Connect

Before you can connect to a server and start chatting you will need to enter the following information into the connect dialog.

Nickname

Your nickname is the name by which other people will know you on IRC. There are many people on IRC, so it is possible that someone might already be using the nickname you choose. If that is the case, you should choose a different nickname.

You can also enter an Alternative nickname which will be used if someone is already using your main nickname. If both nicknames are in use, mIRC inserts "/nick" into the status window edit box so that you can enter a new nickname and press the enter key.

Full Name

This is optional. Whatever you enter here is visible to other people on IRC. You should normally not enter your real name. Most people enter a comment.

Email Address

This is optional. You can enter your email address here if you wish.

Server

The server you choose to connect to is the most important factor in determining how quickly and easily you connect. If it is taking a long time to connect to a server, choose a different one and try again.

A server is usually part of an IRC network. All servers that connect to a specific network will have the same users and the same channels.

When adding/editing a server, note that each server requires at least a description, an address, and a port.

An address looks something like "irc.dal.net".

The default port for most servers is 6667. If the server allows connections on different ports, you can enter them separated by commas, eg. 6667,6668,6669 and a port will be selected randomly each time you connect to the server. For secure connections to an SSL capable server, prefix the port with a plus sign, eg. +7001, and to a STARTTLS capable server, prefix the port with a star sign, eg. *7001.

The group is the name of the IRC network to which the server belongs, to allow you to group servers for that network together.

A password is usually not needed, so you should not have to enter anything here.

The login method allows you to use a particular login method, if that is needed by the server you are using. You can also specify a login password. If you need to use SASL, select that as the method and enter your password as either password or username:password. If you need to identify your nickname to NickServ, and you use /nickserv or /msg nickserv on your server, select that as the method.

Note: If you are having problems connecting to an IRC Server, see the Connection Issues section.

New Window

This option allows you to open a new server window so that you can connect to more than one server at a same time. Just check the new window checkbox and click the connect button. The checkbox setting is not remembered and will be turned off the next time you open the connect dialog. To open a new server window without connecting to a server, you can check the new window checkbox and then press the OK button.

Connect

Once you have filled in your details and selected a server, you can click the Connect button to connect to that server.

Hint: If you click your right mouse button on the connect toolbar button, a popup menu will appear that lists the most recently accessed IRC servers. If you press the shift key while selecting a server in the popup menu it will open in a new server window.