HOL

I'd like to connect to the IRC Chat and I've read the handbook. I just have a question - do I need to install one of the apps mentioned in the Chat Clients part of the handbook in order to connect to the chat?

Hi there, Katherine
No downloads necessary - you can use a web application that just opens in your browser like an ordinary webpage.
An easy client to use is mibbit. If you go to mibbit.com and click 'launch client', it will take you to a log-in screen.
Before you enter your nickname, it's really important that you change the server to irc.blitzed.org or you won't get into the correct network. Once you've done that, you can enter your HOL name as your nickname and put #hol in the channel box.
Usually you'd be able to use the widget on the chatrooms page which lets you connect with a single click but unfortunately the company we use to provide it is having technical difficulties. Prof. Brighton is aware and is looking for an alternative but it's not as straightforward as we'd hoped.
I hope that helps and happy chatting!

Ahh, thank you Prof. Alton! This really helped!