f.irc is a simple (yet spiffy looking) irc script for the ircII-EPIC5 irc
client. it's the culmination of several years of random tweaking for my
personal use, with some updates to make it more useful to others
screenshot:

(background color is rgb 46, 52, 54 - #2e3436)
o features
----------
- theming support
- uses epic5's 256 color codes
- broken out into separate files for easy swapping and customization
- check out this site for a color listing too
- automatic window creation for commands like /join or /query
- displays titles of youtube videos
- simple commands for multiple servers, window management, etc
- temporary error message support keeps the backscroll clean
o keybindings
-------------
- ctrl-n / ctrl-p
- swap to the next or previous window
- alt-1 - alt-0
- swap to a specific window number, alt-1 = window 1, alt-0 = 10
- alt-q - alt-p
- same as above, but swaps to windows 11 through 20
- alt-~
- swaps to window 6. (i keep queries there usually)
- ctrl-e
- search the backscroll for the text in the input line
eg: type your nickname and press ctrl-e to find mentions
o commands
----------
- /ns server/number [window number]
- connect to an additional server, whether it be a hostname, ip, or an
index to a server within your IRC_SERVERS_FILE. you can optionally
include a window number for the new server. (also, try /server by
itself to list your servers.)
- /query nick [initial message]
- creates a new query window for nick with an optional initial message
- /lookup nick/host/ip
- resolve a host or ip, or lookup a user's ip
- /wn [number]
- creates a window, or if a number is provided, changes the current
window's number
- /wsh number
- splits the current window, and shows window number
- /wh
- hides the current window (for when you have split windows. unsplits,
keeping windows other than the current one)
- /wk
- kills the current window. if you have split windows, they will be
unsplit
- /wks
- kills the current window, but swaps in another if available to keep
your screen split
- /id password
- identify to nickserv without outputting your password to backsroll
o notes
-------
- i have included an example .ircrc file with a few extras i usually
run with from the default epic5 scripts. they implement a few
features that are pretty much essential
- f.irc will check for new versions, and notify you when they're
available (at script load, otherwise run /newver.) to disable,
just comment out 'newver' at the bottom of f.irc
- privmsgs do not automatically create new windows. if they did,
there would be potential for abuse
- the /msg command doesn't automatically create windows either (see
/query command above.) if you'd like to change this, set f.msgwin
at the top of f.irc to true
- if you use PuTTY in Windows, this tool might come in handy
o installation / download
-------------------------
- download firc-0.8.zip (updated January 13th, 2021) and extract it
- download firc-0.7.zip (updated April 5th, 2015)
- make a directory in your home directory called ".irc"
- copy f.irc, extra.irc and default.theme into .irc
- copy the example .ircrc file to your home directory
- if necessary, follow some of the steps below
o epic5 basics
--------------
- the default nickname and irc name are set via the IRCNICK and
IRCNAME environment variables. (add to .zshrc, .bashrc, etc.
otherwise the info from your *nix account will be used, including
your real name if one was provided)
- the default server is chosen from the file pointed to by the
IRC_SERVERS_FILE environment variable (i keep mine in ~/.irc/)
- example ircII.servers file:
[efnet]
irc.colosolutions.net:6667
irc.umich.edu:6697::::IRC-SSL
[rizon]
irc.rizon.net:6667::nick
you might want to visit the epic5 wiki for info on getting
UTF-8 working. the UTF-8 support in epic5 is really quite
impressive
(c) 2023 Alexander Grotewohl