I am trying to connect to a channel on freenode. I got this message "Cannot join channel (+r) - you need to be identified with services". That led to the discovery that I apparently need sasl. The instructions say I am supposed to put "/run" in the place where I would send a message to a channel. Where is this, exactly? And if I need to be identified first, can I even access this place? After I do this, I am supposed to see a folder open up and take note. Well, I tried "input request" under commands for join but all I get is what looks like a chat window. How am I supposed to "save" this script I am told to use? Putting the script in this window clearly does not work. Is this folder that opens supposed to be on my local machine? Because if so, that is definitely not happening. Please help.

You need to register your nick on that network, i would guess they have information about it in your status window. Type /motd in your status window and read there, if no luck try google for

freenode how to register

or somthing like that.