Configuring default ChatZilla preferences for Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Articles in this series:

1. Introduction to Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
2. How to configure ChatZilla preferences
3. Using IRC for a website chat room

Launching ChatZilla and preparing to set preferences

As noted in the previous article (#1 above), this is a procedure for setting some default preferences. These global default preferences are used for each new network and channel you visit. You can customize later the settings for an individual network or channel for which you don't want the defaults.

1. Launch ChatZilla (In Firefox, Tools > ChatZilla)
2. In the top menu, click ChatZilla > Preferences
3. In the pane at the left, click Global Settings to highlight it.
4. In the pane on the right, click each top tab to review the settings in that section.
5. The Notes in each section below are minimal, commenting only on settings that are important or where additional explanation is useful. Otherwise, these screenshots are only for showing settings I've found convenient. Whether you change yours to match is optional.
6. In the ChatZilla dialog box, hover your mouse cursor over the text of a setting's description to see a short explanation. These are very helpful.
7. My notes below are not in the order of the tabs. The two most important sections are shown first.

General - setting your IRC connection and nickname options:

• It is OK if Description is blank.
• Nickname cannot be blank. It shouldn't reveal any personal information. Remember this is your default Nickname for new places you go, where you probably want to be anonymous. You can set different ones for individual networks. You can use "Example", if you want. I don't claim ownership.
• Usermode +is makes you invisible on the network by default, and you will be shown system messages such as if your nickname is already in use and you have to choose another.
• Username cannot be blank, but it can be the same as your Nickname. This also should not be too revealing.
• To create log files by default for all your activities, check Log this view.
• If you're using an old CZ version with all the "Log file" options that are shown below, don't change any of the entries. They create a neat and organized log file structure.
• In more recent ChatZilla versions, the only log option shown in this dialog box is Log Folder.
• Accessing your log files can be a bit mysterious. See the note at the bottom of this page.

DCC - disable Direct Client-to-Client file transfers:

When you use DCC, your communications with another person go directly from your computer to theirs and are not relayed through a network chat server. This is also known as peer-to-peer. You might find uses for this later, but if you are just starting out, it is best to disable this feature. It will prevent others from sending you files, which could contain viruses. You'll still be able to chat privately with another person, but the communication will be relayed through the chat server the way it normally is on a chat channel.

• Make sure the DCC checkbox is cleared, not checked.
  This disables direct client to client file transfer capabilities.

Startup - things ChatZilla can do automatically when it launches:

• There should not be more than the one auto-load script unless you created any.

Appearance - your preferences for the ChatZilla display screen:

• Nothing critical here.

Lists - command shortcuts, your Nicknames, "stalk" words:

• Nothing critical here.

Global, top half:

• Nothing critical here.

Global, bottom half:

• Nothing critical here.
• I use way more than the default number of scrollback lines.
• As mentioned earlier, I prefer to log everything, so all view types are checked.

ChatZilla sound events:

Valid sound events are beep (which beeps) or a file URL referring to a file on your local computer. Use forward slashes instead of backslashes and replace all spaces with %20. Here is an example:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/My%20Documents/alert.wav

The Sound Events option lines starting with Channel: are options that apply when working in a channel window (as opposed to a network window or a private user-to-user chat window):

• Non-chat event = Someone /joins or /leaves the channel. If you are often away from the computer while monitoring a normally empty channel, you can set this to play a loud and long .wav file to get your attention more effectively than a beep will.
• Normal chat = Whenever another user types text.
• Stalk match = Someone types one of your "stalk" words. (See the Lists tab, above.)
• Start session = ? This remains partly a mystery to me. The sound plays when you start a session (yourself) on a channel. Why would you need to be notified of that? It might also do something more. I'll post here if I figure it out. 

The Sound Events option lines starting with User: are options that apply only in a private chat window with another user:

• Normal chat = Whenever the other user types text.
• Start session = When someone initiates a user-to-user session with you. This sound plays after they type their first message to you, which automatically opens your conversation window. Thus, you are alerted that someone has launched a private chat session with you.

Formatting - how ChatZilla should format text:

• Nothing critical here.

"Missing" ChatZilla log files

In Windows Explorer, I went to the "Log folder" (see General tab, above) where ChatZilla said it was storing my log files:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/Application%20Data /Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/randchars.default/chatzilla/logs/

In Windows Explorer, that translates to:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\randchars.default\chatzilla\logs

[Note: Application Data is a Hidden folder. To see it, go to Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View, and enable "Show hidden files and folders".]

What I found was a lot of mysterious files without extensions, and entire folders were missing. Where were they?

Apparently, they are stored by Firefox using an indexing scheme that Windows Explorer can't decipher.

Instead, in Firefox (not ChatZilla) click File > Open (or Ctrl+O). Starting at My Computer, select C: and then navigate to the folder described above. You'll find your ChatZilla log files, neatly organized by network, channel, and date. You can open and view each file. If you want, you can copy the text and transfer it into a file somewhere else. You can also use this dialog box to delete files, with the same commands as in Windows Explorer.

Update 4/9/2008

Since this article was first written, there have been updates to both Firefox and ChatZilla that appear to have fixed this "missing log files" problem.

Now, when I navigate to the correct folder in Windows Explorer, I no longer see the mysterious file names. The folder contains plain text files with .log extensions, neatly organized by network, channel, and date. This makes managing the log files easier.

Help with ChatZilla and IRC chat

The ChatZilla Help page is at http://ChatZilla.hacksrus.com/faq/.

The best help with IRC chat is at http://irchelp.org/.

Forum questions and comments welcome.