IRC Etiquette

As the blog name implies I am a person who still hangs out on IRC, I was never into the whole IRC thing back in the 1990s when it was massively popular, but over the last few months I have started idling in channels one a few different servers. During this time I have noticed some things that people really seem to not understand and would be wise to learn. So without furth ado here are some helpful tips to keep in mind as you chat:

1. Chatting
1. No matter how cool you think you are for flooding, you aren't
2. Don't piss off IRCops, simple and you should know why
3. Don't give out personal crap (again a duh)
4. Don't ask for op, or other statuses in the channel. stick around and you will earn it.
5. Try to keep the joins/parts you do to a minimum, do it too much and it is the same as flooding
   
2. URLS
1. keep them to a minimum
2. Don't post extremely long ones it floods
3. ask before you do it, some chats don't allow them
4. tinyurls can be your friend and your enemy. While tinyurls shorten really long urls they can mask shock sites, and other crap no one wants to see. So if you want to post a tinyurl ask if it is ok, some channels mark tinyurl as an akick and you could be banned.
5. Personal links to your blog, website, myspace/facebook profile etc. IS spam, and may get you booted
   
3. Bots
1. No matter how cool you think your bot is, it isn't it is more annoying than anything
2. 8ball, drink, and other scripts of this nature are more annoying than anything, try to only use useful scripts
3. If you want to add commands keep it low in number. If you can't remember all the commands who thinks the users will?
4. Do NOT make your bot a flood bot. RSS bots can be cool and useful but it you set it to a site that posts a lot, it just ends up flooding the chat. Also auto greets are annoying for the people in the chat, while it welcomes new people it floods the user already in there
5. If you want or think the bot will be helpful to another chat, ask BEFORE you bring it in, just bringing it in will make the ops quite mad at you
4. Scripts
1. Scripts can be your best friend or your worse enemy, use them with care
   
2. Keep them to a minimum, try to only use scripts that will actually be helpful to you
3. Make sure you know what a script does before you use it, don't simply run a script that some person said was cool
4. If you use an Away System, turn if to NOT display in channel, being on multiple channels and sending them all a message that you are on the phone annoying rather than helpful. Also watch out for public triggers hidden in your script
5. Do the testing in a private room or a place meant for bot/script testing
   
5. Own Server
1. Do your homework before you start your own IRC server, read the documentation, facts on starting one, what you will need etc.
   
2. Understand that servers are a lot of work and you need to have the time to devote to one
3. Understand that inevitably you will be attacked by spammers,
   
4. Understand the legal things related to file sharing and other topics, be aware you can be held responsible for hosting mp3 share rooms
5. If you need help read the help documents first, don't go around asking other network admins for help, too many questions will get annoying