PIRCH98 Tips and Tricks and Stuff
Once you have the basic configuration setup for pIRCh, its time to get everything set the way YOU want it set : ) Hopefully, you'll find enough information to get you rolling. Don't forget the check the Help section if you get stuck. I'm going to cover: colors (what you see, not what others see),
sound setup, that beep or other sound you hear every time you push enter to send text, fixing the font so you can see better,and a few other little tidbits I've learned.
If you want to know more, download Beginner.zip. This file contains several help files and other information and its brought to you by the friendly channel ops of #pirch on Chatnet.
Colors
Beep on Enter
Changing Fonts
Sounds
URL catcher
Favorite channels
Ignore
Other Stuff
Changing the colors you see
To change the colors that you see (not what others see) including the background of the channel (room) window, click on Options then Colors. You'll see a screen like this:
The window on the right shows the current settings. Pick an item in the left box then click on a color in the center section. Click OK. Experiment until you have a color scheme YOU like : )
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Getting rid of that beep on Enter
I mentioned that sound that occurs every time you push enter to send text. Want to get rid of it? Click on Prefs or Options then Preferences. Click on the Hilight tab. Down at the bottom, uncheck "Beep on Own Messages", then OK.
If you want your text to be hilighted, leave the other box checked. Want to have text directed at you by name highlighted? Click on Add, type in your nickname and then ok. Push OK again and now all text with your name will show the color you picked in the Color Setup.
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Setting the Fonts
To set the fonts for the Channel Window, Server Window, Private chat window and DCC chat window, Click on Prefs, or Options then Preferences. Click on the Font tab. Double click on the block for the window you want to change, then pick the font and font size you want. Click OK then OK.
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Sounds setup
PIRCH98 allows you to set the sounds to any folder, not just the \pirch\sounds\ folder it created. Sure saves on having to move sounds around all the time. Click on Prefs or Options then Preferences. Click on the Media tab. Make sure all four places are checked, then in the box, either type the path for where your sounds are, or click the arrow to scroll to the folder. Make sure there's a \ at the end and the folders in the path MUST exist.
To play sounds, you can do it the hard way: /sound #channelname filename.wav, the semi-hard way: /snd filename.wav or the easy way using the media player. Click on the media player then on the down arrow on the far right of the buttons.
The first time the media player is opened each session, you'll see "uninitialized" in the second box. Click on the arrow on the right and pick the file type you want. If the top box doesn't list the folder your sounds are in, go back to Prefs and make sure you typed it in correctly. To play a sound, just scroll down the list to the one you want, then click Play to #channelname or just click on Play a random file to let the media player pick one.
Note of Caution: NEVER EVER click the arrow next to the X then close down pIRCh. Your media player will stay rolled up the next time you open pIRCh and attempt to use the media player. If that should happen, return here and click on this button for the fix:
. If for some reason you click on the media button and your media player is missing, also return here and click the paw for the fix:
For information on sending files (especially sounds) while in the channels see Advanced Sounds
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URL catcher
Ever had someone post a web address in the channel and you've had to hurry to find something to write it down on then try to type it in the address box of your browser? More times than not, you mistype or miss write it. PIRCH98 has a built in URL catcher and with some configuring, will launch your browser to the URL just posted. You can also just click on the URL in the channel window and your browser will take you there. This is all assuming that the person writing it type it in the format: http://someplace.com : ) They'll show up in the URL catcher looking like this:
The URLs will be available anytime you have pIRCh open and you just have to double click to launch your browser if not already open. To configure the catcher, Click on the options button. Use the drop down menu for Web Browser to pick your browser and Browser/Name location to tell pIRCh the location. If you want to save URLs until you manually delete them, uncheck the box next to Purge unused URLs. You can tell a URL is unused because it has a * at the beginning of the URL.
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Favorite channels
If you have specific favorite channels you go to, there's no need to open the whole channel list or even type /join #channelname. Click on favorites and either click on one of the groups listed, or Click on the Add a group button to add your own. After selecting the group, click on the Add a Channel button. Type in the name or, if the main channel list is up, drag the name over to the Favorite Places window and drop it in. Just a side note, but the channels that come pre-listed in your Favorite Places are all for channels found out on other IRC networks, like Chatnet, Undernet, Webchat, etc. If you don't think you'll ever go there, you can delete the channels pIRCh lists using the Remove channel button.
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Ignore
Having a problem w/ someone? Rather than get into a battle of wits with someone, just put them on Ignore. Click on Prefs or Options then Preferences. Click on the Ignore tab. Click on Add to add that person's name, then OK. Make sure that the Enable Ignore is checked. Click OK. Now no private message and nothing in the Channel from them.
That person will stay ignored until you remove them from Ignore.
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Miscellaneous stuff
We've pretty much covered the basics but there are a few tricks left : )
For instance, when typing someone's name in the channel, just type the first letter or so then push the Tab key and the whole name will pop into the edit box. Sure saves typing long names : )
Want to type your friend's name in one color but the rest of the text in another? PIRCH98 uses specific color codes for this. See the graphic for the colors. The format to use colors in pIRCh is to press the CTRL key and hold it down then press K. If you wish only to set the text color then you simply type the number of the color shown below. If you want to set both the text color and the background color then you type the text color followed by a comma , then the background color. Now simply type the text you want. The whole line of text will stay that color until you use CTRL + K and a different color.
Want to copy something in the channel? Just hold down the left mouse button and drag over the text you want and its ready to paste in notepad or where ever. No CTRL+C, no right click, copy, no edit, copy, etc.
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