How to Chat (Basic and Advanced)

• Use The Floor Plan to Pick a Room.
• On the Entry Page of each Room, there is a space provided for you to enter your Handle (name) and your Password. (You will not have to type these again, unless you switch floors.)
• Click on the "enter" button and the Chat Daemon will announce your entrance to all the Chatters in that room.

  NOTE: A room "enter" button will have a different "enter" word on it, depending on the room -- and the room's theme. Some examples: "What'll it Be?" (Joe's Diner), "Now Playing" (Screening Room), "Talk" (Girls Club), "Float" (Lily Pad), "Welcome" (Moosehead Lodge), "I Spy" (Gargoyle Watch), "Cross Over" (New Millennium)...

• Type your chat message to the room in the box provided and click the "chat" button. The room page will reload and your message will appear on the screen next to your Handle, along with any other Public Messages that other Chatters in the room have posted since you entered.
• In order to continuously keep up with the conversation, you must continually click on the "chat" or "get new messages" button. This will clear your screen of old messages and show you the new messages that are posted.

  NOTE: You will "time out" of the forum (chat room) if you do not click on the "chat" or "get new message" button at least once every 300 seconds.

• To send a Private Message to another Chatter, scroll down your screen, select the "PM" checkbox next to their Handle, and type your message in the smaller text area box with a "whisper" button.
• To Ignore a particular Chatter, select the "Ignore" checkbox next to their Handle. You may Ignore Public Messages and/or Private Messages from any number of selected individuals.

  NOTE: By using the "PM" and "Ignore" options, you you may configure the room to have a conversation with as many, or as few selected individuals as you choose, and not see messages from others. After checking a box next to someone's name, be sure to use the "chat" or "whisper" button before you use the "get new messages" button, this will enable the boxes to stay checked. This can be useful if you are sending a PM to someone more than once.

• When you wish to stop chatting in a room, select the "exit forum" button to leave or the "switch rooms" button to go to another room.
• Click here for a list of abbreviations that Chatters use.

• Homepage Link: On the entrance page to any Members Room, you may enter the full URL of your homepage in the text area provided. This will hyperlink your Handle to your homepage, so that others can see who you are (by clicking on your Handle) while chatting. If you do not have a homepage, you may leave this blank.
• Our Members Rooms will allow you to learn and use HTML basics, so that you can stylize your messages. Learn how to create your homepage and how to share image, sound and video files with the others in the room. Please see the HTML Tips button in every room for detailed instructions.
• Private Rooms may only be created by Subscribed Members, but anyone may visit one. To enter a Private Room, you will need to be given the Room Password by the person that created the room. (See links to your left for more information About Chathouse® Features.)