Finding a channel
IRC is organized into discussion groups called channels. The /list command displays a list of those channels. However, since the biggest IRC network currectly contains over 2000 channels, you may want to reduce the scope of your search.
Some clients, like ircII, allow users to specify a minimum number of users or, on the contrary, a maximum number of users. Try the "/list -min # -max #" command, where # can be any number.
If you are interested in a special topic, like Windows, you may try the following command "/list *win*".
Since the resulting list can still be pretty long, the ircII client lets you pause the listing after each screenful of text : type "/set hold_mode on" and issue your /list command, you can stop the listing at any time with /flush or read the listing to the end and type "/set hold_mode off" to return to a normal scrolling.
Joining a channel
Once you have found an interesting channel, you may join it by typing "/join #channel". With clients written for a graphical environemnt, you may have a button that will call a popup window where you can type the channel's name.
Sometimes, you won't be able to join a channel. Don't worry, join #irchelp to ask for help about why you can't join. (Note that you may ask any question about IRC in #irchelp provided it isn't about scripts and bots.)
Leaving a channel
To leave a channel, you may issue the following command "/leave #channel" (on some clients, "/part #channel" will work too).
In a graphical environment where you have 1 channel per window, you may simply close the corresponding window.
Creating a channel
Creating a channel is like joining one : just choose a name for the new channel and /join it. If it doesn't already exist, you have created it. You can then set its topic by typing : /topic #channel whatever you want.
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