How to install and use Irssi (Linux IRC Client)

How to install:
Irssi follows the general Linux installation steps, either (./configure, make, make install) Or through a package system. To install with a package system, type the following commands in the terminal:

Debian Based:
apt-get install irssi

Red Hat Based:
yum install irssi

Gentoo:
emerge irssi

How to use:
To launch irssi just type the following in the terminal:
irssi

If you wish you leave irssi running after you close the terminal/ssh/putty, you can launch it using screen:
screen irssi

After you have closed your ssh client if you want to resume your irssi session use the following command:
screen -r

If you accidentally choose the wrong screen id, press Ctrl+A, loose go and then press D. That will detach you from the screen session and bring you back to the terminal

To get a list of all screen ID's use:
screen -ls

Once you have irssi installed and running, alot of the commands are the same as they are for all clients.

/server - [ Connect to server ]
/join #channel - [ Join a channel ]
/query nick - [ Send a private message ]

I'm sure you get the drift...The one thing irssi lacks compared to almost every other client out there, is a mouse

So to switch between different windows (channels) you press Ctrl+P or Ctrl+N

Note: If you will be connecting to an SSL server you will need to type:

/set use_ssl on

Irssi also allows you to split windows, and display multiple channels at the same time. The four main window split commands consist of:

/window new - [ Open a new split window ]
/window close - [ Close a split windows ]
/window balance - [ Make all split windows the same size ]
/window - [ Switch control to another split window ]

If at anytime you want to scroll up through the channel text you can use the PgUp and PgDown buttons

Auto Connect on start up and performs.

Like many other IRC clients, irssi supports auto connect and performs. The first thing you have to do to set this up is create a network name using the command:

/network ADD NetworkName

Once this is done you can set up the commands to use on connect with the command:

/network add -autosendcmd '^nick nickname;/msg nickserv identify pass' NetworkName

Seperate all the commands you want sent to the server with a ';'. Once all the commands are entered, you can tell irssi which server to connect to on start up:

/server ADD -auto -network NetworkName irc.host.com 6667

And finally the last thing to do is add the auto join for the channels:

/channel ADD -auto #channel NetworkName password