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How to Use the Chats
Enter the Chats | Schedules

The Chat Forum software is a JavaTM applet that allows a large number of people to talk to each other. Some salient features of the applet include:

  • Support for moderated rooms
  • Access to multiple rooms at the same time
  • Communication through firewalls

A chat room can be moderated or unmoderated. Participants in an unmoderated chat can speak to one another directly. A moderated chat, on the other hand, has two types of participants with special status: guests and moderators. The guest answers questions submitted by participants. The distinguishing feature of a moderated chat is that questions submitted by participants do not appear in the public room immediately. Instead they appear in a special window seen only by the moderator. The moderator filters the questions, selecting those most relevant to the chat, and forwards them to the room to be viewed by other participants. At this point the guest can respond to the selected questions.

To facilitate the process better, different fonts and colors are used for the moderator's text, the guests' text, and the audience questions.

Shortly after all users leave, the forum is automatically deleted.

To Join a Forum:

  1. Go to the "Chat Client" page containing the applet.

    You should see a login box similar to the one below. Enter your name, and if you are behind a firewall, click on the "Behind Firewall" checkbox. This will used the HTTP mode of communication since the default Socket mode does not work through firewalls. Using HTTP mode is a little bit slower than using Socket mode, but is the only way for the applet to work through firewalls. If you are behind a firewall and do not select this option, you will see a 4-5 minute delay before any user interfaces come up.

  2. Click the "Connect To Forums" button.

    The Chat Forum Controls window appears. A list of active rooms appears on the left. The rooms with (M) at the beginning of their name are moderated; the others are unmoderated. You can join an existing room (moderated or unmoderated), or create a new room.


To Join an Existing Unmoderated Chat Room:

  1. Select the room name in the Chat Controls window.

  2. Click the Join button, or double click on room name.

    You will see a Chat Forum window. The chat room participants are listed on the right, and the chat text appears on the left.


To send messages to the chat:

  1. Click in the single line message field under the Chat Room text area.

  2. Type in your message. The text scrolls automatically to the left, so your message can be as long as you wish.

  3. Press the Return key, or click the Send button to send your message to the Chat Room.

    The message appears in the chat window for that room. If the connection between your computer and the server is especially slow, there may be a slight delay before the message appears.


To send multiline messages:

  1. Click the Compose Multiline Message button under the single line message field.

    You will see the Compose Multiline message window.

  2. Type your message in the text field.

  3. Press the Return key to go to the next line.

  4. Click the Send to Forum button to send the message.

    The window disappears and your message appears in the Chat Room. Line breaks and spacing are preserved. Use spaces for indenting, as any tabs in the message will be treated as single spaces.

  5. Click Cancel if you decide not to send the message.

    The Multiline Message window disappears.


To leave the chat room:

  1. Click the Signoff button in the Chat Forum window.

    Although the window for this chat disappears, you are still connected to the Chat Forum, because you can still see the Chat Controls window.

To send a private message:

You can send a private message to another person in the room. The message will not be seen by anyone else except the recepient.

  1. Select the person to whom you want to send the private message from the list of users in the Chat Forum Window.
  2. You will see a Private Message window

  3. Type in your message and click on the "Send Private Message" button. The message will be displayed on the recipients window in red font with an indication that it is a private message.

To Join an Existing Moderated Chat Room:

A moderated chat room is almost identical to an unmoderated room, except that in a moderated chat room your questions and comments go only to the moderator, who then decides which ones to send to the chat room. Only the moderator and guests of that room can send text direct to the Moderated Chat Room.

  1. Select the name of a room with (M) before it in the Chat Controls window.

  2. Click the Join button, or double click on the name of the room.

    A Moderated Chat window appears. Note that the bottom of the interface varies slightly from the Unmoderated room.

    If you are the moderator of this room, the Moderator View window for this room also appears. See "Moderator View" for details.


To ask questions in a moderated room:

  1. Click on the Compose Questions/Comments button under the Chat Room text area.

  2. Type your message in the text field.

  3. Press the Return key to go to the next line.

  4. Click the Send to Moderator button to send the message.

    The message will go to the moderator first, and will not be visible to the audience until the moderator forwards it to the room.
    See "Moderator View" for details.


To Create a New Chat Room:

  1. Click the Create button in the Chat Controls window.

    A Create Room dialog appears.

  2. Type the name of your new room in the name field (up to 30 characters).

  3. If you wish to create a Moderated room, click on the "Moderated" checkbox

    This makes the room moderated; you will be the moderator for this room.

  4. Click the Create button in the dialog.

    The room is created. You automatically join this room, and a chat room window appears. If you are the moderator of this room, a Moderator View window also appears.


Moderator View The Moderator View window shows all questions not yet processed, asked by the audience in that room. From here the moderator can send a question to the room, or delete a question, leaving it unanswered.

To send a question or comment to the Chat Room:

  1. Select the question you want to forward by clicking on the name preceding the question in the Moderator View window.

    The question becomes highlighted.

  2. Click the Send to Forum button.

    Questions and comments from participants appear only in the Moderator View window, and are not visible to the general audience until the moderator sends the questions and comments to the room.


To invite a participant to be a guest:

  1. Select a name from the list of participant names.
  2. Click the Invite Guest button under the participant list.

    The letter (G) appears in front of the user's name in the participant list.

    This gives the participant direct access to the Chat Room. The guest will know this has happened because the interface changes slightly.

    Note that the moderator of a room cannot be a guest of that room; moderators already have power above and beyond that of a guest.


To uninvite a guest:

  1. Select a name from the list of participant names.

  2. Click the Uninvite Guest button under the participant list.

    This returns a user to participant status. The user's name loses the (G) status and that user can no longer send messages direct to the moderated room.


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[ This page was updated: 21-Sep-2000 ]
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