When we decided to check out the chat scene with our WebTV we, of course, used the function built-in to WebTV, for chatting on Talk City (a chat server like Zuh, Dalnet, X-World, and etc.). Well, it didn't take long before we noticed that other people could respond with long messages, jokes, and ASCII art with amazing speed. We figured that they were using a PC (Personal Computer) and some tricky chat program in order to pull this off. We also, kept seeing people talking back and forth about which IRC (Internet Relay Chat) so-and-so was using and we finally caught on that these things were made for WebTV. We were still confused. Then, we struck up a chat with our soon to be good buddy, Buzz-litebeer. He explained to us what an IRC for WebTV was, some of the things that it would let us do, and was kind enough to e-mail the URL (Universal Resource Locator) of an IRC that he recommended. Once we got some hands on experience with the IRC that Buzz-litebeer sent to us, we were hooked.

It didn't take long before we started searching for new IRC scripts to try out. There are tons of them to choose from but, we never found one that we were totally happy with. So, we got to thinking that with so many IRC scripts out there, they must not be that hard to make and there must be info on the net somewhere, on how to do it. Sure enough, there is!

Fortunately, we found a web page by Diane Dumas (who offers many excellent IRC scripts of her own), with the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and JavaScript code for putting together our own IRC. Diane offers the code for at least 9 basic IRC scripts, along with very clear instructions for using the code, as well as explaining which features of the IRC are affected by the various blocks of code. You can also find other "cut and paste" IRC scripts, with a wide variety of features, at Stoner City Chat's and Dale & Pat's IRC's & Web Tools. The big advantage for us, is the ability to customize our IRC, with the features that are most important to us. If you have a WebTV Plus with the upgrade, and you're interested in building your own custom IRC, then do yourself a favor and visit Diane's, Stoner City's, or Dale & Pat's web sites.

IRC scripts #1, #2, and #4 are based on scripts by Diane Dumas. IRC #1 is very basic with just a few modifications such as our "signature" star background and a very cool digital clock. IRC #2 and #4 have a drop down menus for the room changer, popups, and music. IRC #4 also includes Diane's excellent Email script and the ability to change the background color.

IRC #3 uses code from Stoner City. It is very simple and basic, but by typing in the commands that are shown at the bottom, it is capable of duplicating many of the features of the "bells & whistles" IRC scripts. In other words, if you don't need all of the buttons and menus, this one will do the trick.

Dale & Pat offer the "core" code that went into the making of IRC #5. This IRC has 5 message bars, a buddy list, an away from keyboard bot, and 6 user defined popup messages that are saved in a "cookie". It is very stable and reliable and we highly recommend it to those of you who are familiar with some of these "goodies" or those who are anxious to try them out.

IRC #6 is a major undertaking that includes code from Dale & Pat, Stoner City, and Diane Dumas. So far, it is our only IRC that is based on a "theme" (the movie Pulp Fiction) and it is the only one that incoporates a sidebar, frames, surf & chat, and JavaScript included files. It uses popups that are taken directly from the script of the movie and about half of the popups will also play a WAV file from the movie. Unfortunately, the WAV files will sometimes cause you to lose connection to the chat server so, keep that in mind. Also, if things get a little slow in the chat room, you can watch a slideshow of scenes from the movie!

The IRC scripts that we include here have the stuff we like and it may not be just the thing for everybody but, we would be thrilled if you would like to try them out and see for yourself. Also, if you are a PC user, these are not for you! There are many good IRC programs for the PC, that you can download for free, from sites such as CNET. Now, go find a cool chat room and have some fun!