New here? Start with IRC
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2026 4:02 pm
MansionNET is a self-hosted community run on our own hardware, on our
own terms. No ads, no tracking, no company harvesting your data to sell it back to you. The whole network runs on one principle: your data, your rules.
This forum is one room in a bigger house. The beating heart of the community is on IRC, where people hang out in real time.
Wait, IRC? Isn't that ancient?
It is old, and that is the point. IRC is text chat that has been around for
decades and still works better than most of what replaced it. No app to install if you do not want one, no account harvesting, no algorithm deciding what you see. Just rooms full of people talking. Think of it as the network's living room. The forum is where things get written down and kept; IRC is where the conversation happens in real time.
You do not need to know anything technical to join. Here are the two easy ways in.
The easy way: open it in your browser
Go to https://webirc.inthemansion.com, pick a nickname, and you are in. Nothing to install. Head to the #lobby channel and say hello. That is where most of us are.
The proper way: connect with a client
If you want a dedicated chat app (they are nicer for sticking around), point any IRC client at:
Good clients to try: MERK, Obby, Halloy, HexChat, or The Lounge if you want something web-based you can leave running.
A few good channels to start with
someone will point you around.
The rest of the house
Beyond IRC and this forum, MansionNET runs a handful of other things, all
self-hosted, all privacy respecting:
- Avatar
own terms. No ads, no tracking, no company harvesting your data to sell it back to you. The whole network runs on one principle: your data, your rules.
This forum is one room in a bigger house. The beating heart of the community is on IRC, where people hang out in real time.
Wait, IRC? Isn't that ancient?
It is old, and that is the point. IRC is text chat that has been around for
decades and still works better than most of what replaced it. No app to install if you do not want one, no account harvesting, no algorithm deciding what you see. Just rooms full of people talking. Think of it as the network's living room. The forum is where things get written down and kept; IRC is where the conversation happens in real time.
You do not need to know anything technical to join. Here are the two easy ways in.
The easy way: open it in your browser
Go to https://webirc.inthemansion.com, pick a nickname, and you are in. Nothing to install. Head to the #lobby channel and say hello. That is where most of us are.
The proper way: connect with a client
If you want a dedicated chat app (they are nicer for sticking around), point any IRC client at:
Code: Select all
Server: irc.inthemansion.com
Port: 6697
TLS: Yes (always on)
Channel: #lobbyA few good channels to start with
- #lobby - the main room. General chat, the front door of the community.
someone will point you around.
The rest of the house
Beyond IRC and this forum, MansionNET runs a handful of other things, all
self-hosted, all privacy respecting:
- Radio - our own station at radio.inthemansion.com
- Search - a private metasearch engine at search.inthemansion.com
- Avatar