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Chat Guide

Last modified: 6th November 2011

This is a brief guide on how to use our Chat Rooms. This guide focuses on the Para Chat Rooms as the vast majority of our chat rooms use this software. For user guides on other chat room software used on Bollywood Chat see the More Detailed Help section below.

Contents

• Getting Started
• Why does the browser ask me that the web page needs Java / Flash to work properly?
• How do I Login to the chat room?
• Help with some of the main features
• Public Chat Window
• Private Chat
• Changing Rooms
• Video Chat and Voice Chat
• Chat Room Tips
• Turning Sound On/Off
• Personalising Font
• Changing Online Status
• Choose Avatar
• Block Private Messages from a Specific User
• Block All Private Messages
• More Detailed Help

Getting Started

Some help on getting started if this is your first time visiting Bollywood Chat.

Why does the browser ask me that the web page needs Java / Flash to work properly?

Our chat rooms run on Java and Flash. If this is your first time visiting Bollywood Chat you might not have these plugins installed on your computer. It’s perfectly safe to install these plugins. Not only will it enable you to use our chat rooms but it will also enable you to experience functionality across the World Wide Web which use either of these browser plugins.

• To install Java for FREE go here: Download Free Java Software
• To install the Flash Player for FREE go here: Install Adobe Flash Player

Once you’ve installed the plugins, head back here to Bollywood Chat and you should be ready to login to a chat room of your choice.

How do I Login to the chat room?

All the chat rooms on Bollywood Chat require no registration. That’s right, no sign up! Chat rooms without registration whatsoever! What this means is that in order to access the chat rooms all you have to do is make up an interesting or descriptive username which will represent you in the chat room for the duration of your chat session. Simply:

• Type in a Username, and then
• Press “Connect”!

The system will then open up the chat room to you with you logged in as the username you selected.

Help with some of the main features

Once logged into the chat room you will notice these features.

Public Chat Window

On the left you will see the public chat window with a stream of messages being posted by some of the users of the chat room. On the right you can see a list of all the chatters logged in right now. The number above the user list indicates the number of chatters currently logged into the chat room. The busiest time here on Bollywood Chat tends to be Sunday evenings. Below the public chat window you will see a text box which says “Start typing here”. Go ahead do it now. Say “Hello” to everyone in the chat room and hit “Send”!

Private Chat

If you scroll down the list of usernames to someone who sounds interesting you can double click on their username and a small private chat window will open up in the foreground.  You can then type in a message privately to this user and press “Send”. Depending on whether your first message and username are interesting enough to this user, they will then either choose to respond to you, or ignore your message. You can have multiple private conversations simultaneously with other users at the same time.

Changing Rooms

Above the user list you will see two tabs. If you click on the tab on the right which has an icon that looks like two speech bubbles, you will see a list of alternative chat rooms to choose from. To go to another chat room other than the main BollywoodChatroom simply double click on a chat room of your choice. Other popular chat rooms include Lobby-2 and MasalaChat.

Video Chat and Voice Chat

Bollywood Chat now comes with video and voice chat functionality! Between the public chat window and the “Start typing here” text box you will see nine buttons. To connect your webcam to the chat room click on the 2nd button from the right (with an icon that looks like a webcam on it). Then select the top option which says “Start My Voice/Video Chat Broadcast” and a second browser window/tab will open up.  Press “Allow” and your video stream will appear in the small window on the right.

To let other people know that you have a webcam, go back to the main chat window and press on the webcam button again, and this time select the last option which says: “Show My Voice/Video Icon”. This will add a webcam icon to the left of your username in the user list, so other people with webcams can initiate a webcam chat session with you.

To initiate a Video Chat session with a user, right click on their username in the user list and select “Start Private Voice/Video Chat With This User”.

Chat Room Tips

Some tips for using the text version of our Para Chat rooms.

Turning Sound On/Off

Sometimes annoying users can flood the room with sound alerts. This can really become quite bothersome. To neutralise the impact of their behaviour you can switch off sounds from the room. Above the public chat window on the left click on “Options” and then deselect the check box which says “Room Audio”. There you go! You have now muted all sounds coming from the room and you can continue to converse with people in peace!

Personalising Font

Using the buttons below the public chat window you can:

• Make your text bold
• Make your text italic
• And you can change the colour of your font too

By clicking on “Options” above the public chat window and scrolling down to the bottom you can also:

• Alter your font size
• Alter your user font to either Dialog, TimesRoman, Courier or Helvetica

Changing Online Status

If you find yourself addicted to Bollywood Chat and you spend many hours of the day logged into the chat room you may want to change your online status. To do so, click on the 4th button from the right below the public chat window (which has a green blob on it). Then either select one of the predefined statuses or create your own, like “Too busy being delicious”.

Choose Avatar

To express yourself even more, you may want to choose an Avatar that represents either your personality or the way you look. To choose an Avatar click on “Action” above the public chat window and then select “My Avatar”. A new window will open from where you can choose an Avatar that best suits you by clicking on it. Other users will see this Avatar either when they have a Private Chat with you or if they have the option “Show Avatars” selected from the “Options” menu.

Block Private Messages from a Specific User

You may at times want to block a specific user from sending you messages. They might be pestering you or being annoying. Or quite simply it might be a moment you want to feel like you have the power in the conversation! To exercise the right of not being spoken to, in the private chat window with that user you can click on “Action” on the top right of the private chat window and select “Ignore”. There you go! Complete control and no more annoying messages from that particular user. If you change your mind you can always uncheck “Ignore” and you will be able to receive messages from them again.

Block All Private Messages

Sometimes you might just want to mingle with the sociable folks in the public chat room and not receive propositions for private conversations from anyone. To block all users from sending you private messages click on “Options” above the public chat room and select “Block All Private Messages”. Now you can chat freely in the public chat room without being bothered by popup private chat windows. You can reverse this setting by unchecking this option again.

More Detailed Help

To get more detailed information on using the Para Chat Rooms on this site please see Para Chat User Guide.

To get help on other chat software used on this site, check out:

• ICQ User Guide
• 123 Flash Chat User Guide
• ChatSpace User Guide