Below are 3 help files for the 3 main IRC clients available - mIRC, pIRCh and Ircle.

mIRC for Windows
pIRCh for Windows
IRCle for Macintosh

Please Note: Microsoft Chat was not designed for mainstream IRC Networks like ShadowWorld. It uses colour codes and character/action codes which are visually annoying to other IRC clients.

These instructions will help you download mIRC and set it up correctly.

The mIRC that these instructions apply to will work on a computer running Windows95, Windows98, WindowsME or Windows2000.

If you are running a very old computer using Windows 3.1 or a Macintosh please email Spottie@shadowworld.net for different instructions. Most of you will probably use this setup.

First you need to get the program.

1. Open your web browser and go to this address: www.mirc.com
2. Click on the area to download mIRC 5.8 For Win95, Win98 or Win2000.
3. You will want version mirc58t.exe, which is 32 bit.

Select a download location near you. When you click on it your download will begin. The download takes around 5 minutes, depending on how fast your connection is.

Installation steps:

1. Once you have downloaded the file, you need to open it. On some systems a button will just appear with the option install. If that happens, click install.

2. If you don't see a button you will need to go find where your program downloaded. Open windows explorer an locate the file. Double-click on the file to begin the install.

3. The installation program will appear. Hit "next', and hit "yes" to the license agreement, then hit install. Let it do its thing. Hit finish. A box will pop up -- close the X above the guys picture.

4. A Mirc Options box now pops up. Click the word Add. Fill out the form like this:

Description: ShadowWorld
IRC Server: irc.shadowworld.net
Port: 6667
Group: (leave blank)
Pass: (leave blank)

5. Put in a name. It doesn't HAVE to be your real name. Any name will be fine. Put in your email address (this won't be visible to everyone). Put in a nickname that you want to use on IRC. Put in another nickname as a backup.

6. Click the + sign by the word connect.

7. Look for the word Options on the lefthand side of your screen, and click on the +

8. Uncheck "popup connect dialogue on startup"

9. Check "move to top of list on connect" (this will make it easier to find)

10. Check the box that says "retry"

11. Uncheck the box that says "try next server in group"

12. Leave default port set at 6667

13. Find the "Local Info" underneath the word Options and click it.

14. Leave the "Local Host" and "IP Address" blank.

15. Leave the boxes in "On connect always get" checked.

16. Make sure to check "Normal" next to Lookup Method.

17. Check the + by the word IRC.

18. Click the word "Perform"

19. Click the little box that says "On connect perform these commands"

20. In the big box, type this: /join #dawghouse

21. Click OK

22. Now click the picture of the lightning bolt on the upperleft corner of your screen. (This is the connect button) A popup channel folder will appear -- uncheck the little box that tells it to "popup folder on connect" and close the box with the X in the corner.

mIRC has been configured to automatically go to the right server and join #dawghouse any time you connect! When you are ready to leave just close the mIRC program with the X in the corner. The next time you want to use mIRC it will be all set up for you and all you will have to do is click that lightning bolt.

If you need any further help, email me - Spottie@shadowworld.net

These instructions will help you download pIRCh and set it up correctly to connect to ShadowWorld.Net.

If your operating system is Windows 95/98/ME/2000 download pIRCh98s, if your operating system is an older version of Windows download pIRCh98 (and email me at slyderz@shadowworld.net if these directions do not work for you).

In your web browser (IE, Netscape, etc) go to http://www.pirch.com/download/index.html where you can download the pIRCh client.

This is a *.exe file, which comes with it's own installation program.  When you've downloaded it, find it on your harddrive, and double click on it to start installation.   It should install itself in c:\pirch98, or c:\pirch.

To open pIRCh and start chatting, open the pIRCh directory through windows explorer, and double click the Red "P" icon.

Your program will open, you might want to maximise it otherwise you might find pIRCh a tad crowded.  Above the login icon you will see the word "IRC".  click on it, and select "server list" from the dropdown box.

In the small window that pops up:

1. Click the button that has a + and two computers.  This will add a network.

2. To title it, type SHADOWWORLD in the box it will provide.

3. Click the shadowworld icon you have just created once.

4. Click the button that has a + and *one* computer.  This will add a server. 

When you add a server, another box will popup.  It will ask you for the following information.

1. name - type "shadowworld"

2. address - type "irc.shadowworld.net"

3. port - type "6667".

Click OK, and close the screens except for your main window.

Click on the login button, this is going to display your information.

1. In the box under the words "IRC Network" pick shadowworld

2. Under the word "server" it should show you irc.shadowworld.net:6667;SHADOWWORLD.

3. Leave the "password" box blank.

4. Under "personal information", you can type a name, your email, etc.  It does *not* have to be your actual name. 

5. Under "Logon Nick Names" pick two nicknames you would like to use on IRC chat.  This is so that if someone else is using the

nickname you would like to use, you will be logged on as your second choice.

6. In the "initial user modes" box, uncheck all three boxes.  On shadowworld, as a normal user you won't be able to use wallops or server messages.   Invisible mode is optional. 

7. Click the save profile button on the side and choose ok to overwrite the default profile file.

8. Hit the connect button to get onto shadowworld

9. Type /j dawghouse to get to #dawghouse - use this method if you know which channel you want to join immediately. 

OR

9. Click the word "channels" - it's next to the words "favorites" and "disconnect" near the top of your main window, and it will display all available public channels in a box on the right of your screen.  Right click the channel (e.g #shadow) you want to join, scroll down the options it shows you till you see "join channel".

Again - if you should run into any problems at all, email me at slyderz@shadowworld.net

These instructions will help you download IRCle and set it up correctly.

IRCle is an IRC client for use with Macintosh operating systems

First you need to get the program.

1. First you will need to download the ircle application. Go to http://www.ircle.com and follow the directions on that site to download the latest version of ircle (currently ircle 3.0.4) to your computer. Make sure you download the correct package (PPC for newer Macs, 68k for older Macs, or FAT for both), and the correct language (english, french, spanish, etc). This download should take a few minutes, depending on your modem speed.

Installation steps:

2. Once the file has finished downloading to your computer, you will need to uncompress it from its .sit.hqx or .sit.bin format. The best utility to use for this is StuffIt. See the ircle downloads page for more information on StuffIt, and how to use it.

3. Once ircle has been expanded from the compressed file, double click on the ircle 3.0.4 folder, then double-click on the ircle application (it has a picture of a computer with a globe) to start the program.

4. Using your mouse, select the "Windows" menu and then select "Connections" (or hold down the command key on your keyboard and press the letter K). A small window with the title Connections at the top will appear.

5. Click on the first line in this window, so that it is highlighted. Look down at the bottom of this window, where there should be five buttons.

6. Click the button with the word "Edit..." on it. Another screen will appear with the title "Connection Preferences."

7. Type in the nickname (aka "handle") you would like to go by on IRC in the "Nickname" field, and type in your username in the "Username" Field. Skip the "Password" field, as it is not needed for ShadowWorld.

8. Click on the button at the top beside the word "Server:" with the word "Select..." on it. Another window will appear.

9a. This window has a large list of IRC servers to choose from. Scroll down through the list, and click on any ShadowWorld.Net server. Then press the "Select" button at the top of the window (or press the Return key).

9b. If you don't see a ShadowWorld.Net server in this list of IRC servers, press the button on the right side of the window that says "Add..." A smaller window will appear. Type in "irc.shadowworld.net" (without the "quote" signs) on the line beside the words "Server name." Leave the number 6667 in the "Port" line. Leave the other options the way they are, and click the "OK" button. Then click the "Select" button at the top of the window (or press the Return key).

10. Click the small box on the bottom of the window beside the words "Auto connect to server" so an X appears over the box. Click the "OK" button at the bottom right side of the window.

11a. You should now be back to the "Connections" window, with the information you just selected (nickname and server name) indicated on the first line. Click on the "Connect" button at the bottom. Text should begin to appear in the "Console" window. This should connect you to a ShadowWorld IRC server.

11b. If you dont see anything happening in the "Console" window after you press the "Connect" button, type the following into the "Inputline" window:

/server irc.shadowworld.net

Press the Return key, and look in the "Console" window. This should connect you to a ShadowWorld IRC Server as well. If nothing appears in the "Console" window, or you are still not connected to a server, proceed to Step # 17 at the bottom of this file.

12. When you finish connecting to the server, use your mouse to select the "Commands" menu at the top of your screen, then select "List..." Two new windows will appear. Press the "OK" button on the top window.

13. The top window will disappear and the window beneath it, titled "Channel List" will appear. A list of channels, such as #shadow , #help , and #dawghouse , etc. will begin to be listed in this window.

14. Click on the line containing the name of a channel you would like to join (such as the three channels just mentioned) and press the "Join" button on the bottom right side of this window.

15. A new window should open, with the name of the channel you selected at the top. Text should appear in the main part of this window. You have now joined a channel on the ShadowWorld IRC Network, and are ready to chat!

16. For some basic IRC and ircle-specific help, use your mouse to click on the Balloon icon with the question mark at the upper right side of your screen. Select "Command Reference" for a quick overview of some basic IRC commands. The ircle website (http://www.ircle.com , where you downloaded the ircle application) also has further help files for you to read if you are interested.

17. If you encounter problems at any Step that you cannot figure out, please go to your e-mail program and send a message to daemon@shadowworld.net , describing what you've figured out already, and where you got stuck. If you have any error messages in the ircle "Console" window, please Copy and Paste those at the bottom of your message as well. I will attempt to help you figure out how to correct the problem, and walk you through the remaining steps if you have further trouble.