Chat4all FAQ:Community Portal

General Questions

Q: Is having a chatroom at your network (chat4all.org) free? A: Yes, absolutely free... you don't even have to place a banner or put up with advertising. But a banner or a short line indicating that you have your chatroom with our network is more than appreciated. :-) Q: But the chat applets on www.jpilot.com and www.javirc.com are not free of charge. Why is that? A: Our chatnetwork offers server side access. You can access our network with different kinds of client side software. That software is not created by us, and thus the creator of that software is free to ask money for it. However there are previous versions of for example javirc available which are less pretty, but are free. On the other hand, we do offer a [eng_homepage.html webchat through our site]. Also, free of charge. Q: My firewall software shows an alert every time I enter your network. Why is that? A: To keep our network clean of possible hackers, we check certain ports on connecting computers. These ports are usually used by people who use proxies to enter the chat through someone else's computer without that person knowing it. People who have these open ports will not be allowed on our network. The alert is harmless when it comes from address: 62.75.201.175 (which is our IRCD IP address). Q: Can I become an operator in your (chat4all) rooms? A: Operators for our own rooms are appointed by invitation only. To become an operator in someone else's room, you will have to ask there. However, generally asking (begging) to become an operator somewhere is considered rude, and may result in you being kicked, or even banned from that chatroom. Q: Can I become an IRCop/NetAdmin on chat4all? A: No, and people who ask (or even beg) to become an IRCop will not even be considered in case such position come available. IRCops are considered by invitation only. To become one, you will need to positively catch our attention by being friendly, helping people and be knowledgeable of the workings of our network. And even then there is no guarantee you will be asked. Just have a good time, enjoy the chat. Q: May I advertise for my chatroom or IRC server on your network? A: Definitely not. Advertising your chatroom in other chatrooms on our network is rude and not allowed. Would you want others to advertise their chatrooms inside your chatroom? However, there is one exception to this rule, and that is channel #chat4all. This channel is, to a certain extent, created specifically for promotion of your own channel. If you own an IRC server, or you are an IRCop on another IRC server and you advertise (spam) your services on our network, you will risk being permanently banned off our server. Q: Your network is very hard to access. Sometimes it takes minutes to get through! A: You are probably behind a router or a firewall, which is blocking the TCP 113 (IdentD) port. Open this port in your router/firewall and you'll find that the access time is vastly improved. Q: What is a vhost, and how can I get one? A: A vhost is used to mask your hostname. We already mask your IP/Hostname to a certain extent, however if you have a registered nickname, you can have it changed in anything you want. Examples would be like (<ident>@<host/ip>): IP: yoda@212.34.76.9 changed to custom vhost: i-am@invisible-to.you To request one, you can send an e-mail to vhost.at.chat4all.net (change .at. to @) and include the following info: your registered nickname include the <ident>@<host> you want as vhost Vhosts may not resemble existing domain names, unless you or your organization legally owns it. Q: How many nicknames may I register? A: You may register 4 nicknames per e-mail address. This means you register the first one (master) and in case you need more than one, you can attach those to your master nickname through the nickserv GROUP command. Q: None of the commands seem to work! A: Usually this is because of a syntax error. Check to see if you have typed the command correctly. Also make sure that, in case a chatroom name is needed, the room name is started with a #. Also make sure that you have used a space between the actual command and the channelname, and make sure you are not using any formatting codes like colours and bold inside the commands. Q: I have registered a nickname, but I am not receiving any e-mail from you. A: Make sure you enter the correct e-mail address before you finish your nickname registration. Also check to see if your mailbox isn't full. Finally, nowadays many people (and ISP's) have spam filters in place which can sometimes mistake good mail for spam. Check to see if your spam filter is not set too high. Q: Eeek! My IP address/hostname is visible to everyone! A: No, it's not visible to everyone. We mask the first part of your hostname into "Chat4all-XXXX", where XXXX is a random value. Everything after that is the remainder of your hostname, but can not be traced back to your real hostname. IP addresses are masked completely. In case you have a registered nickname, you can ask us to set a vhost. Q: Someone is using my registered nickname. How can I get it back? A: If your nickname has not been dropped by nickserv, you can "kill" the user who is using your nickname illegally by issuing the RECOVER command. It is also possible that you lost your connection. When you get back on the server, you may find that your nick is in use. The server usually notices this a bit late, resulting in a ghost. You can remove your ghost by issueing the GHOST command. If that did not work, then it is likely that your nickname was dropped because you have not authenticated to nickserv within the set time of 28 days. You can then try to re-register it as soon the person who is using it now exists. If he registered it, then there is nothing else you can do.

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Room owner questions

Q: How many chatrooms may I register on chat4all? A: You may register 5 chatrooms. This should be more than enough for most people. Q: How do I add my chatroom to my website? A: There are several ways. First of all, you can generate chatroom code (HTML) on our website and add that to your website: [eng_homepage.html http://www.chat4all.org/eng_homepage.html] The code generator allows you to modify the visual characteristics of your chatroom. Another option is acquiring java or html software and use that to connect to our network. We can however not offer any support on that. Q: How can I get a (chanserv) bot inside my chatroom? A: First you will need to [eng_yourchatroom.html register] your chatroom. Next, you can send us an e-mail at bot.at.chat4all.net (change .at. to @) and state that you would like to have a chanserv bot inside your chatroom. We will then e-mail you instructions on how to request one. We may soon add a form on our website which would make it easier to request one. Q: Can I get a game/statistics bot inside my chatroom? A: You are (as room owner) allowed to have 1 bot (outside chanserv) inside your chatroom. This may of course be a game/statistics bot, and it may be using different software. However, this is not software supplied by us. We suggest searching the internet for software like eggdrop, or scripts that can compliment a mIRC installation. Check our links page for [eng_links.html helpful links]. Q: Why has my chatroom been dropped (de-registered)? A: A chatroom can be automatically dropped for a few reasons: When the nickname of the Owner (and Successor) has expired (which will happen after 28 days without logging in to NickServ), the channel will also automatically expire. When the Owner hasn't entered his/her channel and used ChanServ IDENTIFY to identify as ChannelOwner for at least once in 28 days. When the Owner hasn't entered his/her channel for at least once in 28 days, while being logged into NickServ. Q: None of the commands seem to work! A: Usually this is because of a syntax error. Check to see if you have type the command as is required. Also make sure that, in case a chatroom name is needed, the room name is started with a #. Also make sure that you have used a space between the actual command and the channelname, and make sure you are not using any formatting codes like colours and bold inside the commands.