I've been working over the Christmas period on a new project, an easy to use Chat Facility that is held here on our own server, is member friendly and carries the facilities that would appeal to the majority. Some members experienced difficulties with out the previous Java based chat system and the server is sat on was not always reliable, therefore this chat facility has been brought on the same server as the forum, should be faster and much more flexible for our needs.
The new chat is now online, but in order to help members with the change I have drawn up the following guidelines.
The chat rooms have been split in to 2 types,
Rash Room for chat about skin related problems and
Cafe Chat for social chats and parties.
The two chats are the same design but are split to allow members to choose what sort of "topic" they are looking to discuss or chat about.
The chat facility is only available to Forum Members only. Guests wishing to use the facility must first register with the forum.Here is what the chat looks like:
Running through each of the sections ....
1. Smileys - The whole of the left frame is dedicated to our favourite smileys. Just click on any smiley and it will appear as code in the text entry box and when you hit <enter>
2. Rules - The same rules apply in the chat rooms as here in the forum.
3. Help - Just click on this button for a simple introduction to the chat room facilities
4. User Info - If a member registers in the chat they can record email address, photos and other personal information. This search facility allows other members to find and view this information.
5. Smileys - The list of smileys on the left hand side may run off the bottom of the page. This button will allow you to see every smiley inside a pop-up window.
6. Feedback - Any opinion (good or bad) is very well received. You can give feedback directly to me using this option.
7. Who - Because we have more than one chat room this option will tell you who is in what chat room by lookingon the right hand side of the chat area. You can change chat rooms easily by just clicking on the name of the other chat rooms.
8. Profile - This screen allows you to add, edit, remove personal information or change passwords for your profile in the chat room.
9. Admin - A Moderator Only section that you won't normally see, but this gives access to the Moderator help section.
10. Logout - Simple enough.
11.Click on this icon to initiate a private chat with that person. The name of the recipient will appear in Box 18 and no-one else will be able to view your conversation with that person. This option in not fully functional yet and is being debugged
12. Username - Clicking on a persons name adds their name to the message box 19, so when the chat room is busy that person can see that your reply is directed to them. All users will see the message sent.
13. - Click on this icon of you want to ignor ewhat a certain member is saying. This will block all messages from that member.
14. Gender icon.
15. Online Status - Change your status so you show as "Away", "Do Not Disturb" or "Not Available"
16. Select room - Allows you to move from one room to another.
17. Clear PM button - Click on this button to remove the name of a person you have been having a private chat with. All messages will now be seen by all chatters.
18. PM Name - If you are chatting with a person privately their name will appear in this box
19. Main text area - Type in your chat messages here.
20. Send button - Either click on "send" or press the <Enter> key on your keyboard and your message will get sent to the chat room.
21. Delete button - If you want to delete a message you have typed in Box 19 then click on this button and the whole message will be cleared off.
22. Online Status - If you are online and live the indicator shows green, if you have been "quiet" for a while the indicator will turn red.
23. Text Colour - Select the colour of your own messages when they appear in the main text window.
24. Bold button - Will make you text appear
bold25. Italic button - Your text will appear in
Italics26. Underline button - Your text will appear
underlined27. Notepad - A miniature personal messaging system that kets you leave messages for othe rmembers, even if they are not chatting at the time. You can leave messages for them for the next time they log in.
The chat rooms do
not require registration or passwords but a username will need to be keyed in, however, if you register you are allowed to do so with a password of your own choosing. Some features like the Profile and Notepad will not work for unregistered members.
Currently we have two templates for you to choose the look of the chat rooms, these will be added to in time.
If any member has any queries please feel free to log them in the Oi Admin section or alternatively send feedback through the Feedback facility in the chat room.
New ideas or suggestions are always welcome, same as constructive criticism.
