Answers to Frequently Asked Questions for Chatters
Click on the Chat Room Button or HERE to return to Chat
1. What kind of browser do I need to use ParaChat? You need a Java-enabled Web browser. If your browser is not Java enabled, you will get an error message.
When you use your Java-enabled browser to visit a Web page with a chat room, the chat window loads automatically.
3. How do I send a private message? Click the name of the user you wish to send a private message to, then check the Private Chat box. Your message will be sent only to the highlighted user and will appear with the words [PRIVATE FROM your_name] in front of it. 4. How can I block messages from a particular user? Click the name of the user you wish to block messages from, then check the Ignore User box. Any messages sent by this user will not be displayed on your screen. Another way is to type *ignore add [username] or *ignore remove [username] Clicking Surf! takes you to the Web page that was most recently mentioned in the chat room. This is an easy way to visit a site that someone is talking about. If you want to visit a page other than the last one mentioned, highlight the URL before you click Surf!
NOTE: Surf! opens a new browser window allowing you to continue chatting in the original one. 6. How can I customize the chat window (fonts, colors, etc.)?
For a list of all aspects that can be customized, type *chat 7. How can I find out more about someone in the chat room? Highlight the user's name, then click User Info. 8. Why can't I connect to ParaChat using a Mac? There are known problems with the implementation of Java in Netscape and Internet Explorer. Because of this, some Mac users find that ParaChat functions with limitations or not at all. For best performance, we recommend using Mac OS 8, IE 4.0, JIT compiler option disabled (see Question 29) and Microsoft Java VM. (Netscape 4.0 is also reported to work reliably for a large number of Mac users.) If you have any additional information regarding using ParaChat with a Mac, please e-mail info@parachat.com 9. Does ParaChat work with WebTV? No. ParaChat does not work with WebTV. 10. Is there a Java browser for Windows 3.1 that works with ParaChat? Visit the Netscape Download Center to find the latest Windows 3.1-compatible broswer. 11. I am being bothered by a user in the chat room. What can I do? You can ignore the user by clicking their name then checking the Ignore User box (see Question 4). If you are the room administrator, you can expel or ban this user from the chat room. You can also contact the webmaster or room administrator to report the problem. If you login from a different machine or a machine that uses a dynamic IP address, ParaChat will not permit a second login because you appear to be still in the room. Select a different username. After 10 minutes, the old username is automatically logged off and is available for use again. Float opens the chat room in a separate window. This separate window can be resized and moved about on your screen. Close the window or click Unfloat to return the window to the original Web page. The default size of the floating window is 75% of your screen. Drag a corner or edge to resize it. These errors indicate an inability to access our computers. This can be due to a problem with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), your modem, or the path between your computer and ours. It can also be because you are behind a firewall or using a proxy server. If you suspect the problem is with the path between your machine and ours, you can trace the route to check the connection. You may also want to check the Internet Weather Report for information on any major outages. See Question 21 for more help with error messages. 15. How can I use ParaChat with AOL? Connect to AOL, go to the World Wide Web, minimize the AOL window and launch your Java-enabled browser. You can download the latest version of Netscape or Internet Explorer from their respective sites. This error occurs when the system detects an invalid applet parameter. Verify the HTML code of the Java chat applet with the code received during registration. (Netscape Gold 3.0 causes this error message even when the parameters are correct.) UPDATE: In certain versions of Netscape, this problem can be fixed by changing the document encoding to Western. Click View > Character Set and set it to Western. Follow the instructions below to turn on the Java capability of your browser.
18. How can I make the chat window bigger? Click Float to open the chat room in a separate window. This separate window can be resized and moved about on your screen. Drag a corner or edge to resize it. Close the window or click Unfloat to return the window to the original Web page. 19. How can I get a 'beep' notification when someone enters or leaves the room? Type one of the following commands to turn the 'beep' function on or off when someone enters or leaves the room. *beep enter on *beep enter off *beep leave on *beep leave off Type *beep to display the current beep settings. Yes. ParaChat chat rooms can be accessed by both the Java ParaChat client as well as any IRC client. This feature is enabled for paid professional license users only. The error 'ParaChat.class not found' is caused by the inability of your browser to download the class file from our Web server. This may be caused by incorrect HTML, misconfigured name servers, or network outages. This error message does not mean that the Chat server is down. If the error is on a page on your site, be sure that the HTML is correct and that the hostname you are using is exactly the same as the one we sent you. (Remember that ParaChat must be typed with a capital P and a capital C; not Parachat, parachat or paraChat.) If you are visiting someone else's page, check to see if the host machine is reachable. You can do this by trying to view another page on their site (for example, the main page at http://www.hostname.com/index.html). If you cannot reach the site at all, inform the webmaster or try again later. If you are able to view another HTML page on the site, there may be an intermittent network outage. Clear your browser cache (see Question 22), exit your browser and try the page again. You may also want to try to load the page in another browser or in a newer version of your current browser. If you get a 'Lookup or DNS failure' message, contact your ISP. Tell them that their name server is either not reachable or is not translating the hostname properly. If you get a message saying 'Host not responding,' 'Host unreachable,' or 'Host is down,' there may be an Internet outage between the two sites. You can ask your ISP to verfiy this or try to trace the route yourself. Your browser may be caching an earlier version of the applet. Clear the cache, exit the browser completely then try again. Netscape
See Question 21 for more help with error messages. 23. Why does it sometimes take longer than others to connect to ParaChat? In most cases, slow connect and response times have to do with a slow computer on the Internet between your machine and ours. If you're interested in finding out where the problem lies, you can trace the route to check the connection. You may also want to check the Internet Weather Report for information on any major outages. 24. Why does the text in the chat window flicker when I use Internet Explorer 4.0? Portions of the Java graphics code in IE 4.0 include a new graphics library. This library (called AFC) is not available in any other browser. As a result, applets like ParaChat which use the standard Java components may experience flickering or other irregularities. We encourage you to submit a bug report to Microsoft. To remedy this, type *iefix in the message area. The chat screen will blank and all further text output will use the new text renderer. This renderer also works with Netscape. Usernames are shared by all the rooms on a chat server. The person using that nickname is logged on to the same chat server, but is in a different room. Please choose another name. 26. Why am I asked for a password when I try to login with certain usernames? Some names (including room administrators') are password protected. You are trying to use a name that belongs to someone else. Please choose another user name. 27. Why is the IP address <suppressed> when I click User Info? The IP address is suppressed for all users for your privacy and security. It is only visible to a room administrator. 28. Why do I get the message 'You do not appear to have the correct version of the Client Software?' Your browser may have cached an earlier version of ParaChat. Clear the cache, exit your browser completely and open the page again. The latest version of the ParaChat applet will be loaded automatically. See Question 22 for instructions on how to clear your browser's cache. 29. Why can other people see what I type but I cannot see anyone? This happens when using the just in time (JIT) compiler. JIT is usually used for optimization but a flawed implementation for Java applets can sometimes result. Follow the instructions below to disable the compiler. Netscape
Windows should find the jit32301.dll (or jitxxxx.dll) file in the Netscape program directory. (Disregard any jit.dll files found in the Windows directory.)
IE 4.0
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