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Chat
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HELP 2 Page
Click here for page 2 of Chat help
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CHAT COMMANDS: |
Operator commands:
| backup abuse ban blink bold color give |
http link image id italic kick lock ops |
post read summon unban unlock word modification |
You then type in what you want to say and hit return. The return key works for most browsers but for those that do not there is a "POST" button provided and clicking on this button will send the message. You must hit return of POST on the main chat to see new responses from other chatters.
You must hit return of POST on the chat unless you are using our new client or Frame Chat. The post button or return will also refresh the screen so that you can see messages that other users have typed since the last screen refresh. As you and other users type messages they disappear off the top of the screen and more are added to the bottom. Any line that does not start with a forward slash "/" will be printed directly to the channel after your nickname enclosed in braces.
If you keep getting repeat screen turn off the buffering; with Netscape turn off buffering by selecting ( Options / Preferences / Cache and Network / Every Time ). With communicator this is under ( Edit / Preferences / Advanced / Cache ).
Lynx users should note that the page will be buffered and you will get repeat screen (ie. nothing changes) unless you select the "POST" button and then hit the "x" key to submit your input without buffering!
You should enable your Javascript on Alamak, Javascript is used to re-select the input field making chatting easier and faster! With Netscape 2.0 or higher the input field is automatically selected after you load the page. The side effect is that if the input field is below the bottom of the page ( Netscape for Windows ) it will pop the view down to the selected input field after the page loads ( it doesn't do this for X windows ). To get rid of the popup effect, decrease your font size or use /len 10 to decrese the total number of messages displayed to 10.
Nicknames
Duplicates of existing nicknames are not allowed. If you choose a
nickname already in use you will get a "nickname invalid" warning
and have to return to the entry page and enter a new nickname. Only letters
(a-z A-Z), numbers (0-9), and underscore "_" are allowed in
nicknames. Although this prevents different people with the same nickname
from chatting at the same time, this does not prevent them from being on at
different times. If you see someone with the same nickname as a person you
spoke with before, do not assume they are the same person! Additionally,
nicknames are case sensitive and there can be a Darrel as well as DARREL and
darrel on the chat at the same time. Operators are an exception to
this rule, and have reserved nicknames that cannot be used by regular users.
Who's Online and Wait List
There are two ways to know who is online. There are the /who, /whoall, /whois
variations to look for people or get a list and there is the Alamak Wait
function. Operators can setup a /wait list of their favorite friends and be
notified when those friends login to the chat. There is also a seperate Wait
Window that can be used to monitor all servers for your friends while you
stay offline.
Changing Rooms
Alamak Chat has many different "rooms" or
"locations", each with a different group of people and topic of
discussion. There are two ways to change rooms, but perhaps the easiest for
a new users is to use the pull-down location selector next to the
input field. The current location is always shown at the top of the location
selector. Use the mouse to select a new location. To make this change
effective hit the "POST" button or select the input field and hit
return. If using Netscape_2.0 the change will be detected automatically as
soon as the mouse button is released. Only Operators can create new
rooms and lock them.
The second way to change channels is with the "/join" command which is described in the Help: Commands section.
Command Syntax
Commands are CASE SENSITIVE and all are in lowercase. The command
"/MSG" is not the same as "/msg" and "/MSG"
will not be recognized by the server as a command.
All commands start with a forward slash and this forward slash must be the first character on the input line. If you put a space before the forward slash the command will fail and it will print exactly what you typed including the forward slash.
There are three exceptions to the above rule that the forward slash must be first in a command and they are /bo /bl /it, the commands to make a single word BOLD, BLINKING, or ITALIC. Note that the /bold /blink and /italic commands which affect the entire line are not the same as the /bo /bl and /it commands which only affects the next word and can be put in the middle of a line. Only Operators can use these color and font commands.
Command List
The online commands list can be viewed by typing /help.
The command list is displayed with the command as typed with the slash followed by a space, and then in brackets an option such as [text]. Do not include the square braces "[" and "]" with the command as the braces, the braces just indicate that this is an option to fill in. This means replace the [text] with something you wish to type.
In some cases the bracketed options are a required part of the command but sometimes they are optional and a default action is assumed. For example a "/who" command without any specified [location] assumes you mean to show a list of users in your current room.
Following each command is a short description explaining what the command does.
Command List
The most frequently used command is /msg, which send a message privately
to another user. Use this command as "/msg [nick] [message]". This
means to send a private message "Hello" to a person nicknamed
"Alamak" you would type "/msg Alamak Hello" (without the
quote marks, of course.)
When someone sends you a message, it will be displayed below a horizontal line, with their nickname, and a javascript link that you can click to begin a reply.
Operators
Operators are concerned Alamak users who pay and support the
chat. They make this chat possible for all users by paying for server and
network maintenance and by protect the chat from people who try to flood or
otherwise harrass chat users online. We realize that some Operators are
abusive but the committee and chat administration does it's best to identify
and remove the worst abusive Ops. In the case of abuse, do not confront the
Operator online, instead please use the appropriate section of the Contact
Us Page.
Operators are the first line of defense against harrassment and abuse. You should be able to ask an Operator for help. Please provide evidence of harrassment with a /forward command and you should get some assistance, the Op will either try to talk or reason with the person or kick or ban depending on the situation.
Operators have the ablity to use special commands, colors, create new rooms, and kick or ban chatters who are harrassing other people on the chat. An operator's address is shown with "#" on each side in a /who listing, ( ie. #some .address.com#). Some Operator commands can only be used when using the Operators specific reserved nickname.
JOIN OR CREATE A LOCATION : /join [location]
In addition to using the pull-down location selector, the /join command is
another way a user can change from one location to another in the chat. Some
public locations are not listed in the location selector below the input
field but can be entered with the /join command. You can use the
"/list" command described below to get a list of all locations
with users and the use "/join [new_location]" to change to that
location. If the location is locked a message will be displayed explaining
that it is locked, who locked it, and the IP address of the Operator who
locked it. Public locations can not be locked and can always be joined. The
only way to enter a locked area is if summoned. Only Operators can create
new locations with the /join command. If a regular user tried to /join a
non-existent location they would get a message saying the the location does
not exist and that only Operators can create new locations. Locations as
well as nicknames are case sensitive. The /join command has a built-in smart
feature so that if a user tries to "/join doorstep" it will guess
that the meaning is to join the "Doorstep" and effect that command
rather than try and create a new location called "doorstep"
(lowercase). If an Operator tries to /join a location that does not exist it
will be created and automatically locked by the server. Regular users can be
summoned to the new location, or the location can be unlocked to allow other
users to enter using "/join [location]". Non-public locations must
have an Operator present and when all Operators have left the location
regular users will be returned to the "Doorstep".
PRIVATE MESSAGES : /msg [nick] [message]
Private messages appear at the bottom of the screen with the sending
nickname flanked by asterisks; as in "*joe* hi there". Messages
more than 2 minutes old are deleted by the server. To send a private message
to another chatter anywhere on the chat you just type /msg followed by the
exact case sensitive spelling of their nickname (without the asterisks), and
then the message to send. The command "/msg", the nickname, and
the message to send must all be separated by a space. If a user by the
nickname you type is not online, or the nickname is misspelled you will be
notified that no such user exists. Some users may block private messages and
in this case you will be notified that they are not accepting messages.
Private messages are private, but in cases of harassment a user can /forward
their messages to an Operator for review.
WHO ALL : /whoall
This command lists all the users online in ASCII order (A-Z and then a-z).
It also shows the user's IP address, last known location, and /comment. Operators
IP addresses will show up with "#" marks on each side, commonly
called "wings" by the Ops. This command is on the endangered list
since it is uses quite a lot of the network resources. You might take note
that a /whois # will show all Operators online and a /whois "."
will do the same thing as a /whoall.
WHO IS : /whois [nick] or /whois [text]
This is more powerful alternative to /whoall and doesn't waste as much
network bandwidth. This command allows you to do a search for a specific
nickname, IP, comment, etc. If an exact nickname is supplied it will show
the users IP address, location, and how many seconds they have been idle. A
really nice trick to get a list of all operators online is to use "/whoall
#" since it will match the "#" marks on each side of the
Operators IP address. Additionally, this command will also show you the
total number of lines that matched at the end of the search.
WHO : /who [location]
Lists all users on the current channel if invoked without the [location]. If
a [location] is supplied it will show the same information for users at the
location specified. Nickname, IP address, location, and comment are shown in
ASCII order. Again note that a /whois [location] will yield the same result.
DESCRIBE : /d [text]
Describe can be used to express how a person is feeling or what they are
doing. The text is printed to the channel following an asterisk
"*" and nickname. So if user Johnny typed "/d flings blue
Jello at Anne!" then it would show up on the channel as "* Johnny
flings blue Jello at Anne!". Note : at this time /bo /bl /it and /pic
will not work in combination with a describe.
QUIT : /quit [text]
Quit logs you out of the chat. Using /quit is better than just leaving the
chat since people will know you have left and people sending private message
will be notified that you are not on the server, as opposed to just ignoring
them. Also, if you leave without a /quit and the server is full, new users
will not have access to the slot for an additional 5 minutes. Additionally, Operators
can leave [text] in their sign-off message as they leave the chat.
FLUSH : /fl
The /flush command is used to flush the private message buffer. Currently
the server automatically flushes any messages more than 2 minutes old but
messages can be flushed early with this command. Once the /fl command is run
it will display the messages (and any new messages) once before flushing.
PAGE LENGTH : /len [0-30]
Depending on the font size or what time of browser you are using, the
display can be improved by adjusting the number of lines that are shown in
the display. Also, some users with many private messages find it better to
reduce the number of lines. You just type /len followed by a number between
0 and 30 to set the number of lines to display. Unfortunately the display is
not simple to control since font sizes and formatting can differ radically
between browsers, so /len actually adjusts the number of messages displayed,
not the actual number of lines. Messages can take more than one line. The
default number of lines to display is 15 and Lynx users may find it
helpful to set "/len 10".
NICK : /nick [new_nickname]
If you want to change your nickname without leaving the chat you can use
this command. If the nickname is an Operator reserved nickname,
someone else is already using the nickname, or has recently left but not
expired from the database, the nickname change will not be allowed. Logins
with the same nick as one already in use will bounce the login with a
"nickname invalid" message. For Operators to change back to their
reserved nick the server checks an internal code for identity assigned when
the Operator originally logs in and if it matches, allows the nick change
(password entry is no longer required).
SCROLL BACK : /sb [text]
This command will search and display the last 60 lines if they match the
supplied [text]. The [text] can contain only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and _. If no
[text] option is supplied the default is to display all 60 lines in the
scroll back buffer.
HELP : /help
The /help command displays a short listing of all commands and is the BEST
quick reference for help on the chat. It does not contain much detail but is
more up to date than any other source! The help is divided into two
sections, the second for Extended Operator Commands. Commands are listed as
"/command [option1] [option2] Description". In some cases the
options are required in others options, and some commands have no options.
When using a command do not include the "[" and "]"
brackets. Substitute your own options in place of the bracketed values. The
forward slash "/" is required at the beginning of the line for it
to be recognized as a command.
COMMENT : /comment [text]
When you first log into the chat, the comment area is empty. To change the
comment, type "/comment [new_comment]" (limited to 14 characters).
A /who command displays, along with other information, the user comment.
MAIL : /mail [op_nickname] [text]
Chat Operators can receive CHAT MAIL. This is not e-mail but is a
message you can send to Operators in their absence. The sender's nickname,
machine address, and the date sent (Pacific Standard Time) is included with
the message. It works pretty much like a /msg but the receiving Operator
does not need to be online when it is sent, and if online they do not get a
notice of the pending mail. When the Operator enters the chat, they receive
notice of their chat mail, and this mail can be either saved or deleted.
LIST : /list
The /list command provides a list of all locations currently in use. The
first column indicates the status of the location with "O"
representing open locations and "L" for locked. This is followed
by the number of users at the location and the name of the location. Public
locations can not be locked but custom locations created by Operators
are locked at the time of creation. There are public locations that do not
appear in the pull-down but are usually shown in the pull-down on the login
page.
PICTURE : /pic [URL]
The /pic command is used to turn the nickname into a blue hypertext link to
a URL somewhere on the web. The intent is to allow users to make a link to
their homepage, or a picture of themselves, without actually displaying the
picture itself to everyone in that location. If you have uploaded your .jpg
or .gif to the incoming directory and it is approved, it gets moved to a /pic
directory on this server. In this case the picture link can be enabled by
typing /pic image.gif where the name of the picture file is "image.gif".
If the file is not on this server you can replace the name of the picture
with the URL where it is located on the web.
See the User Picture Directory
for more detailed information about uploading your picture to the pic
directory.
IGNORE : /ig [nick]
Ignore blocks all private messages and flushes the current message buffer.
To turn on ignore just type "/ig" and to turn it off just type
"/ig" again. Typing /ig [nick] allows you to block messages from
all users matching the address of [nick] but allows messages to be received
from all other users.
NULL SUMMONS : /null
Null prevents summoning and functions as a toggle. It has no apparent effect
other than a notice saying that you are protected and you will not be
notified when it blocks a summons.
FORWARD : /forward [op_nickname]
Forward should be used in cases of harassment by private message. First
determine what Operators are online that may be able to help by using
"/whois #". Pick an Operator from this list and forward your
messages. For example if Methos is an Operator you would type
"/forward Methos" and all your private messages will be forwarded
to Operator Methos for review. If the situation warrants, Methos should then
either /kick, /ban, or talk to the person who is harassing, depending on the
severity. If it is an Operator who is causing problems, /forward the private
messages to a different Operator who will then report to the Operator
Committee and suspend the Operator if needed. A new command may be added
soon to /report cases of inappropriate behavior by Operators.
Please note the new option of using this command without the [nick] will automatically forward your private messages to 4 different Operators at random for review. This is perhaps the quickest way to get help if you are having problems with other users. Abuse of this command is taken seriously and use without cause may result in unwanted Operator action.
Color causes the rest of the line specified with [text] to be displayed as bold and in the color specified. Notice that these command use double forward slash "//" at the beginning of the line. Colors are specified either as standard 1 character abreviations ( r , g , b , c , p , y , m , w ) or hexidecimal ( R = red , G = green , B = blue ) RRGGBB format. See the Color Reference.
If this text is not displayed in RED then your browser can not display colors but you can still use the commands to color your text for other users.
When using the HEX codes for colors remember that only 0-9 and a-f are recognized hexidecimal digits and that 0 is lowest intensity and F or f is highest.
WORD MODIFICATION : //[text] /[HEX][word], /bo[word],
/bl[word], and /it[word]
The commands /bo, /bl, and /it cause the next word to be printed in HEX
color bold, , or italic text. These
commands will only work in lines that start with two forwards slashes same
as the line modifiers and there is no space between the commands and the
words they modify. These commands can be used in combination with line
modification or other word modifications to get two or more types of text
modification. For example "... /bo/itHello" would print "... Hello!!!".
Remember that at the beginning of the line a line modification has a space
after the /HEX, /bo, /bl, or /it option but word modifyers do not ... so no
space would just modify the following first word of the line.
BOLD : //bo [line]
Bold will cause the whole [line] to be printed in bold text. The /bo
/bl /it commands do work in combination with this command but /pic does not.
BLINK : //bl [line]
Blink will cause the whole [line] to be printed in
text. The /bo /bl /it commands do work in combination with this command but
/pic does not.
ITALIC : //it [line]
Italic will cause the whole [line] to be printed in italic text. The
/bo /bl /it commands do work in combination with this command but /pic does
not.
HTTP LINK : /[URL] [text]
This command has an unusual format and is used display a hypertext link to a
web resource with what is commonly called a URL, or "Uniform Resource
Locator". Only URLs that start with "http://" are accepted by
this command. An example would be "/http://www.alamak.com/ Alamak Home
Page". The URL is placed immediately after the forward slash with no
space between. This is then followed by a space and the actual [text] to
display as a hypertext link.
The /abuse command was added early 1999 to help record abuse in a way that could not be modified to unfairly frame others. People used to send committee copies of pages to demonstrate abuse, but these can be easily modified. The abuse command mades a file record right out the server and can not be modified.
You can record cases of abuse by Operators and Registered users. The report will contain the real nick of the person, any text in the page matching either your nickname or the abuse [nick]'s nickname. All of your own private message buffer and also any messages in abuse [nick]'s buffer comming from you.
There is very little point to record abuse of non-ops, use kick or ban. It would be very difficult to control regular users since they have nothing much to take away from them. In very serious cases of repeated harrassment we could put a permanent address ban.
We also feel this command might useful for regular users and registered users, it would probably be abused.
Another rather recently added command with even more recent changes to prevent cases of abuse.
Id shows the users official nick, Alamak ID, and Operator level. Any Operator can /id to find their own level. Level 6 plus can /id others for real nickname. Level 400+ can /id to get official nick, Alamak ID, and Operator level.
LOCK : /lock
The /lock command locks the current location so that other users can not
enter unless they are summoned. When a new location is created by an Operator
is it automatically locked, but can be unlocked with the /unlock command and
re-locked with the /lock command. Once a location is locked it is labeled as
locked with the Operators nickname and address and can only be re-entered by
the Operator who locked it as determined by matching nickname and IP
address. Users can be /summoned to a locked location and if another Operator
/locks the location again the new lock replaces the old so that only the
last person who locked it can re-enter after leaving.
SUMMON : /summon [nick]
The /summon command transports the user with the nickname [nick] to the
current location. Summons can be prevented by using the /null command.
Summons is the only way to get a user into a locked location without
unlocking it first. The user receives a private message telling them who has
summoned them. Summon is delayed until the person being summoned refreshes
the screen. If the person leaves before refreshing it will fail and hence
the message "attempting to summon user...". If a summons seems to
have failed with no message indicating it is blocked, try using /whois to
see how long they have been idle. Operators must use their regular Operator
nickname when using /summon.
KICK : /kick [nick] [comment]
The /kick is used to kick a user off the chat for minor violations in chat
policy. The user will be kicked off the chat for 10 minutes, after which
they will be able to log back on as normal. A warning is not required for
/kick but kicking should be done only for violations in chat policy, not to
settle personal squabbles.
Please refer to the Chat Rules and Ops Policy for valid kick and ban reasons, and the Ops Guide for reference.
READ : /read
Read is used by Operators to view the Operators message board. Messages are
listed most recent first and include the Operators official nickname and the
time of posting Pacific Standard Time.
IMAGE : /img [nick] [URL]
Image is used to send a picture image to another user specified by [nick].
Only files ending in .gif and .jpg are allowed and Operators must use their
official nickname when using this command. The image, nickname, address of
sender, and [URL] is displayed once to that user and then deleted. The
reason so much information is sent with the /img command is so that the
person who sends the /img is held responsible for the display of that image
and reduce abuse. An example "/img Bob http://www.alamak.com/pic/alam.jpg".
Images can be prevented with the IGNORE command "/ig".
POST : /post [text]
Post is used to put a message on the Operators message board. When the
message board is full the oldest message is pushed off the board and the new
one added at the top. The message board holds somewhere between 50 and 100
messages depending on how the server is setup and should be used for posting
information of general interest to all Operators. It is not a complaint
forum, a voting booth, a place to discuss server changes or send suggestions
to Alamak. It is a good place to announce Operator meetings and chat
parties. This message board can only be read by Operators.
OPS : /ops
The /ops command is a very new command. It will remove the '#' marks on an
operator address so that an Operator can chat as a regular chatter and not
be bothered for color requests. This is somewhat like a stealth mode for
Operators.
UNLOCK : /unlock
Unlock will remove a /lock that has been placed on a non-public location. If
an Operator creates a new location, it is locked by default and must use
/unlock to allow other users, including other Operators, to enter the
location except by summoning.
BACKUP : /backup
Backup sends a message to all other Operators on the chat that help is
needed at the current location. Backup is a good command to use when an
Operator is trying to stand up for chat policies and is overwhelmed by a
group of users at a given location. This command should only be used in
cases where the Operator or Operators at the location cannot handle the
situation alone. In cases where an Operator is accused of misuse of powers
or has a conflict with other Operators it is probably a good idea to /summon
a few other Operators to the location to get second and third opinions and
come up with a group solution. Operator conflicts or disagreements on policy
should be addressed by private message or in a locked location as public
accusations generally aggravate the situation.
Ban is used to prevent users who refuse to follow chat policy or are harassing other users from logging into the chat. There are two forms of the /ban command. The simplest form of the Ban command is "/ban [nick"] where the server figures out the address of user [nick] places what it thinks would be a good address ban and then kicks the user (but not anyone else with the same address) off the chat. Since users from a particular address may have many individual machines at their disposal or have a dynamically assigned address, the server uses only the first three fields of the IP address when placing a nick ban. So if a user with IP address "1.2.3.4" is banned the server would ban any addresses matching "1.2.3" in the first part of the address. In this example an person with address "1.2.3.5" would not be able to get into a chat but "5.1.2.3" would be allowed.
The second form of the command is used in case a user is rapidly changing their nickname to avoid banning, in which case you can just ban the address directly with "/ban [address]". In the above example a good ban to place would be "/ban 1.2.3". There are more possibilities with address bans such as "/ban 1.2" and "/ban 1.2.3.4" which would result in less specific and more specific bans respectively. Realize that banning address "1.2.3.4" will probably result in the user switching to the terminal sitting right next to them with a slightly different address.
Please refer to the Ops Policy for valid kick and ban reasons, and the Ops Guide for reference.
UNBAN : /unban [address]
Unban is used to remove or list banned addresses. The [address] option is
optional and a list of banned addresses will be displayed. If an [address]
is supplied and it exactly matches an address in the ban list, the ban will
be removed from the list. As an example "/unban 1.2.3" would
remove a ban on address "1.2.3" followed by anything. All bans are
deleted when the server is rebooted or reset by one of the system operators.
Addresses should be unbanned after a sufficient time has elapsed.
GIVE: /give [nick]
The /give command allows Operators to give one color to [nick] (chosen at
their discretion). Operators can /give 2 times per hour.
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