Welcome to Fel's Guide to IRC! This document will show you all about NickServ, the nickname service bot we use here on NewNet. NickServ is but one of the services we offer to our users. For your IRCing pleasure, we also employ a channel service bot, ChanServ, and a memo delivery bot, MemoServ. To learn all about NickServ, read on!

Also available for your pleasure are tutorial documents for ChanServ, MemoServ, and Channels and Channel Op Status. You can get copies of these documents from the channels #NewNetHelp and #Services on NewNet, and from Fel himself.

Let us proceed!

Nickserv is our glorious Nickname bot. He's there to let you take possession of your nickname, and fix it so nobody else can use it. He also does some other stuff to make things easier for you, and can help you protect your name from the bad people.

Another thing he does, something more important, is that he tells Services, and the network, who you are. You can't use any other NewNet service until you register your nickname through NickServ. ChanServ and MemoServ will ignore you until you tell NickServ who you are. You do that by registering your nickname.

Alright, you've decided that you REALLY like that nickname you have, and you want to register it. Well fear not! Registering that name is quick and easy.

The first thing you need is a password. This is an important piece of info, and you should protect it like a suitcase full of money. DON'T give it other people! And make sure you write it down, because you'll use it!

Your password shouldn't have your nickname anywhere in it...that would make it much easier for some shifty no-good low life to guess. It also needs to be at least 5 characters long, but can't be any longer than 10 characters.

Another thing you have to keep in mind is that you can use both letters and numbers, and also that capital letters are different than lower case ones. to NickServ, Texas is not the same as texas. He's very picky that way. So when you do decide on a password, make sure you use the right case.

A REALLY good password has at least 6 characters in it, has both numbers and letters, and the letters are both lower and upper case. Those are almost impossible for some annoying weasel to try to guess. This would be a GOOD password, for example, but do me a favor and don't use it yourself:   1mY0pAss

Once you have your password written down in a good place, it's time to tell NickServ all about it. This is the command you use to register your nick:

/msg nickserv register <your password>

-NickServ-: Nickname <your nickname> registered under your account: <this is your hostmask. I'll explain what this is in a bit.>
-NickServ-: Your password is <your password> - write it down and keep it in a safe place. For your own protection, do not give this password to anyone.

NickServ isn't very bright. I think I said that before. When you registered your nickname, he told you that you registered it under an account. That account is what many people call a HOSTMASK. This hostmask is how the SERVER you're connected to sees you. You see others by their nick. Well, the server, and NickServ, see you as that hostmask. This is because NickServ doesn't see people the same way you do.

A hostmask is kinda like an address. It's where you're connecting to the internet from. Usually, this is your Service Provider. You'll notice, if you look at your hostmask, that your provider's name is probably in it somewhere. This is the one thing that you really can't change about yourself. Oh, a number or two inside it will change, but the majority of it is going to stay the same. That is why NickServ recognizes people by their hostmask.

There are two types of hostmasks. There are the name masks, and then there are the number masks. This is a name mask, for example. This is my own:

fel@ppp12.acadiacom.net

There are two parts to this mask. The part before the @ is what is called an IDENT or USERNAME. That is my computer telling the IRC server what its name is. Now, this can be changed, but I'll leave the specifics of how that is done for another time. The part after the @, that is the information that my service provider gives to the server when I connect to it.

The other type of mask is called an IP mask. It looks like this:

fel@206.104.52.12

The reason we're talking about these masks is because this is how NickServ sees you. When you registered your name, it told you that you registered under an account. Well, that account would have looked one of two ways:

<your user name>@*<the domain name of your provider>

fel@*.acadiacom.net

<your user name>@208.16.39.*

In both cases, the * is a WILD CARD. It's a symbol that tells NickServ "oh, accept anything in that place, so long as the rest of it matches". The reason you do this is because those numbers where the wild cards are change every time you hang up and reconnect to your internet provider. Because they do change, you have to fix it so NickServ can still recognize you, even though your hostmask has changed slightly. If even one number changes, he'll think that you're somebody else, and he'll be very un-nice to you.

Can you say "DUH!"? I hope so, cause NickServ is DUMB. Remember that, and you'll do fine.

Odds are, you don't have to do anything more to this. When you registered, NickServ already put that wildcard in there for you, and you shouldn't have to do anything else. But it never hurts to check. There's a command for checking out your access list:

/msg nickserv access list

/whois <your nick>

Fel fel@ppp31.acadiacom.net

Diane user@slip213-183-14-09.ibm.net

The reason we're talking about this is because you can tell NickServ that you're two different people, or even more. What the access list does it tells him who kinda belongs to that nick...and the hostmasks don't have to be the same. Lots of people have more than one service provider, so they have more than one hostmask. The Access list lets you tell NickServ what all of them are, so it doesn't hassle you.

To add to this list, you have to know your other hostmask. That's easy enough, most of the time. What you do is use that other hostmask and /whois yourself. Then wild-card out those numbers that change, and then use this command:

/msg nickserv access add <your other hostmask>

Say you canned Service Provider fly-by-night because they sucked, but you don't want that on your access list anymore. No problem! You can delete as easily as you add. Just do a list of your access list, and find the one you want to take out, and use this command:

/msg nickserv access del <that hostmask>

Ok, you're just cruising along, chatting, and SUDDENLY your IRC shuts down. You look at the screen, and it says "older nick overruled." What's the deal!?!?!

The deal is, you were using a registered nickname, and that's NickServ's way of saying "NO!" If it's YOUR nickname, however, that means that NickServ doesn't know it belongs to you. You need to see why.

But in the meantime, you can get around that little problem. You can IDENTIFY to NickServ using your password. This tells him "ignore the access list! I got the password, and that PROVES I'm the owner!" You give him that password, and he'll suddenly lick your hand like a lovesick puppy. He's a very fickle bot.

To identify, obviously, you're going to need your password. Time to go dig it up out of your paper pile, if you don't remember it. Once you find it, change back to your nickname. Now, you may or may not see a warning from NickServ saying that you don't own that nick. If you don't see it on your window, go look on your status window. It should be there, because NickServ ALWAYS hands out that warning before it does anything. There's a setting to fix it so those little notices always come to the window you have active. I suggest visiting a help channel to learn exactly how to do it--there are so many different IRC programs, it would be a bit long to explain them all here.

This is the command to identify:

/msg nickserv identify

BIG NOTE!!!!!!

In order to use almost ANY NickServ command, you MUST identify as the nick's owner first! He's very adamant about this, and won't let you change or set anything until you do.

There are specific settings that make NickServ boot people who use your nickname; NickServ will kick him off the network, forcing him at gunpoint to give up your nickname. The specific mode is called KILL. When you have KILL on, it boots people off who are using your nick, or even YOU if you don't have that hostmask on the access list and you didn't identify. You can turn this on or off, as you like. To use it, identify as the nick owner first, and then use this command:

/msg nickserv set kill <either on or off, depending on what you want>

There's another feature that's like the brother of this one. It's called the SECURE feature. What it does is fixes it so you have to identify to be seen as the owner of the nickname, even if you're on the access list. What that means, in a nutshell, is you have to prove you own the nick before you can ch ange anything about it.

Kinda nervewracking, yes? Don't worry. Both KILL and SECURE are automatically set OFF when you register your nickname, just so you don't get harassed by NickServ. It's up to you to turn on these two security features. The reason for it is so people who don't know what NickServ is all about don't get overly harassed by him right when they start up.

/msg nickserv set secure <on or off, depending on how you want it>

This isn't everything that NickServ can do for you. He has a couple of other nifty features, and can hand out some useful info.

This password bites!

No problem. A password isn't set in stone, you know, and you can change it very easily. The first thing you have to do is identify to NickServ as the owner of the nickname. Once NickServ fawns on you, you need to use this command to change to a new password:

/msg nickserv set password <your new password>

Again, a good password has numbers AND upper and lower case letters. And since you're going to write it down, it doesn't matter how complex it gets. ;)

Hey, is that nickname registered?

It's easy to find out. There's a command you can use to check.

/msg nickserv info <that nickname>

Unfortunately, NickServ isn't that bright. To pile onto that, he's also paranoid. And believe me, nothing is worse that a paranoid dumb guy.

There are reasons for the paranoia, of course. He's just being VERY serious about protecting your nickname. He doesn't want anyone else to mess with YOUR nick, so he's very particular.

In the course of your IRCing, you're going to run into one or more of a few common problems. I'll list them for you below, so you'll know what to do if and when it happens to you.

That IS my password, blockhead!

Nothing is scarier than typing in your password, and having NickServ say "I don't think so!" In other words, he tells you that it's not right. But don't worry, this isn't the end of everything.

The first thing you need to do, obviously, is double-check your spelling. The dreaded Typo Monster claims many victims, and he's very sneaky about it. If you're absolutely positive that you put in the right password, though, and NickServ still hates you, then you need help. BIG help.

And the Big Guns are out there. Your local neighborhood IRCop can deal with this problem. Just join #services, #NewNetHelp or one of the other services helo channels and ask for help. IRCops have alot of tools at hand to help you, and they can do things that other user's can't do. They've been given these tools for occasions just like this one.

An IRCop can help you with your password problem.

I DID Identify!

Sometimes NickServ kinda forgets that you identified. It has to do with if he decides to go take a powder for a while, and come back. The technical term for this is if NickServ splits off from the network. When he comes back, it's like you didn't identify, and you'll have to do it again.

WOAH!

When it REALLY looks weird, and you have no idea where to even start to try to fix things, then you need someone who has nothing better to do than sit around studying services....and writing tutorials. You may be in need of an IRCop. They've seen just about anything you can imagine, and odds are, they'll know how to deal with your really bizarre problem. Go find one and ask for help. He or she should be able to fix you up.

That's about all, there's no more about NickServ that I can teach you! I'm certain that some of you will notice that I may have left a little thing out here and there. It may have been on purpose...or maybe it wasn't. But if you noticed it, then you can call yourself a grizzled NewNet veteran for having such a sharp eye.

Remember that any time you need help, and you can't find it or you don't know what to do, an IRCop will always be there for you.

Author:  Fel, IRCop on irc.intergate.bc.ca
Co-Author:  the late Phoenix, who was an IRCop on irc.klis.com
HTML Conversion by:  elek

Special thanks to Mooooooo, our universally adored Oper Cow, who was the technical advisor and general brain behind this text.