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For those who want to chat
For Webmasters
who want to or have already set up chat
rooms with paraCHAT
For Advertisers
1. What kind of browser do I need to use paraCHAT?
You need to use a web browser that is Java enabled like
Netscape 2.0, 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. If your
browser is not Java aware you will not see the chat room but get
a message
'Sorry your browser is not
Java enabled'
MAC users must use MS Internet Explorer 3.01b , it will not work with Netscape currently. Please see following MAC question for more.
Win 3.1 can use Netscape 3.01 Beta with Java for Windows 3.1 , see following question on Win 3.1 for more.
2. How do I chat using paraCHAT?
When you visit the web page with the chat room and your browser supports Java you will see the chat window. Click on the Connect button , enter you user name (other fields are not required) and click on OK. You are in the chat room. You will see the others in the black window on the right. Type any message in the text box at the bottom and it is sent to all users by default.
3. How do I send a private message?
Check the 'private chat' check box and highlight the user and then any message typed is sent only to that user with a [PRIVATE your_name] in front of it so he know who sent it and that it is private.
4. Can I block out annoying messages?
To silence annoying chatters in your room , check the 'ignore user' check box and highlight the user and then any message sent by the user will not be displayed on your screen. If you like using commands you can use *ignore add username
Its as if that annoying user just went away! Wish it worked in real rooms too right?
5. What's that Surf button for?
By default, the Surf button takes you to the last URL in the chat text, i.e the last URL someone typed in as part of their message or was in the chat window. If you want to surf to something else, highlight the URL in the chat window and hit Surf. This is how you can visit that cool site some user just typed a message about. Please note Surf takes you to the URL on a separate window of your browser so you can keep chatting on the original browser window.
6. Can I customize the chat window, fonts colors?
Type '*chat' in the text box (where you type to send messages) to get a help on how to change fonts and colors for your window.
For example
*chat bgcolor black (changes background color of the chat window to black)
*chat fgcolor green (changes foreground (text) color of the chat window to green)
*chat font courier (changes font of the chat window to Courier)
*chat fontsize 14 (changes font size of the chat window to 14)
*chat (gives a help on the entire list of commands available)
7. How can I find out more about the others in the chat room
Highlight the user name and click on the 'User Info' button to get info on the user's login.
8. I am using a MAC and cannot connect to paraCHAT. Why?
There are known problems with Netscape's implementation of Java and we are working with Netscape to see if we can work around those bugs. So currently paraCHAT will not work for Mac users using Netscape. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.01b is known to work well for some Mac users and work with some repaint bugs (chat window messed up and cannot see the chat command buttons) for other Mac users. If you are a Mac user and have had luck with any other version of these browsers or any others please send us email at pchat@webpage.com, we want to know!
The error was due to our chat server being too busy at the time you tried the login..In such instances please login again after a few minutes.Please do not hit Connect multiple times, wait for a few minutes and then re-connect, else the Server receives several connect requests from the same machine and it will actually take longer to connect. Sorry for the inconvenience.
10. Is there a Java enabled browser for Windows 3.1 that works with paraCHAT?
You could use the new Navigator 3.01 Beta with Java for Windows 3.1 available for download at http://home.netscape.com/comprod/mirror/client_download.html
It is believed to work with paraCHAT though it is slow and has some bugs.
11. I am being annoyed / harassed by a user on the chat room. What can I do?
Firstly you can ignore the message, by clicking on the Ignore User button - see question 4 above for more. You can also click on the user name and then on User Info. This will give you the user's IP address. If you know how to (or ask your sys admin) do a traceroute to the IP address and determine the ISP (Internet provider) and then send email to the ISP giving as much information as possible about log on time, persons information and request some action - e.g disconnect service.
12. My Java console gives me a 'set daemon bug' message on Netscape. What is that?
This is just an informational message - please ignore it.
If you log back via the same machine (IP address) it detects a more recent login and lets you in. However if you use another IP address (another machine or a dynamic IP address), it will not permit another login if it still has a login under that user name. After a time-out period of 10 min the user is automatically logged off and you can then reuse the same user name (nick).
14. Can I make the chat window bigger?
YES! You can now!.Click on the Float button to bring up the chat applet in a separate window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independent of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to remove this separate chat window and fix it back on the chat web page.
Please note by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can change it as you wish, the size it comes up with just a default start size.
These errors are due to your Internet connection going down, or due to our chat server being too busy at the time you tried the login. In such instances please login again after a few minutes.Please do not hit Connect multiple times, wait for a few minutes and then re-connect, else the Server receives several connect requests from the same machine and it will actually take longer to connect. Sorry for the inconvenience.
This is a bug that we are working on, you get the message when the system is too busy, please retry after a while.
17. I use AOL, how can I use paraCHAT?
Just connect to AOL, go to the Word Wide Web, minimize the AOL window and launch a Java enabled browser. You can download Netscape Navigator v3.01 from http://www.netscape.com or Microsoft Internet Explorer v3.0 from http://www.microsoft.com.
18. I get ...'could not connect to server BAD_PARAMETERS:BAD_PARAMETERS'. Why?
That error is due to the system detecting that one or more of the applet parameters passed is invalid. Please check the HTML code on the Java chat applet against the code received on registration. Also if you are using Netscape Gold 3.0 you may get this even with correct HTML due to a parameter passing bug on Netscape Gold 3.0. In that case please use another browser/version like Netscape 3.0 (non Gold), Gold 3.01 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0
19. Do you have a list of all the paraCHAT rooms?
We do not maintain a public list of chat rooms currently. Sorry
Make sure that your browser's Java feature is enabled. For Netscape Navigator, enable Java by clicking "Options", "Network Preferences", "Language". Make sure the "Enable Java" checkbox is checked. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, enable Java by clicking "View", "Options", "Security". Check the "Enable Java programs"checkbox.
21. What is the Float Button for? Can I resize the chat window after a Float?
Click on the Float button to bring up the chat applet in a separate window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independent of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to remove this separate chat window and fix it back on the chat web page.
Please note by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can change it as you wish, the size it comes up with just a default start size.
How can I set up the FREE chat room on my web site?
The free paraCHAT license is supported by advertisements. Our advertisers require that the web site not contain
'any material that is or may be considered libelous, obscene, defamatory, infringing of any third party's intellectual property rights (including copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy) or violation of any law, statute, ordinance or regulation.' (in particular it may not be used on any site containing (or consisting primarily of links to sites containing) nudity or pornographic material of any kind, or material that exploits images of children under 18 years of age.)'
If your room meets the above criteria you can set up a free chat room via paraCHAT. Go to the free license page. After reading over the agreement form and clicking on the 'I Accept' link you will reach the paraCHAT registration form. Fill out the form clearly entering the URL of the page on which you want the chat room and a name for the chat room and then click on the Register button at the bottom of the form. You will get some HTML code on your screen (as well as a copy of this will be emailed to you). Copy the HTML code and insert it in the chat page at your web site. The chat room will be up and running - the HTML code just points to a Java applet on our server, so it uses no extra bandwidth on your end.
How can I license the chat server? Costs?
Please note the FREE chat room runs off our server and it is free to you due to the space at the bottom of the chat applet where we beam in ads. If you do not want the ads or want more control on room administration and chat moderation, you will need to either run a copy of our chat server on your machine or use our chat hosting solutions for a small monthly fee.Check our updated License paraCHAT page for all available options.
Can I sell ads on the paraCHAT ad panel?
Yes if you either license the paraCHAT server to run on your machine or use the paraCHAT Platinum level of chat hosting.
What if I don't want the ads? Or only my own ads.
If you do not want the ads or want more control on room administration and chat moderation, you will need to either run a copy of our chat server on your machine or use our chat hosting solutions for a small monthly fee.Check our updated License paraCHAT page for all available options.
What do I do if my site is behind a firewall?
You need to license the paraCHAT server to run on your machine behind your firewall. The FREE version will not work for you.
Yes, if you use any of our non-free license options, you can expel or ban users from your room. Check our updated License paraCHAT page for all available options.
When I log into my chat room I get a 'impostor room' message. Why?
The impostor message means that the URL of the page where the chat room is does not match the URL that was entered at the time you registered for paraCHAT. Please make sure that you use paraCHAT on the page you registered it for, this verification is necessary to ensure that other people do not masquerade as your site.
Please refer to the email you received on registration and place the chat room on the page you registered it for. If your chat page changes please send email to pchat@webpage.com with the name of the chat room and the new URL so that we can modify the database.
Please note since the move to the new hardware, some rooms will get an imposter room message even when used on the correct page. Please ignore this and it will be fixed soon.
Please send email to pchat@webpage.com mentioning the chat room name, and the new URL of the chat page. We will modify the database.
I copied those 5 lines of HTML to my web site and it did not work? What do I do?
Please first verify that you are indeed using a Java enabled browser and can use the chat room on this site . If you can but the chat room on your site does not work please check the following:
1. You copied the HTML correctly, refer to the email received on registration and see if it was copied exactly. Sometimes copy/paste into an HTML editor can mess up the code, you may want to do it under a normal text editor (e.g Notepad on Windows 95) if possible. Often a missing tag, parameter or typo (if you typed it in) is the problem. If you see only half the window, a gray blank screen, or none at all, it may be because all the HTML was not copied in correctly.
2. Don't include the 5 lines of HTML within some incomplete HTML tags or put it after the end of the HTML file! Make sure it is at a valid location in your HTML file.
3. Make sure you are not running behind a firewall, that is you can access our server.
If it works but you get a impostor room warning see question 7 above, you are using the chat room at a URL different from the one it was registered for.
Can I get a transcript for a chat session?
Yes you can if you use any non - ad supported (i.e paid) license for paraCHAT. This new feature will soon be available directly to room admins of the paraCHAT Professional or paraCHAT Platinum rooms.
Can any web site use the free paraCHAT license?
The free paraCHAT personal may not be used on any site that contains
any material that is or may be considered
libelous, obscene, defamatory, infringing of any third party's
intellectual property rights (including copyright, patent,
trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of
publicity or privacy) or violation of any law, statute, ordinance
or regulation.'
(in particular it may not be used on any site containing (or
consisting primarily of links to sites containing) nudity or
pornographic material of any kind, or material that exploits
images of children under 18 years of age.)
Our recent association with an advertisement network does not permit us to deliver advertisements to sites of the above kind and so we can no longer extend the free advertisement supported paraCHAT personal to them. We request any such sites that have registered to remove the lines of HTML that we supplied you from your web pages with immediate effect.We will soon be implementing checks on our server to enforce this policy.
That 'Sorry your browser is not Java enabled' line is for other users without Java who visit your site, they get the message since they will not see the applet. If you have Java you see the chat window and do not see the message. Please leave that line in your HTML.
I use frames on my site, which URL do I put in for my Chat URL in the paraCHAT registration form?
Use the URL of the HTML page that contains the chat applet itself, not the main frames URL.
The topic for my room seems to have disappeared. Why, what can I do?
Please note since the move to the new hardware, some rooms may have their topics disappear. Please ignore this, it will be fixed soon.
Can I open/close my room,so that I can control when it is used on my site?
Yes if you have room admin privileges via any of the non-ad supported (paid) licenses.
What kind of ads can you run on the chat room?
We run not just plain old banner ads but micro-presentations on the ad panels in the chat window. Micro presentations are multi page animated series of text, sound and images that appear in a window of the chat applet (similar to a slide show). Progress of the presentation is controllable by the user via a Next button for example.
We have recently entered into an agreement with an advertising network to help sell advertising on over 5000 web sites running paraCHAT. Please email paralogic@webpage.com if you are interested in advertising on paraCHAT and we will send you information and rates as soon as they are available.
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