Connecting to a server

The New Server Connection Dialog Box allows you to select the desired IRC server and setup basic user information about yourself before logging in. By default, the Server Connection window will open as soon as Vortec is loaded.

From this dialog you may select the desired profile. Vortec includes a default.vpf profile, but you mad add additional profiles at any time.

You should also specify two or more nicknames here. Specifying alternate nicknames assures that you will still be able to connect to the IRC server when your primary nickname is in use.

Select the network you would like to connect to. If your desired network is not listed, click the Advanced button and refer to the instructions in the Advanced section below.

Enter a password if you were provided one, or if you have registered your nickname using NickServ.

Once the required information has been entered, click Connect and the IRC server connection will be initiated.

Connecting using Advanced View

To display this dialog when Advanced View has been enabled and "Show this dialog at startup" has been disabled, click the "Profiles" button located on Vortec IRC's toolbar.

(Profile button opens New Server Connection dialog, below)

Selecting a nickname

There is a field allowing you to enter the nicknames you want to use. Vortec will always attempt to log into IRC using the first name you provide in the Nick Name list, however, if Vortec is unable to login with this name, generally because it is already being used by someone else on the network, it will use the second nickname. In the event both your primary and alternate nicknames are already being used by other people, Vortec will continue to select the nicknames listed in the Connection dialog. Once you are logged into IRC, you can still change your nickname using the /nick command.

Selecting a Server

Click on the drop down list and select, or type in the name of the server you want to connect to. The server list can be edited in Client Options. All server names must be in the format of server.name:port, for example us.undernet.org:6667 where us.undernet.org is the name of the server and 6667 is the number of the port to connect to. (Most IRC servers use port 6667 for IRC connections, however many now use 7000.) If your system meets the requirements for using SSL, you may specify an SSL-enabled port by using a "+" plus symbol in front of the port number. For example, irc.mozilla.org:+6697.

Vortec allows you to also specify a network ID in label following the server name. At this time, this ID label is purely informational for the user.

Real Name & E-mail Address

Enter your name and E-mail address in the fields provided. Your E-mail address ident (the part before the @ symbol) will be used to log into the IRC server. The Real Name field is displayed in your /whois information for anyone to see. Take care not to use revealing information here. Instead of using your real name, enter your favorite quote or some witty saying or your website. Same thing goes with your email address. Just make up a fake one, but remember to include the required @ symbol. In the past, this information was used by the IRC server to authenticate users but it is still used to preserve standard compliance.

Initial User Mode

Select the desired user modes. See the /MODE command for more information on individual modes and what they do. When you log into IRC, Vortec will automatically Change your user mode to the selected preferences.

Loading & Saving Profiles

Vortec allows you to have multiple profiles, which contain the user's preferences such as font settings, colors, and other user settings. If there is more than one person who will use Vortec in your household, you can each have your own profiles. Also, if you switch frequently between IRC networks such as EfNet and Undernet, you may want to setup an individual profile for each network.

To load a new profile, click on the Load Profile button and select the desired profile name from the file list. All Vortec profiles end with the extension .vpf. All changes you make to the user options will apply to this profile, and are automatically saved for you.

Once you have entered the desired connection information, click on the Connect button. This action will display the server/status window for the connection and show the connection progress. As Vortec logs you into IRC, the server will display the MOTD (Message of the Day) file. Please note that when you click the Connect button, the information you entered here will be saved in the profile. You do not need to "Save as..." unless you are creating a new profile.

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