HELP! I've moulted and I can't setup!

heeheechirps!    
Actually, we're glad to help :) This is where we begin...
This is planned as an offering to those who would like some handy reference notes for learning and making progress with all the wonderful things that the world of chat via mucks can offer. Most of these notes were taken and reworked from the actual learning process as your feathery founders experienced it, to keep it clear and explain it to ourselves, since we couldn't find a big collection of easy-to-read files in just one place either. :)
Now, we may still not have every file that you might be looking for, but hopefully we'll have help on just about all the basic ones, and those files represented here are the ones that we needed for our own reference over the years, ...so hopefully that'll cover just about everything that most muck-chat folks need..

1. ROOMS
Often, a program called EDITROOM is installed at a muck (it is at ours), and can automate the process of building. This can be accessed by typing editroom and then hitting the ENTER or RETURN key. Otherwise you can also build using the actual commands, to be explained here...
By the way, when you see () parenthesis here, do not include them in issuing the command. They will be provided for clarity only, so if we say @set me=species:(WHAT YOUR SPECIES IS) that means you enter where we indicated Cat if your species is cat, or Dog if your species is dog, etc.

The commands needed for efficiently building a room are:
@dig (NAME OF YOUR ROOM TO BE) (ENTER KEY)   This will name a room. Take note of the number assigned to it. If you are not automatically placed in this new room, then type @tel me=#(THE NUMBER OF YOUR NEW ROOM)
@desc here=(THE WAY YOUR ROOM LOOKS) (ENTER KEY)   You can add several lines describing this new room. It is a good idea to know what exits it will have, which link you to other rooms, and so be sure to place indications of these exits in the text of the description. If your muck has an exit lister, you can choose whether to have them listed or not by typing @succ here=@$exits OR @succ here=@$obvexits depending on the program the muck uses.
@open out;o;[O];exit;leave;east   This makes an exit from the room you are in. The semicolons separate different key sequences that will work for those using the exit. The square brackets do need to be typed in the description here, to indicate to the traveler that typing a simple O will work.
@link out=#(THE NUMBER OF THE PLACE THIS EXIT GOES TO) (ENTER KEY)   This arrival location needs to be @set L for this moment at least, of which you ensure by typing @set #(DESTINATION NUMBER)=L. You need to own the destination to reset it, or make arrangements with it's owner to link there. You should now use the exit to test it, and also see that the destination has a return link to the room # if desired. To get there, use the exit you made by typing one of the key sequences you established a moment ago, then return to the original room for this next step, setting the room or environment's creative description.
@desc out=(WHAT THE TRAVELER SEES WHEN LOOKING AT THE EXIT) (ENTER KEY)
If you want to lock the exit so that only some can use it, do the following.. @lock out=(SERIES OF ALLOWED PEOPLE THRU THIS EXIT) The format for this is usually @lock (EXIT NAME)=#(FIRST NUMBER)|#(SECOND NUMBER)|#(ETC)   Be sure to use the vertical "|" character between numbers. This is usually above the ENTER key on your keyboard. Note that locking is not appropriate for public places, and should be used sparingly. Note also that instead of character #s, you can often use their name preceded by an asterisk in this way, *(CHARACTER) .
Now for good building, one must include operational messages for using the door. Examples:
@succ out=You go out.   This is a simple example only, but this is where you put the SUCCESS readout for the action. This is what you see, and depending on the muck, what others also see when you would use this exit.
@osucc out=goes out.   This is the OTHERSUCCESS, which is what others will see when this exit is used. Note the grammar... you speak as third person in the text of the osucc description here, and the muck machinery should put the name of the character in the response to the use of the exit.
@odrop out=arrives from the other room.   This is what people in the room the character ARRIVES in will see when going to the place this exit leads.
@ofail out=cannot use that exit.   This is the message that others will see if the character is not allowed to use the exit. You can also set the @fail and @drop messages for this exit, the @fail being what you would see only, and the @drop being also what you would see when arriving in the new room, but these messages are redundant, and it is still considered good building if you simply use the first 4 of the succ,osucc,odrop,ofail,fail,drop settings. Note that if you do add the two final settings, you may need to use a sequence like @drop out={pronouns:%n} steps in from the other room so fancier code is needed, which we aren't exploring just yet.
In some places after you have completed your work, you can type @check (ENTER KEY) and the muck machinery will tell you if there are errors, but the best way to discover them is to try the exits and look at the descs yourself :)   Some other programs may be available to add more features to your room, like scents or entry counters etc., so check with your local muck for these... congratulations on building!

2. LOOK NOTIFY
This is a little quicker to achieve success with than building, but still a bit tricky because of the variations between mucks, many of which can have just *slightly* different props, so that one wrong character missing from your sentence and it doesn't work right (remember DOS?). :) The most common formats are included here.
@desc me={look-notify:{eval:{list:redesc}}}
@desc me={eval:{list:redesc}}{nl}{ln}
@desc me={look-notify:{list:redesc}}
@desc me={list:redesc}{null:{tell:>> {name:me} just looked at you!,*(YOUR NAME)}} Note that you can also use your number database reference instead of your name by using the # symbol instead of the * .     Your database number is revealed by typing ex me (ENTER). The fourth format is the most reliable, however before using ANY of them, try describing yourself in the simple desc me=(WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE) without any fancy stuff... then use a guest character to test and see if the Look-Notify is an automatic default at the muck! Do not use the above code settings if it is.
These 4 code sequences above assume you are using a description called REDESC from a list. You can make a list with a longer-than-normal desc of yourself by typing the following four step sequence (if lsedit is installed at your muck)...
a) lsedit me=redesc (This places you into an editor to write a desc. It's best to have one ready and paste it in.)
b) Use your keyboard to type or paste in a desc. You can hit the (ENTER) key as often as you like, but keep in mind a good desc should fit on one screen usually.
c) .end   Typing this will stop the editor, and you will have a description in a list called REDESC. To edit this in the future, type   lsedit me=redesc OR the name of the list description you want to edit.
  Your look-notify status should appear in the readout about your character, shown when you type
d) ex me (as above).

More files at THIS link!