Syntax: None 
Level : 0 Normal User 

In this age of graphical interfaces and Windows (tm), many users are
vaguely familiar with the usage of wildcards. This help file will 
aid you with the concept of wildcards. It is absolutely imperative that
you read this through completely! If you do not add yourself correctly 
using the correct user@host with wildcards, the bot will not recognize
you as a user! 

The term wildcard stands for a character which may stand for anything, 
a letter, a word, or any combination of these. If that sounded a bit 
vague and unclear, don't worry. It will be explained more in depth with
some examples. 

Let us suppose for example's sake, that a user with the IRC address of
Jane@port1.doe.net wishes to register #maine with X. The user registers
herself with the user@host (which is a synonym of address) of 
Jane@port1.doe.net. 

After registering herself, the user joins #maine and attemps to request
ops, but the bot is not so willing to comply to her needs! 

At this point, Jane performs a /whois command on herself and finds that
her user@host has changed from Jane@port1.doe.net to a new user@host of
Jane@port23.doe.net. She has a dilemma at hand. Which  user@host should
she have chosen? Is there a way she can add more than one address as an
owner? (Yes, but we'll get to it later). 

A simple solution to her perspectively complex problem is wildcards! A
wildcard can be used to denote any number of characters. For example, Jane
could have added Jane@*doe.net as a user@host, and the bot would have 
had no trouble recognizing her as the owner. What does the little asterisk
'*' stand for? 

Take a look at these 2 user@hosts. Jane@port1.doe.net and also
Jane@*doe.net. The character '*' tells the bot that anything between 
Jane@ and doe.net is considered a matching word. Thus, her user@host of 
Jane@*doe.net is considered matching with her user@host of 
Jane@port1.doe.net. 

So just keep in mind that the '*' denotes a wildcard and can stand for 
anything. The bot also recognizes another wildcard of '?' as meaning one 
letter. The '?' wildcard is not used as widely as the '*' wildcard. For
example, Jane@doe.net and ?ane@doe.net would be considered a match. These 
wildcards can be used in any combinations (more than one of different
kinds of wildcards in a user@host is allowed) to meet the users' needs.

Here are some more examples -- all considered a matching couple. 

opus@*vicksburg.com                  opus@opus.vicksburg.com 
reaper@reaper.vicksburg.*           reaper@reaper.vicksburg.com 
donjr@*                             donjr@joy.othernet.org 
Jane@port?.doe.net                  Jane@port1.doe.net 

However, if for any reason you want two different user@hosts added as the
owner of the channel, the only option is to go to #Help and request help.  
If there is no one to help you in the channel, then do email 
chanserv@othernet.org with your request. It will be answered promptly. 

Thank you -- Channel Services (chanserv@othernet.org)

