chat room tips

[Guest guest]

For those of not familiar with the chat setup, here are some tips from a non-expert. can tell you the fancier stuff.

When you first go to the link, you will be asked for an ID & password. If you haven't already done this part, just make up whatever you want (write it down so you won't forget it!), then logon. If you already have registered, just logon. You'll come to a beautiful blue screen. At the top it says Sarc Buddy Lounge. So you are now in the lounge. To go to another room, press the arrows. To the right of the message area you can see if anyone else is there & which room they are in. If you want a cute symbol by your name, go to options, beneath the message area, then click effects & choose an "avatar." For this part it doesn't matter whether you have a PC or Mac. For the Mac stuff, ask someone else. You can use the same avatar for the name list & your messages, or different ones.

The rectangle at the bottom is where you type your messages, then hit send, or enter on your keyboard. The "Away" button is handy if you need to get a snack, check your email, etc. When you check one of these it will appear beside your name at the top. So if you enter the chatroom & see "Ramblin' Rose" with BRB, you know that I'm away for a few minutes, but will return, unless I get distracted on the way back from the bathroom & forget!

When you type your messages, they will show up white unless you want to change the color. The color button is the little green thing by the italics button. Please try to avoid dark colors, as many of us have difficulty reading blue on blue (not mentioning any names, ). The smiley face will give you lots of options to jazz up your message.

Well, hopefully that's enough to get everyone started & feeling comfortable. The main thing is just to jump in & do it. If there are several people in the room, it gets weird because by the time you type an answer to someone's comment, there may be a whole other subject out there, but just go ahead & send your message.

Hope to see you in a little bit for the Faith chat & later tonight for the "Rumble." Oh, another thing is that the times on the messages are apparently PST/PDT, which takes getting used to when you are in another time zone.

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator See what you’re getting into…before you go there