The Kingdom Hearts Wiki's IRC channel is the wiki's main mode of socializing. It is used for chit-chat and is also a different and quicker way to notify a staff about a problem with the wiki. It also, if possible, should be used for socialization with other users rather than through the use of users' talk pages.
Topic
The topic range for the #wikia-kingdomhearts channel is very broad. The channel is not restricted to Kingdom Hearts talk. Discussions can relate to anything from one's favorite character, to a more off-topic subject like how one's day has been. Discussions about the wiki and Kingdom Hearts are also welcome, though.
Rules
- Play nice with others - The channel will not be used to insult others or put people down. If you continue to insult someone or flame the channel with nonsense, you will be banned. If any user expresses that you are annoying them with an action, message, or joke, you are to respect their wishes and stop.
- Caution: spoilers are expected - We will try out best to prevent any users from spoiling the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep until the North American and European releases, but be warned that not all users will be able to be stopped fast enough to prevent you from remaining "unspoiled." You can ignore a user's messages through the ignore command (/ignore nick), and clear all messages from your screen by using the clear command (/clear).
- The IRC uses the wiki's native tongue - Please use proper English. 133t Sp33k is not something we want to read.
- Be yourself - Do not abuse the /nick function to rapidly change your nick. Sockpuppets will not be tolerated. If you are a suspected sockpuppet, you will be banned. Don't think we're stupid, we've dealt with plenty of socks and flamers, we will identify you, confront you, and ban you. Also, when using the IRC, please use your username from the Kingdom Hearts Wiki as your main nick. If your username is too long, it may be abridged.
- The IRC channel is not to be abused for role-play: We are aware that we have many users' who are part of the channel's regular community who can be very comedic, but do not abuse the me command (/me) to role-play. Abusing this command will be counted as spamming the channel, and will get your kicked or banned from the channel.
- Do not spam the channel: Nobody wants their chat window to be filled with repeated lines of the same message. Spam is not fun for us to deal with or for anyone to read, nor is it funny. Spamming the channel with any material will get your kicked or banned.
Channel OPs
Staff members, please report to the channel as soon as possible so you can be given your #wikia-kingdomhearts banhammer OP functions.
Joining
Web client
- Wikia has a CGI:IRC gateway for the #wikia-kingdomhearts channel at irc.wikia.com that lets you join the chat room from a normal web page. Just put in your username and choose "#wikia-kingdomhearts" from the drop-down list. Note: The Wikia CGI:IRC gateway has been unreliable recently and users are advised to find alternatives.
- Freenode's webchat is a more convenient web client. Simply type in your nick and "#wikia-kingdomhearts" in the channel box.
As of June 19th 2009 Freenode's server is no longer available via Mibbit.
Windows
- mIRC is the classic Windows IRC client. The main drawbacks of mIRC are the fact that it's not free and that the configuration options are more extensive than a lot of users are used to. (Only partial UTF-8 support - see below)
- Trillian handles IRC. It's a little complicated to set up, but if you don't want to use the very easy CGI:IRC linked by Angela, then Trillian is a handy program to have anyway for the other things it does. (No UTF-8 support - see below)
- Miranda IM - a multi-client, like Trillian, but rather minimalist and open source. (UTF-8 support requires patching - see below)
Linux
- Pidgin is a multi-client that comes preinstalled with Ubuntu and several other Linux distributions.
- Kopete is a multi-client, the KDE counterpart of Gaim.
- Konversation is a KDE application with interface similar to X-Chat; it is an IRC-only client.
- irssi is an IRC-only client that uses a text-mode user interface.
- BitchX is an IRC-only console application client.
- EPiC is an IRC-only client for Unix systems that is descended from the ircII client, it uses a text-mode user interface.
Mac
- Snak handles IRC rather nicely, and is one of the few Mac-only clients that still work flawlessly.
- X-Chat Aqua is a full featured IRC client for OS X that is easy to setup and use.
- Colloquy is an open-source IRC, SILC and ICB client for Mac OS X.
Crossplatform
- Opera web browser has a built-in IRC client.
- ChatZilla is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox web browser.
- JWChat - had some script errors in Firefox, but clicked "Stop script" and it worked fine after that.
- X-Chat is perhaps the most well-known IRC client for Linux, included into nearly every distribution, which has recently grown in popularity on Windows as well. Note that the official Windows version (as opposed to Linux) is shareware, but unofficial free Windows builds are available, for example, here.
Setup instructions
To log in, you need to configure your client. After you log in, it is rather straightforward. The parameters are:
- Server: irc.freenode.net
- Channel: #wikia-kingdomhearts (note the correct spelling)
Most IRC clients, in particular mIRC, Miranda and X-Chat, have "Freenode" in the default network list, you only need to select it. After you are connected to the server, type /join #wikia-kingdomhearts in the reply box and press Enter.
Custom instructions for specific clients to come.
UTF-8
The #wikia-kingdomhearts channel uses the UTF-8 encoding, just like the Wiki proper. This should not pose a problem with English, as UTF-8 is backwards compatible with ASCII-127, but non-Latin scripts (such as Greek or Cyrillic) may be rendered improperly in UTF-8-incapable clients.