Quassel IRC is a modern, cross-platform, distributed chat client. Quassel aim to bring a pleasurable, comfortable chatting experience to all major platforms (including Linux®, Windows®, and MacOS X® as well as Android smartphones), making communication with your peers not only convenient, but also ubiquitous available.
To chat on irc you need to connect to a server and join a channel. This can be done with the join button or by typing "/join [channel]". To send a query or private message directly to someone type "/query" username or right click on the user list and select start query. If you wish to view older messages just scroll up. Scroll down to view newer messages.
In Quasel if someone says your name you are said to be highlighted which in Quasel will make a sound and in a goldenrod color over the line of text with your name on it. The notification will also be shown on your desktop if you are in another window.
To use Sasl authentication to autologin to an account no matter which nickname you want to use :menuselection:`File --> Networks --> Configure networks` to bring up a network configuration dialog. Click on the autoidentify tab and press the checkbox for use SASL authentication. Enter your username on the IRC network in the username text field. Input your password into the password field so that you know how to auto identifify. You can also autoidentify without using sasl by clicking the Top checkbox. Nickserv is a sensible default for what the services is but it may be different on different servers and put your password in where you autoidentify.
To ignore a really annoying user you can on the nicks bar on the right hand side right click ignore and then select a user to ingore so you will not hear them in irc. If you realize you want to talk to them again Right click the same username and uncheck the checkbox for the ignore rule you created. You also can switch between multiple channels with :kbd:`Alt + up arrow` to move up or :kbd:`Alt + Down arrow` to move down. To go to the next active chat press :kbd:`Alt + Right` or to go to the previous active chat :kbd:`Alt + Left`. To jump to a hot chat press :kbd:`Meta +A`.
To type a message to an entire channel type into the bar at the bottom and press enter. To complete typing someone's nickname press the :kbd:`Tab` key to complete their name. To paste text into the channel such as a link press :kbd:`Control + V` or right click paste. If you see a hyperlink in chat you can left click on the link to open in your webbrowser. Another is if you want to copy the link right click on it and copy link adress.
If you want to have settings for automatic recoonecting :menuselection:`File --> Network --> Configure network` and slect the Connection tab. The checkbox for auto reconnect will automatically rejoin chats if you get disconnected. The wait filed shows how long to between the retries between each try. The checkbox for rejoin all channels after reconnecting lets you rejoin all of your channels without having to manual rejoin each. The number of retries is how many times to retry to connect before stopping. To have an unlimited number of retries click the unlimited number of checkboxes.
To add close the list of nicknames or channels press the X button. To reopen the view of nicks :menuselection:`View --> Nicks`. To close the list of all chats press the X button to close a list of all channel and private messages you are in. To reopen it press the :menuselection:`View --> Chat lists --> All chats`.
To change your settings on your notifications :menuselection:`Settings --> Notificiations`. To select which event to change your settings left click on :guilabel:`Private message when focused`, :guilabel:`Highlight`, :guilabel:`Highlight When Focused`, or :guilabel:`Private Message`. If you do not know what highlight is it is when someone mentions your name in a channel. The checkbox :guilabel:`Play a Sound` allows you to to toggle playing a sound in the context. The checkbox :guilabel:`Show message in a popup` creates a popup notification when someone else mentions you. The :guilabel:`Log to file` puts the message in a file. The :guilabel:`Mark taskbar entry` makes the taskbar entry appear highlighted.
To see all the nicknames of someone in a channel are located in a sidebar labeled :guilabel:`Nicks`. The lists of all channels you are in is labeled :guilabel:`All chats`. To switch between different channels left click on the channel name.
To change your prefrences for quassel press :kbd:`F7` or :menuselection:`Settings --> Configure Quassel`. To change the client style for the widget of quassel choose a widget style from the :guilabel:`Client style` drop down menu. To toggle showing tray icon check/uncheck the :guilabel:`Show system tray icon` checkbox.
The :guilabel:`Chat view` tab has settings for colors timestamps and hyperlinks. To chose a custom chat window font press the :guilabel:`Custom chat window font` checkbox and then press the :guilabel:`choose` button to choose a new font. To toggle if you want colored text press/unpress the :guilabel:`Allow colored text` checkbox. To toggle previews of hyperlinks in chat check/uncheck the :guilabel:`Show previews of webpages on URL hover`. To toggle setting marker line when switching chats check/uncheck the :guilabel:`Set marker line automatically when switching chats`. To toggle the set marker line automatically when Quassel losses focus check/uncheck :guilabel:`Set marker line automatically when Quassel loses focus` checkbox.
The :guilabel:`Chat & Nick Lists` has settings for the lists of nickname lists. The :guilabel:`Custom font` checkbox lets you chose a custom font on the lists of nicks and the :guilabel:`Choose` button lets you choose the font you want.