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Chat software FAQ

TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
edited January 2019 in Community Announcements
[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 It used very outdated technologies and even presented a few security issues.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:

WU7iDA4.png


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
We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
Post edited by TheMix on
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Comments

  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    Omg thank you
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thank you so much for this!
  • LaineLaine Deactivated Posts: 2,762 Boards Guru
    Ooh this is super handy thanks!

    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 :lol:

    🌈Positive thoughts🌈

    "This is my family. I found it, all on my own.
    It's little, and Broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good." ~ Stitch

    "Lately, I've been struggling with all the simple things in my life" ~ Cian Ducrot

    "I don't know if it's because my heart hurts or I'm insecure" ~ Juice Wrld
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    No worries folks! Glad you like it. :) We'll add any other frequent questions to the main list as time goes on.

    @Laine, 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
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • LaineLaine Deactivated Posts: 2,762 Boards Guru
    Thanks 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:

    🌈Positive thoughts🌈

    "This is my family. I found it, all on my own.
    It's little, and Broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good." ~ Stitch

    "Lately, I've been struggling with all the simple things in my life" ~ Cian Ducrot

    "I don't know if it's because my heart hurts or I'm insecure" ~ Juice Wrld
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    I feel like everybody was crowding on to chat last night and it was so busy in SC that everything was so slow so hopefully tonight is better 😂😂
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • LostsenseLostsense Posts: 1,329 Wise Owl
    It was really annoying me about the sounds, I had the sounds ticked on but still didnt hear any sounds?

    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.
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    I feel like everybody was crowding on to chat last night and it was so busy in SC that everything was so slow so hopefully tonight is better 😂😂

    Haha, pretty much Eleanor! Hopefully having the lobby room helps with this a little bit. :)
    Lostsense wrote: »
    It was really annoying me about the sounds, I had the sounds ticked on but still didnt hear any sounds?

    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.

    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. :)
    Laine wrote: »
    Thanks 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:

    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


    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    I'll definitely try my laptop tonight (I'll have to put up with doubles as it's IE that I use) there seems to be limitations with the mobile version.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'll definitely try my laptop tonight (I'll have to put up with doubles as it's IE that I use) there seems to be limitations with the mobile version.

    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.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    can you guys please add some sort of question about mobile devices, like explaining whether it can be used or not and how accessible it is? Cuz I found it really slow and buggy on my phone.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Lostsense wrote: »
    Ticked/unticked what on the user list?

    And my sounds on chat are still not working and yes my devices sound is up.

    So, on mobile you should see a menu in the top right which looks like this:

    2UgCRPD.jpg

    Then if you click 'user list' here:

    RmMvKLM.jpg

    You'll be shown the list of users in that room. :) On desktop, it will show that alongside the main chat window rather than on a separate screen. Is this what you did the other night?

    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:
    can you guys please add some sort of question about mobile devices, like explaining whether it can be used or not and how accessible it is? Cuz I found it really slow and buggy on my phone.

    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


    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    Thank you Mike!! It's an iPhone 6 which, tbh, is already a bit dodgy. I used Safari the first night which was super slow so I downloaded Chrome which was a bit better. But generally laptop worked well and more reliably.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • AbigailAbigail Posts: 816 Part of The Mix Family
    Thank you Mike!! It's an iPhone 6 which, tbh, is already a bit dodgy. I used Safari the first night which was super slow so I downloaded Chrome which was a bit better. But generally laptop worked well and more reliably.

    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
    Some people think I am unhappy. I'm not. I just approach silence in the world that never stops talking.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    Abigail wrote: »

    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.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Great to see everyone helping each other out in this thread. It really helps, so thank you all!

    @independent_ - thanks for this. :) Hmm, okay. Glad to hear you had some success in the end. Perhaps it isn't optimised very well for Safari... might be best to stick with either Chrome or Firefox for the time being. It's worth bearing in mind that things have been a bit slow across all devices, so regardless of what you use it probably won't be as instantaneous as Flashchat was (yet - we're looking into it). But we are keeping a note of all the issues cropping up, so this is good for us to be aware of. :yes:

    Mike
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • louisa982louisa982 Posts: 294 The Mix Regular
    The new sowtware is awful. i can't use my username ie used for years now. the dark colours are making my head hurt, you cant see as many messages anymore. and the bubble chat styel takes up so much space. plus there are no avatar options so now i have to find a pciture myself which is effort. ugh.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    louisa982 wrote: »
    The new sowtware is awful. i can't use my username ie used for years now. the dark colours are making my head hurt, you cant see as many messages anymore. and the bubble chat styel takes up so much space. plus there are no avatar options so now i have to find a pciture myself which is effort. ugh.

    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? :confused:
    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.
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    louisa982 wrote: »
    The new sowtware is awful. i can't use my username ie used for years now. the dark colours are making my head hurt, you cant see as many messages anymore. and the bubble chat styel takes up so much space. plus there are no avatar options so now i have to find a pciture myself which is effort. ugh.


    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
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Princesa wrote: »

    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? :confused:
    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 @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
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Mix wrote: »


    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
  • MirabelleMirabelle Posts: 1,020 Wise Owl
    The Mix How where can I make a chat account, please?
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Hey @Mirabelle

    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
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • MirabelleMirabelle Posts: 1,020 Wise Owl
    The Mix wrote: »
    Hey @Mirabelle

    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
  • LostsenseLostsense Posts: 1,329 Wise Owl
    The Mix wrote: »

    So, on mobile you should see a menu in the top right which looks like this:

    2UgCRPD.jpg

    Then if you click 'user list' here:

    RmMvKLM.jpg

    You'll be shown the list of users in that room. :) On desktop, it will show that alongside the main chat window rather than on a separate screen. Is this what you did the other night?

    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:


    Yeah, that is what I have been doing but it only shows the name of one username.

    That is okay about sounds for now thankyou.
  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 8,610 Legendary Poster
    So, maybe more of a bug report than a question, however.

    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.
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Hey @independent_ :)

    Thanks for letting us know about the bug you found, that does sound strange! We will investigate :)

    Thanks!

    - Aife
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
  • MirabelleMirabelle Posts: 1,020 Wise Owl
    Last night I noticed in GC that some conversations were not making sense, though everyone were visibly posting. The conversations seemed one-sided so I reasoned that maybe the mods - there were four in last night's chat - may have 'muted' selected users, enabling them to cope if the room became suddenly flooded with incoming members.

    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
  • starfish_17starfish_17 Posts: 226 Trailblazer
    Haha @independent_ Thats so weird that i was apparently still in the chat after i left. I was definitely not there :confused:
  • TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,040 Boards Guru
    Hey @Mirabelle thanks for letting us know about GC, that sounds strange too. The mods wouldn't have put anyone on mute, it's possible there might be a slight bug or technical error with the software. I'll send you a PM so we can find out a bit more about what you experienced. :)

    All the best,

    - Aife
    We're @Aife, @Ella, @Emma_, @Gemma, and @JustV - the staff team here at The Mix.

    Our DMs are monitored Monday - Friday (10am - 6pm) with limited cover on weekends. We have a great team of moderators looking after the community outside of those hours to check in on any reported posts.

    We're not able to provide support on this account. If you need support urgently for any reason, please call 999, go to your nearest A&E or contact Crisis Messenger by texting THEMIX to 85258.
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