If you notice your typing is funny, there are two things you can do to fix this. (By funny, I mean: HHeelllloo tthheerree,, tthhiiss iiss ffuunnnnyy..) The first (and easiest) is to type /echo. If you are registered, this option will be saved. Secondly, you can change the properties of your telnet client. It varies from client to client, but look for an option such as "local echo". Disable this.

Eventually, you may want your own place for you and your friends to hang out. Simply think of a name, type /j and you'll be on your way. When you enter, you will have operator status. You may give others operator status. Once you are an operator, you can do the following:
/o (username) - Have that person become an operator.
/d

(username)- Remove that person's operator status.
/k (username) - Will remove that person from your room and place them back into the main room.
/l - This will enable or disable the room's lock. When the room is locked, no one may enter.
/wall (message) - This will send a message to all the operators in that room, not the whole room. It's a way for operators to communicate privately. At some point, you will probably want to chat privately. This can be done a number of ways.
/m (username) = (message) - Will send a private message to that person.
If you think you will be sending a lot of private messages, you can open a query.
/query (username)
This will send everything you type directly to that person, instead of the channel. If you want to send a message to the room, prefix your message with a comma.
Example:
Yo
This will send a message to the person you have the open query with. It will send them "Yo" and indicate it is private.

,Yo
This will send a message to the room. It will say "Yo."
If you want to open another query, just type /query (username) and it will switch your query from the old person to the new person.
If you want to stop using query, just type /query
(Bug report: If you are in a query with someone and they are disconnected or leave, the query will not close. I will fix this in the next release.) You can tell others you are not at your computer by typing /away (away reason)
When they send you private messages, or /who /names you, they will see your message. To come back, just type /away You can describe what you are doing to others by typing /me and an action.
Example:
/me says hi!
* Your name says hi!

Eventually, you will want to leave. You can leave cleanly, even with an excuse, by typing /quit (reason)
What's the difference between /quit and just disconnecting? Disconnecting may not save your /echo state. If you /quit, it WILL work. It is also better for the server to disconnect you. However, it doesn't matter in the end. On some servers, there will be an IRC link. You can check the status of this link by typing /stat The link will let you communicate with another channel on IRC through a robot.
The place where you can converse is the channel IRC. So type /j IRC
Sometimes the link will be active, but you can't talk you can only spectate, this is the admin's preference. If you become an operator on the channel IRC, you have control over who has a "voice." If you are allowed to speak, a voice is what actually allows you to speak. You can remove people's voices if they are causing trouble. /v This command will also give them their voice back, if you have a change of heart. If you don't know what IRC is, this probably sounds like a whole lot of jargon to you. In this case, you're probably not concerned with having an IRC link anyway. Here are all the commands:
/me (action) - Sends an action to the room
/n (nickname) - Changes your nick.  
/ver - Version of the server.
/echo - Enable/disable server echo. (Saved if registered)
/inv - Enable/disable invisible mode.  Invisible mode allows you not to be seen in a /who list unless that person is in the same channel.
/m (username) = (message) - Send a message to someone
/query (username) - Open a query.
/j (room) - Join a room.
/reg (password) - Register your nick with the password.
/pass (new password) - Change your password. (Reg req.)
/read - List messages. (Reg req.)
/read (number) - Read message number. (Reg req.)
/del (number) - Delete message number. (Reg req.)
/send (username) = (message) - Send a message to the person. Even if they are offline. (Reg req. for both people)  For example: /send Stephen Hawking = About that doughnut shaped universe idea...
/names - Get a list of those in the channel (or room) with you.
/who - Get a nearly complete list of who is online.
/whois (username) - Will give you detailed information (similar to /names) about one person.
/away (away message to enable, blank to disable) - Enable/disable away from computer.
/quit (reason) - Leave.

Server Operator (ServOP) - These power users have the ability to remove users. They can do this using a ban, by killing the connection, or both. ServOPs can only banish the address the user is connected to. They will never know the other person's IP address. They can also communicate with other ServOPs. Threat: Great. In the wrong hands, chatting will become frustrating and impossible.
ServOP commands are as follows:
/kill = - This command will disconnect a user from the server.  The reason will be displayed publicly and recorded in the logs.
/ban - This command will add a username's IP address to the server's banish list.  The next time that IP address logs in, the user will be disconnected immediately.  Note: This can also be done from the server's interface.  Wildcards may be added there, however this has the potential to keep more users from connecting.
/on - This will send a message to all other ServOPs on the server.  Think of it like a police radio.
Universal Channel Operator (ChanOP) - These power users have the ability to help maintain channels. They may join locked channels, give themselves ops on any channel, or deop anybody from any channel, even ones they are not in. They can communicate with other ChanOPs. Threat: Medium. In the wrong hands, chatting in a channel may become a bit annoying, or impossible. They always is the main channel.
ChanOP commands are as follows:
/join - Will allow you to join a channel, even if it has been locked.
/op - This will give you operator status in the channel without publicly announcing it.
/deop - This will remove operator status from that person.  You do not need to be an operator to do this.
/cn - This will send a message to all other ChanOPs on the server.
Spy (Spy) - Spies are a pretty useless power user on their own. Spies may hide from everything. They will not show up on /who or /names lists. When they join a channel, no announcement is made, when they leave, no announcement is made. Not even other power users know who is a spy, only other spies can identify spies. The best spy will have other abilities other than sneaking around. They may communicate with other spies. Spies are best used with ChanOPs to deal with problem users who have taken over channels, and are especially problemsome. ChanOP's can infiltrate and remove the user without the using knowing until it's too late. Spies used with ServOPs are especially useful to discover and weed out corruption from other power users. Threat: Alone: Nearly nothing. Some people might lose a tad bit of privacy. Combined: Great to substantial. People may be disconnected, banned, lose their channel, all without knowing who is doing it. The spy is meant to take a power user's abilities one step further, so endow this power with someone you *reeeally* trust.
Spy commands are as follows:
/under - Disables/Enables your undercover status.  When you are undercover you may not be seen by any /who or /names lists, even by other power users.  Only fellow spies will see you in these lists.  Also, when you join or leave a channel, you do so without a public announcement.
/sn - Send a message to the other Spies on the server.

Just a reminder, all power user commands ARE logged, so you can keep track of any misuse of the commands.