#title Joining In

<<Include(UserDays/Header)>>

=== Joining In ===
If you don't have an IRC client installed, or don't even know what an IRC client is then you might want to try connecting to the channels using a web browser.

 ~+ Click [[http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=ubuntu-classroom%2Cubuntu-classroom-chat|here]] to join in the discussion directly in your browser+~

Use your IRC client (such as xchat, irssi or mIRC) to connect to the Freenode IRC network at irc.freenode.net. You can do this manually by typing:

 {{{/server irc.freenode.net}}}

Then join #ubuntu-classroom for the time and date of the session you want to attend. You can manually join the channel by typing:

 {{{/join #ubuntu-classroom}}}

You may also want to join #ubuntu-classroom-chat to ask questions and participate in discussions about the current session.

 {{{/join #ubuntu-classroom-chat}}}
=== Ignoring Noises ===
To quiet various noise that happens in the IRC channels during the talk use the following commands, according to clients:

IRSSI:
{{{
/ignore #ubuntu-classroom CRAP NOTICES SNOTES CTCPS JOINS PARTS QUITS KICKS MODES WALLOPS NICKS DCC DCCMSGS CLIENTNOTICES CLIENTCRAP CLIENTERRORS HILIGHTS
 }}}
X-Chat:
{{{
/set irc_conf_mode on
}}}
X-Chat Gnome
{{{
Right click on channel and click Ignore Join/part messages
}}}
qwebirc, webchat.freenode.net
{{{
Click on the small blue box on top left corner and click "Options."  Add a tick to "Hide JOINS/PARTS/QUITS:"
}}}
=== Participating ===
You should also join #ubuntu-classroom-chat which is the general discussion channel for the session. Questions should be posted there. You should prefix your questions with "QUESTION:" to make them easier to spot.
=== More on IRC ===

For instructions on how to use the various IRC clients, see [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/XChatHowto|XChatHowto]] and [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Irssi|Irssi]].
General information about IRC is locate at InternetRelayChat.
For Windows users just getting started finding out about Ubuntu, you can use XChat for Windows from http://silverex.info/download/ or Gaim/Pidgin from http://gaim.sourceforge.net/ (both free).  For Ubuntu users of course these come from the repositories.