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Getting online with IRC/Chat help thread.

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Clarity

Clarity

Will Bryant
Staff member
If you haven't already, please take a moment, click on the Chat link above in the grey navbar, click on either of the available options presented (popup is probably better as it won't remove you from this announcement), and let the window load.

When something pops up asking you to approve the applet/certficate, say "yes".

If after a few moments, you find yourself in a chat room (channel) with 'BP_Coach' (our bot) then all is well and it works fine for you. If you get an empty white/grey window, or if the applet runs and you get a "unable to connect: null" message, please read the following;

There are a few reasons why it might be failing, and a much nicer option to the java client as well. The reasons and possible fixes follow;<i>

1. You said "no" or "cancel" to the security certificate. When the applet goes to load, a window pops up prompting the user to accept the certificate. This is because the little java client will actually reside on their machine. You have to say "yes" when prompted for the applet to work. There's nothing malicious in the code, it's pjirc (http://www.pjirc.com) which is the most widely used free IRC applet on the web. No adware, no spyware, no malware or virus infections. It's a clean little program. I am not personally a fan of java, or java chat clients. But the non-java alternative is web based, and even just a couple dozen people using something like that would severely impact the website. Because these java clients run on the user's computer, there is basically no impact on BP at all.</i>

<i>2. You have a bad version of Microsoft's Java. you can download the Sun version (1.5.0/JRE (3rd link down on the page)) from <a href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp">java.sun.com</a> and install that, and not only will you be able to connect, but odds are that java in general will be much smoother and more reliable for you.</i>

Our chat room is a channel on an IRC server. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a web standard like WWW or FTP. IRC actually predates WWW, I believe. It's been around a very long time, and is still used very heavily. An alternative to using the java client to connect, and a vastly superior option, is the installation of a true IRC client. I highly recommend <a href="http://www.mirc.co.uk/get.html">mIRC</a>. This is the top client, it's free, clean, and easy to use. Should you go this route, all you need to know is the following;

server: <b>irc.blitzed.org</b>
channel: <b>#buckeyeplanet</b>

I'd be happy to help anyone who is going to be using mIRC out get connected. Those questions and requests, and any related to the problems/fixes above, should go in this thread.

Just want to make sure this feature is working for everyone. Thanks for helping out with it.
 
GMan said:
I downloaded the Sun version and still get an empty grey window. Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Do you have something that blocks java? Perhaps a browser setting, or something like Norton Internet Security?

The easy solution for you is a program like mIRC. It's better really, has been the 'standard' for IRC going on over a decade. But I'd like everyone to have options, and there's no reason the little java applet can't work for you. We just have to figure out what's stopping it.
 
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Clarity said:
Do you have something that blocks java? Perhaps a browser setting, or something like Norton Internet Security?

The easy solution for you is a program like mIRC. It's better really, has been the 'standard' for IRC going on over a decade. But I'd like everyone to have options, and there's no reason the little java applet can't work for you. We just have to figure out what's stopping it.
Click to expand...


I gave up on the java and downloaded mIRC. Thanks for the help!
 
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dowantc.jpg


Clarity mentioned he'd like to add it. We haven't researched add-ons yet, though.
 
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I say it depends on how many people we think will actually use it. I don't know much about web addons or anything for IRC as I just mIRC client all the time as is. Registering a channel on an already existing server and maintaining it is very easy though, so i'm not sure if you guys are wanting to setup an IRCD on the new equipment or not.

I am definitely in favor of using an IRC channel though as I sit behind the computer all day at work.
 
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Magua;1895436; said:
I say it depends on how many people we think will actually use it. I don't know much about web addons or anything for IRC as I just mIRC client all the time as is. Registering a channel on an already existing server and maintaining it is very easy though, so i'm not sure if you guys are wanting to setup an IRCD on the new equipment or not.

I am definitely in favor of using an IRC channel though as I sit behind the computer all day at work.
Click to expand...

Find an existing server (does #efnet still exist?) and just registering a channel seems to be the best bet. From there, finding some sort of java interface (I think we used JIRC before) that doesn't have to interact with our database would be ideal. As convenient as it might be to automatically populate usernames, it's just not worth adding another modification to the site.

So really there's nothing whatsoever stopping people from getting the main two parts of this going. #1. Choose a server and register a channel. #2. Announce as much here. #3. Start using it. Somewhere thereafter we can sort out a java based web interface for those who just want to do it through the site (I still recommend a real client like mIRC, if it still exists.) Last time around we ran our own eggdrop to maintain the channel and op people as necessary. For the reasons described above I would not want to do this again, but maybe some of you tech types with your own resources (and most importantly, experience) can take that on.

So that's where we are. If one or more of you will take the lead, I'll figure out how to support it web-side.
 
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