only offers a diverse set of options for accessing the chat, it also offers a vastly superior speed and usability.

As you may have noted, even when the FlashChat was well-known throughout the forum people still preferred to chat on the forum.  While we may have special occassions and others may prefer to idle in chat, this certainly isn't going to kill the forum.  Besides, there is a lot we can do on the forum that we cannot do in chat, and vice versa.

Locutus is responsible for maintaining our IRC Server.  If you have issues please contact him via PM on WALL-E Forum, or feel free to write to the forum admin at MidgardDragon@gmail.com

Type /nickserv register (password) where password, minus the parentheses, is the password you want on the account.  There may be shortcuts for this (such as /identify (password)) depending upon your IRC client.  Be warned that you will have to enter your password (/pass (password)) upon logging in with that nick from then on out.  Instructions for automating password identification are below.

You can automate this in the auto-connect/command/list options depending upon your IRC Client.  In the same place where you may have entered "/join #WALL-E" in order for the chat to auto-connect, you can also enter "/pass (password)".  Be advised that it is best to have your password authentication before the channel join command.

The best way to get up to speed on all IRC commands is to type /help or /commands, depending upon your client.  In some clients you can get a full list of  commands simply by typing /commands.  In others (such as Mibbit) your best bet is to type /help.  You can also access help on specific commands by typing /(command) help without the parentheses where command is the name of the command you want more info on (for example /nickserv help).

Locutus is responsible for the WALL-E Forum Vortec IRC Client.  Cri86 and maniaQ are responsible for the images on this page and the main IRC page, not counting the banners.