A Beginner’s Guide to Channel Administration
Published:Modified: By ClAdmin Category: IRC Tags: #help Channel Modes Chat Features services IRC support User Modes
Intro
Cuff-Link offers channel administration services via Anope 2 IRC Services. Register your nick with NickServ and use a secure connection to the chat network - you’re now ready to start your own channel or join an existing ChanOp team[ref]ChanOps are not the same as the Cuff-Link Community Administrators and should not be taken as an authority on Community matters unless their /whois indicates they have such a role with Cuff-Link.[/ref].
This is a guide to using Anope2 with InspIRCd on Cuff-Link for channel administration, and may not work exactly the same on other services.
At any time, you can access ChanServ’s help menus from your IRC client with /cs help for all commands addressed in this post and more.
To begin, register your channel.
Access Levels with Anope
| xOP Level | IRCd Mode | Symbol | Dot | Description | Anope Ability[ref]Certain functions are usable by a ChanOp level via the IRCd that are not available in Anope.[/ref] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QOP | +qP | ~ | Founder or Co-owner | All channel functions.[ref]Only channel Founders may use /cs set founder, /cs set successor, and /bs assign.[/ref] |
|
| SOP | +a | & | Administrator | Add permanent AOP and VOP and temporary SOP; kick, ban, maintain AKICK list. | |
| AOP | +o | @ | Channel Operator | Can add temporary AOP, HOP, and VOP. | |
| HOP | +h | % | Half Operator | Can kick, ban, unban, set topic.[ref] Half-Ops are generally only used to train new ops and allow profile bots to give certain users voice, +v.[/ref] |
|
| VOP | +v | + | Voice | Can speak on unmoderated channel.[ref]Some channels use VOP to signify things like: User has a profile; user is a submissive or dominant (this is generally a Cuff-Link-only thing); the user is registered, identified to NickServ, has Auto-Op enabled, or has some other status assigned by the channel admins.[/ref] |
Use /cs help to see all commands available.
Expand a help topic with /cs help [topic].
Subsequent access levels inherit the abilities of the previous level: HOP can do anything VOP can do; AOP can do anything HOP can do, etc. The hierarchy also serves as a means for channel owners to delegate tasks and gives regular users a clear idea of who to speak to should issues arise[ref]Cuff-Link Community Administration encourages all channel owners to create channel rules for their ChanOps and visitors to abide by to help minimize issues.[/ref]. Your channel will not likely need all available features, but you should have, at minimum 1 SOP.
The most useful Anope feature outside of assigning permanent ops for most channels is /cs mode, which allows owners to lock bans and exceptions, and it works in conjunction with InspIRCd’s channel modes.
Handy commands for getting started after initial registration:
/bs botlistthen/bs assign #channel botnick- Brings ChanServ into the channel with a botnick, which then allows using Fantasia commands such as
!vop nick[temporary voice] or!vop add nick[permanent voice] and !seen.
- Brings ChanServ into the channel with a botnick, which then allows using Fantasia commands such as
/cs set levels #channel fantasia 0- Allows users identified to NickServ to use
!seen nick.
- Allows users identified to NickServ to use
/cs set persist #channel on- Brings unmasked ChanServ into the channel; can then use Fantasia commands; and keeps the channel open and modes locked on in the event all regular users exit.[ref]Without Persist turned on, when all users exit the channel, the channel is “destroyed” to save resources. This removes all channel modes and bans, which means if a channel is invite-only, a person not on the invitation list can get into the channel, as the first person in after creation triggers mode reapplication. Persist is recommended for any registered channel that uses invite-only or has a lot of bans.[/ref]
/cs ban #channel +[expiry] nickname reason- Sets ban with default !@host ban format[ref]Founders can change the default ban mask by looking at
/cs help set bantype.[/ref]; only use if nick is currently online; will ban the user from the channel and subsequently kick them with the reason if they are still on the channel. The expiration is optional, but recommended and uses 1s2m3d4w1y syntax. 1 second = +1s, 2 minutes = +2m, etc. If you want to permanently ban a user, have a SOP or channel owner add the person to the AKICK list instead.
- Sets ban with default !@host ban format[ref]Founders can change the default ban mask by looking at
/cs ban #channel +[expiry] [*!*@host]|[*![uid####|sid####]@*] [reason]- /whois a user to get their host information [[email protected]]. If it says
uid#####@hostorsid#####@host, use the*![uid####|sid####]@*format. Otherwise, use*!*@host format.[ref]A reason is optional but recommended so other ChanOps know why the person was banned. It also helps Cuff-Link Community Staff figure out why a person was banned in case of complaints. Using a proper reason like “was harassing x user” as opposed to things like “go away” is preferred.[/ref]
- /whois a user to get their host information [[email protected]]. If it says
/cs akick #channel add nickname reason- Only registered nicknames; permanent ban. ChanServ will check all users entering for matches to the AKICK list and enforce these bans.[ref]A reason is optional but recommended so other ChanOps know why the person was banned. It also helps Cuff-Link Community Staff figure out why a person was banned in case of complaints. Using a proper reason like “was harassing x user” as opposed to things like “go away” is preferred.[/ref]
/cs akick #channel add *!*@*.part.of.host- For unregistered nicknames or users who try to evade with IP changes. Use /whowas or /whois and compare to join/part logs for the common segment of the host changes.[ref]A reason is optional but recommended so other ChanOps know why the person was banned. It also helps Cuff-Link Community Staff figure out why a person was banned in case of complaints. Using a proper reason like “was harassing x user” as opposed to things like “go away” is preferred.[/ref]
/cs topic #channel set topic- Set the topic.
/cs entrymsg #channel add entrymsg- Sets entry messages delivered via /notice to users when they join. Can be useful for directing users to channel rules or giving them pertinent information when they join.
/cs help entrymsgfor view and delete options.
- Sets entry messages delivered via /notice to users when they join. Can be useful for directing users to channel rules or giving them pertinent information when they join.