Normal Operation
After you have opened a connection to a server and joined a channel, Snak will open up a channel window. 

The largest part of the channel window is made up of the main channel text field that will display all the messages that you and others send into the channel.

Above the main text field is the grey status field which displays the channel mode, number of members and topic.

To the left of the main text field is the user list, which lists all the channel members. Below the main text field is the input field where you type your messages. 

One of the differences between Snak and other IRC clients is the integrated input field. Each channel window has its own input field, which prevents the misdirection of messages that is so common with other Macintosh IRC clients.

Both the userlist and input field can be resized to suit your needs. The userlist can be hidden completely by using the button above the list that tells how many members the channel has. To show it again, press the button to move the list to the previous position or resize it by dragging the divider.

You can double click on a nickname in the user list to have it added to the input field. Snak can also be configured to run a script or alias when you double click. Please go to the Clicking preference panel to change the behaviour.

Snak also supports Contextual Menus where you hold down the control key when clicking somewhere. That will bring up a menu with choices that pertain to the selection.

The input fields remember the last 10 messages you sent and you can scroll through the list with the arrow up and down keys.

The Tab key will cycle through a list of the last 10 nicknames that you sent private messages to.

If you want to change or inspect the mode of the channel, you can open the channel info window by clicking in the grey status field, or by  using the Edit/Channel Settings menu item. 

That will bring up a window where you can set the mode of the channel and change the topic. These capabilities only work if you have "op" status on the channel.

Private Messages
When you type a message into the input field of the channel, the message is normally seen by everyone in the channel. If you want to communicate privately with someone, you must use the /msg <nick> command or the /query function.

If the person is on a channel that you are also a member of, you can type /msg and have Snak add the <nick> by double clicking on the nickname in the userlist. Then you can type your message and send it and it will only be seen by that person.

The input fields remember the recipients of private messages and you can cycle through the last 10 recipients by using the Tab button.

Using the Query function
Occasionally you will find yourself exchanging a lot of private messages with another person and it becomes tedious to type /msg <nick> before every message.

The query function is invoked with /query <nick> and it will open a query window or private message window that allows you to converse privately without having to type /msg <nick> before each message. 

You can type into the input line of the query window like a normal channel, and Snak will automatically format the message as a private message to <nick>. 

You can configure the Query window to open automatically when you get a private message by selecting that option in the General panel in the preferences.

Incoming private messages from <nick> will be routed to the query window and displayed. To end the query function, simply close the window.

The query window supports the /me command just like regular channel windows.  The /me command is used to send "action" messages like "/me likes Snak". This will be seen by the other end as "<your nick> likes Snak"

Keeping track of your friends on IRC ( /Notify )
Once you have been on IRC long enough to find friends that are interested in talking to you, you will begin to notice something odd. Your friends will apparently acquire a magical ability to know when you get on IRC. The reason they can do this is that, in the jargon, they've "got you on notify".

This is done with a command called "/notify". To use it just the command and the nickname you want to track and Snak will remember it. In the console window for each connection is a list of the nicknames that you are looking at. 

To remove someone from the list you can either drag the nickname from the list to the trash, or you can type "/notify -nickname".
The minus sign tells Snak to remove nickname from the list.

In the top right corner of the console window is a button called "Notify List" - use this button to show or hide the notify list.

The notify list can also be resized manually by placing the cursor on the border of the list. Wait for the cursor to change shape and then drag the border to the desired position.