Chat Features Tutorial and Advisory

[Admin Moderator]

**(for the moment, chatting on the main page has been disabled. NING is rolling out an updated, improved version in the next few weeks. There have been several glitches having it exanded to all pages. Until the new version is available we can still chat in the 'tabbed' chat room. Hopefully the updated version is improved and is supposed to provide Instant messaging between members).

We have now added the Chat feature to all pages of the network. This is a good feature for members who want to chat, but have not been able to set up times to meet in the specific chat room. Now it's available at all times and on all pages. (We are testing if this is a good feature for our site in this manner)

Be aware that all (non private) chats are viewable to everyone on and off the network via the mainpage right hand side panel. The chat is located on all pages via the right hand side panel. Therefore, please conduct all chats family friendly, following the ADDer World site Guidelines and do not reveal any critical information about yourself (phone number, address, etc). There is an option to have Instant Messaging PRIVATE with other members. Never discuss anything in the Chat about another member or individual! These can be viewed by others and could result in the person chatting being removed. No, that's the last thing we want to do, therefore, never chat about another individual even if that person is not a member.

Tutorial is below to assist you with using the Chat feature:

How do I appear as offline in the Chat room?

When you're signed in to ADDer World, you'll appear as "online" when you're visiting any page with the Chat feature on it. If you'd like to appear offline in Chat, set the pulldown menu that says that you are "online" to "offline."

If you appear as 'online' after clicking to be 'offline' you may have to go to the chat 'room', which you can find via the upper most menu of the site. In the chat 'room' set yourself as offline or online. If this still doesn't work to keep your status stable, you may have to sign out of ADDer World while set to 'offline' and then sign back into ADDer World. This feature is still being tested so please bear with us. * Update: It appears that if you want to be 'offline' in chat across the network, you must set both the front page chat area to offline and the tabbed chat room to offline as well. Provide any feedback below.

Using Chat

You can participate in the chatroom directly from the main page of the network, or you can navigate to the Chat tab for a full page view of the chatroom. When you sign in to a network with the Chat feature on it, you will automatically appear as "online" in the chatroom.

Here's what the Chat feature looks like on its own tab:

In the right column, a list of members currently in the chatroom appears.

Clicking on their profile photo pops up a dialogue that allows you to view their profile on the network or initiate a private chat with them.

When the member accepts, the two of you will be placed in your own separate chatroom.

You can navigate back to the main chatroom at any time by clicking the Main tab.

When another member wants to start a private chat with you, you'll see a yellow message at the bottom of the chatroom letting you know.

If you no longer wish to appear as online in the chatroom, you can set your status to "offline." Just locate the dropdown menu in the top corner of the Chat feature and select "offline."