---------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Operate IRC and Basic Anonymization
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now onto actually using IRC.
Note: A lot of this stuff is just extra info. You don't need to know it. WE don't need to know it. We just love typing out this crap. Just reading the commands will probably suffice for you.

Note: To use the following commands, replace words inside "[ ]" with your own choices and delete the "[ ]" themselves. Example: "/nick " would become "/nick Newbie"



Step 1
GETTING STARTED



1. First up, you'll want your own nick.

Nicknames, commonly referred to as 'nicks', are how people will see you. Yours will appear before all of your messages in IRC, letting everybody know who is talking. You can select almost any nickname you like, provided nobody else uses it.
To change your nick use:
/nick [yournickhere]
Example:
/nick IMsoNEWhelpME

2. Now you should register your nick

Registering is basically creating an account on the AnonOps network; your nickname will then belong only to you, and nobody else will be able to use it. There are other benefits, of course, including the ability to be recognised and given admin abilities on channels.
To register your current nick, use:
/msg nickserv register [password] [fake email]
Example:
/msg nickserv register whatTHEpassword fake@email.com

NOTE: If you lose your password, you will not be able to recover your nick and will have to make a new one!

3. Log in!

To log in [aka "identify"] manually, use /nick and use:
/msg nickserv identify [password]
Example:
/msg nickserv identify whatTHEpassword


You'll have to log in to your nick every time you connect now, but most IRC clients allow you to set a default nick and password for that nick under an option called "Nickserv pass" somewhere in the settings. Dig around the preferences of your client to find it. 

4. After registering, you'll want to find channels to use.

#opnewblood is good for orientation; it's the default help channel for new users. Ask any questions you have there and you'll get answers, or at least pointed in the right direction. Alternatively, you can also find other channels using a list command.
To find a channel with a keyword in it, use:
/list

Example:
/list newblood
This will display a list of channels with names containing the keyword you use, such as #opnewblood. Alternatively, you can just type:
/list

This will return a list of all public channels currently on the network. There are too many to display here, and more are being created all the time.

5. Found channels? Good.

Now you have to join them.Channels begin with a hash tag, or a "#" symbol, and as said before, channels are basically chatrooms. Each is focused around one topic or subject (enter in "/topic" in your client to view a chatroom's topic), from specific ops to general information to helping with a particular issue.
To join a channel, use:
/join [#channel]
Example:
/join #opnewblood
That's pretty much it. There's plenty more, but it's mostly unimportant stuff and you have far more important things to do. You probably skipped all the extra info anyway.



Step 2
BASIC ANONYMIZING


Now you'll configure IRC to use a Vhost. Vhosts [meaning 'virtual hosts'] are masks that hide certain personal information, namely, your ISP.
 
When a user joins a channel, most others present will see something like this:

"Opnewblood119 [Opnewblood@ty-F6F6B323.dhcp.embarqhsd.net] has joined #opnewblood"

The part in the square brackets contains way too much information relating to your physical location and internet connection to be really comfortable. A vhost obscures this, replacing it with text of your choice.



1. Configure a vhost

To get a vhost, you will need to join the channel #vhost
After doing so, type this into the channel itself:
!vhost [your@vhost.here]

Examples:
!vhost newbies@love.this.guide
!vhost you@can.use.many.different.words.separated.by.dots
!vhost wtf@am.i.doing

If everything goes correctly, and let's face it, with such an amazing guide, how could it not,  you should be kicked out of the channel immediately after sending the above message. You can request a new vhost at most every 6 hours. Note: When you do "/whois" on yourself, you can see if you your vhost is in place, and your IP will show up in this info, but only YOU can see your IP when you /whois yourself.

Now, when joining or leaving a channel, a person with the first example vhost should appear like this:

"Opnewblood119 [newbies@love.this.guide] has joined #opnewblood"



Step 3
EXTRA IRC GOODIES


Video tutorial after you've done all this for finishing touches, aka icing on the cake, or your face:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRL66uCSJuI&hd=1

1. Extras

To mark yourself as away from keyboard, use:
/away [message]
Example:
/away Gone to eat.

To unmark as away, use one of the following (if it doesn't work, use the other one; it depends on which client you're using):
/away
/back

To quit and disconnect from the server, use:
/quit [message]
Example:
/quit Feds found me.

To display an action, such as slapping somebody, use:
/me [action]
Example:
/me slaps Joe around with a giant fishbot
This will be displayed as:
* Newbie slaps onion around with a giant fishbot

To print every nick on the channel you are in use:
/names 
Note that this might not work in every client.

2. General Advice

If you're going to private message someone, ask them before you do. It's just proper etiquette.

DO NOT USE ALL CAPS LIKE I AM DOING NOW. PEOPLE GET IRRITATED
Hell, I'm irritated just reading that.
The user called "muninn" or "xuminn" is a bot that connects Anonops's irc network to the related network on I2P, a network built especially for privacy. If you want to know more about I2P, you can ask people in #opnewblood about it.

Don't join #kill. If you absolutely MUST know what happens if you do, don't cry about it afterwards.