How to use Xdrom Chat

It's really quite simple. This is the log in screen. Type a name and click connect. You can have spaces in your name. If the name is already taken (case insensitive) you will be asked to choose another. If you get the error Couldn't connect to server, it most likely means the server is down. Send me email in this case and I'll fix it.

Once you have successfully logged in the the Xdrom Playhouse, you will see the chat window. The left text area shows the conversation. You type in the text field at the bottom. The right List shows show is in the chat room with you. To start a Private Chat, select a person by clicking on their name in the List and then press Private Chat. This will open a separate small private chat window. The buttons: Logout- logs you out of the chat. Properties - lets you change font and color for the chat text area. Help - gets you this help, of course.

Caveats

Different browsers exbibit different behaviors where the correct behavior has not been defined. For instance, leaving the page under Internet Explorer will log you off the chat room, whereas under Netscape it will not. Either way, exiting your browser (either through Exit or crash) will log you off.

There is no "idle timeout." You can stay as long as you want in the chat room without saying anything. The only ways to exit are pressing Logout, leaving the page (see above), exiting your browser (ditto), or if the server dies/exits.

Finally, please note all public conversations are logged. Private ones are not.