Written by: Dray

Q: What are the rules / chat guidelines of #SpiceChat?

A: The following are the rules / general chat guidelines of #Spicechat, in no particular order. Please read over these rules and try to follow them while in the chat.

• Try not to bring up Geri. It won't be stopped due to belief of freedom of speech, but the topic only causes fights and debate. If you want to argue about it, do it in private chat, not in the channel.
• Do not be too afraid to stray from the topic / do not become upset when people stray from the topic. While the Spice Girls are the main purpose of the chat channel, there are other things in life besides them, and if people want to talk about those other things, that's ok.
• Swearing / cursing is allowed. If you find it offensive, you can ask the person to stop, but if they don't stop, please do not expect the Ops to kick them unless they are also breaking rules.

Q: What are the kickable offenses of #SpiceChat?

A: The following rules are the "kickable offenses" of #Spicechat, in no particular order. If any of the following rules are disobeyed, the person disobeying the rule(s) will be warned by one of the channel operators of the fact that they have done so. If they continue to disobey, they will be kicked from the channel by one of the operators.

• Do not advertise your site aka spam the channel. The exception to this rule is if you are giving an actual resource of info/cool link/something. For example, if you know a site that is hosting a new MP3 that people are asking for. Use your head, you probably know if it is spam or not.
• Do not type in only capital letters.
• Along the same lines, do not type in colored / bolded / underlined text. If you are running a script that makes you type in colored text, stop running the script.
• Do not flood the channel with text.
• Treat others in ways you would like to be treated. For example, do not say "Joe99 sucks".
• In addition, comments like "Spice Girls suck" or "MelC is gay" are definitely not appropriate and grounds for kicking since this is a Spice Girls channel and you are obviously not a Spice Girls fan if you think that.
• English is language used in #Spicechat. Repeated use of another language (especially if you are bashing the Ops in another language) will result in kick / bans. NOTE: Since there are so many Spice Girls fans that speak Spanish, a new chat has been created for them. This chat is called "#latinspice" and you can enter it by typing '/join #latinspice' when you are in #Spicechat. Speaking Spanish is definitely allowed there, so please, Spanish speakers, feel free to use this channel!!
• Have fun!!! Yes, this is a rule, because some people don't obey it!!!

Q: What is an "Op" / Why is some people's text blue / What is that crabby thing next to your nick mean?

A: An "Op" is a user that is a Channel Operator. They have additional commands available to them, including but not limited to: setting the channel topic, setting the limit of the number of users, kicking users, and banning users. Ops have a 'crabby thing' and 'danish' (aka the @ symbol) next to their name to signify their status. Their text shows up as blue in the webchat client. If they warn you not to do something and you continue to do it, they will kick you.

Q: Can I become an Op?

A: Potentially yes, although that is at the discretion of the Ops. You must be very familiar with IRC commands, have common sense, and be respectable to others. You must also run IRC through a client, not the webchat. The rumor about performing oral favors for Joz is true as well.... NOTE: repeatedly asking to become an Op is not the way to become one. If you fit the qualifications, it will happen.

Q: Is Joz here? Where is Joz?

A: Wow. You wouldn't believe how often this is asked. Joz has attained QUITE the celebrity status. Anyway, you probably won't be seeing him in there often (or at all, for that matter). He recently decided he was "over it" and has resigned from being an OP, managing the channel, etc.

Q: Why is Joz pissed off that I messaged him? HEY JOZ, why wasn't my news posted, when are you going to post something on the site... check your email Joz, oh Joz, here is some news, i'll tell it to you on IRC, hey Joz, check out my website, add a link on yours to it pleez!!

A: Heh. PLEASE DO NOT HARRASS JOZ! Please do not tell Joz NEWS on IRC unless it's something extremely important, because there is a news@spicenews.com email address that does a nice job of collecting news, send it there, don't /msg him with it. Joz doesn't think about Spice Girls 24/7, Joz will usually updates the website once a day on average, he is not "some guy who's sitting at his keyboard with his eyes about ready to pop out of his head staring at his email just waiting for some piece of news to come in while constantly refreshing tabloid sites in the background." (quote: Joz) When he is in the channel, he is there to chill, so please again STOP THE ABUSE!! He is just one man and can only take so much.

Q: Why did my name change to GuestXXXXX?

A: The nickname you were trying to use is already registered to someone else.

Q: How do I change my nickname?

A: Type: /nick nickname (where nickname is the name you want to change to)

Q: How do I register my nickname?

A: Type: /nickserv register password email (where password is a password you want, and email is your email address)

Q: Are there other ways to access #SpiceChat other than the web?

A: YES! #SpiceChat is on IRC, which stands for Internet Relay Chat.

Q: What is IRC? (and) What is mIRC?

A: IRC is the standard used to chat in #SpiceChat. When you connect to the chat channel, you are connecting to an IRC server. IRC allows many users to chat over a multitude of servers in various rooms, called channels, and in personal chat. It also allows you to send files to other users among other things. You can use IRC outside of the web. There are several programs that allow you to do this. The most popular is called mIRC. Please visit http://www.mirc.co.uk for more information. Other IRC clients include dIRC and Klient.

Q: How do I use mIRC?

A: Under mIRC Options, click on the Connect field, then add the server 'irc.webchat.org'. Once that server has been added, click on the 'Connect' button. After you have connected to the server, type '/join #SpiceChat' to enter #SpiceChat. Visit http://www.mirc.co.uk for more information.

Q: Can I do anything else besides talk in #SpiceChat? What commands can I use?

A: There are many different commands in IRC, for a list of them visit a site like http://www.mirc.co.uk.

Q: Why isn't anyone talking to me? / Why does it take so long for people to respond?

A: It is the year 2001, people do something called 'multi-tasking' when using a computer. This means that they may be doing other things besides chatting in #SpiceChat. Please be patient when chatting, and try not to get frustrated if no one responds to you immediately.

Q: What the hell just happened?? #SpiceChat just disappeared and I see something that says 'XXXX Rooms' at the top and I see all this crazy text?!?!?!

A: You were just kicked out of the channel. When you are kicked in the web client, for some reason a '/list' IRC command is executed and you see a list of all the available channels on irc.webchat.org.

Q: Why was I kicked / banned from #SpiceChat?

A: Probably because you were not following one or more of the rules above. If you follow the rules, you will not be kicked. If you are kicked, and then re-enter the channel and continue to disobey the rules, you will be kicked again. After you have been kicked 3 times, you will be banned (temporarily or otherwise).

Q: I was banned. Can you please unban me?

A: That is at the discretion of the Ops. Do not ask to be unbanned, whether you will be or won't be is not up to you.

Q: Under 'Show User Settings', what do the different letters in the user modes and operator modes mean?

A: They are standard IRC settings, visit an IRC website like http://www.mirc.co.uk for more information.

Q: It says "Warning: Applet Window" in the Status Bar when I talk to someone in a private chat / enter another chat channel. What does that mean?

A: It means you are using the webchat, if you are worried about it, use a non-web IRC client.

Q: Can I be kicked for using a/s/l?

A: No, but I personally wish you could...