Support

This list of frequently asked questions has answers for the most common problems and queries. If you can't find the answer to your question here, please post a message on the forums.

New users

1. What is IRC?
   
   IRC (short for Internet Relay Chat) is a realtime chat protocol - it allows anyone who has an Internet connection to chat with other people from all over the world.
   PsychNation uses IRC to provide the chat service, allowing anyone to start chatting or create their own chat room. IRC offers many configuration and security features which allows chatters to protect themselves and their chat rooms from abusive users.
2. How do I change my name?
   
   Type /nick newnick
3. How do I join a channel?
   
   Type /join #channel
   If you want to start your own channel, you can start your own room just by joining it!
4. How do I list all of the channels on the network?
   
   Just type /list into any window, and a new window should pop up that tells you how many channels there are, the channel names, the topics, what modes are set, and how many people are in each.
5. Can I make my own channel?
   
   Yes! To create your own channel, as you need to do is join the channel you want to create by using /join #channel. From there you can register it (as long as your nickname is registered), invite your friends, and even get your own bot!
   NOTE: There is no fee or special permissions to create a channel. All channels must follow the network rules, which can be found at: http://psychnation.net/about/rules.php
6. How do I do an action? (or) How do I make that purple text?
   
   Type /me action
   Actions are usually done in the third person.
   Ex: /me dives into a swimming pool
   Would show up as:
   * Muffin dives into a swimming pool
7. How do I say something to another user that no one else can see?
   
   You can either send them a query (personal message) or a notice. /query <nick> <message> (or) /msg <nick> <message>
   Or you can send them a notice. /notice <nick> <message>
   NOTE: Queries and messages will open in a new window, and notices wont.
8. How do I have a personal quit message when I disconnect?
   
   Type: /quit message.
   Or if you're using mIRC and you want the same message every time you disconnect, you can go into Tools > Options > IRC > Messages > and then type your message into the box labelled, "Quit Message."
9. How do I set myself as 'away'?
   
   Just type /away away message goes here
   If you have mIRC, or another IRC client that allows you to add your own scripts, it's possible to have an away script that displays your away message in channels, displays what time you left, or even notices people that set off your highlights.
10. What is the whois command, and how do I use it?
    
    The whois command tells a person your nick, hostname and what channels you are on. Just type /whois nick-here
    

Connection issues

1. I have been banned from the network; what did I do?
   
   If you break a network rule, you may be banned from the network by one of the members of Staff. The reason for the ban is usually located in the ban message. If you are still unsure of why you were banned or wish to contest the ban, please post a message in the support section of the forums.
2. Why do I get the message "session limit exceeded"?
   
   Session limiting means that only a certain number of connections can originate from the one IP address. Each computer in the world has a unique IP address, and the PsychNation chat service allows only three connections from each address. If you try to connect more than three times, you will be disconnected from the server.
   If you require a higher session limit than three, please post a message justifying the requirement on the support section of the forums.
3. What does the message "Connection reset by peer", "ping timeout" or "software caused connection abort" mean?
   
   These messages mean that the server has lost communication with the client, and the client has been disconnected. An IRC server accepts connections from clients (the chatters). The clients remain connected to the server until they decide to quit. However, every now and then the client's Internet connection may drop out, or the transmission of data may get interrupted. The IRC server checks for these drop outs by sending a 'ping' to each client every few minutes. If the client does not reply to a ping within a certain amount of time, the server disconnects them with the 'ping timeout' message.
4. Do you allow connections via IPv6?
   
   Yes, our hub server listens on an IPv6 address. You can connect to irc6.psychnation.net.

Nicknames

1. How do I register my nickname?
   
   Registering your nickname will prevent anyone else from using it. If you already have an account on this Web site, then you have a registered nickname. You can register an account here.
2. How do I set a greet message for my nickname?
   
   /msg nickserv set greet message
3. What does it mean to group my nicknames? How do I do it?
   
   To group your nickname means to make it join the group of another nickname. If your nicks are grouped, you don't have to identify when you change between them, and your access is the same for all of them.  All nicknames in a group have the same password.
   /msg NickServ group <nick> <pass>
4. How do I list all of the nicknames in my group?
   
   /msg NickServ glist
5. How do I identify to my nickname?
   
   Type in any window /msg NickServ identify password (TIP: Some people type commands containing their passwords into their status window, in case they make a typo so they don't reveal their password!)
   Example: /msg NickServ identify bobrules
   You must be using the nickname you're trying to identify to.
6. What does it mean to drop a nickname, and how do I do it?
   
   To drop a nickname means to un-register it. When you drop your nickname, anyone will be able to use it or register it, and you will lose all access associated with that nickname (unless it was grouped to another nickname, then the access would be transferred to the still-registered nickname.)
   /msg NickServ drop
   (TIP: You must be using the nickname you want to drop!)
7. Someone's using my nickname! How do I make them stop?
   
   Type /msg NickServ ghost Nickname Password
   You can also set protections on your nickname so that anyone using it will have to identify within a certain amount of time before NickServ changes it  for them. To do this, type /msg NickServ set secure on
   To reverse this effect, type /msg NickServ set secure off
8. Can I associate a URL with my nickname? an email? an ICQ number?
   
   For a URL: /msg NickServ set URL <url>
   For an email: /msg NickServ set email <address>
   for an ICQ number: /msg NickServ set ICQ <number>
   (TIP: If you set these, they can be viewed when a user requests your NickServ info using the /msg NickServ info command.)

Channels

1. How do I kick someone from my channel?
   
   /kick channel nickname :message
   You may also have an irc client that has that option already. If you right click on the nickname there may be the option to kick that user.
   NOTE: you must have at least halfop status to be able to kick a user.
2. How do I ban someone from my channel?
   
   /mode #channel-name +b *!*@host.com
   the "*!*@host.com" is the user's host, is can be found by using the /whois command. You can also use !kb <nick> if you have a botserv bot in your channel and have the appropriate access level.
   Examples: /mode #bobfun +b *!*@bobsbrother.lame
   There are other types of bans you can use in your channel, such as a silence ban, or a nick ban, or a ban on people who are in another channel.
   To do a silence ban, you type /mode #channel +b ~q:*!*@host.com
   To do a nick ban, you type /mode #channel +b ~n:*!*@host.com
   For the channel one, you type /mode #channel +b ~c:#channel
   A ban is in the format nick!ident@host.com
   If you want to ban a person's ident, (The part before the @ in their hostname) you would use *!ident@*, but if you want to ban just their nickname (Which isn't recommended, as it is the most easily evadable ban you can set) you would use nick!*@*
   You can also ban by a combination of nick, ident or host, and to do that you would omit the asterisk and replace it with their nick, ident, or host.
3. How do I remove a ban from my channel?
   
   Type: /mode #channel -b *!*@host
   You can also use their nickname, or double click on the channel (to view the ban list), right click on the ban you want to remove, and click 'remove ban.'
4. How do I make my channel secret?
   
   Type /mode #channel +s
   Setting your channel as secret hides it from the channel list (/list to view) and hides it from a user's /whois.
   NOTE: IRCops can still see channels that are secret.
5. How do I make my channel private?
   
   Type /mode #channel +p
6. How do I set a password for my channel?
   
   /mode #channel +k password
   No one will know the channel password except people who you tell it to. (So no one who doesn't know that password will be able to get in!)
   You can always change your channel password by using the same syntax as above.

Bots

1. What is a bot?
   
   A bot, short for robot, is a computer program which connects to the chat service. It looks just like any normal user, but responds automatically to set commands or events.
2. How do I put a bot in my room?
   
   In the channel type /msg BotServ botlist (to get a list of all available bots, if you want a personalized bot you can contact a PN administrator) and then type /msg BotServ assign #channel-name Botname
   EXAMPLE: /msg BotServ assign #bob operator
   

Miscellaneous

1. How do I become a helper?
   
   To become a helper you must first and foremost be an active and generally well behaved user with some experience using IRC. You will be referred to the Head of Helpers (Cupcake/Jackie)  who will proceed to decide if you're a suitable candidate to become a helper.
   You might also be referred to the helper application, which can be found under the control panel of this website. (Under the 'General' category) or: http://psychnation.net/dev/panel/helperapp.php
   
2. How do I become a staff member?
   
   You can't just walk into Central Chat and expect to be a staff member, if there is a user out there that we feel will be a great asset to the team we may ask you, but generally this privilege is given to the Helpers that do an exceptional job.  Don't expect to just randomly walk in and think Greg will give you an oline or such, if you do this will seriously hurt your chances of ever getting even a helper position, SO DON'T ASK. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!
3. Is PN interested in linking servers?
   
   Sorry, no. We have enough servers to support our current usercount and are not interested in merging with another network.
4. Barry is so annoying, why don't you get rid of him?
   
   Barry is used to keep track of stats in #chat, as well as informing the channel when a user has joined. If you find him that annoying, /ignore barry would be your best option.
5. Why does StatServ ctcp VERSION me when I connect?
   
   You get versioned because StatServ collects information for the server, basically for the stats of all of Central Chat, tells us how many users are on, were on, the most active times, what client is most common, etc. It's nothing to worry about.
6. Can I make services notice me instead of sending me a PM? vice versa?
   
   Yes, you can. /msg nickserv set msg off (if you want them to notice you) or /msg nickserv set msg on (if you want them to PM you)

mIRC

1. Where do I download mIRC?
   
   http://www.mirc.com/get.html
2. Okay I downloaded mIRC and now it says i have a 30 day free trial, do I have to start paying once the 30 days is up?
   
   No, you don't have to pay for anything, it's not like it gives you much other than registering your mIRC, the most that'll happen is a few extra seconds of loading time. But other than that enjoy chatting with us for free.
3. I'm tired of having to enter all of the channel names once I join a server, what can i do to make this easier?
   
   First click the little icon that looks like a hammer or go to to "Tools > Options"  on the Connect Category go to options and then click the icon that says "Perform" add whichever network you wish to perform commands on and then just start adding in commands such as
   
   /Join #chat
   or
   /msg nickserv identify bob
   
   Whatever commands and such you do on IRC you can pretty much put here.
4. I like to keep information on IRC logged for future reference, how do i do this?
   
   Okay first go to the options menu either by clicking the icon on your taskbar that looks like a hammer or going to "Tools > Options" Scroll to the IRC category and click on "Logging" then just choose on "Automatically log" To log your chats or channels or both and also to be sure you do the same with "Reload logs" and if you choose click "Timestamp logs" near the middle and once you're done with all of that click "Okay"