Help with the Obscure Password Error

Nov 30th

Posted by tengrrl in Explanation

One of the more frustrating errors you can get on GeekShed asks you to use a “more obscure” password. In most cases, when people comes to #help to ask about this error, they have tried a strange and random password, but still get this error:

Please try again with a more obscure password.  Passwords 
should be at least five characters long, should not be something 
easily guessed (e.g. your real name or your nick), and cannot 
contain the space or tab characters.

This error is almost always an indication that the command to register a nick is not being entered correctly. The clue in that error message is that you cannot use your real name or your nick as your password. Be sure that you’re entering the command in this order:

/msg nickserv register supersecretpassword crazyuser@hotmail.com

You do not need to include your nick or real name in the command at all. If you’re looking for information on how to choose a good password, check out the suggestions in How to Protect Your GeekShed Password.

 

—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny

 

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Grouping a Nick: Why and How?

Mar 12th

Posted by Allan in Tutorial

So you’ve registered your nick, but have more than one computer/device that you join IRC from. You might be wondering “do I need to register a new nick and have people add that nick to access lists as well? Certainly there must be an easier way.”

Well luckily for you, there is. You are able to group nicks together so that permissions and other data are shared among accounts. Some of the items that are shared include (but are not limited to): channel ownership, permission levels (owner, halfop, etc.) on channels, group info that was provided when you registered, password, and virtual host. Pretty much anything your single nick has associated with it will be associated with the group of nicks that you have registered.

Here’s how to group a nick to one that you already have registered:
  1. Switch to the nick that you want to group
    • NOTE 1: Before you enter the next command, make sure that you are using the nick you want to add to your existing group. Do NOT be using your main nick. Example: if I wanted to group JayneCobb to my account, I would /nick JayneCobb.
    • NOTE 2: If you use a registered nick when the next step if performed, it will first be dropped, then grouped to the main nick. Example: if I try to group JayneCobb (which is registered) to my main nick MalcolmReynolds, Services will first drop JayneCobb, then have it join the MalcolmReynolds group. By being dropped, any permissions JayneCobb had will be gone.
  2. Enter the following command in the server/status window: /msg nickserv group main_nick password, where main_nick is your primary nick, and password is the password belonging to the primary nick.
    Example: I want to group JayneCobb to my primary nick, MalcolmReynolds, and the password for it is S3reni+yV@ll3y (you do use something secure for your passwords, right?). I would type the following as JayneCobb: /msg nickserv group MalcolmReynolds S3reni+yV@ll3y
  3. Look for nickserv to either tell you that you have joined the group of your primay nick or give you an error message, such as “you must wait at least 60 seconds before using the group command again”.
And just to give you the commands again, they are, in order:
/nick theNewNick
/msg nickserv group main_nick password

Now what if you want to delink a nick, i.e. remove it from the group, is there some way to do that? Yes there is, you just drop it by switching to the nick, and doing /msg nickserv drop. Doing that will make nickserv completely drop the nick – it will no longer exist, have any permissions, etc.

Is there someway to delink it without dropping, or without it losing the permissions and other information? Not currently, although I suppose it is possible that it could end up in a future version of anope, or someone could create a module that could drop a nick and register it using the credentials of the former group and preserving permissions, etc.

Should you have any questions about grouping nicks, feel free to leave a comment here, or to join #help and ask in there.
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Why should I register my nickname and how do I do it?

Nov 9th

Posted by Phil in Explanation

Registering your nickname on GeekShed provides a number of benefits. The most notable of these is that registering your nickname prevents other people from using it. Once a user starts using the nickname, they will be asked to ‘identify’ to it with a password. If they fail to do so, their nickname will be changed. This helps to stop people posing as you.

Once you register your nickname, you can be added to the auto voice and op lists in other people’s channels. This enables you to be a permanent staff member in channels. You are also entitled to a vhost once you have been registered for 90 days.

Registration provides you with many benefits and is completely free.

To register your nickname on GeekShed, you must first be using it. If you are not currently using it, change to it with the command:

/nick <nickname>

For example:

/nick CrazyUser

Once you are using the nickname, you may register it in one of two ways. If you’re using GeekShed’s Flash client, register your nick from the “Options” menu at the top of the window. In most other clients, use the following command:

/ns register <password> <e-mail>

Note that some older clients do not recognize the abbreviated /ns syntax. Instead you must type out the full command:
/msg nickserv register <password> <e-mail>

For example:

/ns register supersecretpassword crazyuser@hotmail.com

Following this, you will be sent an e-mail giving you the details required to finish off the registration. Follow the instructions in the e-mail.

Each time you connect and start using the registered, you will be told that “This nick is owned by someone else”. You must ‘identify’ to it using the following command:

/ns identify <password>

For example:

/ns identify supersecretpassword

If you use mIRC, you can load the following script into the Remotes section of your script editor (press alt+R to access this) to identify you automatically. Just replace ‘YOURPASSWORDHERE’ with your actual password:

on 1:NOTICE:*This nickname is registered and protected*:?: {
   if ($nick == NickServ) {
      ns identify YOURPASSWORDHERE
   }
}

on 1:NOTICE:*This nick is owned by someone else*:?: {
   if ($nick == NickServ) {
      ns identify YOURPASSWORDHERE
   }
}

If you require help, come and see us in #help on irc.geekshed.net

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