Welcome to DareNET
In This Guide: |
What is DareNET?
DareNET is an inclusive, multi-purpose community centered around an IRC network. We aim to bring people together in a culture of etiquette and respect to have vibrant and fair discussions about the issues of our time in a way that celebrates intelligence, friendship, difference, sameness, the past and the future. In other words, we're a group of people who love helping people connect with each other and have real conversations.
Before continuing on, we suggest reading over our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which makes clear what is and is not acceptable behavior here on DareNET -- it's mostly common sense.
To help you get started, we've created this brief guide for new users, so read on!
Connecting
You can can connect to the DareNET IRC network in one of two ways:
- By using our webchat client, which allows you to connect to DareNET through your web browser,
- or by using your favorite IRC client. You can find a list of IRC clients for various operating systems here.
Downloading and setting up an IRC client is often preferred by most users. though does require a bit of effort on your part. Should you decide to go this route, the server you should use to connect to DareNET is irc.darenet.org. Common ports are 6660-6669 and 7000. We also support SSL/TLS-enabled connections on ports 6697 and 9999 -- see our Using SSL guide for more information.
I've connected...now what?
Once you've connected to DareNET, you'll probably want to register an account. Why register you ask? Well, your DareNET account allows you to user and take full advantage of all the great features we provide, such as our IRC services (i.e., NickServ, ChanServ, MemoServ, HostServ, etc.), build and customize a user profile on the site, post to the forums, create albums and share them with friends, register your nicknames (preventing others from using them), register chat rooms (channels), etc.
Now, on to the good stuff...
DareNET Account Registration
Registering an account is fast and easy, simply visit the account registration page, choose a username, enter your email address and you're all set!
On DareNET, your account username is an arbitrary name independent of your nickname. It is how NickServ, ChanServ, and other services will recognize you on the IRC network, and is used to login to the website. In essence, it's how others will come to know and easily find you on DareNET. It is NOT nickname registration, but don't worry, as we'll cover that a little later in this guide.
The email address that you provide MUST be valid as your password will be sent to it.
We know that you care about how your personal information is used and shared, and here at DareNET we take your privacy very seriously. You can review our Privacy Policy here.
Authenticating to NickServ
Also commonly referred to as identifying to and/or logging into NickServ.
Great, you now have a DareNET account! In order to actually use it on the IRC network, you will need to authenticate to NickServ. There are a few different ways you can do this, all leading to the same result -- authenticating you to NickServ. We'll explain the most commonly used commands for this below:
/msg NickServ@services.darenet.org AUTH <username> <password>Where <account> is your DareNET username, and <password> is your account password. For example, let's say your username was JoeCool and your password was aPpLe321. To authenticate, using the command shown above, you would simply use: /msg NickServ@services.darenet.org AUTH JoeCool aPpLe321
Alternatively, you can use the more condensed versions of the above command:
/NickServ AUTH <username> <password>
-OR-
/AUTH <username> <password>
If the command is used correctly, you will receive a notice from NickServ similar to the following:
-NickServ- Authentication as JoeCool successful. You are now logged in! -NickServ- Remember, DareNET's staff will NEVER ask you for your account -NickServ- password. The only place to receive assistance with account -NickServ- related matters on DareNET is in #Support -NickServ- Last account login: 33s ago at this Host/IP (nick!user@1.2.3.4) [0 failed login attempts since last login].
In addition to the authentication methods shown above, we also support a "login-on-connect" method, which will automatically log you into NickServ while you're connecting to the network. It will also exempt you from any DNSBL checks, and automatically set user mode +x (hiding your host/ip address). For more information on how to set this feature up for your IRC client, go here.
NOTE: Webchat users can use the "login-on-connect" method simply by selecting the "Login to Services" checkbox on the connection details page, and entering their DareNET account username and password, as shown below:
Changing your Password
Since you registered through our web interface, you will most likely want to change your password. You can easily do this by using NickServ's PASS command on the IRC network:
/msg NickServ@services.darenet.org PASS <old password> <new password>
Nicknames
Here on DareNET, we allow users to register the nicknames they commonly use to their account. By registering your nicknames, you will be able to prevent others from using it -- securing your identify on the network. NOTE: You must be authenticated to your account and using the nickname you would like to register before using the command below:
/msg NickServ REGNICK
If it's successful, you'll receive a notice from NickServ similar to the following:
-NickServ- Nick YOURNICK has been registered to you.
Registering an account does not always mean you automatically own the associated nickname too. To prevent others from taking your nicknames, claim them using the step shown above.
Hostmasking
One of the perks of being a registered user is that you can hide your IP address/host from other users. A little extra piece of mind! If this is a feature you would like to take advantage of, simply use the following command (make sure you have authenticated to NickServ):
/mode yournickhere +x
Alternatively, you can have NickServ automatically set you +x when you identify to your account. To do this, use the following command:
/msg NickServ SET AUTOHIDE on
Securing your Account/Nickname
We have a few suggestions for securing your account, which include:
Suggestion #1:
Enable NickServ's RECLAIM option for your account:
/msg NickServ SET RECLAIM on
NickServ's RECLAIM option protects your nicknames when you are not using them. Should another user try to use any nicknames registered to your account, NickServ will automatically change their nickname to something more suitable.
Suggestion #2:
Add your own hostmask to your account's allowed hosts list:
/msg NickServ ADDMASK <yourident@your.mask.here>
If you would like to add the host you're current using, simply omit the part after ADDMASK and just use: /msg NickServ ADDMASK
Once you have performed the above command, you may delete the default mask set for your account by using the following command:
/msg NickServ DELMASK *@*
The above steps protect your account by denying logins from clients who's host does not match one of the specified hostmasks for your account. Should you try to authenticate from a different hostmask that is not specified you will have to issue NickServ's AUTHCOOKIE command to have a cookie sent to your email. Once you receive that cookie, you can then authenticate to your nickname and add the mask if you wish.
Channel Registration
As a registered user, you have the opportunity to register channels (chat rooms) with ChanServ, our channel services bot, which provides both useful and powerful features to aid channel owner's in maintaining and protecting their channel. For more information, please review our channel registration guidelines.
Other General Information
Some other general information that you should know:
Support Channel
Should you ever find that you need assistance with something that is related to DareNET, you can always step into our official support channel, #support, where our trained support staff will be pleased to help you.
Nickname vs *Account
Most of the commands provided by NickServ, ChanServ, or any other service on DareNET, allow for an account or online users to be referenced. When referencing an account, you should use *account (note the asterisk prefixed to the account name). For example:
<SomeUser> /msg NickServ INFO *NiTeMaRe -NickServ- Account Information for NiTeMaRe -NickServ- ---------------------------------------- -NickServ- Registered on: Tue Mar 18 07:44:30 2008 -NickServ- Last seen: Right now! -NickServ- Infoline: NiTeMaRe is cool! -NickServ- ----------End of Account Info-----------
This signals to services to use the account name directly, useful for when a user is offline and you want to add/remove them from your channel's userlist, send them a memo or even do a NickServ INFO on their account. If you do not prefix the account name with an asterisk (*), services will treat it as a nickname that is currently being used on the network, which may not produce the outcome you expect!
Invite your friends!
If your friends are already here, send them a friend request. If they're not, you can easily invite them to join. Simply visit the Invite friends page (note, you must be logged in). Once their, import your contact list and select the people you'd like to invite!
Supported networks and email providers include (over 50 in total!):
DareNET uses the emails you enter on the invite friends form only to invite your friends and acquaintances to join DareNET on your behalf. DareNET will never spam, rent, or sell any email addresses you enter for invitations. You may not use this email form for any purpose except inviting people you know to join DareNET. We do not store your login information.
