private void getChannels(){
        // go through config directory to find configs for each channel
        // add them to a list of channels and create a variable for each of them
        File folder = new File("IRChat" + seperator + "conf");
        File[] files = folder.listFiles(getFilter());
        for (File file : files) {
            if (file.isFile()){
                channelList.add(new Channel(rmFilter(file.getName()), this)); // add new channel to list
            }
        }
        
        log.writeLn(channelList.size() + " channels found!");
                
    }