Basic Commands
Command Description
/nick <nickname> Change your current nick name to a new 'nick_name'
/msg <nickname> <your message> Send a private message to a user with nick name 'nick'
Example /msg james hello
/me <something> Display the message in action format.
Example /me slaps james
/topic <#trample> <your topic> Display your current channel's topic or set your channel's topic
/whois <nickname> Gives a bit of information about the user
/ping <nickname> Finds the response time to see if there is any lag on the servers. you can also use "/ping #trample" to ping everyone in the channel
/dcc send <nickname> <file location> Send the selected file to the user
Example /dcc send james C:pictures/trample4.jpg
/quit <optional good bye message> Leave your current channel and disconnect from IRC network.

Registering and maintaining your nickname
Command Description
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net REGISTER <password> <email address> Registers your current nickname so that you own it. Use a password you can remeber and use a vaild email address
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net IDENTIFY <password> Tells nickserv that you are the rightfull owner of the current nickname. Use this command everytime you connect to DALnet
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net SET KILL ON If someone keeps using your nick name you can set a kill on the nick so they cant keep using it unless they supply the password

The above commands are just a few of the more commonly used ones, for more help you can type "/msg nickserv@services.dal.net HELP" into the channel

if your interested in finding out all the commands and more information about IRC then visit http://help.dal.net/docs/