Help with the Obscure Password Error

Nov 30th

Posted by tengrrl in Explanation

One of the more frustrating errors you can get on GeekShed asks you to use a “more obscure” password. In most cases, when people comes to #help to ask about this error, they have tried a strange and random password, but still get this error:

Please try again with a more obscure password.  Passwords 
should be at least five characters long, should not be something 
easily guessed (e.g. your real name or your nick), and cannot 
contain the space or tab characters.

This error is almost always an indication that the command to register a nick is not being entered correctly. The clue in that error message is that you cannot use your real name or your nick as your password. Be sure that you’re entering the command in this order:

/msg nickserv register supersecretpassword crazyuser@hotmail.com

You do not need to include your nick or real name in the command at all. If you’re looking for information on how to choose a good password, check out the suggestions in How to Protect Your GeekShed Password.

 

—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny

 

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Automatically Voicing Users in Your Channel

Nov 22nd

Posted by tengrrl in Explanation

You can automatically voice all users or all registered users as they join your channel. Some people use this command to help manage their channel. With everyone in the channel voiced, it’s simple to set the channel to moderated (/mode #channel +m) and devoice any troublemakers. Using the setting that voices only registered users can keep trolls and flooders from interrupting your channel.

There are important limitations to note however. Since the Autovoice command voices everyone who joins, someone you devoice can simply part and rejoin the channel to regain voice. It’s generally more effective to ban and kick the person instead.

Here’s how to use the Autovoice command. To voice everyone in the channel: 

/msg chanserv autovoice #channel all

For example: /msg chanserv autovoice #topgear all. In your status window, you’ll see something like this: 

 -ChanServ- Autovoice option for #topgear set to ALL.

For other autovoice options, you change the last word in the command to the setting you’d like, as these examples show:

Purpose Command
To voice registered users only: 
/msg chanserv autovoice #channel reg
To see the autovoice status: 
/msg chanserv autovoice #channel status
To turn off autovoice: 
/msg chanserv autovoice #channel off

If you are using Access Levels in your channel, you have another way to automatically give voice to all users who join your channel:

/msg chanserv levels #channel set autovoice 0

For example: /msg chanserv levels #topgear set autovoice 0. Access level zero (0) is the level for regular users.

To remove the command, use the disable command, as in this example: 

/msg chanserv levels #channel dis autovoice

 

—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny

 

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Barebones Commands for New Users

Nov 2nd

Posted by tengrrl in Explanation

There are certain basic commands that are handy to know if you are new to GeekShed and helpful to pass along if you’ve just invited a friend to join you here on the network.

First, you need to know that all commands use the same basic format. They all begin with a / and then include the specific key term for what you want to do.

Second, in most cases, no one else will see you type a command. Most commands that begin with a / will not be visible to anyone else. I’ll note the exceptions.

Third, the client you use may have buttons or menus (at the top or on right-click) that will execute some of these commands for you. Check your documentation to learn more about what your client can do. For the purpose of this barebones guide, I’m going to assume you want to type your commands out.

For all these commands, my example username (or nick) is LordBacon and the example channel is #TopGear.

Command What It Does
/nick NewName
/nick LordBacon 		Change your nickname to something new. Note that your nick has to be unique. You can’t use a name that belongs to someone else.
/join #channel
/join #TopGear		 Join the specific channel.
/list Gives you a list of all the IRC channels, how many people are in the channels, and the channel topics. Your client may pop up the list in a new window.

You can also check out the list of channels on the website.
/me action you want to do
/me passes out bacon		 Everyone in the channel sees a statement about you. For the example, people would see this:
* LordBacon passes out bacon
/part Leave the channel.
/whois nick
/whois LordBacon 		Gives you some basic information about the person whose nick you use.
/msg nick text
/msg LordBacon hi!		 Sends a private message (the text) to the person you indicate. If someone asks you to PM, this is the command they want you to use. The message will usually pop up in a new window or a new tab. Exactly how it works depends upon your client.

In the example, the private message "hi!" is sent to the user LordBacon.
/notice nick text
/notice LordBacon hi!		 Sends a private message (the text) to the person you indicate, without opening a new window or a new tab.

In the example, the private message "hi!" is sent to the user LordBacon.
/ignore nick
/ignore LordBacon

Blocks messages from the person whose nick you indicate. You will not see anything else that the person types. This example ignores LordBacon.

For more information, see How to Use the Ignore Command.
/help Gives you some online help or documentation. The way the command works will depend upon your client.
/quit
/quit Off to buy more bacon! 		Disconnect from the network. In some clients, you can include a message that will display after the command. For the example, people would see something like this: LordBacon has quit IRC (Quit: Off to buy more bacon!)

For more information on commands, you can check out our documentation pages or search the pages on our site. If you want to stay on the network, you can register your nickname and even register your own channel.

 

—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny