Programming Comments - How to create new irc channels

Summary

I create support channels on irc for open-source software projects I've written. The problem is every time I need to create a new channel, I have to search the web for the commands required to register and configure channels.

Here are my personal notes on how to setup some permenant irc channels:

Servers and software

I've used irc for support reasons since around 1993, back in the peak of my OS/2 development days. I no longer know the details of which irc servers are interconnected, but I've found great results and consistent uptime with either of the following servers:

irc.ubuntu.com
freenode.net

There is no lack of irc clients for all platforms. If you're looking for suggestions, my favourite happens to be Pidgin.

Commands

Most -- if not all? -- of these commands require that your nickname be registered with nickserv. Search the web to find out how to register a new nickname if you don't already have one.

Once you have a registered nickname, here are the commands to run to register and configure a new channel. In this example, I use the channel name #foobar:

/join #foobar
/topic This Is Just An Example
/msg ChanServ register #foobar
/msg ChanServ op #foobar StephaneCharette
/msg ChanServ flags #foobar StephaneCharette +*
/msg ChanServ set #foobar email foobar@example.com
/msg ChanServ set #foobar guard on
/msg ChanServ set #foobar keeptopic on
/msg ChanServ set #foobar topiclock on
/msg ChanServ set #foobar url http://www.example.com/
/msg ChanServ set #foobar verbose on
	

All of this will ensure the channel will always exist, and you'll retain ops even if you leave and come back to the channel.

To see some information on what chanserv thinks of the newly-create channel:

/msg ChanServ access #foobar list
/msg ChanServ info #foobar
/msg ChanServ why #foobar
	