
  1. Welcome to mIRC for Darkmyst a/k/a DarkmIRC
     Where you can find basic documentation for DarkmIRC;
     and where to find this file if you're looking for it.

  2. Motivation
     What DarkmIRC is and what it is not

  3. DarkmIRC short cuts
     Function keys in DarkmIRC.

  4. Scripting
     The DarkmIRC quirks added for convenience.

  5. Cut script?
     The DarkmIRC cut script and how to enable it.

  6. Disabling /list
     How to disable the /list command on start-up

  7. Registering mIRC
     About the prompt


  Welcome to mIRC for Darkmyst a/k/a DarkmIRC
 =============================================

  Please note that this file is -not- for basic DarkmIRC help.

  If you're new to mIRC, take a look at:

    http://darkmyst.org/?page=help-darkmirc-getting-started

  The on-site documentation of DarkmIRC should help to get you
  started.

  If you're already familiar with mIRC and just snagged a copy
  of DarkmIRC for ease of use, the website documentation will
  likely yield nothing new to you, but this text file may be
  valuable for you.

  If you want some advanced help using DarkmIRC, but want to
  read this file at a later date, you can find it in the mIRC
  installation folder under the name DarkmIRChelp.txt


  Motivation
 ============

  DarkmIRC is intentionally not scripting-'bloatware'. It is
  meant to add very little to mIRC. If you're looking for a
  powerful mIRC installation that comes with a ton of scripts,
  DarkmIRC is unfortunately not for you. It was created with the
  intention of making IRC have a more appealing aesthetic and
  to streamline the generic mIRC installation into something
  better suited for the Darkmyst IRC RPG Network
  ( http://www.darkmyst.org ).

  Nonetheless:

  If you think there's something crucial amiss, or if you'd like
  a feature added to future distributions of DarkmIRC, send an
  eMail to darkmirc@darkmyst.org with the request.


  DarkmIRC short cuts
 =====================

  DarkmIRC, aside from having a distinctive visual style, comes
  with a few changes intended for your convenience. Some of your
  keyboard's function keys (F1 through to F12) have specific
  functions in DarkmIRC:

    F1: /help	This opens the mIRC internal help files.

    F5: /clear	Clears the currently focussed window.

    F7: /ping	Pings you through the server, giving you a rough
        	idea of your current lag. (Keep in mind this
        	is a round trip - your actual ping will be
                approximately half of the reported number)

    F8: /opme	If you have the proper channel privileges and
        	are identified to the access list nickname,
        	F8 grants you channel operator status in a
        	single keystroke in that channel.

    F9: /vcme	Same as /opme, except with voice instead of
        	channel operator status.

  To disable any of these, follow these steps:

    1. Open the Scripts Editor (Alt+R)

    2. Switch to the 'Aliases' tab (if necessary)

    3. In the 'Function keys' section/block, either:
       a. remove the respective line
          or
       b. comment it out, by placing a semi-colon (;) before it


  Scripting
 ===========

  mIRC as a whole offers many scripting opportunities. DarkmIRC
  comes with very few in-built scripts - a scant handful are
  made available to have the mIRC settings blend into Darkmyst a
  bit better:

	--------------------------------------------------

    Popups	The majority of scripts are in the right click
        	menus of mIRC. These are fairly numerous, but
        	should be fairly easy to understand and get
        	into.

	--------------------------------------------------

    Aliases

      /awaynick

        If you type /awaynick, DarkmIRC appends {Away} to your
        current nickname. E.g. if your name were to be 'Dread',
        it would change to Dread{Away}

      /ooc
      /oocm

        These two aliases are intended as a quick way to speak
        OOC in IC channels. Instead of typing brackets around
        your speech each time you have something to say, you can
        simply type '/ooc Whatever you want to say' and DarkmIRC
        will bracket it for you.

        The /oocm alias does the same for actions.

      /em

        This is a simple typo aid. With this alias, you don't
        have to worry about mistyping /me as /em anymore.

	--------------------------------------------------

    Remotes	The only remote of note for the non-scripter
        	is that DarkmIRC performs /whois when someone
        	enters a channel. This is primarily useful for
        	channel operators. If it annoys you, can
        	disable it like this:

        	1. Open the Scripts Editor (Alt+R)

        	2. Switch to the 'Remote' tab (if necessary)

        	3. Regarding the 'Whois-on-join' block, either
                   a. remove it
                      or
                   b. comment it out by placing semi-colons (;)
                      before each line.

	--------------------------------------------------

  mIRC scripters might further notice a few script stubs
  (incomplete code snippets that need some kind of alteration
  to work) to play with at their leisure.


  Cut script?
 =============

  DarkmIRC includes a cut script, but you have to enable it
  manually.

  There are many ways to break apart a post and tastes vary as
  to how to best do that - though it's worth noting that mIRC
  will fail on -very- long posts even with a cut script.

  DarkmIRC instead advises using Notepad or some other
  supplement and pasting as you go, for your own sake.

  If you do want the cut script, you should know its caveats
  before you enable it:

    a. The DarkmIRC cut script splits a text at sentence end
       punctuation: . ! and ?

       This makes for very clean cuts, but some awkward
       handling in fringe cases:

    b. It will treat ellipses (significant pauses, '...') as
       three periods, and might cut at any point in them.

    c. As all mIRC cut scripts, it will fail on texts
       significantly over the cut limit (1000+ characters).

    d. Closing quotation marks of any fashion may be swallowed
       if they're at the cut point.

  To enable it, type '/enable #cutscript' in any window.


  Disabling /list
 =================

  /list is a command performed on connect that retrieves the
  currently active list of public channels, sorted by
  popularity (channel user count).

  If you find yourself hindered more than helped by it, you
  can disable it by following the instructions on how to
  auto-identify on connect on this page...

    http://darkmyst.org/?page=help-darkmirc-returning

  ...and removing /list in the respective text area.


  Registering mIRC
 ==================

  mIRC does not require you to register to remain functional,
  even though it classifies itself as shareware, where
  functionality typically ends after a trial period, and even
  though it adamantly points out the 'end' of the trial period
  after thirty days.

  You -can- ignore that prompt.

  Nonetheless, DarkmIRC would like to encourage registering the
  underlying product if you like it. ( http://www.mirc.com )

