Chat Help
Frequently Asked Questions
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If you receive the Unable to Connect page
when trying to connect to the chat server, it is for one
of the three reasons listed on that page:
- The Chat server is full.
- The Chat server is down for maintenance.
- You are trying to connect from behind a firewall.
If you have any questions about this, or believe
that any of these are not true, you will need to contact us.
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If you receive the Unauthorized Host page
when trying to connect to the chat server, you have been
denied access to the server because your IP address or network
domain is not authorized.
Either a server monitor has recently banned
your address, or the server administrator has configured
the server to deny access from your address. If you believe
you have been denied access in error, please contact us.
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If you receive the Unauthorized Web Page message
when trying to connect to the chat server, then the server
administrator has configured the server to deny access from
this page.
If you believe you have received this page
in error, please contact us.
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Please use the contact us button and provide
us with the URL you have installed the chat at and we will
assist you.
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Here are some possible reasons why you may
be disconnected from the Chat server:
- You are closing the Web page that contains the Chat
applet.
- You are surfing off of the page that contains the
Chat applet.
- You are being kicked or banned by a monitor or administrator.
- There is an Internet connection failure at some point
between you and the Chat server.
- There is a SOCKS proxy or network address translating
router on either the client or server side which has
a "session time-out" value defined.
- The Chat server is stopped or being restarted.
You need to keep the browser window that called
the applet open. This is a restriction in the web browsers,
not our software. You should open up another browser window if
you want to surf and chat at the same time.
Chat does not have a "timeout" feature. There
is no way to automatically disconnect or "bump" you after
a certain amount of time, such as after a period of inactivity
(not chatting). You may not realize that being in a real-time
chat room requires a dedicated socket connection between
the client and the server -- it's not like viewing a Web
page. If you are on dial-up connections with a consumer
ISP (Internet Service Provider), it's very likely that you
are unable to keep a dedicated socket connection all day
without being disconnected once or twice. If ISPs reset
routers or other routine maintenance, all the connections
go down. You usually don't notice such problems while browsing
the Web since each Web connection lasts only about one or
two seconds. Such problems might show up as a picture which
doesn't come in, and you simply hit the refresh button to
fix it.
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If you don't see a button, it means you don't
have Java installed, or you do not have Java enabled in
your Web browser.
You can get the latest
Microsoft virtual machine for Internet Explorer by clicking
on the Tools, Windows Update menu item and selecting the
Microsoft virtual machine for download.
For Macintosh, you will need to download and
install the latest Apple
MRJ (Macintosh Runtime Java) for Mac OS 9.2 or earlier.
Mac OS X 10.0.1 and later ships with Java 2 pre-installed.
Sun now provides a replacement for Microsoft's
out-dated virtual machine with their new Java
2 Plug-in for Internet Explorer and Netscape 6.
For FireFox Users, please see this FAQ. And be sure to enable java.
Finally, there may be a problem with the Website
where you are trying to access the Chat server. Please write
to the Webmaster or administrator of the Website where you
are having trouble, and if necessary, we will work directly
with them to assist in solving the problem.
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No. Java applets are not supported by WebTV,
so you will be unable to use our chat at this time.
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The Chat server uses its own protocol which
is not compatible with IRC clients. Because it doesn't use
the IRC protocol, it's not restricted in the length or character
sets for room names and user names, allowing even for Chinese,
Japanese, and Korean characters.
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Yes. We have plans to accept additional monitors
on our site, please use the contact us button and provide
information about yourself.
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Yes. Use the add chat to your site button,
and use the advanced coding.
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If you did a clean install of Windows XP on
your computer, you'll simply get a prompt to download the
5-megabyte Microsoft VM when you hit a Java applet. You
can accept the download and start the applet without even
leaving the Web page.
Sun now provides a replacement for Microsoft's
out-dated virtual machine with their new Java
2 Plug-in for Internet Explorer and Netscape 6.
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Getting Started
Choose a Name
On the Main Chat Window there are two boxes labeled
Your Name and Your Profile. Enter your name or
a nickname in the first box and an optional profile in the second
box. Your profile can include links to Web pages in the form
http://www.yourdomain.com/ and links to e-mail
addresses in the form mailto:name@yourdomain.com.
Enter a Chat Room
Click a room name to see the list of people in
the room. Click the Enter Room button to enter a room.
Start Chatting
Type your chat messages in the space at the bottom
of the chat room window and press the Enter key to send your
message.
Launch a Private Chat
Once you're in a chat room, double click a name
to launch a private chat session with another person in the
room.
Menu items
Places (Main Chat Window)
Get Rooms
Select this menu item to get the list of rooms
matching the text in the Room filter field. For example,
if the room filter text is San Francisco, the Get
Rooms menu item and button will return a list of all rooms whose
names contain the text San Francisco. The Get Rooms
button performs the same function.
Enter Room
Select this menu item to enter a chat room. The
Enter Room button performs the same function.
Exit
Select this menu item to disconnect from the server
and close all applet windows.
Room (Chat Room Window)
Close
Select this menu item to close the chat room window.
Options
Options modified in the main chat window affect
all the chat room windows.
Font Name
Select this menu item to choose a font for the
chat room window.
Font Style
Select this menu item to choose Regular, Italic,
Bold or Bold Italic font styles for the
chat room window.
Increase Font
Select this menu item to increase the size of
the font for the chat room window.
Decrease Font
Select this menu item to decrease the size of
the font for the chat room window.
Accept Private Chats
Select this menu item to accept private chat requests
from other people in the chat room. Deselect it to have the
applet ignore any private chat requests.
Entrance Alerts
Select this menu item to display the name and
profile of every person who enters the chat room. Deselect it
to turn off the entrance alerts.
Audio Alerts
Select this menu item to allow other people in
the chat room to buzz you with an audio alert. Deselect it to
turn off the audio alerts. Enable both audio and entrance alerts
to hear a sound each time a new person enters the chat room.
Show Count Changes
Select this menu item to have the room count displayed
whenever someone enters or leaves the chat room. Deselect it
to turn off the display of the room count.
Web Touring
Select this menu item to have Web addresses which
appears in chat messages opened automatically in a Web browser
window. Deselect it to turn off the Web touring.
People (Chat Room Window)
Ring
To buzz someone with a sound, click once on the
name of the person you want to buzz and then select this menu
item. The sound will be played if the person you selected has
audio alerts enabled.
Ignore
To ignore someone, click once on the name of the
person you want to ignore and then select this menu item. All
chat messages and private chat requests from that person will
be discarded.
Unignore
To stop ignoring someone, click once on the name
of the person you want to stop ignoring and then select this
menu item.
Count
Select this menu item to display the count of
people in the room.
Themes
Select a theme to change the applet's color and
font settings.
Links
Select a link to display its corresponding Web
page.
