Identify with NickServ
Whether you are a new staff member who wishes to be operator on IRC, or just want to keep your account safe from people stealing your nick, identifying with NickServ is the way to go.
Registering
The first step on your journey to identification is to register your nickname. To do this, type as follows into your IRC client:
/msg NickServ REGISTER password email@email.com
Of course, "password" should be your password, as with the email address shown.
After you do this, check your email for one from EsperNet, in the email will be a code to verify your email, it will look like this:
/msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER nickname myjrweonvhab
Once again, "nickname" is your nick, and the letters following are the secret code in the email.
Identifying
When you start up your IRC client and connect to EsperNet, you are going to then identify yourself using the password you set earlier, to do this, type:
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY password
Most modern IRC clients allow you to automatically identify with NickServ, refer to your client's documentation for more info.
Enforcing your Nick
If you really want to make sure no one uses your nick, you can have NickServ enforce it while you are away, to set this, simply put:
/msg NickServ SET ENFORCE ON
This will cause anyone trying to use your nick to be changed to a Guest nick, such as "Guest1337" and also warn you of the intruder