Customizing the Chat View

Features and Commands:
    Help command
    Avatars
    Graphical smilies
    Text Formatting
    Using colored text in chat
    Invite a user to join your current chat room
    Changing from one chat room to another
    Modifying your own profile inside the chat
    Recalling the last message or command you have submitted
    Responding to a specific user
    Private Messages
    Actions
    Ignoring other Users
    Getting Public Information about Users
    Save messages

Special commands for moderators and/or the administrator:
    Send an announcement
    Kicking a user
    Banish a user
    Promote/Demote a user to/from moderator

Login:

If you have already registered, simply log in by entering your username and password. Then select which chat room you would like to enter and press the ’chat’ button.

Else you have to register first.

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To Register:

If you have not yet registered, please choose the registration option. A small pop-up window will appear.

• First, create a username and a password for yourself by typing it into the appropriate boxes. The username you choose is the name that will be automatically displayed in the chat room. It cannot contain spaces, commas or backslashes (\).
• Second, please enter your first name, last name, and your email address. In order to register to chat, all of this information must be provided. The gender information is optional.
• If you have a homepage, you may enter the URL into the box.
• The language field may help other users in future discussions. They will know which language(s) you understand.
• Lastly, if you wish to allow your email address to be viewed by other participants, please check the box next to "show e-mail address in public information". If you do not want your e-mail address to be viewable, leave the box unchecked.
• Then, press the Register button and your account will be created. Depending on what has been set by the Administrator, you might have to wait for Admin's approval. Anyway, you will get a notifying email with further instructions. If you wish to stop at any time without registering, press the Close button.

Of course, registered users would be able to modify/delete their own profile by clicking on the appropriate links.

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To create a room:

Registered users can create rooms. Private ones can only be accessed by users who know their name and will never be displayed except for users that are in.

Room’s name cannot contain comma or backslash (\).

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Understanding connection state:

A sign representing your connection state is displayed at the top-right corner of the screen. It may take three forms:

• when no connection is required ;
• when there is a connection in progress ;
• when a connection failed.

In the third case, clicking on the red "button" will launch a new connection attempt.

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Sending messages:

To post a message to the chat room, type your text into the text box in the lower left corner and then press the Enter/Return key to send it. Messages from all users scroll in the chat box.

You may change the color of the text of your messages by choosing a new color from the list of choices to the right of the text box.

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Understanding the users list (not for users pop-up window):

Two basic rules have been defined for the users list:

• a little icon that shows gender is displayed before the nick of a registered user (clicking on it will launch the whois pop-up for this user), while unregistered users have nothing but blank spaces displayed before their nick;
  
• the nick of the administrator or of a moderator is italicized.

For example, from the snapshot below you can conclude that:

Nicolas is the admin or one of the moderators of the phpMyChat room; alien (whose gender is unknown), Jezek2 and Caridad are registered users with no extra "power" for the phpMyChat room; lolo is a simple unregistered user.

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Leaving the chat room:

To exit the chat, simply click once on the image, in the top-right corner of the room. Alternatively, you may also enter the one of the following commands into your text box:
/exit
/bye
/quit
These commands may be completed with a message to be sent before you leave the chat room. For example : /quit See you soon!

will send the message "See you soon!" in the main frame then log you out.

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Knowing who is chatting without being logged in:

You may click on the link that shows the number of connected users at the start page, or, if you are chatting, click on the image at the top-right of the screen to open a independent window that will display the list of connected users, and the rooms they are in, in near real time.
The title of this window contains the usernames, if they are less than three, the numbers of users and opened rooms else.

Clicking on the icon at the top of this pop-up will enable/disable beeping sounds at user entrance.

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Customizing the Chat View:

There are many different ways to customize the look of the Chat. To change settings, simply type the appropriate command into your text box and press the Enter/Return key.

• The Clear command allows you to clean the main chat screen and display the last 5 messages sent on your screen.
  Type "/clear" without quotes.

• The Notify command allows you to toggle on or off the option of seeing the notices when other users enter or exit the chat room. By default this option is on and the notices will be seen.
  Type "/notify" without quotes.

• The Timestamp command allows you to toggle on or off the option of seeing the time the message was posted before each message and the server time in the status bar. By default this option is on.
  Type "/timestamp" without quotes.

• The Refresh command allows you to adjust the rate at which the posted message are refreshed on your screen. The default rate is currently 20 seconds. To change the rate type "/refresh n" without quotes, where n is the time in seconds of the new refresh rate.

  For example: /refresh 5

  will change the rate to 5 seconds. *Beware, if n is set to less than 3, the refresh is reset not to refresh at all (useful when you want to read lots of old messages without being disturbed)!*

• The Show and Last commands allow you to clean the screen and display the last n messages sent on your screen. Type "/show n" or "/last n" without quotes, where n is the number of viewable messages.

  For example: /show 50 or /last 50

  will clean the message frame and cause the 50 newest messages to be viewable on your screen. If all of the messages cannot be displayed within the message box, a scroll bar will appear on the right side of the message box.

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Features and Commands

Help command:

Once inside a chat room, you can launch a help pop-up by clicking on the image that sits just before the message box. You can also type the "/help" or "/?" commands in the message box.

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Avatars are graphic image icons that represent chatters. Only registered users may change their avatar. Registered users may open their Profile (see /profile command) and click on the avatar image to select it from a menu of images, or to input a URL to a graphic image available anywhere on the internet (only images publicly accessible, not password protected sites). Images should be browser-viewable (.gif, .jpg, etc. ) 32 x 32 pixel graphic files for best display.

Clicking on a person’s avatar in the message frame will pop-up up that person’s profile (see /whois command). Clicking on your own avatar on the user’s list will invoke the /profile command, if you are registered. If you are not registered, clicking on your own (system’s default) avatar will bring up an alert to encourage you to register.

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You may have graphical smilies inside your messages. See below the code you have to type into a message to obtain each one of these similes.

For example, sending the text "Hi Jack :)" without quotes will display the message Hi Jack in the main frame.

:)	:-)	:D	:o	:O	:(	:-(	;)	:p	:P
8)	8-)	:[	:-[	:kill:	:wave	:baby	:nono	:shuks	:blush
:sad	:drool	:nuts	:hardhat	:thum	:foot	:hug	:sneak	:handshake	:kiss
:*	:-*	:x	:-x	:heart	:bang	:type	:read	:zzzz	:eat
:angl	:love	:flirt	:rant	:rofl	:idea	:silly	:wow	:clps	:disco
:clap	:yah	:splat	:uch	:cryn	:whoa	:nana	:yea	:drnk	:devil
:cat	:buds	:dead	:hey	:wink	:hahaha	:hy	:mad	:shock	:slap
:bop	:music	:argue	:mischief	:groin	;punch	:drunk	:back

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Text can be bolded, italicized or underlined by encasing the applicable sections of your text with either the <B> </B>, <I> </I> or <U> </U> HTML tags.

For example, <B>this text</B> will produce this text.

To create a hyperlink for an e-mail address or URL, type the address (without any HTML tags). The hyperlink will be created automatically.

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Using colored text in chat

Usage:
You can select your own default color by editing your profile (the same color as your username color). You’ll still be able to use any other color. To change back to your default color from a random used one, you have to choose once the default color (Null) - it is the first one in the select list.

Hints:
Color Range
Depending on your browser/OS capabilities, it is possible that some of the colors won’t be rendered. Only 16 color names are supported by the W3C HTML 4.0 standard:

Settings defined on this chat:
Current Settings on this server:
a) COLOR_FILTERS = Enabled;
b) COLOR_ALLOW_GUESTS = Enabled;
c) COLOR_NAMES = Enabled.
Default colors: Administrator = red, Moderators = blue, Other users = black.
Your status = Guest.

Power levels of color usage:
1. Administrator can use any color.
The default color for the administrator is red.
2. Moderators can use any color but red and crimson.
The default color for moderators is blue.
3. The other users can use any color but red, crimson, blue and mediumblue.
The default color is black.

Technical stuff: These colors have been defined by the administrator in admin panel.
If anything goes wrong or if there is something you don’t like about the default colors, you should contact the administrator first, not the other users in your room. :-)

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Invite someone to join your current chat room:

You can use the invite command to invite a user to join the room you are chatting in.

For example: /invite Jack

will send a private message to Jack suggesting him to join you in your current chat room. This message contains the name of the target room and this name appears as a link.

Note that you can put more than one username in the invite command (e.g. "/invite Jack,Helen,Alf"). They must be split by comma (,) without spaces.

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Changing rooms:

The list to the right of the screen provides a list of chat rooms and the users who are currently in that room. To leave the room you are in and move into one of those rooms, simply click once on the name of that room. Empty rooms do not appear on this list. You may also move into another room by typing the command "/join #room name" without quotes.

For example: /join #Red Room

will move you into the "Red Room".

You may also create a new room with this same command. But then you have to specify its type: 0 stands for private, 1 for public (default value).

For example: /join 0 #My Room

will create a new private room (assuming a public one has not already been created with that name) called "My Room" and move you into it.

Room’s name cannot contain comma or backslash (\).

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Modifying your own profile inside the chat:

The Profile command creates a separate pop-up window in which you can edit your user profile and modify it except your nick and password (you have to use the link at the start page to do this).
Type /profile

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Recalling the last message or command you have submitted:

The ! command recalls the last message or command you have submitted.
Type /!

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Responding to a specific user:

Clicking once on the name of another user from the list (to the right of the screen) will cause their "username>" to appear in your text box. This feature allows you to easily direct a public message to a user, perhaps in response to something he or she has posted above.

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Private messages:

To send a private message to another user currently in your chat room, type the command "/msg username message text" or "/to username message text" without quotes.

For example, where Jack is the username: /msg Jack Hi there, how are you?

The message will appear to Jack and yourself, but no other users will see the message.

When PM feature is enabled, it is also possible to send whispers to a user in a different room, using the command "/wisp username message text" without quotes.

Clicking on the nick of a user in users list on the right will automatically open a private pop-up window waiting for you to type your message text and hit ENTER to send the message. The replies you'll receive will automatically open in new windows.

Note: When PM pop-ups are enabled (in both chat settings and your own profile), you'll be able to review all the off-line PMs you received since last time you logged in to chat or while you set "away"; all the new off-line PMs addressed to you will open in a pop-up window; you may reply to them one by one from the same window. This PM off-line feature is available only for registered users.

Current Settings on this server:
a) ENABLE_PM = Enabled;
b) PRIV_POPUP = Enabled.

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Actions:

To describe what you’re doing you can use the command "/me action" without quotes.

For example: If Jack sends the message "/me is drinking a coffee" the message frame will show "* Jack is drinking a coffee".

As a variation to this command, there is the /mr command available, which will also put the gender title in front of the username.

For example: If Jack sends the message "/mr is watching TV" the message frame will show "* Mr. Jack is watching TV".

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Ignoring other users:

To ignore all of the posts by another user, type the command "/ignore username" without quotes.

For example: /ignore Jack

From that time onward, no messages by the user Jack will be displayed on your screen.

To have a list of the users whose messages are ignored, just type the command "/ignore" without quotes.

To resume display of message by an ignored user, type the command "/ignore - username" without quotes, where "-" is a hyphen (minus sign).

For example: /ignore - Jack

Now all the messages by Jack posted during the current chat session will be displayed on your screen, including those messages posted by Jack before you typed this command.
If you don’t specify a username after the hyphen, your "ignored list" will be cleaned.

Note that you can put more than one username in the ignore command (e.g. "/ignore Jack,Helen,Alf" or "/ignore - Jack,Alf"). They must be split by comma (,) without spaces.

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Getting information about Users:

To see public information about a user, type the command "/whois username" without quotes.

For Example: /whois Jack

where ’Jack’ is the username. This command will create a separate pop-up window that will display the publicly available information about that user. Use your own name to check out how your profile info is displayed to other users using the same command.

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Save messages:

To export messages (notification ones excluded) to a local HTML file, type the command "/save n" without quotes.

For Example: /save 5

where ’5’ is the number of messages to save. If n is not specified, all available messages sent to the current room will be taken into account.

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Commands for the administrator and/or moderators only

Send an announcement:

The administrator may make a system wide announcement to all the rooms and reach all the users currently login with the announce command.

For example: /announce The chat system is going down for maintenance tonight at 8pm.

There is another useful announcement like command for role-playing chats; the administrator or moderators in a room may also send an announcement to all users in current room or all the rooms with the room command.

For example: /room The meeting starts at 15 pm. or /room * The meeting starts at 15 pm in the Staff room.

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Kicking a user:

Moderators can kick a user and the administrator can kick a user or a moderator with the kick command. Except for the administrator, the user to be kicked must be in the current room.

For example, if Jack is the name of the user to kick away: /kick Jack or /kick Jack reason of kicking. The "reason of kicking" can be any text e.g. "for spamming!"

If * option is used (/kick * the reason), the command will kick out from chat all the users without powers (only guests and registered users). This is useful when the server connection is having problems and all the people should reload their chat. In this second case, the reason is recommended to let users know why they’ve been kicked.

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Banish a user:

Moderators can banish a user and the administrator can banish a user or a moderator with the ban command.
The administrator can banish a user from another room than the one he is chatting into. He can also banish a user forever and from the chat as a whole with the ’*’ setting that must be inserted before the nick of the user to be banished.

For example, if Jack is the name of the user to banish: /ban Jack, /ban * Jack, /ban Jack reason of banning or /ban * Jack reason of banning. The "reason of banning" can be any text e.g. "for spamming!"

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Promote/Demote a user to/from moderator:

Moderators and the administrator can promote another user to moderator with the promote command.

For example, if Jack is the name of the user to promote: /promote Jack.

Only the administrator can access the opposite feature (reduce a moderator to simple user) using the demote command.

For example, if Jack is the name of the moderator to demote: /demote Jack or /demote * Jack (will demote him from current or all the rooms).

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