Help With Your Nickname

The simple "nickname" or "nick" on IRC defines who you are. Some people go for a simple nickname such as their name, whereas others prefer elaborate, clever or downright silly nicknames. Of course there will always be people who use rude or offensive nicknames as well, however here on AustChat we prefer people not use such nicknames and they will be asked to change them upon connecting to our network. Those who don't co-operate are removed from the network until they do change it.

With the help of Services, you can now register your nickname and prevent others from using it, in essence you can "own" your own nickname/s and unless you have the password, not be able to use a nickname registered by another person. Years ago, before Services type programs were available on IRC, having the use of a nickname was on a first come first served basis.

The ownership of a particular nickname could have evoked arguments and even "nickname wars" with the loser having to choose another nickname, or wait to steal the nickname when the other person disconnected. This lead to the technique of "flooding" whereas a person using the nickname in question was flooded with internet traffic until their computer could not keep up with the flood of incomming data and would disconnect, leaving the nickname free for the other person to take. This also lead to the creation of bots which would stay online 24/7 and keep a persons nickname whilst they were offline to stop others from stealing it.

Changing your nickname....

Deciding which nickname to use is the hard part, actually changing your nickname is easy, it involves using the /nick command as shown below:

To change your nickname to "John" type: /nick John

You should now see the message * Your nick is now John

You have now changed your nickname, to register your nickname with services type the following command:

   /nickserv register mypassword my@email

NOTE: Make sure you substitute "mypassword" for your own password and "my@email" for your email address.

Identifying yourself to use a registered nickname...

Once your nickname is registered you need to "Identify" yourself to NickServ with your password every time you connect. This is done so that NickServ knows you are who you say you are and will permit you to use your nickname. If you do not identify within 60 seconds of connecting with or changing to a registered nickname it will change your nickname for you!

To identify to NickServ type: /nickserv identify mypassword

Of course subsitute your own password for mypassword, you will then be identified to NickServ and be able to continue to use your nickname as normal. Being registered and identified to NickServ also allows you to do other functions such as register rooms and send memos etc.