NewNet channel/nick passwords

NewNet is changing the hash function they use to store passwords for registered nicks and channels; you need to take certain action to make sure that your nicks and channels are not dropped on July 15 2012, when the changes are finalised. There were some global messages about this from NewNet's staff that were hard to decipher, so I am sharing the results of my investigation.

For a registered nick called <nick> whose password is <password>, enter these commands:
    /nick <nick>
    /msg NickServ LOGOUT
    /msg NickServ IDENTIFY <password>

For a registered channel called #<channel> of which you are the founder, you must first identify for the nick that founded the channel as above, then enter:
    /msg ChanServ SET #<channel> PASSWORD <password>
Where <password> can be anything you like; it doesn't matter if you have forgotten the previous one.

For a registered channel called #<channel> whose password is <password>, of which you are NOT the founder, you must log in to NickServ (using any nick you own), then enter:
    /msg ChanServ IDENTIFY #<channel> <password>
This should usually not be necessary, since the founder themselves should take care of it, as above.

If you fail to carry out the above steps by July 15 2012 for any channels or nicks that you own, there is a possiblity that they will be deleted; in which case, you will have to register them using NickServ and ChanServ's REGISTER commands.

For more information about NickServ and ChanServ commands, see the output from:
    /msg NickServ HELP
    /msg ChanServ HELP