For some unknown reason my computer blue-screened and, after booting up, HexChat crashed on launch. So I figured I should do a tutorial as I got it reinstalled. If people enjoy this I can add to it with more settings to make HexChat feel more like qwebirc, the web browser client you can find on the 8bitMMO website.
You can find the HexChat website with a quick Google search. Follow all of the steps for the download and install. I suggest ignoring the options for Python scripts unless you know what you're doing (I don't).
This is the window you'll first see when launching HexChat. It'll automatically enter your Windows username as the Nickname and modify it slightly for your second and third choices. You can set these to whatever you wish. The second and third choices are what will automatically be set as your nick if your first choice is taken. I suggest you use a nickname that is not protected by Nickserv as your second choice if you want to use auto-reconnect and auto-connect commands.
Once your username and nicknames are set up you can click the add button to create a new network. You can name this to whatever you want. Click edit to begin configuring this network.
To set the server address replace "newserver" with "irc.editingarchive.com". Leave the /6667. As you'll probably notice when trying to edit this, you need to press enter any time you modify something on this window or it will be reset.
Modifying the log in method can cause problems with auto-reconnect as, in my experience, it enters the information too quickly. It is, however, great if you don't plan to leave HexChat idle 24/7. The same is true for the auto-join channels. It will join those channels faster than you can get an invite from ChanServ, causing issues with protected channels. If you don't need to identify with NickServ or get an invite, they are great for a quick connection.
If you do plan on sitting idle 24/7 and maybe logging chat, you'll want to use connect commands. The commands I use are below. Before that I want to explain the TIMER command. I believe this is a command only for the HexChat client but I am most likely wrong. The TIMER command is used as "TIMER <seconds to wait> COMMAND". I use these to both compensate for any lag and to ensure that enough time for invites is given.
GHOST Toxic <password>
GHOST Toxic_Archive <password>
TIMER 10 NICK Toxic
TIMER 15 MSG NICKSERV IDENTIFY <password>
TIMER 20 JOIN #moi,#8bit,#8bit-gamewatch,#8bit-gamewatch-serv4
TIMER 22 AWAY Auto-connect
With all of this you can connect to the server and begin personalizing HexChat. Though I didn't want to make this about customizing your client until I got feedback, I feel the default settings are too different from the web browser client. To make it feel more like qwebirc you can click View and enable the userlist buttons. I suggest going through Settings > Preferences > Interface and setting the "channel switcher" to tabs and having it display at the top of the window. You may also notice that you won't get any alert beeps from people saying your nickname. You'll need to go into the sounds tab and add a sound from your computer for Channel Message HIghlight and Channel Action Highlight. I'll try to find the files for the qwebirc beeps to share as attachments.
EDIT: I was incorrect on the TIMER command. You do not need to have a slash before the command you wish to execute. That part of the tutorial has been removed.
Edited by ToxicPenguin_, 10 June 2016 - 06:55 PM.
grammar mistake
