Staying Connected on ZenDenPen IRC and Keeping History Log while offline: Ephemeral - Always ON - Bouncers

ZenDenPen IRC offers privacy and anonimity by default. Unlike some platforms, messages are not automatically stored. This means:

• Privacy: Your conversations are only seen by those online at the time. We do NOT process them and don't make money of your data.
• Accurate Online Count: You see the actual number of people actively present in a channel at a certain time. Most services inflate the number of people existing on the platform/groups and many of them might not even log in in years nor see the messages.
• No Registration Needed: No email or identification is required to participate. No other platform allows anonymous participation due to abuse AND the fact that they want to follow your arround.

However, this "ephemeral" nature can be limiting:

• No History: Messages disappear after users leave.
• Offline Users Miss Conversations: Those not online may miss important information and cannot recieve messages.
• Your nickname can be taken up by someone else when you're not there.

Addressing ephemeral limitations:

Because IRC is flexible, people have extended it creating numerous clients and software to provide extra features. One great feature is BNC Bouncers. These are applications which connect to the server and then YOU connect to the BNC each time you want to connect to the server. It acts as a intermediary. By using a BNC you achieve the following important features:

• You keep a consistent connection, meaning that you will always be online in channels.
• This allows you to receive all events including messages sent to you by private people and to see messages on channels.
• Extra Privacy: By the fact that you login from a 3rd party, the server will not see your real login information. Imagine this is like a VPN/proxy
• Enable multiple people to login with one server, therefore splitting the costs of a BNC/VPS upkeep and making it more accessible for others to use BNC features.

You can use a third-party BNC bouncer like ZNC or Soju to keep a persistent connection and store history logs. However, setting up a BNC requires some basic Linux knowledge and not everyone might want to do it at first, seek to share one BNC with someone you trust.

Account registration - Built In Method of ZenDenPen Always On and History

We have provided an option for you to register a nickname account, therefore making it accessible to only you while providing the always on and a basic history system as a opt-in which you need to enable, by default both are disabled and the ephemeral state of IRC governs.

Registering with NickServ:

The first step is to secure your nickname and prevent others from using it. Type /ns register <email> <password> in the server chat
Depending on your client settings you can also type /register <email> <password>
You will then receive an email to verify your account, this is to ensure we don't have bots spamming nicknames.

Please register a maximum of 1-2 nicknames per person and release unused nicknames for others to use.

You can always change your nickname in case you want a new one.

Always-On Nickname:

Use /ns set always-on true to make the server keep your connection as persistent, you will appear online even when disconnected. This simulates a BNC feature. Once you connect to the server you can go resume the history from where you left.

Direct Message History:

Direct and private messages (DM/PM's) are NOT stored by default while you are away, even when setting always-on.
To enable Enable history preservation for Direct Messages (DMs) with /ns set dm-history.
* This requires both "always-on" and "autoreplay-missed" features enabled.

* Auto-replay Missed Messages:

Use /ns set autoreplay-missed on to automatically receive messages sent while you were offline.

Setting auto-away

It;s a good idea to set auto-away when you are no longer on IRC as to inform people you are 'idle'
/ns set auto-away on

Other NickServ Features:

Explore other NickServ features with /ns help.

Channel & PM History duration

The ZenDenPen server extends IRC with some neat functionality including history replays on re-joining registered channels AND if the channel has configured history support.
Expect between 3 to 7 days of channel or private history. The length is subject to change and is based on server limitations as we don't want to keep them forever. More logs, more disk space, more technical requirements, needing to secure logs, more costs and so on, you get the point.
If you want to keep longer history longer than the server defaults then please use a bouncer (see above).

We want to ensure that IRC remains ephemeral thus these features must be enabled manually.

In summary:

ZenDenPen IRC balances privacy with optional history and persistence features. You can choose your preferred communication style based on your needs. You have to balance complete secrecy, anonymity and privacy with the settings provided.