ERC NEWS

Copyright (C) 2006-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
See the end of the file for license conditions.

Please send ERC bug reports to 'bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org',
and Cc the 'emacs-erc@gnu.org' mailing list as well.
If possible, use 'M-x erc-bug' or 'M-x report-emacs-bug'.

This file is about changes in ERC, the powerful, modular, and
extensible IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client distributed with
GNU Emacs since Emacs version 22.1.


* Changes in ERC 5.6

** Module 'keep-place' has a more decorative cousin.
Remember your place in ERC buffers a bit more easily with the help of
a configurable, visible indicator.  Optionally sync the indicator to
any progress made while you haven't yet caught up to the live stream.
See options 'erc-keep-place-indicator-style' and friends, and try M-x
keep-place-indicator-mode to see it in action.

** Module 'fill' offers an adaptive style based on 'visual-line-mode'.
This style dynamically wraps messages to a window's width while
mimicking the "hanging indent" look of 'erc-fill-static'.  It also
provides some movement and editing commands to optionally tame the
less familiar aspects of 'visual-line' behavior.  An interactive
helper called 'erc-fill-wrap-nudge' makes easy work of adjusting the
overhang on the fly.  Set 'erc-fill-function' to 'erc-fill-wrap' to
get started.

** A module for nickname highlighting has joined ERC.
Automatic nickname coloring has come to ERC core.  Users familiar with
'erc-hl-nicks', from which this module directly descends, will already
be familiar with its suite of handy options.  By default, each
nickname in an ERC session receives a unique face with a unique (or
uniformly dealt) foreground color.  Add 'nicks' to 'erc-modules' to
get started.

** A unified interactive entry point.
New users are often dismayed to discover that M-x ERC doesn't connect
to its default network, Libera.Chat, over TLS.  Though perhaps a
decade overdue, this is no longer the case.  Other UX improvements in
this area aim to make the process of connecting interactively slightly
more streamlined and less repetitive, even for veteran users.

** Revised buffer-display handling.
A point of friction for new users and one only just introduced with
ERC 5.5 has been the lack of visual feedback when first connecting via
M-x erc or when issuing a "/JOIN" command at the prompt.  As explained
below, in the news for 5.5, the discovery of a security issue led to
most new ERC buffers being "buried" on creation.  On further
reflection, this was judged to have been an overcorrection in the case
of interactive invocations, hence the borrowing of an old option,
'erc-query-display', and the bestowing of a new alias,
'erc-interactive-display', which better describes its expanded role as
a more general buffer-display knob for interactive commands ("/QUERY"
still among them).

Accompanying this addition are "display"-suffixed aliases for related
options 'erc-join-buffer' and 'erc-auto-query', which users have
reported as being difficult to discover and remember.  When the latter
option (now known as 'erc-receive-query-display') is nil, ERC uses
'erc-join-buffer' in its place, much like it does for
'erc-interactive-display'.  The old nil behavior can still be gotten
via the new compatibility flag 'erc-receive-query-display-defer'.  The
relatively new option 'erc-reconnect-display' has likewise been
renamed, this time for clarity, to 'erc-auto-reconnect-display'.

This release also introduces a few subtleties affecting the display of
new or reassociated buffers.  One involves buffers that already occupy
the selected window.  ERC now treats these as deserving of an implicit
'bury'.  An escape hatch for this and most other baked-in behaviors is
now available in the form of a new type variant recognized by all such
options.  That is, users can now specify their own function to
exercise full control over nearly all buffer-display related
decisions.  See the newly expanded doc strings of 'erc-buffer-display'
and friends, as well as Info node '(erc) display-buffer', for details.

** Setting a module's mode variable via Customize earns a warning.
Trying and failing to activate a module via its minor mode's Custom
widget has been an age-old annoyance for new users.  Previously
ineffective, this method now actually works, but it also admonishes
users to edit the 'erc-modules' widget instead.

** ERC's status-sidebar has gained an accompanying module.
Users can now add 'bufbar' to 'erc-modules' to achieve the same effect
as toggling 'erc-status-sidebar-open' manually at the start of an IRC
session.  The module has also been outfitted to show channels and
queries under their servers by default.  To avoid confusion, the major
mode for the actual sidebar buffer itself, 'erc-status-sidebar-mode',
is no longer available interactively.

** A new spin on a classic integration in erc-speedbar.
Add 'nickbar' to 'erc-modules' to spawn a dynamically updating side
window listing all the users in any target buffer.  It's powered by
the same speedbar.el integration you've always known, except this
one's optionally accessible from the keyboard, just like any other
side window.  Hit '<RET>' over a nick to spawn a "/QUERY" or a
"Lastlog" (Occur) session.  See 'erc-nickbar-mode' for more.

** Option 'erc-timestamp-use-align-to' more versatile.
While this option has always offered to right-align stamps via the
'display' text property, it's now more effective at doing so when set
to a number indicating an offset from the right edge.  Users of the
'log' module may want to customize 'erc-log-filter-function' to
'erc-stamp-prefix-log-filter' to avoid ragged right-hand stamps
appearing in their saved logs.

** Awkward entry point 'erc-server-select' improved but deprecated.
The alternate entry point 'erc-server-select' has mainly served to
confuse users in more recent years because it requires certain
options, like 'erc-nick', to be configured ahead of time, and it
doesn't support TLS.  Its main selling point, historically, has been
interactive completion based on the option 'erc-server-alist', which
is a table of networks, servers, and ports.  But most of the option's
400-odd entries are sadly defunct or otherwise outdated.  And, these
days, most networks promote a well known load-balancing end point over
individual servers anyway.  Regardless, the command has now been
improved to prompt for the same slate of parameters sought by
'erc-tls'.  Similarly, 'erc-server-alist' entries now support a fifth
member in TLS ports (though this option too has been deprecated).  If
you feel these deprecations rash or unwarranted, please file a bug
report and petition the maintainers for a reprieve.

** Smarter reconnect handling for users on the move.
ERC now offers a new, experimental reconnect strategy in the function
'erc-server-delayed-check-reconnect', which tests for underlying
connectivity before attempting to reconnect in earnest.  See option
'erc-server-reconnect-function' and new local module 'services-regain'
(also experimental) to get started.

** Modules rather than their libraries set major-mode keybindings.
To put it another way, simply loading a built-in module's library no
longer modifies 'erc-mode-map'.  Instead, modifications occur during
module setup.  This should not impact most user configs since ERC
doesn't bother with keys already taken and only removes bindings it's
previously created.  Note that while all affected bindings still
reside in 'erc-mode-map', future built-in modules will use their own
minor-mode maps, and new third-party modules should do the same.

** Option 'erc-timestamp-format-right' deprecated.
Having to account for this option prevented other ERC modules from
easily determining what right-sided stamps would look like before
insertion, which is knowledge needed for certain UI decisions.  The
way ERC has chosen to address this is imperfect and boils down to
asking users who've customized this option to switch to
'erc-timestamp-format' instead.  If you're affected by this and feel
that some other solution, like automatic migration, is justified,
please make that known on the bug list.

** Module 'noncommands' deprecated, replaced by 'command-indicator'.
Command-line echoing has returned to ERC after a near decade-long
hiatus.  This means you can elect to have ERC leave a trail of (most)
slash-command input submitted at the prompt, in a manner resembling
that of a shell or a REPL.  The particulars are likely of little
interest to most users, but the gist is that this functionality was
removed in 5.3.x (Emacs 24.5) without mention in this document or a
change log.  Everything's mostly been restored, except that the
feature is now opt-in.  The only real gotcha is that related faces and
options, like 'erc-command-indicator', have moved to the 'erc-goodies'
library, although their Custom groups remain the same.  Add
'command-indicator' to 'erc-modules' to get started.

** Option 'erc-track-faces-normal-list' slightly more influential.
This option has always been a source of confusion for users, mainly
because its influence rode heavily on the makeup of faces in a given
message.  Historically, when a buffer's current mode-line face was a
member of this option's value, ERC would only swap it out for a fellow
"normal" if it was absent from the message being processed.  Beginning
with this release, ERC now looks to other ranked and, if necessary,
unranked "normals" instead of sustaining the same face between
messages.  This was done to better honor the stated purpose of the
option, which is to provide consistent visual feedback when buffer
activity occurs.  If you experience problems with this development,
see the compatibility flag 'erc-track-ignore-normal-contenders-p'.

** 'erc-button-alist' and 'erc-nick-popup-alist' have evolved slightly.
It's no secret that the 'buttons' module treats potential nicknames
specially.  This is perhaps most evident in its treatment of the
'nicknames' entry in 'erc-button-alist'.  Indeed, to simplify ERC's
move to next-gen "rich UI" extensions, this special treatment is being
canonized.  From here on out, this entry will no longer appear in the
option's default value but will instead be applied implicitly so long
as the option 'erc-button-buttonize-nicks' is non-nil, which it is by
default.  Relatedly, the option 'erc-nick-popup-alist' now favors
functions, which ERC calls non-interactively, over arbitrary
s-expressions, which ERC will continue to honor.  Although the default
lineup remains functionally equivalent, its members have all been
updated accordingly.

** 'erc-track-faces-priority-list' and 'erc-track-faces-normal-list' slimmed.
These options have been purged of certain 'button'-related face
combinations.  Originally added in ERC 5.3, these combinations
described the effect of "buttonizing" atop faces added by the 'match'
module, like '(erc-nick-default-face erc-pal-face)'.  However, since
at least Emacs 27, 'match' has run before 'button' in
'erc-insert-modify-hook', meaning such permutations aren't possible.

More importantly, users who've customized either of these options
should update them with the new default value of the option
'erc-button-nickname-face'.  Like 'erc-nick-default-face', which it
replaces, the new 'erc-button-nick-default-face' is also a "real"
face.  Its sole reason for existing is to make it easier for users and
modules to distinguish between basic buttonized faces and
'erc-nick-default-face', which is now reserved to mean the base
"speaker" face.

** Option 'erc-query-on-unjoined-chan-privmsg' restored and renamed.
This option was accidentally removed from the default client in ERC
5.5 and was thus prevented from influencing PRIVMSG routing.  It's now
been restored with a slightly revised role contingent on a few
assumptions explained in its doc string.  For clarity, it has been
renamed 'erc-ensure-target-buffer-on-privmsg'.

** A smarter, more responsive prompt.
ERC's prompt can be told to respond dynamically to incoming and
outgoing messages by leveraging the familiar function variant of the
option 'erc-prompt'.  With this release, only predefined functions can
take full advantage of this new dynamism, but an interface to empower
third parties with the same possibilities may follow suit.  To get
started, customize 'erc-prompt' to 'erc-prompt-format', and see the
option of the same name ('erc-prompt-format') for a rudimentary
templating facility reminiscent of 'erc-mode-line-format'.

** Module 'scrolltobottom' now optionally more aggressive.
Enabling the experimental option 'erc-scrolltobottom-all' makes ERC
more vigilant about staking down the input area in all ERC windows.
And the option's 'relaxed' variant makes ERC's prompt stationary
wherever it happens to reside instead of forcing it to the bottom of a
window, meaning new input appears above the prompt, scrolling existing
messages upward to compensate.

** Subtle changes in two fundamental faces.
Users of the default theme may notice that 'erc-action-face' and
'erc-notice-face' now appear slightly less bold on systems supporting
a weight of 'semi-bold'.  This was done to make buttons detectable and
to spare users from resorting to tweaking these faces, or options like
'erc-notice-highlight-type', just to achieve this effect.  It's
currently most prominent in "/ME" messages, where 'erc-action-face'
sits beneath 'erc-input-face', as well as 'erc-my-nick-face' in the
speaker portion.

** Fewer nick buttons in QUIT, JOIN, and PART messages.
Common messages that show a nickname followed by a "userhost" often
end up with redundant buttons because the nick reappears in or is the
same as the "~user" portion.  ERC now tamps down on this to make
<TAB>ing around more convenient.  To opt out, see the new variable
'erc-button-highlight-nick-once'.

** Improved interplay between buffer truncation and message logging.
While most of these improvements are subtle, some affect everyday use.
For example, users of the 'truncate' module may notice that truncation
now happens between messages rather than arbitrary lines.  And those
with the default 'erc-insert-timestamp-left-and-right' for their
'erc-insert-timestamp-function' will see date stamps reprinted after
every "/CLEAR" but omitted from any logs.  One notable casualty of
these changes has been the deprecation of the ancient option
'erc-truncate-buffer-on-save'.  Users of the 'log' module can achieve
the same effect by issuing a "/CLEAR" at the prompt.

** The 'truncate' module no longer enables logging automatically.
Users expecting 'truncate' to perform logging based on the option
'erc-enable-logging' need to instead add 'log' to 'erc-modules' for
continued integration.  Under the original design, merely loading the
library 'erc-log' caused 'truncate' to start writing logs, possibly
against a user's wishes.

** The function 'erc-echo-timestamp' is now a command.
The option 'erc-echo-timestamps' (plural) has always enabled the
contextual printing of timestamps to the echo area when moving between
messages in an ERC buffer.  Similar functionality is now available on
demand by invoking the newly interactive function 'erc-echo-timestamp'
atop any message.  The new companion option 'erc-echo-timestamp-zone'
determines the default timezone when not specified with a prefix
argument.

** Option 'erc-remove-parsed-property' deprecated.
This option's nil behavior serves no practical purpose yet has the
potential to degrade the user experience by competing for space with
forthcoming features powered by next generation extensions.  Anyone
with a legitimate use for this option likely also possesses the
knowledge to rig up a suitable analog with minimal effort.  That said,
the road to removal is long.

** The 'track' module always ignores date stamps.
Users of the stamp module who leave 'erc-insert-timestamp-function'
set to its default of 'erc-insert-timestamp-left-and-right' will find
that date stamps no longer affect the mode line, even for IRC commands
not included in 'erc-track-exclude-types'.

** Option 'erc-warn-about-blank-lines' is more informative.
Enabled by default, this option now produces more useful feedback
whenever ERC rejects prompt input containing whitespace-only lines.
When paired with option 'erc-send-whitespace-lines', ERC echoes a
tally of blank lines padded and trailing blanks culled.

** A context-dependent mode segment in header and mode lines.
The "%m" specifier has traditionally expanded to a lone "+" in server
and query buffers and a string containing all switch modes (plus
"limit" and "key" args) in channel buffers.  It now becomes a string
of user modes in server buffers and disappears completely in query
buffers.  In channels, it's grown to include all letters and their
possibly truncated arguments, with the exception of stateful list
modes, like "b".

** In-buffer "status messages" are now a thing.
The ancient option 'erc-ensure-target-buffer-on-privmsg' has been
repurposed slightly to express a third state denoted by the symbol
'status'.  It tells ERC to revert to the old default behavior in which
separate, "pseudo" target buffers for status-prefixed conversing
co-existed alongside actual target buffers.  Instead of this awkward
arrangement, ERC now acts like other clients by default and inserts
so-called "status messages" in situ, right between other messages.
Similar insertion-routing behavior now also applies to CTCP ACTIONs
directed at status-prefixed channels.  Unfortunately, outgoing "/msg
@#chan hi" messages aren't yet shown in the same fashion, but the
groundwork has been laid, making such an addition almost trivial.

** An easier way to see channel-membership prefixes on speakers.
The option 'erc-format-@nick' has been deprecated in favor of the new
boolean option 'erc-show-speaker-membership-status', a simple switch
to enable the displaying of status prefixes on the speaker nicks of
incoming chat messages.  Prefixes on your speaker nick for outgoing
chat messages continue to always be present.

** Updating user options requires cycling associated minor modes.
During a live ERC session, you may need to disable and re-enable a
module's minor mode via 'M-x erc-foo-mode RET' or similar before an
option's updated value takes effect.  This primarily impacts new
options introduced by this release and existing ones whose behavior
has changed in some way.  At present, ERC does not perform this step
automatically on your behalf, even if a change was made in a
'Custom-mode' buffer or via 'setopt'.

** New broadcast-oriented slash commands /AME, /GME, and /GMSG.
Also available as the library functions 'erc-cmd-AME', 'erc-cmd-GME',
and 'erc-cmd-GMSG', these new slash commands can prove handy in test
environments.

** Miscellaneous UX changes.
Some minor quality-of-life niceties have finally made their way to
ERC.  For example, fool visibility has become togglable with the new
command 'erc-match-toggle-hidden-fools'.  The 'button' module's
'erc-button-previous' command now moves to the beginning instead of
the end of buttons.  A new command, 'erc-news', can be invoked to
visit this very file.  And the 'irccontrols' module now supports
additional colors and special handling for "spoilers" (hidden text).

** Changes in the library API.

*** Some top-level dependencies have been removed.
The library 'erc-goodies' is no longer loaded by ERC's main library.
This was done to further cement the move toward a unidirectional
dependency flow begun in 5.5.  Additionally, a few barely used and
newly introduced dependencies are now lazily loaded, which may upset
some third-party code.  The first of these is 'pp' because its
'pp-to-string' is autoloaded in all supported ERC versions.  Also gone
are 'thingatpt', 'time-date', and 'iso8601'.  All were used ultra
sparingly, and the latter two have only been around for one minor
release cycle, so their removal hopefully won't cause much churn.

*** Some ERC-applied text properties have changed.
Chiefly, a new set of metadata-oriented properties, the details of
which should be considered internal, now occupy the first character of
all inserted messages, including local notices, date stamps, and
interactive feedback.  These properties will likely form the basis for
a new message-traversal/insertion/deletion API in future versions.
Less impactfully, the no-op property 'rear-sticky' has been removed,
and the value of the 'field' property for ERC's prompt has changed
from 't' to the more useful 'erc-prompt', although the property of the
same name has been retained and now has a value of 'hidden' when
disconnected.

*** Lists of faces in buttonized text are no longer nested.
Previously, when "buttonizing" a new region, ERC would combine faces
by blindly consing the new onto the existing.  In theory, this kept a
nice record of all modifications to a given region.  However, it also
complicated life for other modules wanting to analyze and operate on
these regions.  Beginning with this release, ERC now merges combined
faces together when creating buttons, although the odd nested list may
still crop up here and there.

*** Members of insert- and send-related hooks have been reordered.
As anyone reading this is no doubt aware, both built-in and
third-party modules rely on certain hooks for adjusting incoming and
outgoing messages upon insertion.  And some modules only want to do so
after others have done their damage.  Traditionally, this has required
various hacks and finagling to achieve.  And while this release makes
an effort to load modules in a more consistent order, that alone isn't
enough to ensure predictability among essential members of important
hooks.

Luckily, ERC now leverages a feature introduced in Emacs 27, "hook
depth," to secure the positions of a few key members of
'erc-insert-modify-hook' and 'erc-send-modify-hook'.  So far, this
includes the functions 'erc-button-add-buttons', 'erc-match-message',
'erc-fill', and 'erc-add-timestamp', which now appear in that order,
when present, at depths beginning at 20 and ending below 80.  Of most
interest to module authors is the new relative positioning of the
first three, which have been rotated leftward with respect to their
previous places in recent ERC versions (fill, button, match ,stamp).
A similar designated range from -80 to -20 also exists and is home to
the function 'erc-controls-highlight'.

ERC also provisionally reserves the same depth intervals for
'erc-insert-pre-hook' and possibly other, similar hooks, but will
continue to modify non-ERC hooks locally whenever possible, especially
in new code.

*** A singular entry point for inserting messages.
Displaying "local" messages, like help text and interactive-command
feedback, in ERC buffers has never been straightforward.  As such,
ancient patterns, like the pairing of preformatted "notice" text with
ERC's oldest insertion function, 'erc-display-line', still appear
quite frequently in the wild despite having been largely phased out of
ERC's own code base in 2002.  That this example has endured makes some
sense because it's probably seen as less cumbersome than fiddling with
the more powerful and complicated 'erc-display-message'.

The latest twist in this tale comes with this release, for which a
healthy helping of "pre-insertion" business has permanently ensconced
itself in none other than 'erc-display-message'.  While this would
seem to put antiquated patterns, like the above mentioned
'erc-make-notice' combo, at risk of having messages ignored or subject
to degraded treatment by built-in modules, an adaptive measure has
been introduced that recasts 'erc-display-line' as a thin wrapper
around 'erc-display-message'.  And though nothing of the sort has been
done for the lower-level 'erc-display-line-1' (now an obsolete alias
for 'erc-insert-line'), some last-ditch fallback code has been
introduced to guarantee baseline functionality.  As always, if you
find these developments disturbing, please say so on the tracker.

*** ERC now manages timestamp-related properties a bit differently.
For starters, the 'cursor-sensor-functions' text property is absent by
default unless the option 'erc-echo-timestamps' is already enabled on
module init.  And when present, the property's value no longer
contains unique closures and thus no longer proves effective for
traversing inserted messages.  For now, ERC only provides an internal
means of visiting messages, but a public interface is forthcoming.
Also affecting the 'stamp' module is the deprecation of the function
'erc-insert-aligned' and its removal from the default client's code.
In the same library, the function 'erc-munge-invisibility-spec' has
been renamed to 'erc-stamp--manage-local-options-state' to better
reflect its purpose.  Additionally, the module now merges its
'invisible' property with existing ones and includes all white space
around stamps when doing so.

This "propertizing" of surrounding white space extends to all
'stamp'-applied properties, like 'field', in all intervening space
between message text and timestamps.  Technically, this constitutes a
breaking change from the perspective of detecting a timestamp's
bounds.  However, ERC has always propertized leading space before
right-sided stamps on the same line as message text but not before
those folded onto the next line.  Such inconsistency made stamp
detection overly complex and produced uneven results when toggling
stamp visibility.

*** Invisible message insertions not automatically made 'intangible'.
Previously, when 'erc-display-message' and friends spotted the
'invisible' text property with a value of t anywhere in text to be
inserted, it would apply that property to the entire message, along
with a t-valued 'intangible' property.  Beginning with ERC 5.6, users
expecting this behavior will have to instead perform the treatment
themselves.  To help with the transition, a temporary escape hatch has
been made available to regain this behavior, but its existence is only
guaranteed for this one minor version alone.  See source code in the
vicinity of 'erc-insert-line' for more.

*** Date stamps have become independent messages.
ERC now inserts "date stamps" generated from the option
'erc-timestamp-format-left' as separate, standalone messages.  This
currently only matters if 'erc-insert-timestamp-function' is set to
its default value of 'erc-insert-timestamp-left-and-right', however
plans exist to decouple these features.  In any case, ERC's near-term
UI goals require exposing these stamps to existing code designed to
operate on complete messages.  For example, users likely expect date
stamps to be togglable with 'erc-toggle-timestamps' while also being
immune to hiding from commands like 'erc-match-toggle-hidden-fools'.
Before this change, meeting such expectations demanded brittle
heuristics that checked for the presence of these stamps in the
leading portion of message bodies as well as special casing to act on
these areas without inflicting collateral damage.

Despite the rationale, this move admittedly ushers in a heightened
potential for disruption because third-party members of ERC's
modification hooks may not take kindly to encountering stamp-only
messages.  They may also expect members of 'erc-insert-pre-hook' and
'erc-insert-done-hook' to run unconditionally, even though ERC
suppresses those hooks when inserting date stamps.  Third parties may
also not appreciate that 'erc-timestamp-last-inserted-left' no longer
records the final trailing newline in 'erc-timestamp-format-left'.  If
these inconveniences prove too encumbering to deal with right away,
see the escape hatch 'erc-stamp-prepend-date-stamps-p', which should
help ease the transition.  As for detecting these new stamp-only
messages from members of 'erc-insert-modify-hook' and friends, see the
function 'erc-stamp-inserting-date-stamp-p'.

*** The role of a module's Custom group is now more clearly defined.
Associating built-in modules with Custom groups and "provided" library
features has improved.  More specifically, a module's group now enjoys
the singular purpose of determining where the module's minor mode
variable lives in the Customize interface.  And although ERC is now
slightly more adept at linking these entities, third-parties are still
encouraged to keep a module's name aligned with its group's as well as
the provided feature of its containing library, if only for the usual
reasons of namespace hygiene and discoverability.

*** The function 'erc-open' no longer uses the 'TGT-LIST' parameter.
ERC has always used the parameter to initialize the local variable
'erc-default-recipients', which stores a list of routing targets with
the topmost considered "active."  However, since at least ERC 5.1, a
buffer and its active target effectively mate for life, making
'TGT-LIST', in practice, a read-only list of a single target.  And
because that target must also appear as the 'CHANNEL' parameter,
'TGT-LIST' mainly serves to reinforce 'erc-open's reputation of being
unruly.

*** ERC supports arbitrary CHANTYPES.
Specifically, channels can be prefixed with any predesignated
character, mainly to afford more flexibility to specialty services,
like bridges to other protocols.

*** 'erc-cmd-HELP' recognizes subcommands.
Some IRC "slash" commands are hierarchical and require users to
specify a subcommand to actually carry out anything of consequence.
Built-in modules can now provide more detailed help for a particular
subcommand by telling ERC to defer to a specialized handler.  This
facility can be opened up to third parties should any one request it.

*** Message-formatting templates in 'notify' renamed.
All templates beginning with the prefix "erc-message-english-notify_"
have been renamed to begin with "erc-message-english-notify-".  For
example, the variable 'erc-message-english-notify_current' is now
'erc-message-english-notify_current'.  The old names have been
preserved as obsolete aliases.

*** Longtime quasi modules made proper.
The 'fill' module is now defined by 'define-erc-module'.  The same
goes for ERC's imenu integration, which has 'imenu' now appearing in
the default value of 'erc-modules'.

*** Function 'erc-get-user-mode-prefix' renamed.
This utility has been renamed to 'erc-get-channel-membership-prefix'
to better reflect its role of delivering a formatted "status prefix",
like "+" (for "voice"), and to avoid confusion with user modes, like
"+i" (for "invisible").  Additionally, its lone parameter is now
overloaded to accept an 'erc-channel-user' object as well as a string.

*** Channel-membership table 'erc-channel-users' renamed.
Distinguishing between 'erc-channel-user' objects and values of the
'erc-channel-users' (plural) hash-table has been a constant source of
confusion, even within ERC's own code base.  The hash-table's values
are cons cells whose CDR slot is an 'erc-channel-user'.  To help keep
things sane, 'erc-channel-users' (plural) is now officially being
redubbed 'erc-channel-members'.  Similarly, the utility function
'erc-get-channel-user' has been renamed to 'erc-get-channel-member'.
Expect deprecations of the old names to follow in a future release.

*** The 'erc-channel-user' struct has a changed internally.
The five boolean slots for membership prefixes have been folded
("encoded") into a single integer slot.  However, the old 'setf'-able
accessors remain available, and the constructor's signature remains
unchanged.  Since third-party code must be recompiled when upgrading
ERC anyway, users shouldn't experience any churn.  The only caveat is
that third-party code using the literal read-syntax of these objects,
for example, in unit tests, will have to be updated.

*** Hidden messages contain a preceding rather than trailing newline.
ERC has traditionally only offered to hide messages involving fools,
but plans are to make hiding more powerful.  Anyone depending on the
existing behavior should be aware that hidden messages now start and
end one character earlier, so that hidden line endings precede rather
than follow accompanying text.  However, an escape hatch is available
in the variable 'erc-legacy-invisible-bounds-p'.  It reinstates the
old behavior, which is unsupported by newer modules and features.

*** 'erc-display-message' optionally combines faces.
Users may notice that ERC now inserts some important error messages in
a combination of 'erc-error-face' and 'erc-notice-face'.  This is
merely a consequence of 'erc-display-message' getting smarter about
how it treats face properties when its 'type' parameter is a list that
starts with t.  Originally, ERC's authors intended to display both
server-originating and ERC-generated errors in this style, but that
intent was never realized.  Though now possible, the effect has been
limited to special errors involving usage and internal state.  For
third-party code, the key takeaway is that more 'font-lock-face'
properties encountered in the wild may be combinations of faces rather
than lone ones.

*** 'erc-flood-protect' no longer influences input splitting.
This variable's role has been narrowed to rate limiting only.  ERC
used to suppress protocol line-splitting when its value was nil, but
that's now handled by setting 'erc-split-line-length' to zero.

*** 'erc-pre-send-functions' visits prompt input post-split.
ERC now adjusts input lines to fall within allowed length limits
before showing hook members the result.  For compatibility,
third-party code can request that the final input be adjusted again
prior to being sent.  To facilitate this, the 'erc-input' object
shared among hook members has gained a 'refoldp' slot.  See doc string
for details.

*** More flexibility in sending and displaying prompt input.
The abnormal hook 'erc-pre-send-functions' previously married outgoing
message text to its inserted representation in an ERC target buffer.
Going forward, users can populate the new slot 'substxt' with
alternate text to insert in place of the 'string' slot's contents,
which ERC still sends to the server.  This dichotomy lets users
completely avoid the often fiddly 'erc-send-modify-hook' and friends
for use cases like language translation and subprotocol encoding.

*** ERC's prompt survives the insertion of user input and messages.
Previously, ERC's prompt and its input marker disappeared while
running hooks during message insertion, and the position of its
"insert marker" (ERC's per-buffer process mark) was inconsistent
during these spells.  To make insertion handling more predictable in
preparation for incorporating various protocol extensions, the prompt
and its bounding markers have become perennial fixtures.

To effect this change, small behavioral differences in message
insertion have been adopted.  Crucially, 'erc-insert-marker' now has
an "insertion type" of t, and 'erc-display-line-1' now calls 'insert'
instead of 'insert-before-markers.  This allows user code running on
'erc-insert-modify-hook' and 'erc-insert-post-hook' to leave its own
markers at the actual insertion point instead of resorting to
workarounds.  Message insertion for outgoing messages, in
'erc-display-msg', remains as before.  In rare cases, these changes
may mean third-party code needs tweaking, for example, requiring the
use of 'insert-before-markers' instead of 'insert'.  As always, users
feeling unduly inconvenienced by these changes are encouraged to voice
their concerns on the bug list.

*** Introducing new ways to detect ERC buffer types.
The old standby 'erc-default-target' has served ERC well for over two
decades.  But a lesser known gotcha affecting its use has always
haunted an unlucky few, that is, the function has always returned
non-nil in "unjoined" channel buffers (those that the client has
parted with or been kicked from).  While perhaps not itself a major
footgun, recessive pitfalls rooted in this subtlety continue to affect
dependent functions, like 'erc-get-buffer'.

To discourage misuse of 'erc-default-target', ERC 5.6 offers an
alternative in the function 'erc-target', which is identical to the
former except for its disregard for "joinedness."  As a related bonus,
the dependent function 'erc-server-buffer-p' is being rebranded as
'erc-server-or-unjoined-channel-buffer-p'.  Unfortunately, this
release lacks a similar solution for detecting "joinedness" directly,
but users can turn to 'xor'-ing 'erc-default-target' and 'erc-target'
as a makeshift kludge.

*** Channel-mode handling has become stricter and more predictable.
ERC has always processed channel modes using "standardized" letters
and popular status prefixes.  Starting with this release, ERC will
begin preferring advertised "CHANMODES" when interpreting letters and
their arguments.  To facilitate this transition, the functions
'erc-set-modes', 'erc-parse-modes', and 'erc-update-modes', have all
been provisionally deprecated.  Expect a new, replacement API for
handling specific "MODE" types and letters in coming releases.  If
you'd like a say in shaping how this transpires, please share your
ideas and use cases on the tracker.

*** A better way to define message-formatting templates.
The functions 'erc-define-catalog-entry' and 'erc-define-catalog' have
been deprecated in favor of 'erc-define-message-format-catalog', a new
macro for defining template "catalogs" at the top level of libraries.

*** Interface for determining display names renamed.
The option 'erc-format-nick-function' has been renamed to
'erc-speaker-from-channel-member-function' to better reflect its
actual role.  So too has the related function 'erc-format-nick', which
is now 'erc-determine-speaker-from user'.

*** A template-based approach to formatting inserted chat messages.
Predicting and influencing how ERC formats messages containing a
leading "<speaker>" has never been straightforward.  The characters
bracketing the speaker and the faces used for each component have
always been hard-coded, with 'erc-format-query-as-channel-p' being the
only knob of any consequence.  With this release, ERC begins its
transition to a unified formatting paradigm that builds upon the
already familiar "language catalog" templating system.  Using a
separate "speaker catalog" keyed by contextual symbols, like
'query-privmsg', ERC (and eventually everyone) will more easily be
able to influence how inserted messages take shape in buffers.

*** New format templates for inserted CTCP ACTION messages.
In 5.5 and earlier, ERC displayed outgoing CTCP ACTION messages in
'erc-input-face' alone (before buttonizing).  Incoming ACTION messages
mirrored this, except with 'erc-action-face' throughout.  Going
forward, inserted outgoing "/ME" messages will also incorporate
'erc-action-face', only underneath 'erc-input-face', with
'erc-my-nick-face' sitting atop both in the leading "speaker" nickname
portion (again, pre-buttonizing).  This new behavior sidesteps the
traditional format template 'erc-message-english-ACTION' from the
default "language catalog" in favor of an entry from the new internal
"speaker catalog".  Users needing to access the old behavior can do so
by toggling a provided compatibility switch.  See source code around
the function 'erc-send-action' for details.

*** Miscellaneous changes
In 'erc-button-alist', 'Info-goto-node' has been supplanted by plain
old 'info', and the "<URL:...>" entry has been removed because it was
more or less redundant.  In all ERC buffers, the "<TAB>" key is now
bound to a new command, 'erc-tab', that calls 'completion-at-point'
inside the input area and otherwise dispatches module-specific
commands, like 'erc-button-next'.


* Changes in ERC 5.5

** Smarter buffer naming for withstanding collisions.
ERC buffers now remain tied to their logical network contexts, even
while offline.  These associations can survive regional server changes
and the intercession of proxies.  As has long been practiced in other
areas of Emacs, "uniquified" buffer renaming prevents collisions
between buffers of different contexts.  ERC's approach prioritizes
predictability over economy, favoring fully qualified suffixes without
elided or omitted components.  Potential avenues for confusion remain
but will die out with the adoption of emerging protocol extensions.

** Option 'erc-rename-buffers' deprecated.
The promises made by its old "on" state are now fully realized and
enabled permanently by default.  Its old behavior when disabled has
been preserved and will remain available (with warnings) for years to
come.

** Option 'erc-reuse-buffers' deprecated.
This ancient option has been a constant source of confusion, as
exhibited most recently when its "disabled" meaning was partially
inverted.  Introduced in ERC 5.4 (Emacs 28.1), this regression saw
existing channel buffers transparently reassociated instead of created
anew.  The pre-5.4 "disabled" behavior has been restored and will
remain accessible for the foreseeable future, warts and all (e.g.,
with its often superfluous "/DIALED-HOST" suffixing always present).

** The 'networks' module is now quasi-required.
The 'networks' module is now all but required for everyday interactive
use.  A default member of 'erc-modules' since ERC 5.3, 'networks' has
grown increasingly integral to core client operations over the years.
From now on, only the most essential operations will be officially
supported in its absence, and users will see a warning upon invoking
an entry point, like 'erc-tls', when that's the case.

On a related note, the function 'erc-network' now always returns
non-nil in buffers created by a successfully established IRC
connection, even after that connection has been closed.  This was done
to aid the overall effort to improve buffer association.

** Tighter auth-source integration.
The days of hit-and-miss auth-source queries are hopefully behind us.
With the overhaul of the services module temporarily shelved and the
transition to SASL-based authentication still underway, users may feel
left in the lurch to endure yet another release cycle of backtick
hell.  For some, auth-source may provide a workaround in the form of
nonstandard server passwords.  See the section entitled "auth-source"
in the Integrations chapter of ERC's manual.

** Rudimentary SASL support has arrived.
A new module, 'erc-sasl', now ships with ERC.  See Info node "(erc)
SASL" in the manual for details.

** Username argument for entry-point commands.
Commands 'erc' and 'erc-tls' now accept a ':user' keyword argument,
which, when present, becomes the first argument passed to the "USER"
IRC command.  The traditional way of setting this globally, via
'erc-email-userid', is still honored.

** Changes to display options for new ERC buffers.
The default value for the option 'erc-join-buffer', which determines
how new buffers are displayed, has been changed to 'bury' for security
reasons.  Although the old value of 'buffer' is still accessible,
along with its original behavior, users wanting a safer alternative
can now opt for an improved 'window-noselect' instead.  It still
offers the same pronounced visual cue when connecting and joining but
now avoids any hijacking of the active window as well.

Beyond this, additional flexibility is now available for controlling
the behavior of newly created target buffers during reconnection.
See the option 'erc-reconnect-display' for more.

** Improved handling of multiline prompt input.
This means better detection and handling of intervening and trailing
blanks when 'erc-send-whitespace-lines' is active.  New options have
also been added for warning when input spans multiple lines.  Although
off by default, new users are encouraged to enable them.  See options
'erc-inhibit-multiline-input' and 'erc-ask-about-multiline-input'.

** URL handling has improved.
Clicking on 'irc://' and 'ircs://' links elsewhere in Emacs now does
the right thing most of the time.  However, for security reasons,
users are now prompted to confirm connection parameters prior to lift
off.  See the new '(erc) Integrations' section in the Info manual for
details.

** ERC's major-mode hook now runs slightly later.
The function 'erc-open' now delays running 'erc-mode-hook' until ERC's
prompt and its bounding markers and many essential local variables
have been initialized.  Those essentials include the familiar
'erc-default-recipients', 'erc-server-users', and 'erc-network', as
well as the various "session" variables, like 'erc-session-connector'.
ERC activates "local modules" immediately afterward, just before
running 'erc-connect-pre-hook', which is still useful for gaining a
full accounting of what's been set.

In similar news, 'erc-open' no longer calls 'erc-update-modules'.
However, it still activates modules in a similar fashion, meaning,
among other things, global-module setup still occurs before major-mode
activation (something that's here to stay for compatibility reasons).

** Miscellaneous behavioral changes impacting the user experience.
A bug has been fixed that saw prompts being mangled, doubled, or
erased in server buffers upon disconnection.  Instead, input prompts
now collapse into an alternate form designated by the option
'erc-prompt-hidden'.  Behavior differs for query and channel buffers
but can be fine-tuned via the repurposed, formerly abandoned option
'erc-hide-prompt'.

Another fix-turned-feature involves certain commands provided by the
'erc-match' module, such as 'erc-add-keyword', 'erc-add-pal', and
others, which now optionally offer to 'regexp-quote' the current
input.  The old behavior, if desired, can still be had via the new
option 'erc-match-quote-when-adding'.

In 5.4, support for using network symbols as keys was added for
'erc-autojoin-channels-alist'.  This has been extended to include
explicit symbols passed to 'erc-tls' and 'erc' as so-called
network-context identifiers via a new ':id' keyword.  The latter
carries wider significance beyond autojoin and can be used for
unequivocally identifying a connection in a human-readable way.

A number of UX-centric bug fixes accompany this release.  For example,
spaces are now possible in server passwords, and users of the Soju
bouncer should no longer see outgoing messages pile up during periods
of heavy traffic.  See the Emacs change log for the full complement.

** Miscellaneous behavioral changes in the library API.
A number of core macros and other definitions have been moved to a new
file called erc-common.el.  This was done to help mitigate various
complications arising from the mutual dependency between 'erc' and
'erc-backend'.

Also on the maintainability front, ERC now relies on the Compat
library from GNU ELPA to supply forward compatibility shims for users
running older versions of Emacs.  The required Compat version resides
atop ERC's main library file, in the 'Package-Requires' header.
Third-party modules should benefit automatically from its adoption.

In an effort to help further tame ERC's complexity, the variable
'erc-default-recipients' is now expected to hold but a single target.
As a consequence, functions like 'erc-add-default-channel' that
imagine an alternate, aspirational model of buffer-target relations
have been deprecated.  For specifics, see entries in Emacs'
ChangeLog.4 from around June 30, 2022.

A number of less consequential deprecations also debut in this
release.  For example, the function 'erc-auto-query' was deemed too
difficult to understand, behavior wise, and has thus been stricken
from the client code path with no public replacement.  Although likely
uncontroversial, such changes may still spell disruption for some.  If
you find yourself among them and in need of explanations, please see
related entries in the change log and discussions on the bug tracker.

Although this release is light on API features, some groundwork has
been laid for what may become a new breed of ERC module, namely,
"connection-local" (or simply "local") modules.  This marks a small
but crucial step forward toward a more flexible and granular revamping
of ERC's long touted extensibility.  See the Info node "(erc) Local
Modules" for details.

Lastly, a few internal variables have been introduced that could just
as well have been made public, possibly as user options.  Likewise for
some internal functions.  As always, users needing such functionality
officially exposed are encouraged to write to emacs-erc@gnu.org.


* Changes in ERC 5.4.1

** No user-visible changes since ERC 5.4, but a few tweaks in some ERC
file headers and the ERC manual in order to successfully build ERC for
GNU ELPA.  (See below for the news item of ERC now being distributed
on GNU ELPA in addition to its continued inclusion in GNU Emacs core.)


* Changes in ERC 5.4

** Starting with Emacs 28.1 and ERC 5.4, ERC NEWS are added here again.
After ERC 5.3, since November 2012, ERC's NEWS items were added in the
main Emacs NEWS file, and users were referred to there.  Now, starting
with Emacs 28.1 and ERC 5.4, which mark ERC's release to GNU ELPA, ERC
NEWS have been moved to this file again, so that we can include a NEWS
file consisting only of ERC changes in ERC's package on GNU ELPA.

The NEWS entries for ERC changes in Emacs 28.1 have been moved from
the main Emacs NEWS file to here.  For ERC NEWS entries corresponding
to Emacs versions before 28, to avoid modifying the NEWS file for all
of those releases, the ERC NEWS entries have only been copied below,
and the NEWS.* files were left intact.

** ERC is now available on GNU ELPA.
Starting with ERC 5.4, in addition to being distributed with GNU Emacs
itself, ERC is also included in GNU ELPA, allowing users to enjoy the
improvements of newer ERC versions on older Emacs versions as well.

ERC's package page on GNU ELPA: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/erc.html

** New option 'erc-rename-buffers'.

** New faces 'erc-my-nick-prefix-face' and 'erc-nick-prefix-face'.

** 'erc-format-@nick' displays all user modes instead of only op and voice.

** The display of irc commands in the current buffer has been disabled.

** 'erc-version' now follows the Emacs version.

** ERC can now hide message types by network or channel.
'erc-hide-list' will hide all messages of the specified type, while
'erc-network-hide-list' and 'erc-channel-hide-list' will only hide the
specified message types for the respective specified targets.

** Reconnection is now asynchronous.

** Nick completion is now case-insensitive again after inadvertently
being made case-sensitive in Emacs 24.2.

** New variable 'erc-default-port-tls' used to connect to TLS IRC
servers.

** New hook 'erc-insert-done-hook'.
This hook is called after strings have been inserted into the buffer,
and is free to alter point and window configurations, as it's not
called from inside a 'save-excursion', as opposed to 'erc-insert-post-hook'.

** 'erc-button-google-url' has been renamed to 'erc-button-search-url'
and its value has been changed to Duck Duck Go.

** 'erc-send-pre-hook' and 'erc-send-this' have been obsoleted.
The user option to use instead to alter text to be sent is now
'erc-pre-send-functions'.

** Improve matching/highlighting of nicknames.
Open and close parenthesis and apostrophe are not considered valid
nick characters anymore, matching the given grammar in RFC 2812
section 2.3.1.  This enables correct matching and highlighting of
nicks when they are surrounded by parentheses, like "(nick)", and when
adjacent to an apostrophe, like "nick's".

** Set 'erc-button-url-regexp' to 'browse-url-button-regexp'
which better handles surrounding pair of parentheses.

** New function 'erc-switch-to-buffer-other-window'
which is like 'erc-switch-to-buffer', but opens the buffer in another
window.

** New function 'erc-track-switch-buffer-other-window'
which is like 'erc-track-switch-buffer', but opens the buffer in
another window.

** NickServ passwords can now be retrieved from auth-source.
The 'erc-use-auth-source-for-nickserv-password' user option enables
querying auth-source for NickServ passwords.  To enable this, add the
following to your init file:

    (setq erc-use-auth-source-for-nickserv-password t)

** NickServ identification now prompts for password last.
When 'erc-prompt-for-nickserv-password' is non-nil, the user used to
be unconditionally prompted interactively for a password, regardless
of the value of 'erc-nickserv-passwords', which was effectively
ignored (same for the new
'erc-use-auth-source-for-nickserv-password').  This limitation is now
lifted, and the user is interactively prompted last, after the other
identification methods have run.

** The '/ignore' command will now ask for a timeout to stop ignoring the user.
Allowed inputs are seconds or ISO8601-like periods like "1h" or "4h30m".

** ERC now recognizes 'C-]' for italic text.
Italic text is displayed in the new 'erc-italic-face'.

** erc-match.el now supports 'message' highlight type (not including the nick).
The 'erc-current-nick-highlight-type', 'erc-pal-highlight-type',
'erc-fool-highlight-type', 'erc-keyword-highlight-type', and
'erc-dangerous-host-highlight-type' user options now support a
'message' type for highlighting the entire message but not the
sender's nick.

** erc-status-sidebar.el is now part of ERC.
The 'erc-status-sidebar' package which provides a HexChat-like
activity overview sidebar for joined IRC channels is now part of ERC.

** erc-tls now supports specifying a TLS client certificate.
The 'erc-tls' function has been updated to allow specifying a TLS
client certificate for authentication, as an alternative to NickServ
password-based authentication.  This is referred to as "CertFP" (short
for Certificate Fingerprint) by several IRC networks.  See the Info
node "(erc) Connecting" in the ERC manual for more details and
examples on how to specify and use TLS client certificates with
'erc-tls'.

** Update IRC-related references to point to Libera.Chat.
The Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project have moved their
official IRC channels from the Freenode network to Libera.Chat.
For the original announcement and the follow-up update, including
more details, see:

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2021-06/msg00005.html
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2021-06/msg00007.html

Given the relocation of GNU and FSF's official IRC channels, as well
as #emacs and various other Emacs-themed channels (see the link below)
to Libera.Chat, IRC-related references in the Emacs repository have
now been updated to point to Libera.Chat.

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu-emacs/2021-06/msg00000.html

** Add 'erc-track-select-mode-line-face' (obsoletes 'erc-track-find-face').
The 'erc-track-find-face' function of the erc-track module has been
declared obsolete and rewritten as 'erc-track-select-mode-line-face',
with different expected arguments (the current and old faces are now
separated) and clearer documentation.

** Add '/opme' and '/deopme' convenience commands.
The new '/opme' convenience command asks ChanServ to set the operator
status for the current nick in the current channel, and '/deopme'
unsets it.

** Add '/wii' convenience command for whois with idle time.
The new '/wii' convenience command calls the '/whois' command with the
given nick as both arguments, which is useful for displaying the whois
information for the nick along with idle time, even if the nick is on
a different server than the one the current user is connected to.
Using the given nick itself instead of the server it is connected to
is not standardized, but is widely supported across IRC networks.

** Add 'erc-bug' command for reporting ERC bugs.
The new 'erc-bug' command prompts for a subject, and passes it on to
'report-emacs-bug' along with the current ERC version, and adds the
ERC mailing list in Cc.


* Changes in ERC 5.3

** New function `erc-tls' is to be used for connecting to a server via TLS.
It requires the tls.el library.

** The function `erc-ssl' will now always use ssl.el, even in the version
of ERC that comes with Emacs.

** Type `C-u' before `C-c C-j' to prompt for a channel key
`erc-join-channel' now accepts a prefix-argument to prompt for the key
when channels are protected by keywords.

** ERC will now automatically determine which nick prefixes are valid
when joining a server.

** Figure out which directory contains startup files when looking for
.erc.el.  For Emacs this is usually ~/.emacs.d, and for XEmacs this is
usually ~/.xemacs.

** Fix bug with view-mode when running erc-toggle-debug-irc-protocol.

** Permit several commands to be run even when the server connection is dead.
This includes /CLEAR, /COUNTRY, /HELP, /LASTLOG, /QUIT, /GQUIT,
/RECONNECT, /SERVER, and /SET.

** Make /RECONNECT work better when the server connection is dead.
Also, handle case where the server buffer has been killed.

** Better handle interaction with /RECONNECT and indefinite reconnect
attempts.  Display message which tells the user that they can stop the
reconnect attempts by killing the server buffer.

** New option `erc-reuse-frames' determines whether new frames are always
created.  It defaults to not creating a new frame for an ERC buffer if
there is already a window displaying it.  This only has an effect when
the `erc-join-buffer' option is set to 'frame.

** New command /ME'S handles the case where someone types "/me's" in an
ERC buffer.  It concatenates the text " 's" to the beginning of the
input and then sends the result like a normal /ME command.

** Fix bug where some messages were being sent to the server too soon.
In the past, this may have resulted in strange problems like seeing
the connection attempt stall, which may have especially affected
spotty or traffic-shaped connections.

** Handle 307 (nick has identified) responses from the server.

** Display a less-confusing message if the connection attempt fails.

** On a tty, make sure that notices are displayed in blue rather than pink.

** By default, open query buffers that are initiated by others in a new
unselected window.  This may be changed by customizing the
`erc-auto-query' option.  This should make ERC more friendly to new
users.

** New option `erc-query-display' indicates how to display a query buffer
that is made using the /QUERY command.  The default is to display the
query in a new selected window.

** By default, display network name rather than server name in the modeline.
This should ERC use less space in the modeline.  To get the old
behavior back, set `erc-mode-line-format' to "%s %a".

** New option `erc-remove-parsed-property' determines whether to remove
the 'erc-parsed property.  This should save some memory in channels
with large amounts of text on screen.  It is enabled by default.

** Modules newly enabled by default

*** move-to-prompt: Move to the prompt when typing text.
*** networks: Provide data about IRC networks.

** New formatting variables allowed in `erc-format-network':

*** `%N': the name of the network.
*** `%S': much like %s, but let the network name trump the server name.

** Compatibility with old releases

*** In `erc-server-coding-system' and `erc-coding-system-for-target', pass
the `target' argument as the first and only argument to the function
named by these options.

*** In `erc-track-faces-priority-list', permit list entries to be lists of
faces.  This can be used to differentiate between, for example,
buttons in default text and buttons in notices.

*** The `erc-assert' function has been removed in favor of using `assert'
from cl-macs.el.

*** If your application uses the 'erc-parsed text property outside of
the insert hooks, you will need to set `erc-remove-parsed-property'
to nil.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** BBDB (erc-bbdb.el)

**** Work around bug in XEmacs 21.4 that causes an error to be thrown when
the first argument to `run-at-time' is nil.

*** Button (erc-button.el)

**** Recognize parentheses that are part of URLs.

**** When in a channel, only buttonize nicks from that channel.

*** DCC support (erc-dcc.el)

**** Turn this into the "dcc" module for ERC, so that it can be more
easily enabled.

**** New option `erc-dcc-listen-host' determines which IP address to listen
on for outside connection attempts.

**** New option `erc-dcc-public-host' determines which IP address to advertise
when sending a file.  This is useful for people who are on a local
subnet.  Together, these two options replace the `erc-dcc-host'
option.

**** New option `erc-dcc-receive-cache' indicates how much of a received
file to store in an Emacs buffer before flushing it to disk.  The
default is 0.5 MB.

**** Save only parts of received files in buffers, writing repeatedly to
disk after we get at least `erc-dcc-receive-cache' bytes.  This allows
users to receive very large files without running out of memory.

**** Rename `erc-verbose-dcc' option to `erc-dcc-verbose' and also
default it to nil.

**** Fix edge case in erc-dcc-send-sentinel.

**** If client confirms too much, then display byte count and kill the
file buffer.

*** Goodies (erc-goodies.el)

**** New module move-to-prompt causes the point to be moved to the prompt
if a user tries to type elsewhere in the buffer, and then inserts
their keystrokes after the prompt.  It is enabled by default.

**** New module keep-place keeps your place in unvisited ERC buffers
when new messages arrive.

**** Enable scroll-to-bottom in all ERC buffers when the module is enabled,
rather than having the user do it manually.

**** Fix bug with buffer ordering and scroll-to-bottom module.

**** In the unmorse module, handle the morse code style that has "/ " at
the end of every letter.

*** Identd (erc-identd.el)

**** Fix bad behavior when closing the identd process.

*** Channel lists (erc-list.el)

**** Replace the old module with a rewritten one, so that we can include
it with Emacs.  The old version of erc-list.el has been renamed to
erc-list-old.el, and is available as the list-old module.

The new version does not yet have support for XEmacs.

**** Don't display lots of output in the server buffer when running /LIST.

*** Logging (erc-log.el)

**** Permit the `erc-log-channels-directory' option to be set to a function
name.  This makes it easier to write custom functions that determine
where log files should be placed.

**** New option `erc-log-filter-function' specifies the function to call
for filtering text before writing it to a log file.  By default, no
filtering is performed.

*** Networks (erc-networks.el)

**** Turn this into the "networks" module for ERC, so that it can be more
easily enabled.  Enable it by default.

**** Add support for Rizon.

*** Internet services / Nickserv (erc-services.el)

**** New hook option `erc-nickserv-identified-hook' is run after NickServ
acknowledges a successful identification.

**** Add support for the GRnet and Rizon networks.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** By default, place timestamps on both the left and the right.
The left timestamps appear once a day, and the right timestamps appear
once a minute when new messages arrive.  To change this, customize the
`erc-insert-timestamp-function' and
`erc-insert-away-timestamp-function' options.

*** Channel tracking (erc-track.el)

**** If `erc-track-position-in-mode-line' is set to nil, the tracking
information won't be shown in the mode line, which is a change from
the previous behavior of showing it "After all other information".

If this variable is set to t, then the information will be added to
the very end of the mode line.

**** New option `erc-track-remove-disconnected-buffers' controls whether
buffers associated with a server that is disconnected should be
removed from the modified buffers list.  The default is to keep them
in the list.

**** New hook option `erc-track-list-changed-hook' is run whenever the
contents of the modified channels list changes.  It is useful for
people who use a separate mechanism to provide notification of channel
activity.

**** The `erc-track-switch-direction' option now can be set to the value
'importance.  If set to this value, ERC will switch to channels in
order of importance, which is determined by the position of the
channel's face in `erc-track-faces-priority-list'.

**** Activate erc-track-minor-mode earlier in the connection process.

**** Don't track buttons in notices.

**** Get a rough idea for which channels are currently active by
switching between several normal conversation faces in the modeline.
This behavior can be modified by changing the new
`erc-track-faces-normal-list' option.

**** Ignore display of who set the default channel topic and listing of
users on the current channel.  Customize the `erc-track-exclude-types'
option to indicate the types of messages to exclude.  These two
message types are "333" and "353", respectively.

*** Support for acting as an XDCC file-server (erc-xdcc.el)

**** Turn this into the "xdcc" module for ERC, so that it can be more
easily enabled.


* Changes in ERC 5.2

** M-x erc RET now starts ERC.
`erc-select' has been changed to `erc'.  `erc-select' still remains as
an alias of `erc'. Likewise, `erc-select-ssl' has been renamed to
`erc-ssl' with `erc-select-ssl' as its alias.  The function that was
known as `erc' is now `erc-open'.

** Open query buffers by default when private messages are received.
The default value of `erc-auto-query' has been changed to 'bury.

** New command: /RECONNECT
This command tries to reconnect to the current IRC server exactly
once.  It does not work in server buffers (throws an error before the
command is run), but works in query and channel buffers.

** In MS-DOS environments, look for _ercrc.el rather than .ercrc.el.

** Fix buggy interaction with multi-tty Emacs.

** After running /QUIT, make sure that the IRC process is killed within
4 seconds.  Freenode, in particular, needs this at times.

** If the IRC process has not responded to our PINGs within a certain
time, kill it and restart the connection.  See
`erc-server-auto-reconnect', `erc-server-reconnect-attempts',
`erc-server-reconnect-timeout', `erc-server-send-ping-interval', and
`erc-server-send-ping-timeout' to fine-tune ERC's behavior.

** Avoid getting into an infinite connection loop.
Previously, this could happen if your nick was banned, you were using
Tor, incorrect information was entered, or the connection was bad.

** Make ban messages less confusing.

** Restore the point correctly when reconnecting to an IRC server.

** Make /IGNORE and /UNIGNORE prompt to determine whether their
argument is a user or a regexp.  This results in less-confusing
behavior when trying to ignore someone who has a bracket in their
nick.

** Make the default port "6667" rather than "ircd", because some
operating systems don't know what port "ircd" maps to.

** Fix several bugs in erc-iswitchb (C-c C-b).

** Clean up internal documentation.
Special thanks go to Juanma Barranquero for the thorough vetting of
ERC's internal documentation.

** Display a more informative message when a module is not found.

** Fix a bug where paths were being colored like IRC commands.

** In the customize interface for `erc-modules', add the name of the module.
This makes it easier to find modules by name.

** erc-server-send-ping-interval: Change to use a default of 30 seconds.

** Some files which are included with the release of ERC 5.2 will not
appear in the version of ERC that is bundled with Emacs 22.  These
extras files may be found at:

 o https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/erc/erc-5.2-extras.tar.gz, or
 o https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/erc/erc-5.2-extras.zip.

** Renamed files

Several files were renamed so as to make them distinct to users of the
MS-DOS operating system.

 o erc-autojoin.el -> erc-join.el
 o erc-complete.el -> erc-hecomplete.el
 o erc-nickserv.el -> erc-services.el
 o ChangeLog.NNNN -> ChangeLog.NN

** Header line changes

*** Remove "[IRC]" from the header line.

*** Add the %l format character to `erc-header-line-format',

*** Document how to remove the header line.
Namely: (setq erc-header-line-format nil).

** New options

*** erc-server-reconnect-attempts: Determines the number of
reconnection attempts that ERC will make per server.

*** erc-server-reconnect-timeout: Determines the amount of time,
in seconds, that ERC will wait between successive reconnect attempts.

*** erc-server-send-ping-timeout: Determines when to consider a connection
stalled and restart it.  The default is after 120 seconds.

*** erc-system-name: Determines the system name to use when logging in.
The default is to figure this out by calling `system-name'.

** New face: `erc-my-nick-face'
This helps make it easier to distinguish messages sent by yourself
from messages sent by other users when the value of the variable
`erc-show-my-nick' is non-nil.

** Namespace changes

*** New macro: `erc-with-server-buffer'
Switches to the current ERC server buffer and runs some code.  If no
server buffer is available, return nil.  This is a useful way to
access variables in the server buffer.

*** New function: `erc-open-server-buffer-p'
Returns non-nil if the given buffer is an ERC server buffer that has
an open IRC process.

*** New function: `erc-format-lag-time'
Returns the estimated lag time to server, `erc-server-lag'.

*** Renamed items

 o `erc-server-setup-periodical-server-ping' is now
   `erc-server-setup-periodical-ping'

 o `erc-away-p' is now `erc-away-time'

** Changes to the ERC manual

*** New section: Sample Session.
Describes a sample ERC session for connecting to the #emacs channel on
Freenode.  Also mention the #erc channel.

*** New section: Special Features.
Describes some of the special features of ERC.

*** Getting Started: Mention ~/.emacs.d/.ercrc.el and the Customize
interface.

*** Development: Mention ErcDevelopment page on emacswiki.org.

*** Tips and Tricks: Remove empty section for now.

*** Options: Mention how to see available ERC options.

*** Sample Configuration: Add an example of how to configure ERC.

** New modules

*** Autoaway (erc-autoaway.el)

**** Make this much more reliable.

**** Avoid duplicate messages when coming back from being away.

**** Fix bug where autoaway was enabled just by loading the file.

*** BBDB (erc-bbdb.el)

**** Display information on how to cancel merging of info or how to
create a new John Doe record.

**** Make it so that information from /whois continues to come in, even
while prompting for a record to merge.

**** Make hitting C-g correctly abort merging the record.

*** Capab identify (erc-capab.el)
Mark users who haven't identified to NickServ on servers supporting
CAPAB IDENTIFY-MSG.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Button (erc-button.el)

**** Make <backtab> go to the previous button.

*** Channel tracking (erc-track.el)

**** Use mouse-face and help-echo for channel names in the mode-line.
This helps people using a mouse know that they are buttons and can be
clicked on.

**** Fix issue where C-c C-SPC could conflict with user-defined keybindings.
This is accomplished by moving these bindings to their own global
minor mode.  Now the default is to check whether the user has bound
something to C-c C-SPC or C-c C-@.  If they have, prompt them about
whether to really override that binding.  This also has the effect of
preventing ERC from clobbering rcirc's keybinding, unless this is
desired.  See `erc-track-enable-keybindings' for more details.

**** New option: erc-track-enable-keybindings.
Determine whether or not to enable the C-c C-SPC and C-c C-@
keybindings.  The default is to ask whether to do this if a binding to
these keys already exists.  It can also be set to t or nil to always
bind or never bind, respectively.

**** Remove `track-when-inactive' module.
See `erc-track-when-inactive' for further details.

**** New option: erc-track-when-inactive.
This option replaces the track-when-inactive module.  Set it to
non-nil to track activity even in visible buffers when inactive.  The
default is nil.

**** Remove the `track-modified-channels' alias for the `track' module.

*** DCC support (erc-dcc.el)

**** Add Usage section to Commentary.

**** Fix a bug in the server message output.

*** Filling (erc-fill.el)

**** Fix bug involving messages that start with one or more blank lines.

*** Identd (erc-identd.el)

**** New option `erc-identd-port'
Specifies the port to use if none is given as an argument to
`erc-identd-start'.  This is placed in the new customization group
`erc-identd'.

**** New function: `erc-identd-quickstart'
Ignores any arguments and calls `erc-identd-start'.

*** Channel lists (erc-list.el)

**** Enable by default, except in the version of ERC bundled with Emacs 22.

*** Logging (erc-log.el)

**** Make sure filenames are safe to use before writing to them.

**** Save all log buffers when exiting Emacs.

**** erc-generate-log-file-name-function: Add option for
`erc-generate-log-file-name-network', which is a new function that
uses the network name rather than the server name when possible.

*** Menu (erc-menu.el)

**** Name the menu "ERC" instead of "IRC" to avoid confusion with rcirc
and other clients.

**** Make this into a proper module and load it by default.

**** Add "Current channel" submenu.

*** Networks (erc-networks.el)

**** Add support for Ars OpenIRC, LinuxChix, and OFTC networks.

**** Escape periods in Konfido.Net and Kewl.Org.

*** Internet services / Nickserv (erc-nickserv.el)

**** Add new 'both method for the `erc-nickserv-identify-mode' option
and make it the default.  This tries to do the right thing both when a
known nickserv message exists for an IRC network, and when it does
not.

**** Support nickserv authentication on OFTC, Azzurra, Ars, and QuakeNet.

**** Support authentication on BitlBee.

**** Make source code easier to understand by using accessor functions.

*** Sound support (erc-sound.el)

**** Make this work with both Emacs 21 and Emacs 22.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** Exclude the newline from the erc-timestamp field.

**** New function: `erc-toggle-timestamps'.
Toggles display of timestamps.


* Changes in ERC 5.1.4

** Make find-function and find-variable work in Emacs 22 for
names that are constructed by `define-erc-module'.

** Fix bug introduced in ERC 5.1.3 that caused messages to go the
wrong buffer.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Highlighting (erc-match.el)

**** Don't activate view-mode.

*** Logging (erc-log.el)

**** When this module is activated, make sure logging is enabled on
already-opened buffers.  Ditto for disabling logging when the module
is deactivated.

**** Fix some errors that occur when exiting Emacs without first
quitting open IRC servers.


* Changes in ERC 5.1.3

** Fix use of /quote command with no initial whitespace.

** Make it possible to customize the colorization of the header line.
The `erc-header-line' face is used to color the header line.
The `erc-header-line-face-method' determines the method to use when
colorizing the header line.

** Add the new function `erc-handle-irc-url', which is a suitable
candidate to use for `url-irc-function'.  This permits some
integration of url.el and ERC.

** Fix several errors that occur when server or channel buffers are killed
prematurely.

** Fix toggling of flood control.

** Match the patterns in `erc-encoding-coding-alist' as regexps,
instead of verbatim text.  Also, match case-insensitively.

** The /SMV command has been removed, since we no longer have
meaningful module-specific version information.

** Fix a "(stringp nil)" error that can happen when doing /PART.

** Use a better example in the `erc-part-reason-various-alist'
documentation.

** When using `erc-quit-reason-various' and `erc-part-reason-various'
and no matches are found, default to using the ERC version string
rather than "nil".

** Add the `list' and `page' modules to the `erc-modules' customize
interface.

** Changes to the ERC manual

*** Update the list of available modules.

*** Revise information about releases and development.

*** Provide a simpler example in the "Getting Started" chapter.

*** Fully document how to connect to an IRC server in the new
"Connecting" chapter.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Autoaway (erc-autoaway.el)

**** Rename the `erc-autoaway-use-emacs-idle' option to
`erc-autoaway-idle-method'.

**** Add support for autoaway based on user idle time.
This is now the default.

**** If you set the AWAY status yourself, erc-autoaway will not
interfere by un-setting AWAY prematurely.

**** If you are set away while visiting a non-ERC buffer,
erc-autoaway used to fail in bringing the user back.  This is now
fixed.

*** BBDB (erc-bbdb.el)

**** Add new option `erc-bbdb-electric-p', which determines whether
to make the BBDB buffer electric.  This defaults to not electric.

*** Button (erc-button.el)

**** Use <backtab> instead of <C-tab> for `erc-button-previous'.

*** Identd (erc-identd.el)

**** Fix a bug that involves starting the identd server.

**** Make this work with Emacs 22.

**** Provide a real ERC module named `identd'.

**** Don't create an extra buffer for the identd process.

*** Channel lists (erc-list.el)

**** Enable by default, except in the version of ERC bundled with Emacs 22.

*** Logging (erc-log.el)

**** By default, don't insert old logs when opening an ERC buffer.
This may be changed by customizing `erc-log-insert-log-on-open'.

**** New option `erc-log-write-after-send' determines whether the
log file will be written to after every sent message.  The default is
not to do this.

**** New option `erc-log-write-after-insert' determines whether the
log file will be written to when new text is added to a logged ERC
buffer.  The default is not to do this.  With this option and the
previous option, logging should no longer slow down ERC as much.

**** Default to saving buffers and queries on quit.
This may be changed by customizing the `erc-save-buffer-on-quit' and
`erc-save-queries-on-quit' options, respectively.

**** Only perform logging when the `logging' module is added to
`erc-modules'.  This prevents logging from being activated just by
loading the erc-log.el file, and makes logging act like other ERC
modules.

*** Programmable completion (erc-pcomplete.el)

**** Don't complete the user's current nickname.


* Changes in ERC 5.1.2

** Fix compiler errors in erc-autojoin.el and erc-dcc.el.

** Move to end of prompt when ERC reconnects to a server.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Spell-checking (erc-spelling.el)

**** Don't spell-check nicks or words that are prefixed with '/'.

**** Remove flyspell properties from words we shouldn't spell-check.

**** Fix an issue that caused the ispell process to reload every time
we switch to an ERC buffer.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** Fix an inconsistency in calculating width of right timestamps.

**** Rename option `erc-timestamp-right-align-by-pixel' to
`erc-timestamp-use-align-to'.  This controls whether to use the more
fail-proof method of aligning right timestamps, as mentioned below.

**** Fix a right timestamp spacing problem that used to occur when
erc-stamp.el was byte-compiled.  Now that this is fixed, it is safe to
use the method that aligns right timestamps perfectly in Emacs22 with
X.  If the current version of Emacs doesn't support this method, use
the simpler method, which is prone to alignment issues for math
symbols and other variable-width text.

A side effect of using this new method is that there will only be one
space before a right timestamp in any saved logs.  If this is
unacceptable, set `erc-timestamp-use-align-to' to nil.


* Changes in ERC 5.1.1

** Fix a requirement on cl.el.

** Use tls.el for SSL connections, rather than ssl.el.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** ibuffer integration (erc-ibuffer.el)

**** Update this to work with the version of ibuffer.el that comes with
recent Emacs variants.

*** Old completion (erc-complete.el)

**** Fix a few errors.

*** Speedbar (erc-speedbar.el)

**** Make this work with the version of speedbar.el that comes with
recent Emacs variants.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** By default, use a more failsafe method of displaying right timestamps.
To get right timestamps to align perfectly in Emacs22 using X, set the
new `erc-timestamp-right-align-by-pixel' option to non-nil.

*** Viper compatibility (erc-viper.el)

**** Since most of these changes are now merged into Emacs22, detect
whether we need these changes and install them only if necessary.


* Changes in ERC 5.1

** Improve XEmacs compatibility.

** Namespace changes

*** Now ERC doesn't use global variable space.
Renamed all variables that didn't start with "erc-".

  o `away' is now `erc-away'

  o `current-nick' is now `erc-server-current-nick'

  o `last-peers' is now `erc-server-last-peers'

  o `last-ping-time' is now `erc-server-last-ping-time'

  o `last-sent-time' is now `erc-server-last-sent-time'

  o `lines-sent' is now `erc-server-lines-sent'

  o `quitting' is now `erc-server-quitting'

*** Remove the `with-erc-channel-buffer' function.

** Bugfixes

*** Don't inadvertently destroy face properties.

*** Load erc scripts in a safer way.

*** Don't insert a timestamp if text at point is invisible.

*** Don't hide messages from those in `erc-fools' by default.
Color their nicks instead.

*** Use a more foolproof method of encoding and decoding strings
before sending to a channel.

** Backend changes

*** Renamed some server-specific variables

  o `erc-announced-server-name' is now `erc-server-announced-name'

  o `erc-auto-reconnect' is now `erc-server-auto-reconnect'

  o `erc-connect-function' is now `erc-server-connect-function'

  o `erc-default-coding-system' is now `erc-server-coding-system'

  o `erc-duplicate-timeout' is now `erc-server-duplicate-timeout'

  o `erc-duplicates' is now `erc-server-duplicates'

  o `erc-lag' is now `erc-server-lag'

  o `erc-prevent-duplicates' is now `erc-server-prevent-duplicates'

  o `erc-previous-read' is now `erc-server-filter-data'

  o `erc-process' is now `erc-server-process'

  o `erc-ping-handler' is now `erc-server-send-ping-handler'

  o `erc-ping-interval' is now `erc-server-send-ping-interval'

*** Renamed some functions

  o `erc-connect' is now `erc-server-connect'

  o `erc-process-filter' is now `erc-server-filter-function'

  o `erc-send-command' is now `erc-server-send'

  o `erc-send-single-line' is now `erc-send-input'

  o `erc-setup-periodical-server-ping' is now
    `erc-server-setup-periodical-server-ping'

  o `erc-split-command is now `erc-split-line'

*** New options

  o erc-server-flood-margin, erc-server-flood-penalty: New options
    that allow tweaking of flood control.

  o erc-split-line-length: The maximum line length of a single
    message.

*** New variables

  o erc-server-flood-last-message, erc-server-flood-queue,
    erc-server-flood-timer: Flood control.

  o erc-server-processing-p: Indicate when we're currently processing
    a message.

*** Remove some options

  o `erc-flood-limit'
  o `erc-flood-limit2'

** New customization group `erc-server' for dealing with IRC servers.

** ERC can now be installed by doing `make install' from the command line.

** ERC now has a manual in erc.texi.
Type `make doc' to generate HTML and Info versions of it.

** ERC no longer depends on cl.el.
Only the macros in cl-macs.el are used.

** Fix an edge case when quitting as new messages come in.

** Make flood protection toggle-able as on/off, removing the 'strict option.

** If possible, reuse channel buffers when reconnecting to a server.

** Text in ERC buffers is now read-only by default.
To get the previous behavior,

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Auto-join (erc-autojoin.el)

**** Recognize the Azzurra server.

*** BBDB (erc-bbdb.el)

**** When the user types /WHOIS, ask for a record to merge to.

**** Store the displayed name of a BitlBee contact.
The new `erc-bbdb-bitlbee-name-field' option specifies the field to use
to store this information.

**** Don't prompt for a name on /JOIN or /NICK.

*** Button (erc-button.el)

**** Fix customization of `erc-button-alist'

**** New option `erc-button-nickname-face' determines the face to use
when coloring ERC nicknames.

*** Channel tracking (erc-track.el)

**** Remove channels from the modified channels list if not currently
connected.  This should remove residue from the mode line after
quitting ERC.

**** Recognize buttonized text

*** Highlighting (erc-match.el)

**** Highlight current nickname by default.

**** Added the option of beeping when certain matches occur.
Add `erc-beep-on-match' to `erc-text-matched-hook' to enable
beeping.  Set the new variable `erc-beep-match-types' which match
types that make beeps.

*** Nicklist (erc-nicklist.el)

**** Fix a couple of errors.

**** Make sure a stray mouse click doesn't trigger an error.

**** Insert icons from the /images directory next to nicks.
This indicates their away status.  The location is customizable via
the new `erc-nicklist-icons-directory' option.

If you do not want these icons, set `erc-nicklist-use-icons' to nil.

*** Nickserv identification (erc-nickserv.el)

**** Recognize Azzurra and OFTC networks.

*** Old completion (erc-complete.el)

**** Disable by default.

*** Programmable completion (erc-pcomplete.el)

**** Enable by default.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** On Emacs22, align right timestamps perfectly, even if variable-width
characters are used.  If we aren't using Emacs22, move text farther
away from the right margin when variable-width characters are used.
It is considered better to misalign the stamp by a bit than to go past
the right margin.

**** Enable by default

** New modules

*** Spell-checking (erc-spelling.el)

**** Use flyspell in ERC.

*** Viper compatibility (erc-viper.el)

**** Helps ERC work correctly in viper-mode.


* Changes in ERC 5.0.4

** Fix a problem with undo in channels.


* Changes in ERC 5.0.3

** Fix typo in the `ctcp-request-to' entry of the English catalog.

** Debugging with edegug has been made easier in all of the
erc-with-* and with-erc* macros.

** Non-ASCII character sets should be better supported when sending
and processing messages.

** A load failure with erc-autoaway.el and Emacs21 has been fixed.

** A few XEmacs warnings were fixed.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Backend (erc-backend.el)

**** Move the check for hidden messages into `erc-display-message'
so there isn't so much replicated code.

**** Add `definition-name' property to constructed symbols so that
`find-function' and `find-variable' will be able to locate them.

**** Make sure logs are inserted info the correct channel buffers.
There was previously an error when using `erc-insert-log-on-open' in
combination with autojoin to multiple channels.

*** Button (erc-button.el)

**** The layering of `erc-button-face' on other faces in ERC buffers
has been improved.

*** Channel tracking (erc-track.el)

**** Use optimal amount of whitespace around modified channels
indicator.  Previously, there was an additional unnecessary space.

**** Fix an error that occurred when unchecked buffers existed when
invoking /QUIT.


* Changes in ERC 5.0.2

** If a channel key is required for a certain channel, ERC will prompt
for one if `erc-prompt-for-channel-key' is non-nil.

** ERC doesn't try to reconnect if the network connection is refused
when using `open-network-stream-nowait' as the `erc-connect-function'.

** Messages from multiple servers will not go to the currently active
buffer.  The messages from each server will be contained in the most
recently active channel/server buffer that corresponds with the
server.

** Some text messages were cleaned up slightly.

** Button faces should no longer "cover" other faces.

** Made some XEmacs compatibility fixes.

** Nicknames containing a backslash are now correctly highlighted as
current-nick and buttonized as nicks.

** `erc-server-select' doesn't offer networks without servers as a
choice anymore.

** Non-ASCII character support has been improved.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Menu (erc-menu.el)

**** You can now save logs and truncate buffers from the menu-bar.


* Changes in ERC 5.0.1

** Narrowing in ERC buffers no longer causes formatting errors.

** The BBDB module now loads correctly when customizing `erc-modules'.

** The value of `erc-button-face' is now respected.

** Fixed a bug which caused a read-only error during connection.

** Server buffers are now tracked correctly.
This means that `erc-track-priority-faces-only', `erc-track-exclude',
and `erc-track-exclude-types' now work with server buffers.


* Changes in ERC 5.0

** Channel members are now stored as a hash-table.
`erc-server-users' and `erc-channel-users' are now hash-tables, rather
than alists.  This significantly increases performance, especially in
large channels.  Each channel member is stored as an `erc-server-user'
struct, with additional information about the channels they are on
stored in an `erc-channel-user' struct.  Code using old alist-style
channel members needs to be updated to work with hash-tables.
This new code also removes the need for erc-members.el, which has been
removed.

** The way ERC deals with input from the server has changed.
All server response code is now in a new file, erc-backend.el.  There
should be no real user visible changes.  There are, however, a few
major changes for implementers, and module writers:

*** The PARSED response that all handlers get called with is
    no longer a vector, but an `erc-response' struct.

    This means LESS MAGIC NUMBERS in the ERC source code, but a few
    changes in how you get at parsed responses.

    The sender is accessed via `erc-response.sender'.

    The command is accessed via `erc-response.command'.

    The arguments to the command (everything after the command and
    before the colon) are accessed via `erc-response.command-args'.
    This is a /list/ of arguments in the order they appear in the
    unparsed response.

    The contents of the response is accessed via
    `erc-response.contents'.

    Should, for some reason, you want to do something with the
    /unparsed/ response, you can get it via `erc-response.unparsed'.

*** The `erc-server-hook-list' mechanism is gone.

    All server response handlers should be defined with
    `define-erc-response-handler'.  This defines functions and
    corresponding hook variables.

    The mapping of server commands to hook variables is no longer
    done via `erc-event-to-hook', but through an #'equal hash table,
    `erc-server-responses'.  In order to find a hook you do:

    (erc-get-hook command)

    See the docstring of `define-erc-response-handler' for more
    information.

*** ALL hook variables have been renamed.

    In accordance with recommendations in the Emacs Lisp manual,
    the hook variables are no longer called `erc-server-FOO-hook',
    but rather `erc-server-FOO-functions'.  This is to indicate
    that the functions they call take arguments.

    All the modules in ERC have been updated to reflect this change,
    but external module authors should beware.

** The values of `erc-mode-line-format' and `erc-header-line-format'
are now defined as strings to be formatted using `format-spec'.
`erc-mode-line-format' does not replace the whole mode-line anymore,
only `mode-line-buffer-identification' is set.  This way, personal
mode-line configurations are not modified and all key bindings work as
expected.  The process status (connecting, closed) is now shown in
`mode-line-process'.

** Customization of ERC variables has been made easier.  Variables
have been split into more groups for better organization.

** New variables

  o `erc-send-whitespace-lines' - Set this to send lines even if they
    are empty.

  o `erc-manual-set-nick-on-bad-nick-p' - If the nickname you chose is
    already taken or not allowed, your nick is not changed and you can
    try again manually if this is non-nil.

  o `erc-mode-line-away-status-format' - You can now set what is shown
    in the mode-line when you are away.

  o `erc-header-line-uses-help-echo-p' - The header-line now uses the
    help-echo property. You can set this to nil to disable it.

  o `erc-format-query-as-channel-p' - Set this to nil to have messages
    in the query buffer formatted like private messages.

  o `erc-show-channel-key-p' - The channel key is now shown with the
    other channel modes in the header line. Set this to nil if you
    want it hidden.

  o `erc-prompt-for-channel-key' - Set this if you want to be prompted
    for the channel key (channel's mode is +k) when you call
    `erc-join-channel' interactively.

  o `erc-kill-server-buffer-on-quit' - If non-nil, kill the server
    buffer automatically when you quit.

** New hooks

  o `erc-join-hook' - Called when you join a channel.

  o `erc-kick-hook' - Called when you are kicked from a channel. The
    channel's buffer is sent as an argument to functions called from
    this hook.

  o `erc-nick-changed-functions' - Whenever your nickname changes
    successfully, the functions in this hook are run with the
    arguments NEW-NICK and OLD-NICK.

** New command /WHOAMI - Do a /WHOIS on your current nickname.

** The key binding for changing channel modes is now C-c C-o.

** Removed variables

  o `erc-echo-notices-in-minibuffer-flag' and
    `erc-echo-notices-in-current-buffer' - You should use
    `erc-echo-notice-hook' and `erc-echo-notice-always-hook' instead.

  o `erc-prompt-interactive-input' has been removed (commented out)
    because nickname completion does not work with it.

  o All INFO buffer-related variables and functions have been removed.

** You can now disable modules by setting `erc-modules' with the
customization interface.

** Changes and additions to modules

*** Autoaway (erc-autoaway.el)

**** New variable `erc-autoaway-no-auto-back-regexp' - Add text which,
when you type anything matching it, will not automatically discard
your away status when `erc-auto-discard-away' is non-nil.

*** Filling (erc-fill.el)

**** New variable `erc-fill-variable-maximum-indentation' - Don't
indent more than this many characters when indenting a message from a
user with a long nickname.

*** Goodies (erc-goodies.el)

**** Miscellaneous small modules have been moved from erc.el.
The functions erc-add-scroll-to-bottom, erc-make-read-only,
erc-send-distinguish-noncommands, erc-interpret-controls, erc-unmorse,
erc-smiley, and erc-occur, which were defined in the main erc.el file
have been moved to erc-goodies.el and have mostly been translated to
the modules scrolltobottom, readonly, noncommands, irccontrols, smiley
and unmorse.

**** New variables

  o `erc-input-line-position' - The line number to use with
    `erc-scroll-to-bottom'.

  o `erc-beep-p' - Beep if there is a \C-g control character in a
    message.

*** Channel lists (erc-list.el)

**** New variable `erc-chanlist-highlight-face' - A face used for
highlighting the current line.

*** Highlighting (erc-match.el)

**** `erc-current-nick-highlight-type' has new options: 'keyword and
'nick-or-keyword.

*** Menu (erc-menu.el)

**** The `IRC' menu is now automatically added to `erc-mode' buffers.

*** Networks (erc-nets.el)

**** The functions for determining current network are in this file.
There were a couple of functions spread about in different files which
each had a different way of determining the current network.  The
methods have been combined, and the big list of known networks
(`erc-networks-alist') is being put to use.  You can access the
network's name by calling the new function `erc-network'.  This
returns the name of the current network as a symbol or 'Unknown if it
could not determine which network it is.

*** Nicklist (erc-nicklist.el)

**** ERC has a new way of displaying nicknames in a channel.
The new file erc-nicklist.el defines a new command `erc-nicklist'
which pops up a small Emacs window showing the nicknames of all
members of the current channel.  The implementation is not complete
and is rather proof-of-concept for now.  The result is something a bit
like erc-speedbar, but not quite as invasive, and doesn't require use
of a new frame.

*** Internet services / Nickserv (erc-nickserv.el)

**** Network detection is now taken care of by erc-nets.el.
The function `erc-current-network' is deprecated, use `erc-network'
instead.  The variable `erc-networks' has been removed, use
`erc-networks-alist'.  The network symbols used in
`erc-nickserv-alist' now match those in `erc-networks-alist'.

**** New variable `erc-nickserv-identify-mode' - Choose which method
to use for automatic identification: you can wait for Nickserv to ask
you to identify (the default), or send an identify message
automatically after you change your nickname.

*** Speedbar (erc-speedbar.el)

**** New variable `erc-speedbar-sort-users-type' - Sort users in a
channel by activity, alphabetically, or not at all.

*** Timestamps (erc-stamp.el)

**** `erc-timestamp-only-if-changed-flag' now works when
`erc-insert-timestamp-function' is set to 'erc-insert-timestamp-left.

**** New variable `erc-timestamp-intangible' - Set this to nil if
timestamps should not have the 'intangible property.

*** Channel tracking (erc-track.el)

**** Using faces to indicate channel activity in the modeline now works
in XEmacs.

**** New variables

  o `erc-track-priority-faces-only' - Ignore changes in a channel
    unless there is a face from the `erc-track-faces-priority-list' in
    the message.

  o `erc-track-exclude-server-buffer' - Ignore changes in the server
    buffer.

  o `erc-track-position-in-mode-line' - Set the position in the
    mode-line where modified channels are shown (only works in GNU
    Emacs versions above 21.3).


* Changes in ERC 4.0

** The module system has again changed a lot.  You can now customize
  the variable `erc-modules' and define once and for all which
  extension modules you want to use.  This unfortunately may require
  you to change your current erc initialization code a bit, if you
  have some existing customizations.  On the other hand, this change
  makes the configuration of extension modules a lot easier for new
  users.  In theory, you should be able to configure all aspects of
  ERC by using the customize interface, you should no longer really
  need to write Lisp code for trivial customizations.

  By default, the following modules are now loaded: (pcomplete
  netsplit fill track ring button autojoin)

  Please use M-x customize-variable RET erc-modules RET to change the
  default if it does not suite your needs.

** The symbol used in `erc-nickserv-passwords' for debian.org IRC servers
  (formerly called OpenProjects, now FreeNode) has changed from
  openprojects to freenode.  You may need to update your configuration
  for a successful automatic nickserv identification.


* Changes in ERC 3.0.cvs.20030119

** New module erc-dcc:

This finally implements DCC.  It requires server sockets to fully work
in both directions.  This feature is currently only available in Emacs
21.3.50 (CVS). Here is a short list of what should work though.

** Compatibility:
  * Emacs 21.2, DCC get, and accepting DCC chat offers.
  * XEmacs 21, Only accepting DCC chat offers.

** erc is switching to global-minor-modes for activation of submodules.

This allows you to customize such a mode and get automatic loading of
the module.  No longer putting a lot of require statements in .emacs.
At least this is the long-term plan, not all modules are converted yet.

** The most important user visible change is that you now need to activate
erc-completion-mode, to get TAB completion.  The new completion code
is based on pcomplete.  To get the old code, manually load
erc-complete and bind TAB to erc-complete in erc-mode-map.

To activate completion on startup, put (erc-completion-mode 1) in your
.emacs file.

Same applies to timestamps.  You no longer need to (require
'erc-stamp), you can customize the variable `erc-timestamp-mode', and
the rest should be automatic.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
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GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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