+ Entering The Room
+ Chat In The Room
+ Chat Settings
+ User Profiles
+ Ignoring Users
+ Private Chats
+ Leaving The Chat
+ Close Help Page
Chat Room Help Page
General Overview
The chat room is a small Java applet (a safe, secure program that runs within a web page) allowing users of the same website to communicate with each other in real time using text messages.
The chat room interface consists of a User List on the left showing the usernames of users currently in the chat room, the Message Output area in the centre where room messages are displayed, the Message Input area located beneath the output area where you type your own messages for the room, plus various Menus and Buttons to perform more advanced functions within the room.
Messages that you type into the Message Input area are sent to all users of the room and displayed in the Message Output area. There is also the ability to hold Private Chats (one-to-one) with other users of the chat room.
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Entering The Room
To enter the chat room, locate the chat login box and enter your desired nickname into the box marked Chat Nickname. Valid nicknames must be 3-15 characters in length and consist of standard letters and numbers only.
If you are a Staff user, enter your staff password into the Password (Staff) box, otherwise leave this box empty.
Once the above details have been entered, click the Enter Chat button to connect to the chat room. Once connected, the chat room window will show.
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Chat In The Room
While connected to the chat room, any messages typed by other users will be shown in the large Message Output area. To send your own messages, type them into the Message Input area and press the Enter key on your keyboard. This will send your message into the room as speech, for example:
Bob > Hello guys!
There are another two contexts available for sending your text, as a thought or as an action. To send your text as a thought, select the Think option from the drop down list to the right of the input box then type your text into the Message Input area and press Enter. Your message will be displayed as:
Bob .o0( I am thinking! )
There are some pre-set actions you can use located in the Actions menu, simply select the desired action and it will be sent to the room. You can also type in your own actions into the Message Input area and pressing Enter after selecting the Action option within the pull down list to the right of the input box. Your message will be shown as:
* Bob performs some action *
Note: Messages sent into the room are limited to 200 characters or less. If you enter too much text it will not send until you reduce the size of the message.
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Chat Settings
There are various options available within the chat room to enable you to customise some settings to your own preference, such as sounds, text size and colour.
To change the sound notifications, select the Sounds menu and enable/disable sounds as appropriate. A check mark appears next to sounds that are enabled.
To change the size of the chat room text (Message Output area), select the desired size (small, medium or large) from the Size menu. By default the chat room uses 'Small' text.
To change the colour of the chat room text (Message Output area), select the desired colour from the Colour menu. By default the chat room uses 'black' text.
You may also clear the room text at any time by selecting the Clear Room Text option from the Room menu.
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User Profiles
A user profile contains optional information about a user, such as age, hobbies etc., that can be viewed by other room users.
To view a chat room users profile (if they have set one), select the users name in the User List and select Show User Profile.. from the Users menu. The users profile will be displayed within the Message Output area.
To View your own profile, select the Set / View Your Profile option from the Room menu. Your profile will be displayed within the Message Output area.
To set your profile, type in your desired text into the Message Input area (no more than 80 characters) and select the Set / View Your Profile option from the Room menu. Your profile will be set and confirmed in the room Message Output area.
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Ignoring Users
The chat room provides a facility to ignore annoying users. Once a user is added to your Ignore List, all text from the user will be blocked. The blocked user does not receive any notification, he will simply be ignored until removed from your Ignore List.
To add a user to your Ignore List, select the users name in the User List and then select the Ignore / Allow User option from the Users menu. The user will be added to your Ignore List, or if the user was previously ignored, removed from the list.
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Private Chats
The chat room allows you to hold private (one-to-one) chats with other room users. The text of these chats can only be seen by the two participants. You may have up to 20 private chat sessions running at one time.
To start a new private chat with a room user, select the users name in the User List and then select the Start Private Chat.. option from the Users menu. A small 'mini-room' will pop up with it's own Message Input and Message Output areas. Click the Close button to end the private chat.
When another room user sends you a private chat message, a 'mini-room' will automatically pop up containing the users message, ready for you to respond (or close the box if preferred!).
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Leaving The Chat
There are a number of ways to exit the chat room when you have finished chatting:
- Select the Exit Chat Room option from the Room menu, or
- Click the close button ('X' in top right) on the chat window, or
- Close the browser window containing the log-in box.
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