QwIRC - Signing on

Table Of Contents

1.	Overview
2.	System Requirements
3.	Distribution Files
4.	Installation
5.	Signing on
6.	Joining Channels
7.	Commands
8.	Setting up the Server
9.	startup.txt scripting
10.	Profile Management
11.	Known Issues/Bugs
12.	11. Version 0.8 Release Notes
13.	Feedback / Support / Contact info

5. Signing on

5.1 provide user info
go to File-->Connect and fill in Name, e-mail, nick and alternate.

5.2 choose an IRC network
click the 'by network' tab. chose an IRC network to connect to. at this point you can either let the client choose a server automatically, by hitting 'connect', or you can view the list of servers available on the selected network by hitting the 'by server' tab.

the network list is sorted by number of servers available on each network, which is a pretty good indication of overall network size, and the number of people who potentially use each network. each network is a unique community with it's own channels, and user base, and often unique features, and services.

large networks typically host millions of users simultaneously, connecting you to a large community but are typically subject to long message lag times due to overall network load, and netsplits which can interrupt service.

smaller networks tend to offer better performance, and are more reliable, but typically very specialised, and represent much smaller chat communities, numbered in the thousands or even hundreds of users

5.3 choose a specific server (optional)
when you click on the 'by server' tab, QwIRC will automatically ping all known servers on the selected network, and display a sorted list of ping results, fastest servers listed at top. take these results with a grain of salt. unfortunately raw internet ping times are not a guarantee that the indicated server is a fast responding server when delivering IRC packets, also the server in question may be full or a private server which requires password authorisation, etc...

double-click a server to connect.