iGOR Chat

iGOR includes an Internet Relay Chat client program, enabling you to chat with your racing buddies without the need for a separate program such as mIRC.  It has the same basic functionality as most other IRC programs available, but it does not have some of the more advanced features.  If you need those features you can always connect with a separate IRC program at the same time as with iGOR.

Interface Overview

iGOR Chat Window
Main Chat Window (click for a larger image)


As with the RaceList window, the buttons for joining a race/hosting a race/etc. are still available.

(1) Topic Bar - displays current channel name and topic
(2) Channel Modes - indicates which modes are active
(3) Open Channel Buttons - for switching between open chat channels
(4) Channel Buttons - close, audio notification, chat log saving, channel options
(5) Chat Window - where all chat messages are displayed
(6) User List - shows a list of all users in the current channel
(7) Text Edit - where you type your messages
(8) Text Formatting pop out - click the arrow to open/close the formatting bar



Joining Chat

To connect to the Chat server, make sure you have setup your IRC options properly, then click on the Chat button in the main toolbar.  You should see messages being shown in the -network- window, then any channels you have specified to automatically open will be joined.  If there is a network error, the messages in -network- should say what it is, and the Chat button will pop back up again (you can then press it again to retry).

In IRC Options, there is an option for automatically joining the Chat when iGOR is launched. 



(1) - Topic Bar

The topic bar displaying which chat channel is currently visible, and what the topic is.  In this case, #clark is open, the topic is 'iGOR development'.

If you are a channel operator, or the channel does not have mode +t (topic protection), you can double-click on the topic bar to change the topic (or use the /topic command).



(2) - Channel Modes

Just above the userlist are a set of icons displaying the current channel modes.  These can only be changed by the IRC server or a Channel Operator. 
iGOR channel modes
If you are an operator, you can change them in one of two ways - using the /mode command, or by clicking on the icons.

The listed modes (some IRC networks have other modes available, but those shown are the most common) are:
+c - colour codes not permitted, -c - colour codes permitted
+i - channel is by invite only, -i - channel is open for all
+k - channel is key (password) protected, -k - channel is not
+l - there is a limit on the number of users, -l - no limit
+m - the channel is moderated (voice required to talk), -m - the channel is not moderated
+n - no external messages permitted, -n - external messages are permitted
+p - the channel is private, -p - not private
+r - the channel is registered, -r - the channel is not registered
+s - the channel is secret, -s - not secret
+t - only operators can change the topic, -t - anyone can change the topic




(3) - Channels


Next are the buttons for changing the currently displayed channel:
 
iGOR channels

When a channel that is not visible has a new message, the colour of the button will change to red.  If the new message contains your nickname, the button will be blue.  To change which channel is displayed simply click on the appropriate button, or use Ctrl-F1 / Ctrl-Shift-F1 to cycle through the channels.

-network-
This is a special channel that is always open - it is there to show you important messages/errors relating to the IRC network.  A channel with a '#' (or in some special cases a '&' ) as the first character is a normal IRC channel.  A channel without the #/& is a private chat channel with a single other user - the name of the channel will be the name of the user you are chatting with. 

Disabled Channels
It is possible that a channel will be visible, but disabled.  If this is so, the background will be dark gray and you will be unable to send or receive messages.  This can be due to a number of reasons, but usually occurs when your connection to the IRC server is lost. 



(4) - Channel Options


Closing the channel 

Click this to close the current channel.  Not available for the -network- channel.

Audio Message Notification
- any messages sent to this channel will play a .wav file chanbeep.wav (for ordinary channels) or userbeep.wav (for private chat channels).

Auto Chat Logging
Turning auto logging on/off  - this feature automatically saves all messages to a text file in iGOR/chatlogs.

Saving the current chat buffer 
  - click to save the current channel chat log as a text file.  Currently not available for the -network- channel.

Channel Options
- Add a channel/join a channel/channel options popup

Joining Remembered Channels
iGOR channel popup

To join a channel that you have previously joined/setup, just click on the name of the channel - here, #clark and #gpl are disabled because they are already open.

Adding a New Channel
To add a new channel, click Add Channel, which brings up the following window:

iGOR new channel

Type in the name of the channel, the key (password) if one is required, and select whether or not you wish this channel to be opened as soon as you join the chat.

The new channel will then be added to the available channels list, and opened for chat.

Channel Options
By selecting Channel Options (or going via the Options button), you can change the channel settings as needed.  See Options for more detail.

Macros
Click this button to open the Macros popup:

Any macros you have created will be listed, along with 'Edit macros...' - click this to open the macros dialog for editing your macros:

iGOR Macros Dialog

The main list shows your macros.  A macro in iGOR consists of a short description (for showing in the popup menu), the full text of the macro, and a shortcut key of your choosing.

To create a macro, type in the short description, full text, choose a shortcut key and a combination of Ctrl and/or Alt, then click Add/Replace (replaces based on shortcut key).
Some shortcut keys (Ctrl-F1, Alt-F4, Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-D, Ctrl-F, Ctrl-S, Ctrl-V, Ctrl-W, Ctrl-Z) are reserved- you will be asked to choose a different combination.

To delete a macro, select it in the list and click Delete.

To use a macro in chat, either select it from the popup menu, or press the shortcut key combination you chose.




(5) - Chat Window

The main part of the window displays the chat messages.  URLs can be clicked on and should open in the appropriate program (i.e. http -> web browser, mailto -> email program).  file:// is ignored.



(6) - UserList

To the right of the screen is the userlist:

iGOR userlist

Here are displayed all of the users in the current channel, and their status.  In the example above, Guru is a normal user, Guru_ is being ignored, Guuruu has a voice and ridcully is a channel operator.

User Popup
Right-click on a user and the following menu appears:

iGOR userpopup

Some of these options will be disabled unless you are a channel operator.

Private Chat
This option will open a private chat channel with the selected user. 

Whois
Selecting this will perform the command /whois user, the result of which will appear in the -network- window.

Ignore/Unignore
Use this feature to ignore or unignore the selected user.  Messages from them will be displayed as "user had something important to say", so you know the feature is working.

Kick, KickBan, Ban
Only for channel operators.  Kick will eject the user from the channel, Ban will ban them, KickBan will Ban and Kick them at the same time.

Op+, Deop-
Only for channel operators.  Op+ gives the selected user operator status, Deop will remove it.

Voice+, Voice-
Only for channel operators, and only useful in a moderated channel (mode +m).  Voice+ gives the selected user a voice (able to send messages), Voice- removes the voice.

UserAction 1, 2, 3
This is equivalent to sending the following message:  /me <part1> selected_user <part2>, where <part1> and <part2> are set by you in the IRC Options.  Typically they will be something like 'slaps' 'with a large trout'.

Send Setup
Click this to send the selected person a GPL setup file.



(7) - Text Edit

To send a message to the current channel, type in the edit box that runs along the bottom of the chat window. 

Any message that begins with a '/' is treated as an IRC command and will not be visible to other users (unless it is e.g. /me is hungry).

Multi-line messages
To send a multi-line message from the clipboard, right-click on the text-edit box and select the Paste multi-line option:
iGOR multiline
Note that many channels will automatically kick you off for flooding the channel - sending more than n messages within a certain time limit.  Generally speaking you can send 4 or 9 lines at once without being kicked, but it is very bad form to flood a channel without good reason.



(8) - Formatting Bar



Some (not all!) IRC servers/channels support text formatting codes.  To include them in your messages, use the codes as added by these buttons.
B - (code %b) bold text
I - (code %i) italicized text
O - (code %o) ordinary text (clears all codes)
U - (code %u) underline text
Cnn (code %cnn) - colour, where nn is between 0 and 15.

iGOR - Copyright (C) P.A.Flack 2003-2004.  All Rights Reserved.