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About Chat Here are answers to common questions regarding use of the CHAT program. CHAT is available to any Friend who has created a NickName here. 
SOFTWAREChicagoFunNews.com CHAT uses state-of-the-art software developed by an extreme programming pro. For best compatibility with all users it uses only standard browser features, and thus requires NO downloads or special extensions on your computer at all! It has been tested and works fine on a broad range of systems including current and obsolete Internet Explorer, NetScape, and AOL. The CHAT program refreshes in real-time, links directly with Friends Bios and your favorites, and includes graphical Emoticons (smileys) and even canned "Fortune Cookies"! There is a main public chat room accessible to all Friends, AND you may chat one on one with any other Friend. PUBLIC CHAT When the PUBLIC CHAT ROOM is active (a posting has been made in the last few minutes) a RED BLINKING ARROW appears next to CHAT on your Personal Menu. To join the room simply click that CHAT link. The CHAT room should soon appear in it's own new little browser window. The ongoing discussion appears in the main window with an "I have entered" message from you automatically added at the top. To find out more about another Friend in a chat room simply click their name to see their full Bio in another window. This also shows photos of the Friend (if any), and allows you to send them messages. In MSIE you can also simply hover the mouse over their name for quick stats. Male's names are colored blue, females red. PRIVATE CHAT To chat with a SPECIFIC other Friends, simply click on the CHAT link shown on their Bio. Note that the CHAT link will only appear if the Friend is definately currently online. To be NOTIFIED when a particular Friend is online so that you may chat with them, simply add that Friend to your FAVORITES. Then, that Friend will automatically be shown on your main menu (as a "Favorite Online Now") when they are logged in. When you click the CHAT link on an individual's Bio a new PRIVATE room will be created and a separate new chat window for that conversation will appear. This does not effect any other public or private chat window you may already have open. At the same time an INVITATION is sent to the other Friend. This new chat session will now appear under the menu tabs in your main ChicagoFunNews.com window as you continue to use the system. Similarly, on the INVITED Friend's screen, YOUR invitation to them will appear on their screen. If an invited Friend is actively using the system, the notification may be almost immediate. If the invited Friend is on their main menu, even if they are doing nothing, the invitation SHOULD appear automatically within a few minutes. If the user is in other areas (such as posting a photo), their operation cannot be interrupted, and the invitation will not appear until the next time they change screens. Still, if the invited Friend is actively browsing the invitation may be received immediately. STATUS Pending private CHAT invitations you have made, ones you have received, and your ongoing private chats are listed for you after login near the top (under the tabs) of every page. Sessions for which both parties have entered the room are shown in bold. To respond to a chat invitation from someone else, simply click their link in this chat status bar. Chat invitations received or sent that are inactive too long are automatically dropped from the list. To CLOSE a private chat, switch to that room and click LOGOUT. COMMANDS The following links are active in CHAT: CHICAGOFUNNEWS.COM - Launches the home page in a new browser window. EVENTS - Launches the EVENTS CALENDAR in a new browser window. HELP - Pops up a small quick info box, and optionally launches THIS help page in a new browser window. <NickName> - ID of the Friend. Click to see their Bio and photos in a new browser window. <Message> - Fill in the message you wish to post. Try to keep it not too long. Press ENTER or click SEND to post. Your new message will appear at the top of the conversation. You may scroll down to see prior messages. Messages over a few hours or a few dozen lines old are automatically dropped. EMOTICONS - To include emotion graphics in your message, simply click the desired icon(s). FORTUNES - Click the Question Mark icon to insert a canned fortune cookie in your message field. If you like it and want to add it to the conversation, click SEND. Or click the icon again to see other fortunes. LOGOUT - Click this when done to properly log that the conversation has ended. FAST/SLOW/STOP - Controls update speed. If the messages stop updating or you are impatient click FAST. On slow connections use slow. For other support questions please see the technical support answers page. Need an expert (over 27 years experience) software developer?
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