Join a Channel

Once you have connected to an IRC Server, you can join a channel to talk to other people. There are several ways to join a channel. Each is explained below.

The Favorites Folder

The easiest way to join a channel is through the favorites folder where you can store a list of your favorite channels. mIRC automatically pops up this folder the moment you connect to an IRC Server. You can join one of the listed channels by selecting it and clicking the Join button.

You can also view the favorites folder by clicking on the favorites folder button in the toolbar.

The Channels List

Another way to join a channel is to retrieve the list of currently active channels by using the List Channels dialog. You can view the List Channels dialog by clicking on the List Channels button in the toolbar.

To retrieve the entire channels list, you can click on the Get List button. The list can be quite long, often thousands of channels, so it can take several minutes to retrieve it. mIRC will save this list once you have retrieved it, so if you wish to view it again later you can just click on the Apply button. However, if you want an updated list you will need to retrieve it again.

If you click your right mouse button in the channels list window, a popup menu with various options will appear.

Note: You can also specify a filename for the channels list which can be useful if you regularly visit different IRC networks.

The /join Command

The format of the /join command, which is a Basic IRC Command, is /join #channel where #channel is the name of the channel you want to join. So if you wanted to join channel #mIRC, you would type /join #mIRC and press enter, and a moment later the #mIRC window will open indicating that you have joined it.

Creating a new channel

You can create a new channel if it doesn't already exist just by joining it. So, let's say you want to create a channel called #bubbles, you would just type /join #bubbles, and if it doesn't exist it will be created for you. If it does exist, you will just join it as usual.

Talking on a channel

You can talk to other people by typing in a message and pressing the enter key. Your message will be sent to the channel and everyone on the channel will see it. A good first message is just to say hello to everyone with a smiley face :)

The listbox on the side of the channel window lists all of the people who are currently on that channel. If you click your right mouse button in the listbox, a popup menu with various options will appear.

Popup menus are actually used everywhere in mIRC, you can even click your right mouse button in the status window, or in the channel window itself, and a different popup menu will appear. These popup menus are configurable, you can change them in the Popups dialog to perform whatever functions you require.

Leaving a channel

You can leave a channel by clicking it's window's close button, or you can use the /part command, which is another Basic IRC command similar to /join. The format of the /part command is /part #channel where #channel is the name of the channel you want to leave. If you type /part without a channel name and press enter, you will part the current channel.

Hint: you can click the top left corner button/icon in any window in mIRC to view the System menu which contains useful features.