Communication -> Chat
Chatting is a form of real-time communication. Chatting is very popular and a lot of fun assuming you find the right people to chat with. Many times things you couldn't even think of saying in real life, come out fairly easily in the chat environment. Sometimes this leads into grief and regrets but most of the time it's insightful, fun and a good addition to speaking face to face or over the phone. When chatting, try to remember the same manners as you use in normal conversations, and don't go crying your heart out to someone whose identity you're not sure of.

There are three views in the Chat: channel listing, channel lobby, chat.

Channel listing view
This is the view you see when you enter Communication -> Chat.
To enter a channel's lobby, click the channel's name.
The number of users in a chat channel is displayed after the channel's name.

Channel lobby view
This is the view you see when you click a channel's name in the channel listing view. Other users that are in the channel at the moment can be seen on the right-hand-side of the view. The amount of free chat spots is displayed under the user names.

Form elements:
Nick name - Enter your nick name in the input field. The nick name should only consist of numbers and letters. Other symbols will be left out. The nick name can only be 15 characters long.
Join message - Enter a message in the input field that you want the other users to see when you enter the channel. This field is optional
Ok - Click to enter the channel.

Chat view
This is the view you see when you click the Ok button in the channel's lobby. This view is divided into 4 parts: topic and leave, chat window, user listing, message input.

Topic and leave: (top of the view)
Every channel has a topic. The topic is in the upper left corner. You can change the topic by typing /topic "topic here" in the input field on bottom of the page.
To leave the channel click the Leave channel text in the upper right corner

Chat window: (middle of the view, on the left)
All the messages that users write and all the action messages are displayed in this window. The window will automatically scroll down when it's full. All the messages have a timestamp.

- Message types:
["User"] "message"
- This message is displayed when you write your message in the input field on the bottom of the page and click the Say it button.

["User"] "message"
- This message is displayed when a user writes a message and clicks the Say it button.

["User"] => ["User2"] "message"
- This message is displayed when you select a user from the drop-down menu, write your message in the input field and click the Say it button. This kind of message is private, only you and the recipient can see it.

["User2"] => ["User"] "message"
- This message is displayed when a user selects a your nick name from the drop-down menu, writes a message in the input field and clicks the Say it button. This kind of message is private, only you and the sender can see it.

"User" is now known as "UserNew"
- This message is displayed when a user changes their nick name.

"User" has joined channel "channel" ("optional join message")
- This message is displayed when a user enters the channel.

"User" has left channel "channel" ("optional part message")
- This message is displayed when a user leaves the channel.

"User" changes topic to "topic"
- This message is displayed when a user changes the channel's topic.

"User" has kicked "User2" out of the channel ("reason for kicking")
- This message is displayed when a user kicks another user out of the channel.

User listing: (middle of the view, on the right)
All the users in the channel are listed alphabetically.
The total amount of users are is displayed above the users' nick names.

Message input: (bottom of the view)
This is the area of the screen where all the action on your part takes place.

- Form elements:
Public / user - Choose a user that you want to write a private message to. Choose Public to write to all the users.
Message - Enter your chat message in the input field next to the Public / user drop-down menu.
Say it - Click to "send" the message you have written in the input field. You can also press the Enter button on your keyboard (only with some browser).



Chat commands
There are some commands that you can write in the Message input field to add control to chatting.
You can see help on the commands by typing /help in the Message input field and clicking the Say it button (or Enter).

The commands:
Command Description Usage
CLEAR Clear the chat window. /clear
HELP Show this help. /help
IPADDR Displays your IP address and host name. /ipaddr
KICK Kick user out of the channel. /kick user [reason]
LOOKUP Lookup IP address or host name. /lookup ip|hostname
MSG Send private message to someone. /msg user message
NICK Change your nick name. /nick name
PART Leave the channel. /part [reason]
RELOAD Reload user list and topic. /reload
TIME Displays the date on server. /time
TOPIC Display current topic or update topic. /topic [new topic]
  Hyperlink h t t p : / / address
Legend:
| is a logical "OR". Anything in braces [ ] is optional. Commands are not case sensitive.