QuickStart
If you are one of those people that don't read manuals, you can just read this chapter and be on your way. Snak is designed to be accessible and easy to use, but it has a lot of features and you are likely to miss a few if you don't read the manual. Now, without further ado, on with the show:

When you first launch Snak it will build a database file with all the IRC servers it knows about. That may take a while on a slow machine, so do not force quit if the machine appears unresponsive.

Connecting
After Snak is done creating the database file, it will bring up a dialog, reminding you that it is a shareware program. Shareware means that you will eventually have to pay for it if you decide to keep it. It will also open a window for the default connection record.

You will have to set up a few things in this default connection record before you can connect to a server.

Press cmd-r or use the menu to open the preferences window. It will open up and display a list of available preference panels on the left and the currently selected panel on the right. Initially that will be the Connection record panel. A Connection record contains a list of servers and ports plus nickname and startup action. Doubleclick on the Default connection and fill in a nick of your choice, then press the Add button to select a server on the IRC network that you prefer. Change the name of the Connection record to something more descriptive. 

After completing the setup you can either use the File/Open Connection menu and choose your connection record, or you can select it in the connection record list in the preference window and press the Connect button.

Then a console window is shown and the program attempts to open a connection to the server. The console window will display the status of the connection in the top left corner. To the right in the console window is the notify list.

You can create multiple Connection records and open multiple connections simultaneously, but please keep in mind that some servers consider that "cloning" and will ban you if you overdo it.

Joining Channels
When the connection is active and the console window status is "online", you can join channels. If you didn't specify a startup action in the Connection record (like /join #macintosh or similar) you must use the File/Join menu. That will open a window where you can enter the name of the desired channel. You can also create a list of frequently visited channels by typing in the name and pressing the Add button. After that you can just double click on the channel name in the list.

Once Snak receives confirmation from the IRC server that you have entered the channel,  the channel window comes up and you will notice the user list to the left of the main text field, as well as the input field below it. Next to the input field is the shortcuts menu where you can put frequently used snippets and text. 

Configuring
The Preference window is dynamic - you do not need to save changes for them to be active. Just make the change and see it take effect immediately. 

In the Server panel you can edit, delete and add servers. You can also move a server from one network to another. You can store a comment with each server, and you can specify the port number to use and how long to wait for the server to respond.

The Guardian panel is intended for parents or teachers that want to limit the channels or functions that their children or students can access. Initially it can be freely accessed, but once you fill out the password you will have to provide it to access the panel. To remove the password protection and turn off the Guardian features, empty the password field. 

The Personal panel stores your real name and the default quit message that is displayed when you quit or close a connection. It also provides a field to enter the text that you want the program to return when some one asks for a ctcp userinfo.

The General panel contains checkboxes to customize the way the program reacts to specific events.

In the Channel panel you can specify what channel actions you want displayed, and you can select default font and size for channel text.

The DCC panel allows you to make the program automatically accept DCC requests, either only from the nicks in the list or from everybody. This preference can be set for chat and file receive individually.

In the Sound panel you can control the individual action sounds.

In the Logging panel you can activate Automatic logging and select the logging folder.

The color panel lets you select the colors that Snak uses for the different kinds of messages.

In the Menus panel you can define the contents of the Tools and shortcuts menus. They work the same way as the alias panel.

The Alias panel is the place where you define aliases. Aliases are a quick way to execute one or a series of commands. 

The clicking panel lets you configure what happens when you double clicks in the notify list and channel userlist.

Database
Snak contains a database that is intended to store the snippets of information that you come across as you IRC. Someones real name, email address, favorite channel. . . .
To access the database use the Windows/User Database menu. That brings up the database window. Like the preference window, the database window is dynamic and you do not need to save changes to preserve them. To store information just start filling out the fields. The most important and the only required field is the nick. As soon as you select another record, make a new record or close the window the program saves the changes. 

Channel List
If you want to see a channel listing, use the File/List Channels menu. That brings up the List channels window where you can set up criteria for the listing. You can specify that you want to see channels containing certain words but not others. You can specify that you want to see channels with at least 10 users but not more that 20.

Pressing OK will send the command off to the server. Be advised that on some servers, the List command will result in so much data being sent to you that the server will disconnect you . . . 

As soon as the server responds Snak will begin filtering the information based on the criteria that you specified. Once a valid channel is found, Snak will open a Channel List window and display the channel name and information. When the server is done listing the channels Snak will enable the Save button in the Channel list window and you can save the listing to a file. The Channel list window supports a Find and Find Again function that will let you search the found channels.