To join a Battle.net channel, click on the Channel button. Select a channel from the list or type in the name of the channel you want to join manually, and then click OK to join the channel.

Alternately, you can use the /join command to join into a channel quickly.
Usage: /join [channel name] (Ex: /join General)

Note: The terms "join" and "create" are often used interchangeably here. If you are the only person in a channel when you enter it, you have "created" the channel. If it already has users, you are "joining" the channel.

There are several different types of chat channels on Battle.net, each with its own set of rules and characteristics.

Public channels: Battle.net designates certain channels as being Public. Public channels contain no operator* and will filter profanity out of non-whispered messages.

Private channels: Any channel not designated by Battle.net as Public will be a Private channel. Private channels contain a channel operator and do not filter profanity out of messages. To become the channel operator, either join the channel when it is empty or be designated as the channel's next operator by its current operator.

Clan channels: Clan channels are Private channels, but unlike other Private channels, each Clan channel has a specific Clan Operator. The Clan Operator will always gain operator status when he enters his Clan channel, and no other account can become operator unless the channel's current operator designates him as such. If a channel�s Clan Operator leaves the channel without designating a new operator, the channel will have no operator until the Clan Operator returns.

To create a Clan channel, use the normal channel creation method, but place the word "clan" at the beginning of the channel name and add the name of the account you wish to use as the channel's Clan Operator.

Example: Warblade wants to create a Clan channel, with himself as the Clan Operator. To do this, he types "/join Clan Warblade" at the Battle.net prompt.

Example: Slobbo-khan{DP}, the leader of clan "DarkPeaches," wants a Clan channel. Slobbo-khan{DP} creates a channel with the name "Clan Slobbo-khan{DP}" and becomes the Clan Operator. If he named the channel "Clan DarkPeaches," he would not be the Operator, because his name is not DarkPeaches.

A Clan Operator may designate an additional operator if he wishes, using the /designate chat command to name a successor, then reentering his Clan channel. This successor will become the temporary operator of the Clan channel until he leaves the channel.

*Operator: a channel's operator has the power to kick other users out of the channel and to ban them from reentering. An account banned from a channel by an operator will remain banned as long as the operator who kicked him remains in the channel. Operator-only commands can be found on the Battle.net Chat Commands page.