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Chat software FAQ
TheMix
Posts: 3,118 Boards Guru
[Last updated 05/01/2019]
Hey everyone,
This will be an ongoing thread where we answer the common questions we get asked about the new software, give a few general pointers and flag any known issues with you all.
Why did we change from the old software?
The old software (123Flaschat) was, to be frank, old. It used very outdated technologies and even presented a few security issues. The new software (ChatWee) is much more modern, more customisable, and way more secure. It's a win win.
I don't want to sign up with my personal email address. Can I still come to chat?
Yep! You do need an email to register, but it's worth noting nobody can see it but the administrators (us and a few other moderators). But if you're really not comfortable using your personal email, you're welcome to quickly whip up a new one to use just for chat or sign-in as a guest.
Another option is to use a burner email address from somewhere like Maildrop.cc, but if you use one of these, password resetting becomes a bit messy. If the burner address is temporary, you won't be able to reset your password in future. If it's not temporary, it will be publicly accessible which means (in theory) anyone could reset your password.
When I tried to join a session, why did I get put in the 'lobby'?
We set up this room so that people could explore the new software away from the main chat sessions. There will usually be a moderator watching over the lobby, as well as anyone else who would like to stick around and help out any newcomers.
Having this room also avoids everyone being dumped into Support Chat when they log in, flooding that particular room. From the lobby, you can access any of the main sessions happening that night.
Why am I seeing every message twice?
Ah, so it sounds like you might be using a microsoft browser - either Internet Explorer or Edge. This is a bug with these particular browsers, and we're not sure what's causing it. The good news is, this doesn't happen with other browsers such as Chrome or Firefox, so for the purpose of coming to chat we'd recommend using one of these. Unless you particularly enjoy having double vision, that is.
Why am I in two (or more) rooms at once?
ChatWee lets us be in multiple rooms at once. Handily, this means you can be in the lobby and in one of the main chat sessions. So if you'd like to come to chat and also help people out with using the new software in the lobby, you're more than welcome to do that.
However, it's best not to be in more than one of the main chat rooms at once so people don't get confused as to which room you're active in. You can leave a room by clicking 'close' in the menu in the top right. This won't sign you out of all rooms, just the one you're in when you hit that button.
Why aren't there room notifications for people entering and leaving?
Unfortunately, that isn't a feature of our new software (yet). For now, it'll be a case of everyone (particularly moderators) keeping an eye on the user list (on the right) to keep track of who's coming and going.
Why can't I hear notifications even though I have sounds turned on?
In theory, enabling sounds should turn on notifications for new messages. A few people have reported the issue of this not happening even with all relevant volumes turned up, so it's something we'll be looking in to. For now, we'd suggest trying different browsers or devices to see if it's related to either of those.
Everything is a bit slow... is it my connection?
Possibly. But there's also a chance this is an issue at our end. We've noticed that, particularly when rooms are really busy, messages can take anything up to 10 seconds to go through. We'll be investigating this when we can, but for now we would suggest keeping to one room (plus the lobby, if you'd like to be there) to minimise any lag.
Can I change the colour scheme?
You can't change the colour scheme - that's something we customise from our end. However, we haven't fully decided on what colours we'll use just yet and we'll be gathering everyone's feedback on that soon. We might even hold a vote where we design a few and everyone can pick their favourite. For now, though, we'll be sticking with the dark theme.
Can I use chat on my mobile or tablet?
In theory, yes - this software worked well on the devices we tested. We're aware some people have reported some bugs with various devices which we'll be investigating, and if you have any trouble using yours then do let us know. But generally speaking, yes, this should be fine.
Is there a chat cap on the new software?
At the moment we don't have the ability to put a chat cap onto any of the chat rooms. If you're leaving a chat room and heading into another one, it's important you exit the chat room you're currently in. You can leave a room by clicking 'close' in the menu in the top right. This won't sign you out of all rooms, just the one you're in when you hit that button.
Can I change the size of the chatter list?
If you're using a computer (not tablet or phone), then yes! Half way down the border between the main chat window and chatter list, you'll spot three small, vertical dots (just on the inside of the chatter list box). Clicking on these and dragging left or right will change the width of the list - just like in the screenshot below:
I have a question that isn't on this list! Help?
If you've never used this software before or everything seems completely alien and scary, you can check out out how-to guide. It's attached to this thread, and contains a full tutorial in how to use ChatWee. If your question still isn't answered in there, feel free to post below or use our bug form and we'll get back to you.
Mike & Aife
Hey everyone,
This will be an ongoing thread where we answer the common questions we get asked about the new software, give a few general pointers and flag any known issues with you all.
Why did we change from the old software?
The old software (123Flaschat) was, to be frank, old. It used very outdated technologies and even presented a few security issues. The new software (ChatWee) is much more modern, more customisable, and way more secure. It's a win win.
I don't want to sign up with my personal email address. Can I still come to chat?
Yep! You do need an email to register, but it's worth noting nobody can see it but the administrators (us and a few other moderators). But if you're really not comfortable using your personal email, you're welcome to quickly whip up a new one to use just for chat or sign-in as a guest.
Another option is to use a burner email address from somewhere like Maildrop.cc, but if you use one of these, password resetting becomes a bit messy. If the burner address is temporary, you won't be able to reset your password in future. If it's not temporary, it will be publicly accessible which means (in theory) anyone could reset your password.
When I tried to join a session, why did I get put in the 'lobby'?
We set up this room so that people could explore the new software away from the main chat sessions. There will usually be a moderator watching over the lobby, as well as anyone else who would like to stick around and help out any newcomers.
Having this room also avoids everyone being dumped into Support Chat when they log in, flooding that particular room. From the lobby, you can access any of the main sessions happening that night.
Why am I seeing every message twice?
Ah, so it sounds like you might be using a microsoft browser - either Internet Explorer or Edge. This is a bug with these particular browsers, and we're not sure what's causing it. The good news is, this doesn't happen with other browsers such as Chrome or Firefox, so for the purpose of coming to chat we'd recommend using one of these. Unless you particularly enjoy having double vision, that is.
Why am I in two (or more) rooms at once?
ChatWee lets us be in multiple rooms at once. Handily, this means you can be in the lobby and in one of the main chat sessions. So if you'd like to come to chat and also help people out with using the new software in the lobby, you're more than welcome to do that.
However, it's best not to be in more than one of the main chat rooms at once so people don't get confused as to which room you're active in. You can leave a room by clicking 'close' in the menu in the top right. This won't sign you out of all rooms, just the one you're in when you hit that button.
Why aren't there room notifications for people entering and leaving?
Unfortunately, that isn't a feature of our new software (yet). For now, it'll be a case of everyone (particularly moderators) keeping an eye on the user list (on the right) to keep track of who's coming and going.
Why can't I hear notifications even though I have sounds turned on?
In theory, enabling sounds should turn on notifications for new messages. A few people have reported the issue of this not happening even with all relevant volumes turned up, so it's something we'll be looking in to. For now, we'd suggest trying different browsers or devices to see if it's related to either of those.
Everything is a bit slow... is it my connection?
Possibly. But there's also a chance this is an issue at our end. We've noticed that, particularly when rooms are really busy, messages can take anything up to 10 seconds to go through. We'll be investigating this when we can, but for now we would suggest keeping to one room (plus the lobby, if you'd like to be there) to minimise any lag.
Can I change the colour scheme?
You can't change the colour scheme - that's something we customise from our end. However, we haven't fully decided on what colours we'll use just yet and we'll be gathering everyone's feedback on that soon. We might even hold a vote where we design a few and everyone can pick their favourite. For now, though, we'll be sticking with the dark theme.
Can I use chat on my mobile or tablet?
In theory, yes - this software worked well on the devices we tested. We're aware some people have reported some bugs with various devices which we'll be investigating, and if you have any trouble using yours then do let us know. But generally speaking, yes, this should be fine.
Is there a chat cap on the new software?
At the moment we don't have the ability to put a chat cap onto any of the chat rooms. If you're leaving a chat room and heading into another one, it's important you exit the chat room you're currently in. You can leave a room by clicking 'close' in the menu in the top right. This won't sign you out of all rooms, just the one you're in when you hit that button.
Can I change the size of the chatter list?
If you're using a computer (not tablet or phone), then yes! Half way down the border between the main chat window and chatter list, you'll spot three small, vertical dots (just on the inside of the chatter list box). Clicking on these and dragging left or right will change the width of the list - just like in the screenshot below:
I have a question that isn't on this list! Help?
If you've never used this software before or everything seems completely alien and scary, you can check out out how-to guide. It's attached to this thread, and contains a full tutorial in how to use ChatWee. If your question still isn't answered in there, feel free to post below or use our bug form and we'll get back to you.
Mike & Aife
Post edited by TheMix on
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Comments
I couldn't get in at all last night and I tried several browsers including google chrome, so i'm going to see if it will be any better tonight,
i'm missing chat
@Past User, hmmm.... not sure why that might be. See how you go tonight, and if you still have trouble then drop us a PM. We can take a look at screenshots etc. if we need to. :chin:
Mike
every browser I used loaded up once but I couldn't see any messages or type and then they just stopped and never loaded chats up :chin:
Why cant we see when people join and leave? I think this is important for us to see too, if someone dosent get an hello they might feel like they havent been noticed.
It says user list but there wasent a list there of users in the chat again I think this is important for us to see whos in chats too, a new username might go unrecongnised and again feel left out especially if its a new person alltogether (new to TM).🤔
I think these are really important.
Haha, pretty much Eleanor! Hopefully having the lobby room helps with this a little bit.
Sounds - in theory, you should have the sounds if it was ticked on your menu. Apologies if this is super obvious, but did you make sure your browser volume was turned up on your volume mixer? You should hear a water-drop kind of sound with new messages.
Joining & leaving - I'll add this to the FAQ because this is a really good one. Unfortunately, that isn't a feature of this new software (yet). For now, it'll just be a case of everyone (particularly mods) keeping an eye on the userlist to keep track of who's coming and going.
Userlist - This should display if you have it ticked on the menu in the top right (where the little dots are). Do you think it might have been unticked?
Thanks for your input, Lostsense! Hugely appreciated.
Hmm, okay... how strange. :chin: If you run into this again tonight then be sure to drop us a PM - that definitely doesn't sound right! In the really short term, if you have other devices you can use, they might be worth a try.
Muchos gracias, everyone!
Mike
Dixie said you'll get a better signal strength using your laptop. Also, if you have an ethernet cable, jack it into the laptop from your router and you'll receive even stronger internet signal. Our laptops are wired via ethernet cable because our WiFi signal kind of sucks.
So, on mobile you should see a menu in the top right which looks like this:
Then if you click 'user list' here:
You'll be shown the list of users in that room.
It's hard to say what could be causing the sound issue, but that is something a couple of others have raised with us as well. I'll add it to the FAQ as something we'll test, but for the meantime I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to offer in the way of a solution. :chin:
Yep, we can certainly do this. To our knowledge, it should work on all mobile devices (at least, it did on the ones we tested). What device and browser were you using?
Mike
Hi Eleanor I used my phone for thursday chat it was a bit slow but generally it did work quite well. It might depend on your phone amd which web browser you us as well. For me my phone is sort of modern put i us sansung so chrome is my browsers choice all the time.
Hope this helps.
Speak sunday
Abi
Yeah, Chrome worked far better than Safari on my phone.
@independent_ - thanks for this.
Mike
I totally agree with you about the background colour and bubble chat far too large. The charcoal grey is too sombre, way too depressing a colour.
Surely there must be a way to change it to a lighter colour?
I followed the FAQs advice about bringing back my avatar, but the software still doesn't want to know.
Find it difficult there is no way of seing people entering or leaving.
Still, better to have a place to chat than no chat at all.
Hey @louisa982 I'm sorry to hear how the dark colours are making your head hurt. We'll be running a chat background feedback session for everyone next month. It's important we get the colour scheme right so chat is useable for everyone. You mentioned you can't use your username, what happens when you try to change it?
- Aife
Hey @Princesa I'm sorry that you're having difficulty changing your avatar. What happens when you try to change it? Do you know what file format your picture is in?
Also, thank you for your feedback about that chat colours. Like I mentioned to Louisa above, we will be running a chat background colour feedback session soon. Hopefully we can find a colour scheme that works for everyone
All the best,
- Aife
Hi Aife,
My avatar image is PNG and also I have a JPEG image, but the problem is when clicking on my chat screen avatar (not the one that's here), all I get is that small dark coloured website depicting:Top line: Email. Line beneath: UK ....which Mike said not to put details on as it's public. Again, the background is charcoal. ...and I have nowhere else on which to click, even when clicking on my chat screen avatar - simply that get nowhere. I'm using a Windows 7 laptop and occasionally my Windows 10. I don't my Mac for the forum,. That is solely for music.
It will be cool when you and your staff work together on a new chat skin colour. Then what you do do is show us, your soldiers, screencap images of what colours and praps we could vote on them.
I must apologise for sounding negative on this thread, but at home here I've a lot onbaord at the mo.
I really love TheMix. Like many here, the forum and the (new) chat has become my lifeline.
All the best, :wave:
Julie
Welcome to the boards! To make a chat account, you'll have to wait until chat opens tonight at 8pm. From there, there's an option to register an account before you enter the chat room.
All the best,
- Aife
Hello! I will wait until chat opens and then register a new account first.
Thank you for your guidance
So, basically @Esme17[/USER] 's name was not on the userlist (so assumably wasn't in chat) but for the remainder of the chat it showed that she was typing a message. It was so strange. Just thought I'd let [USER="95867"]The Mix know about this.
Thanks for letting us know about the bug you found, that does sound strange! We will investigate
Thanks!
- Aife
While I don't mind reading what appears to be one-sided conversations making utter bollocks, after half an hour I got extremely weary, said goodnight and signed out.
This is only a comment.
Belle
All the best,
- Aife