Taking the one and only Si Allen's lead, following is an illustrated step by step to get Mac users up and running on Letterville chat. It's very easy to get on, and once you're set up, next time you get on all you'll have to do is fire up "IRCle" and all the other steps will happen automatically.First, of course, you need to download IRCle. Once loaded, start the program up by double clicking on the IRCle icon. The default windows will pop up on your monitor. One of them is the "Connections" window. At the bottom of this window, click on "Edit", and in the window that that pops up, select the "Identify" tab. Fill in a "nickname", which can be whatever you want it to be...but try to make it unique...everybody has already thought of most everything under the sun, and each nick must be unique. You may need to add an "^" or a number to it to make it work. Your user name is generally the name in front of your e-mail address, but I've seen people use all sorts of usernames and still have no problem getting onto chat. Choose and remember a password, then check the box for "auto connect to server". This automates the process of getting onto chat after the connection. This screenshot shows my connections set up.
Now, go to the "Format" menu at the top of your screen and choose a font and font size. I use helvetica and 18 pts, because it's easier to read.
Once that's done, go to File>Preferences. Select the speech tab from the preferences window. Sound is not necessary for chat, but I like it. This screenshot shows how I set up speech. It can be turned off later at any time from the pop up menu at the bottom left corner of the main chat window.
Close the preferences window.
Going back to the Connections window, click on "Server". In the window that pops up, you'll see a long list of server addresses. Scroll down to the "Webnet" servers, towards the bottom of the list, and highlight "webmaster.ca.us.webnet.org", then hit the "Select" button. IRCle will automatically connect you. You'll see the double arrows icon in the Connections window when you're connected.
All that's left to do now is hit "Command+J" to join the chat. In the window that pops up, type "#letterville". (NOTE: no spaces) Click "OK".
If all went correctly, which there's no reason it didn't :) , you should be on Letterville chat in a few seconds! The screen layout should look something like this, with an "Input" window at the bottom to type into, and the main window where all the conversation takes place.
I probably ought to add a little bit of info on choosing your "nick". The trick is to choose a screen name that nobody else has chosen yet. You may want to use your shop name, or even a nickname that your friends use. If you get a message like "this nickname is already been taken", you'll have to either edit it by adding a "^" or putting numbers after it....or likely have to think of a new one altogether. There's hundreds of thousands of people using this system and coming up with something unique can be a pain sometimes.
You can change your nick easily at any time, in the "input" window...the same window that you type in to chat. All you need to do is type "/nick nickname"...with a space after the word "nick" and your nickname where I typed "nickname".
To register a nick, which makes it so that nobody else can steal that hard earned nickname from you, you will have to type "/nickserv register password e-mail" , with spaces between nickserv, register, your password and your e-mail address. Note that nickserv is spelled without an "e" on the end. Registering your nick lasts for 30 days after the last time you were on chat. After that, somebody else can use it! So, if you came up with one you really like, don't make yourself a stranger.
Don't worry too much about the nickname stuff. If there's anybody on chat when you get there, any of us can help you get your nick registered...and we may even help you come up with a nick that hasn't been taken! hahaha
As far as the best time to try chat, there's usually a few online in the early evening hours. The late night bunch, around 11pm EST or later, are usually more "colorful"...not "x rated", but sometimes just barely "PG". And if you want to catch the "Wizards of Oz" (Australian Letterheads), their lunchtime break is around 9pm EST and it's a good bet one or more of them will be around. You may have to brush up on your Australian, though...they have heavy accents. ;)
One note: These chat programs are shareware. The demo period is 30 days. At the end of 30 days, you have two choices. One, send in $15 for the serial number or two, go to your hard drive preference file and dump the IRCle preferences in the trash. This will set you up with 30 more days of use, but also you'll have to reset your preferences, including most of what I've gone over with in this step by step. Which you do is basically a personal matter and also depends on if spending ten minutes once a month messing with all this again is worth saving a few bucks. (As far as dumping your IRCle preferences....you didn't hear that from me! haha)
There are some very cool things that you can do on mIRC or IRCle chat that you can't do on the "green button". One of the best benefits is the "DCC" tools. We can exchange photos of our latest projects, ask for critiques from our peers or show a friend a couple thousand miles away a photo of a new grandchild. It's just one more thing to keep us all together when we're not meeting each other at a live meet.
But, the coolest thing about Letterville chat is that we get to know people from all over the world that share our love of signs...and there's few things cooler than meeting an old friend for the first time at a live meet! Particularly when they turn out to have less hair and wider waists than you do!
Enjoy, and watch out for that Brushasaurus charactor! I'm "StMacintosh", hope you stop in and say "hi" sometime soon!
