[ February 19, 2001 ]

This is not intended to cover everything about the new channel services coming on line but it does answer some of the questions we are being asked and hopefully removes some of the rumors.

Q. I heard I am going to have to register to use Undernet now. Is this true?
A. No this is not true. Registration is part of the new channel services but if you are not registered for channel services, you can still get on Undernet. You will have to be registered to have access to the new CService bots. Registration will be done on a website we are setting up. All users are strongly encouraged to register, and unregistered users will not be able to use any of CService's service.

Q. Then what is this registration?
A. The web site will ask you to register with a userid and email address. As we have always done in the past, we will not accept free email addresses such as hotmail. The userid is NOT your nick and can be very different than the nick you normally use. The website will give you a password at the end of the process.

Q. So what does registration do for me?
A. Registration will allow you to be added to the bots with just your username. You will not need multiple accesses anymore for all your different host masks. When you get on Undernet all you will have to do is /msg (bot) login userid password and that will log you into all the channels you have access in.

Q. Will the new channel service still have me and all the channels I have access to in the bot?
A. No, userlists will have to be reset. Channel managers will be instructed by CService how to register and regain control of their channels. Channel managers who still use the email we have on file for them will have an easy interface to reclaim their channel when they register on the webpage. Once the manager has his channel set up again, he can get his users to register so that he can add them back to the userlist for the channel.

Q. I am a channel manager but my email I registered with isn't good anymore. How am I going to get my channel?
A. We will be working with you to try to make sure that you get your channel back. We have a group that has worked with channels for a long time and are very good at determining who the correct owners and channel users are. We also have access to the old database and can check with that.

Q. Ok, thats all good for the managers, but what about me? How is the manager going to know my userid to add me to the bot and that it really is me?
A. We will now make use of the verify command to identify what userid you are logged in with. Remember, you don't login to a specific channel anymore or any channel. You just log into the bots. So the manager can do a /msg (bot) verify (nick). The bot will reply with something like - Usernick (*!*someone@some.com) is logged in as Userid - ie: DinTx (*!*difive@whatever.com) is logged in as Jane123. The manager then knows the userid is Jane123 and adds that access to the bot.

Q. Can I log into my access twice? Once for me and once for my bot?
A. No. If you try to login a second time, the first login will be deauthenicated. Only one login can be valid at a time.

Q. Are the levels going to be the same? Like 1 thru 500 or is it going to be something different.
A. The levels will remain the same.

Q. Am I going to have to learn all new commands?
A. No. There will be a few new commands but most of the commands will be the same ones you are used to using.

Q. All this is great for people who already have channels. But I have been waiting to register a new one. How is that going to work?
A. New Channel registration is also being worked on. But right now we want to concentrate on getting the channels that were already registered set up. We will publish more when we get to that stage.

Q. The big question!! WHEN?
A. We wish we could give you a definite date but in any new system there are bugs and we are still working some out. We hope to be finished doing some live testing on Undernet the third week or so of February. If that goes well, we should be able to go live within a couple of weeks of that.