To send a message type it into the message entry box at the bottom of the chat box. The message will be sent to the other people in the chat room when you press the return key.

Visitor List

The visitor list is a list of people that are currently chatting in the room. Each name has a person symbol next to it and the colour indicates their status. Green is online, red is offline, gold is owner, silver is moderator, blue is member, grey is ignored and black is banned.

When you send a message your person in the visitor / friend list will glow green to indicate you are talking. When other send messages you will be able to see their person glow as well.

Smilies

Smilies are pictures that can be added to messages. You can add smiles but either clicking the mouse on one of the default smiles above the message entry box or by using the code for the smilie. E.g. : - ) is the code for the standard yellow smilie. There are lots of additional smiles that are not part of the standard set that can be found at http://xatech.com/smilies

If you have any ideas for a new cool smilie e-mail us at info@xat.com and tell us about it.

Audies

Audies are sound effects that can be added to messages. An audie is sent by using hash # followed by the name of the sound. E.g. #raspberry #giddy #ohh It will appear as a sound icon in the message and play when the message is received. It can be played again by clicking on it. You’ll find hundreds more of them here http://xatech.com/audies

Group Groups

The owner of the chat box you are on may have added a chat group to their chat box. This will appear as a second tab next to the main tab. A chat group is a shared chat room created for a specific purpose. This could be:

to discuss a particular subject (e.g. music, anime, surfing, computer games) for a specific age group or type of person e.g. 20 something, students for a specific country or language You can also access the chat groups directly by clicking on the green speech bubble on the bottom left of the chat box or going to http://xatech.com/groups

Turn Sound On/Off

You can turn chat box sounds on and off by clicking on the speaker icon on the bottom right of the chat box. A disabled sign will appear on it. To turn sounds back on, click again.

Sign In/Out

To sign out of the chat box press the Sign Out button, you will be shown on the user list as offline and you will not be able to see or send messages until you press Sign In or refresh the page.

Receiving a Private Message

A private message appears in the chat window but has only been sent from to one person. It is like being in a room full of people and whispering something to someone that you only want them to hear. If you see a message that has a gold padlock next to it, that person has sent you a private message that only you will see. You may wish to respond

Responding to a Private Chat

A private chat is a conversation with only one person; it is like leaving a room full of people and finding a private room to talk in. When you are sent a private chat message a tab will appear with the senders name on under the message window. It will flash to indicate new message and the speech bubble will remain green to show that you have not read it yet. Click on the tab and you will be in a private chat with that person. While you are having a private chat with one person you may also see the main room and other private chats flashing and remaining green to indicate new or unread messages. You can switch between these and maintain conversations with several people at once if you want to. When you have finished with a private chat move over the tab a press the red x that appears to close it.

Been Auto-Signed Out?

If you haven’t typed a message for over 10 minutes then the chat box will automatically sign you out. To sign back in again Press the Sign In button on the bottom right. Owners and Moderators are not automatically signed out so should take more care to sign out when they leave to prevent visitors being confused that you are not answering them.

Have you been Kicked?

If you have been kicked out of a chat box then you will need to Sign In again if you wish to continue chatting. There will be an information message that is sent to everyone in the room they says who was kicked, who did the kicking and the reason for the kick.

Have you been Banned?

If you have been banned from a chat box then you will have received a banned information message and your person in the user list will be black and the name will have been changed to Banned. You will still be able to see the messages being sent but the other people in the room will not receive any message you try to send. The ban may be for a limited duration and if so you could return later. The ban may have been a warning and they may un-ban you sooner if you remain online for a while.

If you believe you have been unfairly banned you should contact the owner by going to the xatech page for the chat and pressing the Send Owner a Message button to explain what happened.

Profile Dialog

Click YourName at the top of the visitors list on the right to set up your profile. If you are new to the chat box you will have been assigned a silly name like WuggyBunch and a random picture but these are easy to change.

How do I change my Name?

Enter your name in the name edit box as you want it to appear on the user list. You can use smilie codes in your name if you want to and these will be displayed on the visitors and friends lists.

How do I change my Picture?

To change your display picture choose one of the default images shown by clicking on it. Every time you choose one you will get another selection from which to choose. If you wish to look at a wider selection of images click the more… button and follow the instructions. Alternatively, you can use any picture you like but it must be uploaded somewhere on the Internet to do this. Paste the link / url into the Picture box. You can upload your own images to photobucket for use on the chat box.

How do I change my Home Page?

To add a homepage or set a different one enter the link / url to it e.g. http://www.myspace.com/tom in the homepage edit box as you want it to appear on the user list. If you have a home page specified whenever you post a message a small home icon will appear next to your name. If someone clicks on this they will open your homepage. To remove this leave the homepage edit box blank.

How do I turn off automatically sign in?

If you don’t want to be automatically signed in to the chat box on web pages you visit then you can turn off automatically sign in. On your profile page and uncheck Sign In Automatically. You will have to click [Sign In] every time you visit a chat box to appear on the visitor list and to chat. To return to automatically singing in click the Sing In Automatically check box again.

Interact Dialog

To interact with a person either click on a person on the visitors / friends lists or their name on a message they have sent. This will open up a dialog, which will give you more information about them and ways to interact with them.

Private Message

A private message is sent to only one person and no one else can see it. To send a private message click on a person on the visitors / friends lists or the name on a message someone has sent and click Private Message. A pad lock will appear on the message entry window, type you message and press return. When the message is sent it will have a padlock next to it and only the person you selected will see it. To send another private message follow the same procedure again, to have a conversation a private chat (see below) is more useful.

Private Chat

A private chat is a one on one conversation in a separate window. To start a private chat click on a person on the visitors or friends lists or the name on a message someone has sent and click Private Chat. A tab will appear that contains just you and the person you want to start a private chat with. When you send your first message a tab will appear on their chat box which they can choose to answer or not.

Add As Friend

If you want to add someone so you can easily find them and talk to them another time you can Add as a friend. Click on that person on the visitors or friends lists or the name on a message they have sent and click Add as Friend. They will appear on the list in bold and move to the top of their category. They will also be added to your friends list accessible by clicking on your Friends tab at the bottom of the list.

When you return to the chat box at a later time you can click on your friend list and see which ones of your friends are online on any chat box, not just the one you are on. You can them private chat or private message from your chat box to theirs. If they have added you as a friend then when you view their profile you will be able to see which chat box they are on so you can go there. If you want to Un-Friend click on the person in the friend list and click Un-Ignore.

Ignore

If someone is bothering you or you just don’t want to talk to him or her then you can Ignore them. Click on that person on the visitors or friends lists or the name on a message they have sent and click Ignore. They will appear as grey in the list and you wont be able to see any of their message and they wont be able to start private chats with you either. The ignore is remembered, even if you use the chat box another time. If you want to Un-Ignore them and see their messages again click on the person in the list and click Un-Ignore.

How many friends should I add? You can add as many friends as you like but there is no point in adding everyone you ever see, only people that there is a chance that you will want to talk to again. The more friends you have added the harder it becomes to find the ones you really want to talk to.

Bad Chat Ettiquette

When using the chat box you have to abide by the terms of service http://www.xat.com/terms.html but there are specific things that you might do that are considered bad etiquette and will annoy some people.

Flooding or Spamming

Flooding or spamming is typing random number and letters for no reason or repeatedly sending a link. This is prevented by the terms of service and is very disruptive to the chat box. People find it very annoying and if you do it you will find you are either banned or ignored by everyone in the room.

Talking in CAPS

Typing messages with CAPSLOCK on often annoys people, it is used to say that you are SHOUTING what you are saying. You can type in CAPS if you want but you should expect that people will add you to their ignore list. It is best saved for when you are really shouting something.

Too Many Smiles

Using smiles livens up messages and make the chat more fun but if you keep on sending them it can be annoying and you will soon be on everyone’s ignore list.

Too Many Audies Sound Effects

The odd sound effect can make a chat fun but if you keep on sending them it can be annoying and you will soon be on everyone’s ignore list.

Advertising

Commercial advertising is prevented by the terms and conditions but may owners and moderators are not happy with people posting links, especially over and over again, to their chat groups or myspace pages etc. If you want to do this it is best to check it is ok with the owner first.

Asking to be moderator, owner, member etc.

Owners of popular chats are often bombarded with requests for people to be made moderators and most will just ignore anyone who asks. If you want to be a moderator on a chat box you should chat there, make friends and try to be helpful to other people. This is the best way to become a moderator.