Correct Nickname Registration

Cuff Link recommends that you register any nicks that you use. Registered nicks have many advantages that unregistered nicks do not.

• Registered nicks can only be used by the individual who registered them - if you register a nick, you effectively own it.
• Registered nicks can make use of services such as ChanServ and MemoServ.
• Nicks must be registered to make use of SASL.
• The ability to recover your nick if you are unexpectedly disconnected from IRC.
• Get a custom vHost for your nickname(s).
• Get your MemoServ messages emailed to you.
• Make use of Client Fingerprints [SSL Certificates] to identify to services without a password.

This article contains commands which can be copy-and-pasted into your client to achieve the desired results. Any commands are presented in bolded text, and any fields you will have to fill in yourself are in square brackets. For example, if you wanted to check the identity of another user, you should type /whois [user] into your client, replacing [user] with, for example, Chamanto.

All of the information contained within this article can be found by using the command /msg NickServ HELP, or, if you are in a client which aliases /msg NickServ to /ns, /ns HELP.

A single user can register up to 84 nicks, but it must be done in a specific manner. Users registering nicks in other ways may have their nicks removed, be banned, or both, depending on the nature of the infraction.

REGISTERING YOUR FIRST NICK

If you had no registered nicks, and wanted to register a nick, you would use the following procedure.

• Check if the nick is available: /msg NickServ INFO [desiredNick]
• Change your nick to the nick you want to register: /nick [desiredNick]
• Register the nick: /msg NickServ REGISTER [password] [email]

Please note that use of temporary email services is not allowed, and it doesn’t take that long to set up Gmail or Hotmail. If you have privacy concerns, there are many services which will provide you with a secure, anonymous, permanent email, such as ProtonMail. Cuff-Link does not use email addresses for anything other than automated NickServ password resets, MemoServ memo delivery [if you turn this feature on], and website registration,. We certainly will never sell your information to third-parties for any reason. Additionally, users are also only allowed to have one email used for nick registration, with which you can make up to two nickgroups.

The NickServ confirmation email will be sent from [email protected] and it looks like this:

Hi,

You have requested to register the nickname [desiredNick] on Cuff-Link.
While connected to Cuff-Link via your IRC client, please
copy and paste the following into your status tab:

/msg NickServ CONFIRM GiBB3r1SHC0D3H3RE

This will complete your nickname registration. Please be
aware that you will have to issue the following command
each time you connect after registration is complete:

/msg NickServ IDENTIFY YourNickname YourPassword

If you don’t know why this mail was sent to you,
please ignore it.

Cuff-Link administrators.

While many clients automate this process, each time you log in as a registered nick, you will have to confirm that you are the owner of the nick by providing the password.

• Identify as the owner of a nick: /msg NickServ IDENTIFY [yourNickname] [password]

If you ever find yourself in a circumstance where a nickname you have registered is in use, most likely due to your connection having dropped, you can regain control over the nick with the GHOST command. Once the command has successfully been issued, your nick will be changed to the nick in question.

• Recover a registered nick: /msg GHOST [registeredNick] [registeredNickPassword]

In the event you forget your password and need to reset it, you can have services initiate a password reset. Please note - this is one of the reasons we require users register nicknames with valid, working email addresses and do not permit the use of temporary/throwaway emails for nickname registration:

• To reset your password: /msg NickServ RESETPASS [registeredNick] [[email protected]]

REGISTERING ADDITIONAL NICKS

There are two ways to register additional nicks. The simplest and best way is to add the nicks you want to a group, which registers them. If you followed the commands under REGISTERING YOUR FIRST NICK, you created a nick group, with the registered nick as the main nick in the group. You may have up to 42 nicks in a single group, including the main nick.

To add a nick to a group, do the following.

• Check if the nick is available: /msg NickServ INFO [desiredNick]
• Change your nick to the nick you want to register: /nick [desiredNick]
• Group the nick: /msg NickServ GROUP [mainNick] [mainNickPassword]

In order to see all of the nicks in a group, you can simply switch to one of the nicks in the group, and type /msg NickServ GLIST, which will produce a list of all nicks in that group.

The other method of registering a nick is to create a second nickgroup. In all but two circumstances, it is easier and simpler to maintain a single nickgroup.

1. You have already registered 42 nicks in one group, and wish to register more.
2. You wish to maintain two separate personas.

Please note that Cuff Link users are only allowed to have two nickgroups. Therefore, users wishing to register more than two nicks must group nicks, or risk losing their registered nicks, being banned, or both.

To create a second nickgroup, do the following.

• Check if the nick is available: /msg NickServ INFO [desiredNick]
• Change your nick to the nick you want to register: /nick [desiredNick]
• Register the nick: /msg NickServ REGISTER [email] [password]

The email used in this process MUST match the email used to register the first nickgroup, or you risk losing your registered nicks, being banned, or both.

Nicks may be added to this group in the same way that they were added to the other group.

The only impact of which group you are currently using, if you have two, is what people will see when they use the /whois command.

Whois of registered user not using SSL:

.:registeredNickName:. ([email protected]): Real Name Field/GECOS
.:registeredNickName:. squid.cuff-link.me :No Words
.:registeredNickName:. is logged in as registeredNickName
.:registeredNickName:. is a registered nick
.:registeredNickName:. idle 00:00:14, signon: Fri May 19 10:02:26
.:registeredNickName:. End of WHOIS list.

Whois of Cuff-Link HelpOp using SSL and client fingerprint to identify to services:

.:registeredNickName:. ([email protected]): Real Name Field/GECOS.
.:registeredNickName:. lemon.cuff-link.me :No Words
.:registeredNickName:. is available for help.
.:registeredNickName:. is logged in as nickgroupDisplayNickname
.:registeredNickName:. is a registered nick
.:registeredNickName:. is using a secure connection
.:registeredNickName:. has client certificate fingerprint g1bb3r1shdkgajsgkjgkajg
.:registeredNickName:. idle 10:13:53, signon: Tue May 16 09:24:38
.:registeredNickName:. End of WHOIS list.

Whois of Cuff-Link Oper [Admin] using SSL and client fingerprint to identify to services:

.:kusse:. ([email protected]): g
.:kusse:. garlic.cuff-link.me :No Words
.:kusse:. is a Network Owner on Cuff-Link
.:kusse:. is logged in as geannie
.:kusse:. is a registered nick
.:kusse:. is using a secure connection
.:kusse:. has client certificate fingerprint b51de4fe0011aaaeb24b542e29bc67f9
.:kusse:. End of WHOIS list.

RESOLVING ISSUES WITH NICKNAMES

If you have any difficulty following these instructions, please visit #help. Please be prepared to provide your client (HexChat, Cuff-Link web chat, mIRC, etc.) as well as a description of the issue you are having, including any error messages.

On rare occasions, users will find that all of their nicknames have been dropped, even though it is well before the time when they would expire. This occurs when there have been violations of the terms of service, intentional or otherwise. We also put a ban in place for 3 days [first infraction], 30 days [second infraction], or permanently [third infraction], for violating the nickname policy. To resolve these issues, please file a ticket on the support website after re-familiarizing yourself with the ToS.