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Getting Started

If you are a regular user of Yahoo! or CheetaChat you shouldn't have a problem finding your way around. Indeed, even if you are new to online chatting you should be able to carry out basic functions straight away.

Starting WebChat

When you install the client you will get two icons in the 'WebChat!' folder - WebChat and TechTalk:

Clicking 'TechTalk Chat' will take you straight to the TechTalk chat server. Just clicking 'WebChat!' will start the client and bring up the profile screen, where you configure the chat servers you wish to use. In order to familiarize yourself with everything, you should click 'WebChat!' at this point.

The 'Regional Setup' Screen

You will see the 'Regional Setup' wizard the first time you start WebChat after installation. This will install some default connection profiles for you, depending on your location. The wizard will guide you through this process. Occasionally the available connection profiles will be expanded or changed. Watch for notifications of this when you connect to the chat servers, and click 'Tools|Regional Settings...' to update your profiles.

The Profile Screen

The profile screen is where you can manage your connection profiles and connect to servers.

This is the default screen which you should see after performing a clean install. This is the connection profile which is used if you click 'TechTalk Chat' from the Start menu. We'll use this profile to connect to the TechTalk chat server so you can get used to WebChat. 

At the moment the profile assumes you are male are do not have a username. TechTalk does not currently require you to signup, so enter the username which you wish to use in the 'Username' field. This will identify you whilst you are chatting. You do not need a password, so leave the 'Password' field blank.

Before you log in you need to select the 'Female' option if you are female. This affects the messages sent out when you express an emotion (emotions are explained later).

The other options will be examined later.

You now have a profile which will connect without problems. Click 'OK' to connect to the server.

Assuming the chat server is running and you are connected to the Internet, you should be connected quickly. 

Now you are connected

OK, so you're connected - now it's time to start chatting. You should see something similar to the picture below. The exact icons that you see will depend on whether you have sound support installed and what features the server supports.

The user list down the right hand side tells you who is in the room with you. In this shot, I'm the only person there. The emotions list lets you express emotions - simply double click on one. The drop down list in the bottom right corner shows you all the rooms which are available.

When somebody else joins the room you can start chatting to them. Please be courteous when you are chatting, especially if you do not know the people in the room. Only contribute if you have a sensible question to ask or have something relevant to say.

To send a line of text to all the users in the room, type your message in the white text box on the left and press 'Enter'.

That's all there is to basic chatting.