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
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• /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