SecularPolygamy

Overview

At secularpolygamy.com, we use an old-fashioned IRC chat at 

irc.secularpolygamy.com:6667

You can use the link on our chat page to connect using mibbit.com's client or you can use any IRC-standards-compliant client (mIRC, X-Chat, etc).  There are no server passwords.

Conduct

We pride ourselves in fostering open and honest discussion concerning polygamy in our chat. We do ask a few things while you are here:

• Be civil.  We understand that polygamy can foster some heated discussions.  We know that tempers can flare, but try to keep your debates civil and not let them turn into mud-slinging.  If you feel the need to mud-sling -- get a room
• Feel free to make new contacts, meet people, and even possible romances, but try not to be 'that guy/gal'.  We see all too often someone will pop into chat and start private messaging their intended 'targets' to see if they're open for a hookup.  If you really are looking to add to your family, hang around for bit .. talk to folks .. make lasting relationships.  This site is about polygamy, not a polyamory dating site.
• We are all adults here.  Some will likely see some language that you might not be comfortable with.  Some will likely use some language that others might not be comfortable with.  Be civil about it.  We are not going to nix all forms of possibly offensive language to protect the few tender eyes, but neither are we going to condone rampant incivility by the few either.
• Do not abuse the IRC services and commands.  The chat is here for your use and enjoyment, not for you to abuse.

Chat Commands

IRC has a few simple commands that you might find useful.  All 'commands' start with a forward slash (/).  In the following example, if you see something like this:

<password>

it means to replace <whatever is in the brackets> (including the brackets) with the pertinent information.  For example, the format for the /server command is:

/server <irc server hostname>

So, when you actually enter the command, if your irc server is irc.secularpolygamy.com, the command would be

/server irc.secularpolygamy.com

simple, right?

server

If you ever find yourself disconnected, but still have a chat window open, you can directly connect to the chat server manually by typing the following in your chat client window.

/server irc.secularpolygamy.com

join

Use this command to join a channel or create a new channel.  

/join <channel name>

If you found yourself disconnected and used the server command above, you will need to join a channel using this command.

The 'home' chat channel is '#chat'.  All channel names are prefixed with a pound sign (#).

If you have a couple friends that want to get your own channel to discuss something outside the main chat, you can create your own channel using this command.  Let's say there is a lot of discussion going on in the main chat and you want to talk about bread but not disrupt the main chat channel (don't worry, you can talk about bread in the main channel if you want) you could make your own channel by entering the following:

/join #bread

The first one in will be 'channel operator' or 'chanop'.  You don't normally need to concern yourself with this, though, you'll just get a nice bubble by your name.  Chanops can do various things with 'their' channel to control who is there, etc., but we'll not get into that.  For further reading on the subject refer to http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/changuide.html.

nick

Your 'nick' if your name on the chat.  If you find yourself not liking the nick you came in with, you can just change is using the following:

/nick <new nick>

msg

If you want to send someone a private message and can't figure out how to open a private message window with them, you can directly use the 'msg' command:

/msg <nick to send message to> <your message to that nick>

So, if I wanted to send BlueRose a private message directly to tell her that I'm going to bed, it would be:

/msg BlueRose I'm going to bed, baby

Easy, right?

Services

We use what are called 'IRC Services'.  The services are functions that happen behind the scenes to add a level of configurability and security to the chat.  The services names are:

NickServ

OperServ

MemoServ

ChanServ

You can interact with these services by sending them messages using the 'msg' command above.  You can get help on any topic from the services by sending one of them the following message:

/msg NickServ help <topic>

If you just want a list of possible commands, leave the topic off.  For simplicity, we'll go over the most commonly used services commands.

NickServ: register

If you are going to be on the chat much, you might want to register your nick.  This will open up a lot of possibilities within the chat, but we'll only go over the most important of these possibilities.  The format to register your nick is:

/msg NickServ register <password> [password recovery phrase]

The [..] means the same as <..> only the [..] part is optional.  So, in this example, you don't have to use a password recovery phrase.

NickServ: identify

Once you have your nick registered, you will want to identify yourself each time you log in.  Many chat clients will do this for you automatically, but you should still want to know how to do it yourself.  The format is:

/msg NickServ identify <password>

No problem, right?

NickServ: set secure

To enable or disable security features on your nick, enter the following:

/msg NickServ set <nick> secure {on|off}

The {..} means "pick one of the options given."

NickServ: set kill

To keep anyone from using your nick when you are not around, you can turn on the 'auto kill' feature.  The format is:

/msg NickServ set <nick> kill {on|off}

Let's say you're all registered, have your security turned on, then turn on your kill.  Then, when you're not online, someone decides to play a joke and enter the chat using your nick.  If they don't identify using your password within 60 seconds, they will be kicked out of the chat.  Don't forget your password!

Conclusion

We all want you to have a pleasant and informative stay in our chat.  If you have any problems at all, please let Virgomoon, BlueRose, or Yurtgirl know and we will do our best to help you.