IRC Channel OP Help
Internet Relay Chat is a mechanism for hosting live chat rooms over the Internet. It has been the largest chat system since its inception, hosting more than half a million channels for live chats around the world. All IRC client software is capable of creating new chat channels, which provides the creator with additional controls to manage the chat.
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About IRC and Operators
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Each chat room in IRC is called a channel, and each channel has one or more operators. The channel operator has access to commands that control the conversation, centering on the ability to block or ban chat members who may be disrupting the conversation.
Creating a Channel
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The same command is used to create a channel or to join an existing channel. All IRC commands begin with a "/" character followed by a keyword, while all chat channels begin with the "#" character. The command to join an existing channel is the following on a separate line:
/join #channelname
Create a new chat channel by using a channel name that is not already in use.
/join #newchannelname
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Managing Users
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Because IRC hosts so many channels and simultaneous users, it is common for people to join channels with no intention of contributing to a useful conversation. In a real-time chat, this can be disruptive to legitimate members of the chat channel. Every user of an IRC channel chooses a nickname when joining a channel, and the channel operator can drop someone from the channel with the kick command:
/kick nickname [optional reason]
The reason, if included in the kick command, will be displayed to the dropped user and other members of the chat. Kicked users are able to immediately rejoin the channel under a different nickname, so a ban command can be used to permanently block them from the channel. Use the whois command to determine the user's username and host address, which cannot be changed:
/whois nickname
Then issue the ban command, which is an option of the mode command that controls the channel, followed by the kick command:
/mode #newchannelname +b nick!user@host
/kick nickname [optional reason]
Consider Joining Instead
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The IRC operator commands are complex and require experience to master. It is common for new operators to accidentally disconnect themselves from their channel, which leaves the channel with no operator. IRC documentation recommends that new IRC users learn to use existing channels before experimenting with creating new channels.
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