We are not currently accepting any new staff. All staffing positions are filled. This status will be updated should staffing positions become available.

The WebChat network has a team of dedicated staff members (IRCops and Helpops) that ensure safe and efficient running of the network, and are always on-hand to assist any users requiring help.

Being an IRC Operator or Help Operator (also known as IRCop, oper and helpop) takes a great deal of hard work, dedication and, most of all, patience. The overall amount of time an operator spends on IRC talking to his/her friends is drastically decreased. To use an analogy, you no-longer get to play in the pool, you are the one who sits on the side watching others have all the fun. Take note, becoming an IRC Operator or Help Operator does not...

• Turn you into a vigilante who can ride about in the night taking the law into your own hands
• Mean going on mass /killing sprees to rid this world of corruption
• Make you a "Cop" or an "IRC Cop"
  

The job is to assist users to the very best of your ability.

The Job

You will spend a large proportion of your time answering the same questions over and over again and again. You will be asked all kinds of questions, and for help on many subjects - you are not expected to know the answer to everything, but you are expected to point them in the right direction to help. You must not ignore or refuse to help someone, you are obliged to try. You will spend numerous long sessions of several hours moderating blatantly trivial disputes. You can't just tell them to go away, or to find 'someone else' - an IRCop & Helpop is the 'someone else' and is required to see a dispute (how ever insignificant) to a conclusion that is acceptable to all parties. You will have people try to flood you. You will have people kick/ban you from their channels (you will not unban yourself). People will call you nasty names. People will think you are a creep. People will mailbomb your email account. They will try to hack your shell account. They will even try to impersonate you. You may disregard these scenarios, but you would be surprised what some people can do, or have done.

There will be many thankful people, grateful people, people who actually do something as seemingly unimportant as to say "Thank you". There are those who make it all worthwhile. Being an oper has very little to do with that /kill command (as seemingly attractive as it may be). It is about the skill of appearing to be a perfect human being who takes the time to help everyone.

To recap, an IRC Operator and Help Operator is:

• A janitor
• A dispute mediator
• A source of help
• Someone that users whine to about other users
• Very polite
• The perfect IRC citizen

Becoming a Helpop

We no longer enroll IRCops, but when the time comes for new Helpops, the recruiting process begins. Here is a rough schedule as to how the recruiting process works:

• Users are selected and sponsored by Network Managers and Network Administrators to begin Help Operator training.
• Selected Help Operators go through a training programme provided by the WebChat Training team. The training programme will provide you with all relevant information as to how to fullfil your position as a Help Operator. The training programme may last between 6 - 8 weeks. With a final test.
• Successful trainees are made official Help Operators and join the WebChat Help team.

• Do not ask - in most cases you will come across as a beggar. Wait patiently to be selected.
• Do have good understanding and be functional with an IRC client. Also try to familiarize yourself with other IRC clients and their basic operation.
• Do know about the WebMaster Java and Flash clients. WebChat has a very large base of java and flash client users, and they need help just as much as the regular IRC users. You should be able immediately identify if a user is on java or Flash(userid "JAVA", or "JAVGUEST" or "FlashUser"), or a normal IRC client.
• Do familiarize yourself with user modes, channel modes, commands and masks (nick!user@host).
• Do help out users as best you can. This does not mean only helping when an IRCop is present. If you help out, chances are you will be noticed. Helping does not involve saying things like "look at me! I am helping MaryJaneUser!"
• You must sincerely want to be a Help Operator. If you want to be a Helpop for status or because being a Helpop is "kewl" it will be obvious.
• Do be courteous, kind and forgiving. Be gentle and peaceful each day. Be warm and human and grateful. And always have a good thing to say. Interpersonal skills are some of the most important qualities of an Operator.
• Do try helping out in some of the public help channels. You may not be opped right away (or at all), but if you make an honest effort to help out, you will be noticed.
• Remember: be patient. Eventually you may be asked to be a Helpop. However, you may not be asked. Not everyone will be asked to be a Helpop, no matter how well qualified he/she/it may be.