FAQs - Chat Questions

• The chat doesn't work for me! Now what?
• What is mIRC and how do I get it?
• How do I get coloured fonts in mIRC?
• How do I stop someone from stealing my nickname?

The chat doesn't work for me! Now what?

If the chat does not work for you, make sure you have java installed correctly. If you are receiving any error messages, let us know in the Help Desk board which can be found in the forums. If you're a guest and need help, please Contact Us. Also.. just a little tip.. if you happen to receive "Undefinied string" each time, try again later, this usually means part of the chat server is down.

There is always our alternative chat client provided by Mibbit, try that too, it's likely to work right away.

If we're unable to help you and you still can't get onto the chat, you're better off downloading a chat program not much different to downloading an instant messenger like Windows Live. There are many free programs out there such as mIRC, Chatzilla and Xchat. We strongly recommend mIRC and have written an mIRC guide below to get you started.

What is mIRC and how do I get it?

mIRC is (to put it very simply) a chat program much like Windows Live or Yahoo. It's much better to use stable programs for chatting rather than the Java Applet on the site, although it may be a little difficult to get the hang of, it's far better in the long run. Here I have some instructions for mIRC newbies. First of all I took a screenshot of what it looks like.

Click to view

The channel window is where you will be chatting to a group of people, our main channel is called #SilverWings. To join a channel you will need to type /join in this case /join #SilverWings

The Private Message window is where you will be talking to one person at a time, privately. Just double click their name in the Listbox and you can begin chatting. The listbox shows all the currently connected users in a channel.

The status window shows important information about the server, for example the chat rules. Type /motd to view them. Motd stands for Message of the Day.

As you can see from the screenshot, mIRC can be customized to your liking. I had my windows maximized which I find easier for keeping track of things. mIRC has many options, just click View then Options to see them.

Downloading mIRC
mIRC can be downloaded at http://mirc.com on "Download mIRC". Click the button again when the page loads and the package will download. Install the program and then open it up. Do not panic when you see the 30 day trial dialogue, you may continue using mIRC for as long as you want after the trial expires, however you will need to keep clicking the "continue" button each time.

The first thing you need to do when you've opened it up is click View then Options. You will see a box that looks like this:


Just fill in your details and then on the left, click on Servers. Your box will look like this:


Click add and fill in details as follows:
Description: Anything you want to call our server
IRC Server: irc.lugia.us - nest.lugia.us - ocean.lugia.us - Either one will do.
Port: 6667
Everything else can be left blank. When you're done, click Ok and then Select. You will be back to the Connect box, from here just click Connect to Server. When you've connected, join the main channel #SilverWings.

If you're still having trouble with mIRC, feel free to contact us by email, private message or if the site chat works for you, talk to us there. Many people will be willing to help out.

How do I get coloured fonts in mIRC?

In mIRC, when you're all set up and ready, you need to press Alt+R to bring up the Script Editor or click Tools then Script Editor. A dialogue box will appear that looks like this:


Your one will be blank until you place the following code into it:

on *:INPUT:*: if (/* !iswm $1) { /say $+($chr(3),COLOUR-NUMBER,$1-) | halt }

This part is important!! Highlight COLOUR-NUMBER, delete it and press Control+K, a colour box should appear and you just need to click on what you'd like and then save it by going to File, Save As (call it something like Colours). After that you can close the Script Editor and your font should be coloured!

How do I stop someone from stealing my nickname?

A simple command lets you register your name on the chat server:

/msg nickserv register password email

Just type this command and replace password with your password and email with your email address. Once your name is registered, you will be asked to identify yourself with your password whenever you use the registered name. You need to type another simple command:

/msg nickserv identify password

If you do not identify a registered nickname in under 20 seconds, your nick will be changed back to Guest.