(If you have any other questions you can email me or ask someone in MS Chat, if it's something I haven't mentioned let me know and I'll add it for others, thanks).
1/ What happened to the MsChat servers?
Microsoft closed the servers for good on the 21st Feb 2001, they will be missed. We now have others servers to use, all still free, there seems to be servers poping up everywhere, whether this is a good idea or not is yet to be seen. A list of new servers is here: resources page.2/ Whats the difference between 2.1 and 2.5?
Although 2.1 is the original "Color version", 2.5 uses compressed character and background files that also have an embedded url in them that tells your Comic Chat program where to download the character or background "in the background" while you are chatting in the room uniterrupted. The 2.1 character will work in 2.5, but the 2.5 characters will not work in 2.1. There are still a limited amount of color 2.1 characters available, but most everyone has upgraded to 2.5 due to the smaller file sizes and the auto download capabilities. 2.5 lets you collect or make as many color characters and backgrounds as you like, there is no limit to how many you can have (well only limited to your hard drive space). At the time of writing this I have over 4000 characters and over 400 backgrounds. Some people change characters all the time others keep the same one, so there is a lot to choose from.3/ How do I upgrade?
When you click on the MsChat 2.5 Choose the Comic Chat program in the language of your preference then, download and install. When you click to download, a smaller frame will appear on your screen asking what you'd like to do 'save' or 'open'. Choose 'save this program to disc', click ok. You will be then asked where you like to save it, sometimes it will take you to where it wants to go, if not, save in C:/windows/program files. Click ok and your done. Once the file has finished downloading, open it up and away you go.
After you upgrade to 2.5 you will need to reboot (restart) your computer. When you come back you will then need to turn on 'auto download'.
You will soon be seeing color characters and backgrounds as the auto download into your comicart folder. What characters you see, you have, and they are yours to keep, free :).
For more details on a new install or first install and set up, go here for a more detailed description.
4/ How do I change my character?
There are several ways to do this, (in mschat) one way is to double click on your bigger character (middle right on your screen) and choose from there, click ok to use, apply/ok for the computer to remember it next time. Another way is to go to your tool bar. Go to view/options/character and change from there, then click apply/ok. Another way is to press CTRL-Q and change from the character tab, then apply/ok.
Back up to the question list5/ How do I set auto download?
You will need to set this after you have upgraded to 2.5 and have rebooted (restarted your computer), (in mschat) go to the tool bar. Go to view/options/comic view and check (mark) the bottom two boxes.
Back up to the question list6/ How do I add my profile?
There are several ways to do this, (in mschat) one way is to double click your big character (middle right on your screen) and on the tab bar (up top) choose 'personal info'. It is advised not to enter last names, phone numbers or street addresses.
Back up to the question list7/ What does brb, lol, wb etc mean?
(these are the most common ones)
brb = be right back
wb = welcome back
ty = thank you
yw = your welcome
j/k = just kidding
k = ok
a/s/l = age/sex/location
moofie, moofed = cut from the server(mschat) for no known reason
newbie = new person (it's not an insult)
nick = nickname
<l>, *l* = laughing
lol = lots of laughter, or laughing out loud
lmao = laughing my ass off
rofl = rolling on floor laughing
roflmao = rolling on floor laughing my ass off
b/g = background
char = character
pic = picture or photo
.wav = music clip (song)
.midi = music clip (just music)
<eg> = evil grin
<s>, *s* = smile
pic = picture or photo
lag, lagged, lagging = the time between sending and receiving messages
Back up to the question list8/ What is that cup beside someone's name?
That little cup means they are away. To set 'away' mode, go to the tool bar (in mschat) go to member/away from keyboard, type in your away message and click ok, or just click ok. The default message is 'gone fishing' but I'm sure you can come up with something better than that :)
Back up to the question list9/ How do you do those hearts and things?
Macros or the pretty pictures as people call them, can be made by changing into the symbol font, then while holding down the alt key, press 0169 on the right hand number pad. NOTE: DO not use the numbers above the main keys, it wont work.
Alt 0188 = ¼ Alt 0189 = ½ Alt 0190 = ¾ © = Alt 0169 etc
If you try do the heart without the symbol font you will get the © symbol. But the easiest way to get them is copy and paste them. If you see some (macros) hearts etc you would like to use, go into text mode (for text mode, go to view/text mode) and copy (ctrl c) and open up macros (go to view/macro/define macro) paste (ctrl v) into the larger white window in the lower half of the window (page). Name it as you like. Click add macro/apply/ok. If you want to change your macro you can within your macro box, to add someone's name, you can use %Nickname% (note capital N for nick), this way when you click on someone's name and use it, their name (nickname) will appear where you have added %Nickname%. There are a few ways of using them, firstly you can use ALT - (and the number it was saved in) or you can go to view/macros and choose one. Here are a few more examples (NOTE, these folowing ones are done in normal font). Some of these can be done a few ways, for example Þ can be done by Alt 0222 and § can be done Alt 0167 or Alt 789
Alt 0174 = ® Alt 0169 = © Alt 0187 = » Alt 0171 = « Alt 0167 = § Alt 0163 = £ Alt 0165 = ¥ Alt 0222 = Þ Alt 0188 = ¼ Alt 0189 = ½ Alt 0190 = ¾ Alt 036 = $ Alt 0247 = ÷ Alt 0191 = ¿ Alt 0248 = ø Alt 0162 = ¢ Alt 094 = ^ Alt 0124 = | Alt 0126 = ~ Alt 035 = #
Back up to the question list10/ How do I invite people?
(in mschat) go to your tool bar, go to member/invite, type in the user's name and press enter or ok. It is not case sensitive (capitals and non-capitals) but it is typo sensitive.
Back up to the question list11/ Why can't I hear the .wavs being played?
There are a few reasons for this, the first and most common is because you don't have it. You must have it to play it or hear it. And it must be in your media file.
Back up to the question list12/ Where do I save .wavs?
.wavs are saved in media, usually media is in C:/windows/media
Back up to the question list13/ How do I stop those annoying sounds?
Some of those Microsoft wavs can get annoying, go to your tool bar (in mschat) go to view/stop playing sound. Or you can stop all sound by going to view/options/settings and unmarking play sounds, or you can mute your sound on your computer by single click on the little speaker icon down by your clock (bottom right)
Back up to the question list14/ Where do I save characters and backgrounds sent to me?
Characters and backgrounds are saved in comicart, usually C:/program files/Microsoft chat/comic art. note: there are some bad people out there so becareful who you except things from. files can contain viruses.
Back up to the question list15/ How do I send a .wav or character?
Right click on the person you want to send it to (in mschat) choose send file, choose your file you want to send i.e., .wav, character, personal pic etc and click ok, a little box will appear in the top left of your screen showing your progress, it is not advised to send while the other person is lagging, this will cause it to time out.
Back up to the question list16/ What can a host do?
A host can kick, ban, set rules (such as auto-kick for swearing) and sync backgrounds (only hosts can sync backgrounds). There are no written rules for being a host but most will know the good hosts are there to help. Most character rooms will allow you just to sit there and auto d/l new characters and backgrounds, some don't so be careful. To kick someone out, right click on his or her character and choose kick, either type in a reason or click ok. Some hosts have auto-kick for swear words, some have auto-warn, some have nothing, but since these chat rooms are for all ages, the hosts try to keep the rooms clean with no nude characters and no swearing note: the auto-kick for swearing also works on .wavs and midis.
Back up to the question list17/ How do I sync backgrounds?
Only hosts can sync backgrounds, if you're a host, go to the tool bar (in mschat) go to member/host (down the bottom) then to sync background, then choose a background, click apply/ok. Do this every time you change a background for others to download or view if they have them. *to choose a background, see 'how do I change my character' and choose the background tab.
Back up to the question list18/ How do I make a automated welcome?
Well Microsoft already have one for you, it's just not turned on. On your tool bar (up top in mschat) go to view/automation, and under general (the default tab) you will see 'automatic greeting', you can use this one or change it to suit, note: if it's long, it pays to whisper it, so it doesn't disturb the room.
Back up to the question list19/ How do I make a character?
Character editor is a program that allows you to make your own characters. To make these characters auto download they need to be published. (go here for how to make and upload characters) there are a lot of good character makers out there, but also a lot of bad characters (mainly from one timers), the nudes and hidden poses are NOT wanted or needed in chat, so have fun and keep them clean.
Back up to the question list20/ How do I make a background?
Making a background is easy, making it download for others is the hard part. To make a background make your picture 315 x 315 pixels and save in .bmp format. To use these you will have to send to friends for them to see them or you can try send to one of the few people that have the background editor. These people can be found on the links page, email them with your requests, the sites are Bud-o's, Soft's and Phoniex. Microsoft only released a few of these background editors so trying to get one is useless.
Back up to the question list21/ How do I make a character auto download?
To make a character auto download for others you must add a URL into the avb's properties and post it to a web site. To do this open the .avs (character you've made) and click on file/properties down the bottom add your URL, NOTE: this is case senstive and where the most common reason for characters not auto downloading lay. It must be exact and with the same case as you upload. An example if I was to upload a charcter called busy.avb I would put:
http://members.xoom.com/busys/busy.avb
If i was to put it in a folder on my site called characters, I'd put:
http://members.xoom.com/busys/characters/busy.avb
busy.AVB is not the same as busy.avb nor is Busy.AVB, or even BUSY.avb, so files MUST be exactly the same.
As a general rule I try to keep everything lowercase and don't have any problems.
When you create the avb with the editor it will force the .avb name to upper case. (If you have reopened a saved .avs it will have a dos name in captial letters - BUSY~1.AVS) I have found xoom for one doesn't like upper and lower case so I keep it all lower case. Either click on the .avb file twice slowly and change it to lower case or right click on the file and choose rename. (or you can choose the force lower case option in the ws_ftp program)
Once you have added the URL into the avs's properties, save, choose "create a character" and you'll have the ready to post character (avb), you now just have to post the avb (using a ftp program) and it will auto download for others to see and enjoy.
Back up to the question list22/ How do I set up the WS_FTP program?
First of all we need to download the ws_ftp le program, this can be found on several sites, http://tucows.com or http://download.com are great places.
Once you have downloaded it, open it up. Now to set it up
Double click on the WS_FTP95.exe, this will open up the program ready for you to set your options.
This is how we set it up, on the second tab (startup)
Only fill in the top two lines.
Initial Remote Host Directory: = public_html
Initial Local Directory: = *your drive your files are - ie: d:\ or you can add the full path, d:\my files\my web page\bits-pieces*
then on the first tab (General)
Profile Name: = my web site
Host name/Address: ftp.xoom.com *or whatever your server is*
Host Type: = UNIX (standard)
User ID: = *your id given from your server*
Password: = *your pasword you choose with your server*
Leave the last 2 blank, choose save Pwd
Then click Apply then your already to upload your files.
Note, next time you want to upload all you have to do is press connect.
Once we hit connect we loose that little box and see the main program
one last thing to do is set the uploading options to Binary (in the middle under the windows)
One other option I advise you use is to force uploads as lowercase, this option can be found Options/Session and it's the second from the bottom, 'Force Lowercase Remote Names'.
To upload your files simply find the one/s you want to upload to your site, hight light them by clicking on them and pressing the right arrow between the two windows
If you want to make seperate folders on your site for things simply press 'MkDir' on the right on the 'Remote System' side.
WARNING: If you add files, graphics etc to folders, you must add these folders to the url name of the graphic, page, file etc.
example:
If you don't have any folders you can just use the file name in your html code like (a href="next.html) which will take you to the 'next.html' page. If you have 'next.html' in a folder you will need to add that like so (a href="folder/next.html)
You can use your full url for any files in your code but it isn't wise to for 2 reasons
1) If you change server, and this does happen, you will need to edit every link, graphic etc on every page you have.
2) People can slow your page down, bandwidth theft, they just simply save the html file to there own pc and open it whenever and all your graphics, files etc are there for viewing without being on your site.
Back up to the question list23/ How do I delete unwanted characters?
To delete unwanted characters go to you desktop, open comic art, usually C:/program files/Microsoft chat/comicart. Click on the unwanted character and press delete. Note: if you are on auto download the chances of getting them back are quite high.
Back up to the question list24/ Why don't people always talk in the chat rooms?
There is a few reasons for this, one is lag, another is because they are in another room (you can be in as many rooms as you like) they have the 'away' sign up (the tea cup), they might not have seen you or you have them on ignore (a red circle with a cross through it indicates this) if so right click on that person and choose ignore to either ignore or un ignore them.
Back up to the question list25/ How can I tell if my friend is on?
Go to the tool bar (in mschat) click on member/user list, type in the person's nickname and press search, it will show them in the box if they are connected. Click on their name and at the bottom of that box choose what you would like to do, invite, whisper or join.
Back up to the question list26/ How do I check lag, profiles etc?
(in mschat) right click on the person you want to check, choose profile, lag, etc. you can also do this from the members tab on your tool bar. If the lag is long it will take a while for a response.
Back up to the question list27/ What are zipped files and do i need them?
A zipped file is like a compressed file (made smaller for storing or sending) to open a zipped file you will need winzip or something similar. zipped files come in handy when your file to send is to large, note: music doesn't zip much. some files such as photos or pictures can just be saved in a different format, i.e. .jpg, this making it small enough to send without zipping.
Back up to the question list28/ Why do I get kicked for no reason?
If you loose your connection (become disconnected), we call that 'moofing'. You haven't been kicked, just disconnected from the server and this sometimes happens often for no reason, sometimes it is because your server is full. You can usually get straight back on, but there is nothing you can really do. This mainly happens (if it does) in peak times. The other reason it will and does happen is because your cache is full and needs to be emptied. There are several ways to empty it, if your using Internet Explorer now, then go to the tool bar, Tools/Internet options and in the middle of the general tab (the first one) you will see in the middle of the box 'Temporary internet files', just under that, press 'delete files'. This will clear your cache but if you haven't done it manually for a while might need to find the folder and delete all the cookies in there. The folder can be found here C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files. Another way is to go through the Start/Settings/Control panel/internet options, this will display the same box as the other way, press 'delete files' then ok. Thats it
Back up to the question list29/ How do I set a ownerkey?
The owner key can come in handy if you find yourself hosting your own room often (the same room) and you moof a lot or incase you host someone you shouldn't of and they kick you etc.
Using this irc command is very easy and more can be found in the mschat help file. For this command you must be first in the room to set it, and the room must always contain at least one person to retain ownership. You simply create or open the room, and where you normally type to chat, type in the command. To see if the command is set you can view it in the status box (view/status box)
To set a ownerkey, type: /prop roomname ownerkey :password
The /prop sets the command
The 'roomname' would be the name of your own room
ownerkey is the command you want set
: is very important to set this command
password would be the password of your choice
Ok got that? here is an example, say my room name is 'myroom' and my password is 'knock', I would use:
/prop myroom ownerkey :knock
Now when you moof etc all you have to do is use the /join command to regain your place as host in the room like so:
/join myroom knock
Note: the ':' is NOT used to join the room, only to set the password
Back up to the question list30/ What is and how can I make a bot?
Bots are really scripted codes, like programmes but in MSChat they aren't allowed, so when you see the word 'bot' or hear about them, they are talking about 'sort-of-bots'. These are just rule sets and yourself in MSChat twice.
There is no limit to how many you can have, (rules) I myself have over 100 but unlike the ones you can download from sites, mine are unique (or were lol) In MSChat (on the tool bar) click on view/automation (or ctrl L) and click on 'rule sets', you will see a couple of sets in there, 'general' and 'samples'. These are the default ones, to give you an idea of some things you can do, (they are all useless). To edit or make a rule click on the next tab, 'rules' click on a rule and choose 'edit rule', this will open a rule window (box) allowing you to view and edit each rule. I'm not going to show you one or two certain rules, as I find people having the same rule sets very annoying, so play with what you have and try things.
A small note on rule sets (bots), these rules cannot be activated by yourself, unless you are in MSChat twice.
Bots can be fun, but can also be used against you, some use everyday words like 'drink', 'hello' or 'lol', if I was to type hello drink lol a few times I would be able to flood you off the server. So a word of advice, don't use everyday, common words. I use things like 'chat busy?', 'is a brat' etc, one down fall with this is it has to be exact.
You can include music, macros, text or any or all of these. So go play but be careful
You can also use the MIRC or PIRCH programs, come into chat with either and make a script for the rules, but be warned you need to be protected with not seeing what is going on in that program and without the right scripts you can easily get hacked.
Back up to the question list31/ Wavs wont play in chat, why not?
A lot of wavs these days are being made and/or compressed at MP3 layered format, which is good and bad. Good part is they will play in chat (MP3's wont), bad part is if you don't hear them or they are jumpy you will need to update your codec. *my what? I hear your saying, lol* The codec is a plugin for your media player, You can download the l3codec here or another way is to upgrade your media player. Go to start/accessories/entertainment/windows media player, then click on help/check for player updates.
Back up to the question list32/ What are the short cut keys?
Press this To do this in the compose panel CTRL+A Select all text in the pane. CTRL+C Copy selected text to the Clipboard. CTRL+X Cut the selected text and place on the Clipboard. CTRL+V Paste text you've copied into the compose pane. CTRL+Z Undo the most recent action in the compose pane. CTRL+Y Send the contents of the compose pane. CTRL+T Send the contents of the compose pane as a thought. CTRL+W Send the contents of the compose pane as a whisper. CTRL+J Send text as a caption (action) to the comic strip pane. CTRL+H Play a sound. CTRL+B Make the selection bold. CTRL+I Make the selection italic. CTRL+U Underline the selection. CTRL+K Give the selection a color. CTRL+F Format the selection in a fixed pitch font. CTRL+D Format the selection in the Symbol font. Press this To do this in Microsoft Chat CTRL+N Open a new connection after disconnecting from another. CTRL+O Open a file. CTRL+P Print a file. CTRL+Q Open the Microsoft Chat Options dialog box. CTRL+L Open the Microsoft Chat Automations dialog box TAB Move the focus to the various panes in the Microsoft Chat interface. CTRL+F6 Switch among active rooms (and the Status Window if it's open). ARROW keys Move the black dot around the emotion wheel. HOME Return the black dot to the center of the emotion wheel. CTRL+S Save a file.
Back up to the question list
All these questions and answers and more can be found in the MSChat help file, click on Help, then on Help Topics and either work done the list or type in a word your looking for. I hope this page has been some help to you if you need more help, check out the help file in MSchat or ask your friendly host or fellow chatters.
All these questions and answers and more can be found in the MSChat help file, click on Help, then on Help Topics and either work done the list or type in a word your looking for. I hope this page has been some help to you if you need more help, check out the help file in MSchat or ask your friendly host or fellow chatters.