What is IRC?
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is the net's equivalent of CB radio. The main differences are that you can talk to people all over the world rather than just in your area, and everything appears on your screen - rather than heard through speakers.
Using an IRC client (program) you can exchange text messages interactively with other people all over the world. You can either use mIRC, a Java applet, a CGI:IRC client - or some other client/program. The program you use doesn't really matter; a person using a Mac and the Java applet can talk to a PC owner with mIRC. Their screens will look very different, but they'll be able to communicate perfectly.
It's a very good idea to read our help pages before you actually start chatting, as you might get confused otherwise!
Be careful
Anyone can connect to IRC. Our network has a zero tolerance policy towards people that break our rules, however we cannot stop bad people entering our IRC network. We can ban them, but not until they have done something wrong - we can't predict the future. For this reason, it's a good idea to be careful on IRC. Although it's fine to say your first name, what country, state/providence/county you're from, and your age, it's a bad idea to give out more specific information. NEVER reveal your surname (unless it's very popular - even then it's unadvisable), NEVER reveal exactly where you live. If you live in a city, don't say your exact area, if you live in a town/village, don't say which one. It's also inadvisable to give out your exact date of birth. Giving out your email address is usually fine - but try to whisper/message it to individuals you trust, and avoid stating it in the room. If you're under 16, do not reveal to anyone which school you go to.
Channels and messages
On IRC you can "talk" in the channel (chat room) or in a private messsage (also known as query, or whisper) to an individual. How you do this depends on what client you use (see our help pages for details).
Logging on
You need an IRC client to connect to an IRC server. You can either download mIRC, or simply use our Java applets on our site - no download is needed for java chat. The first thing you'll want to do is choose a nickname; everyone on IRC uses one. People will soon recognize you by your nick, or even search for your nickname on IRC. Be careful when choosing a name. Many popular names will already be taken. You will usually be able to connect using such a name - but NickServ will change it from yourname to _yourname-. This is to protect the name for the people that registered it. In some cases, it may not allow you to connect, and in other cases, you can connect and after anything from 20-60 seconds, NickServ will change your nickname for you.
Finding a channel (room).
An IRC server can have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of chat channels open at any time. Some may be permanent, some may not last more than a few minutes. If you use the java-based chatrooms on our site, you actually select a channel before you log on, while with mIRC you'd usually be choosing one after you've connected. How to change room will vary depending on what you're using. There are seperate sections for mIRC help and Java help, and in both these sections there are instructions for how to change rooms. All channel names begin with a # symbol. Each channel has it's own topic - set by one of the channel Operators (also known as Moderators. Some people incorrectly refer to them as "hosts"). On the CentralChat IRC network you can be in up to 30 channels at any time - but we don't reccomend you're in more than a few as you won't be able to cope! Java users can only be in one room at a time - it's a limitation of web-based chats, not the server.
Commands
You can see our IRC commands page for a list of commands. Unfortunately, Java users cannot use these commands but there are several alternatives instead.
Web chat or mIRC?
Most people use the Web chat rather than mIRC. Only use mIRC if you can install software to your PC. The Web chat can be accessed from this site. If you want mIRC, you can download it here.