What is Xchat?

Xchat is an IRC client for UNIX operating systems. I.R.C. is Internet Relay Chat, see http://irchelp.org for more information about IRC in general. Xchat runs on most BSD and POSIX compliant operating systems, and has been reported to work on, at least:

• Linux • FreeBSD • NetBSD • OpenBSD • Solaris • AIX • IRIX • DEC/Compaq Tru64 UNIX • HP-UX 10.20 and 11 • MacOS X • Windows 9x/NT

Xchat is a graphical IRC client. It runs under the X Window System and uses the GTK+ toolkit. Optionally it can be compiled to use Gnome.

For this Guide I will be using the Windows port of XChat, but the features are the same across the board.

Getting Started

Firstly, you will need to go to http://www.xchat.org and download the latest version of the client for the operating system you are using. These are generally updated quite often, so it’s best to check back fairly regularly.
Download and install the latest version, as advised by the website. Now you can begin.

After install, start the program (under Windows, by double clicking the desktop icon the installer creates or by selecting XChat from the Start menu). The program will then bring up its default dialogue box asking for you to enter various details. Your Nick (the alias you wish to use online) will automatically be filled by your username if you use XP, as can be seen here. Change these details if you wish. Don’t worry, you can change your nickname at any time, as explained later.



Since planetia isn’t included in XChat’s default list of IRC servers, you must add it yourself. Use the “Edit Mode” tickbox on the bottom left to enter, unsurprisingly, edit mode.
This changes the dialogue box to look like the one shown below.



On the “Networks” tab on the left, click “Add”. This creates a blank server for you to fill in with the details for Planetia.
Single clicking on the various names will allow you to edit the names inside. Change the Network name (in the Networks panel on the left) to “Planetia”, and change the server (in the servers tab on the right hand side) to “irc.planetia.net”, as below.



There are a few more options to configure from here, though they are not essential. If you already know which channels you will need to join (for alliance purposes, etc) list them in the “Join Channels” text box, separated by single commas with no spaces, as below:

#planetia,#planetia-radio,#speedround

If you don’t want the startup dialogue to appear again, and for the client to just log you straight in to PlanetiaIRC, tick the “No Server List on Startup” box, in the middle above the “Connect” button.

All set? Let’s connect. Hit the large Connect button at the bottom of the dialogue box.


Using XChat Online:



After pressing connect, wait for the end of the /MOTD (Message Of The Day) command, which is generally the last thing to be sent when you log on to a server. The above screen is what you will see if you didn’t enter any channels to join in the “Join Channels” connect dialogue.

So now what?
The best idea is to join the main Planetia channel, since this is where most important announcements will be made, and is the most active public channel on the network.
Type /join #planetia into the chat area (at the bottom of the screen, next to your nick).



Adjust the channel list box on the right to make it a small enough size so you can see the chat area of the screen (the main black area). The channel appears underneath the text entry box at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to talk in more than one channel, by clicking on the name of the channel you want to talk in at the bottom. If you want to change your nickname at any time, either press the button containing your nick (to the left of the text entry box at the bottom of the screen) and enter a new nickname, or type /nick <new nickname>, where <new nickname> is your desired alias.

That’s it! Now you can define your nick (nickname), get online and join a channel. These three are the only real tools you need to chat on IRC.