XChat Tutorial

XChat is a free and open-source chat client for Windows and Linux machines. This tutorial will help you in setting up XChat on your computer.

1. Downloading

Linux users with an rpm based distro (such as Fedora or Mandriva) can download XChat from the official website.

Ubuntu (or similar) users should run one of the following commands at a terminal to automate the process:

sudo apt-get install xchat

sudo apt-get install xchat-gnome

An alternative to sudo is su root

In spite of being open-source, the Windows version of XChat, which is freely available on the official site, is trial purpose only and expires after 30 days of use. A fully functional version of XChat for Windows is available at http://www.silverex.org/download/.

2. Installation

Windows users can start the installation by running the downloaded executable. The installation for most part is straightforward, except for a few options you can safely deselect at the Select Components screen, namely:

• Scripting Plugins - You won't need these unless you plan to automate some tasks with Perl, Tcl or Ruby.
• Interface Translations - You will only need these if you intend to see the interface in languages other than English.

So, the installation window at the Select Components stage would look like the following:

Every other screen is self-explanatory.

3. Configuration

By this point, XChat has been installed on the computer. Now we need to configure XChat so that it can connect to the synIRC network properly.

Start XChat. You will see a screen similar to the one shown below:

Now, fill the User Information boxes. The nick name is the identifier by which you will be known on IRC. Second and third choices are necessary since XChat will attempt to sign in using them in case the nick name is already in use. This can happen if someone is already using that nick name, or if your computer got disconnected from the internet while you were chatting. If you don't feel comfortable with sharing your real name online, leave the box blank. The window at this point will resemble the following screenshot:

What we need now is to create a shortcut to the synIRC network, which will be used each time you connect to IRC using XChat. In order to do that, click the Add button next to the Networks list, and enter synIRC as the label to the list item. This is customizable; if you feel Smogon is more appropriate or helps you remember easily, use that. Then click the Edit button next to the Networks list. This will bring up another window, similar to the screenshot below:

Click the list item saying "newserver/6667", and enter irc.synirc.net/6667. The "irc.synirc.net" part is the server you are connecting to, and 6667 is the port to which you will be connecting. You will be required to register your nick name, so that no one else is able to use it, so enter a password under Nickserv password if you have one in mind. You can also enter #smogon and #stark under Channels to join if you intend to join us as soon as you connect to synIRC. The dialog box will resemble the following screenshot by this point:

If you intend to log on over an encrypted connection (i.e. SSL), enter 7777 for the port instead of 6667, and check the checkboxes saying Use SSL for all the servers on this network and Accept invalid SSL certificate. Please remember to check the latter, or you will get an error similar to this one:

For users opting for SSL, the Edit Network dialog box will look now like this:

4. Connecting

Great! Now we have a properly configured chat client for chatting in Smogon's IRC channels! Let's connect to the server now. Click Close on the Edit Network dialog box, and click Connect on the network selection screen. You will see a lot of text fly by the screen. Unless you see a sentence in red at the end of the text, this is a fair indication that you have been logged onto the network.

The next thing to be done is to get the nick name registered with NickServ. You will not be able to join #smogon or #stark until you've registered your nick name. In order to do that, however, you will need to wait for 30 seconds, since synIRC requires a user to be logged on for at least 30 seconds in order to register his nick name.

After you have waited for 30 seconds, enter the following in the textbox next to your nick name: /ns register password email@host.com

Replace password with your intended password and email@host.com with your email address. The latter must be a valid address, as you will receive an activation key. will be useful should you forget your password someday. If you specified a password at the Edit Network screen, take care to choose that as the password, or you will have to edit it again. Nickserv will respond with something like:

-NickServ- A passcode has been sent to you@youremail.com, please type /msg NickServ confirm  to complete registration

You will then need to check your email inbox and look for the activation key that was sent to you. Type /msg nickserv confirm , as nickserv prompted you to, and something like this should appear:

-NickServ- Nickname bigchaos registered.
-NickServ- Your password is dragonballz - remember this for later use.

Congratulations! You have registered yourself on the synIRC IRC network. All you have to do now is choose which channels you wish to join. /j #smogon will take you to the #smogon channel, and likewise /j #stark allows you to chat in #stark. We recommend you join both to see what our community is all about!

Enjoy your time and remember the rules!