OwnerGuide
From xatwiki
[edit] How do I get more people on my chat box?
Tell your friends or people on group chats about your site. If you get some people on your site it will get listed on our popular list http://xatech.com/popular and more and more will visit.
Make sure your mods are friendly and helpful
Get a good background (not inappropriate or you will be de-listed)
Make your group about a special topic that you know something about
Try to get another group to put your group on their group tab (but do not annoy them)
Make friends on other groups
Put your chat on a popular page and all your MySpace etc. pages
Choose good tags for your group so you can be found on search engines
Add a radio to your chat.
[edit] How do I delete a message?
If someone has left you a message that you want to delete click on the red x next to the message. Only owners and moderators see the red x messages. If you want to delete a message you have sent you may have to sign out and sign back in before the red x is available. Be advised that abusing this feature is not advised.
[edit] Owner / Moderator Interact Dialog
Owners and moderators have some additional options on their interact dialogs.
[edit] Kick
Owner and moderators can kick members and guests out their chat box by selecting them and clicking the kick button and entering a reason for the kick. Then an information message is sent out to everyone that says who did the kicking and the reason. The person is signed out of the chat but can sign in again and carry on chatting but it does serve as a warning for inappropriate behaviour in the room.
It is not nice to be kicked, particularly again and again, so you should only kick people when it’s deserved and not just for fun. You should always give the reason for the kick so everyone knows what is unacceptable behaviour.
[edit] Ban
Owners and moderators can ban people from using their chat box by selecting them and clicking the ban button. You enter duration in hours (Decimals are acceptable, so .5=30 minutes ban and .05= 3 minutes) and the reason for the ban. Then an information message is sent out to everyone that says who did the ban and the reason for the ban. The person banned will change to brown in colour and their name will change to "Banned". They will still be able to view the messages being sent but will be unable to send messages or otherwise disrupt the chat. Banned users can still Private Chat people who have added them as a friend.
A moderator can ban for up to 6 hours and an owner can ban for any length of time or forever (by entering 0). You can un-ban someone by selecting them and clicking un-ban.
It is not nice to be banned, particularly without a warning or for no reason, so you should only ban people when it’s deserved and not just for fun.
[edit] Make Member
Owners and moderators can make guest to the chat members by selecting them and clicking the "Make Member" button.
You can make anyone you like members but we advise making regular chatters and friends members, which keeps it special. Its not nice if you are un-membered, particularly over and over again so if moderators disagree on whether someone should be a member they should talk with the owner first. The difference between being a guest and being a member besides the blue icon, or being higher on the user list is guests can not post visible links. Members can. That means when a guest posts a link it will only appear visible to the guest who posted the link, thus the link they post will not disrupt the chat.
Another reason why you should consider making only friends or users who come to your chat frequently, members, and leave new users guests. The reason for this is some users like to come to other chat rooms/groups and advertise their chat room.
This can be annoying to others, as well as drive chatters to the advertised chat.
[edit] Make Moderator
Owners can make members and guests moderators by clicking on their name and clicking "Make Moderator". Moderators have the power to kick, ban (up to 6 hours), and un-ban (moderators can not un-ban users that were banned forever by an owner) members and guests. They can also make guests members, and make members guests.
You should be very careful whom you make a moderator and it should only be people that you trust. It is not uncommon for moderators to misbehave and this can ruin a chat box while the owner is away. You could come back and find nobody wants to go on your chat box anymore.
[edit] Make Owner
Main owners can make guests, members, and moderators owners by clicking on their name and clicking "Make Owner". Owners have the power to kick, ban (For as long as they want, even forever), un-ban (Even forever banned users) guests, members, and moderators. Owners can make guests, and members moderators, and make moderators members or guests (They can of course make guests members, and members guests like moderators can).
You should be even more careful whom you make an owner, and it should only be people you trust. Owners have even more power to ruin a chat than moderators such as making bad moderators, demoting good moderators, and forever banning everyone who isn't an owner.
[edit] Edit Your Chat Dialog
Click [Edit Your Chat] button on the bottom right of your chat box. Only the main owner can do this, for everyone else this button will say [Get a Chat Box] so they can get their own chat box if they wish.
[edit] Change the background picture?
To change the background picture click on the [Change Background] button. You can choose a stock image from the selection shown or get a custom one using a number of different techniques. Chat boxes that have custom image look so much better and are usually much more popular. In the Background edit box you can:
- Enter a link e.g. an image you have uploaded to Photobucket, press the Get Images button to use the image specified as a background.
- Enter a website and press the Get Images button, this would get all the images from the page for you to choose one to use as a background.
- Enter a search term for what you want as your background e.g. shark, city, emo and press the Get Images button. The Chat box will show a number of related images for you to choose from.
Change Background Picture Tutorial by Sakura of Darkness
[edit] Add a chat group
Click [Edit Your Chat] and choose a group. If you know the name of a particular chat group you want to put on there type it in to the edit box to the right of "Enter Group name here" and press the "Get" button.
[edit] Edit Your Chat on xat
Extra features are available for the chat box by pressing the Extra Features button on the Edit Your Chat dialog.
[edit] Change the size of the chat box?
To change the size of your chat box either choose Small/Medium/Large or enter the required dimensions in pixels in the Width/Height boxes. Then press the Update and Get Code button. You will then need to copy an paste the embed code again to get your resized chat box on your page. If you make the chat box too small or unusually shaped some elements might not be visible.
[edit] How do I convert my chat box into a group?
Press "edit your chat" then "extra features"
Then press the blue and white button that says "make this chat a group"
[edit] How do I make my chat box private (for members only)?
If you want more privacy you can set your chat box to be for members only. This is ideal if you want a chat box just for family of friends. Only members are allowed to post messages and only members can view the messages.
Note that when visitors arrive at your chat box they won't be able to post but they can private chat owners and moderators and ask to join.
To set your chat box for members only:
Click on: Image:EditYourChat.png
Then click: Image:ExtraFeatures.png
Then scroll down until you see (in "other options"):
Image:MembersOnly.png
And make sure the box is checked.
Then press the "Update these options" button.
[edit] Button colors?
Here are some color codes: Black = #000000 Green = #008000 Silver = #C0C0C0 Lime = #00FF00 Gray = #808080 Olive = #808000 White = #FFFFFF Yellow = #FFFF00 Maroon = #800000 Navy = #000080 Red = #FF0000 Blue = #0000FF Purple = #800080 Teal = #008080 Fuchsia= #FF00FF Aqua = #00FFFF
You can also go Here to make your own customized color or Here to see a list of color codes, you can simply pick the one you want an add the hex code to change the chat buttons.
After you copy the code of the new color you want your buttons to be, click *edit your chat* located at the bottom right of your chat box. After you click the edit your chat button you will be brought to a new page, scroll down then enter the code you copied in the little text box, if you have not already added a code the text box will say -cant, backspace -cant an enter the hex code an press *update options*
[edit] General
[edit] When should I kick and ban people?
It depends on the severity of the offense. You should try to be fair and for a minor or first offense you should warn them or kick them first. Generally the first ban should be for 1 hour so the person has a chance to get back on later and change their behavior. If you ban someone and they remain online, you could decide to un-ban then and give them a second chance. Most people follow the rules after a brief spell of being banned. If someone is being annoying we suggest you ask the other chatters if they want the person banned, like a vote.
You should always give good reasons so everyone else knows why you did it. Otherwise they may think that you are being unfair and decide to chat somewhere else. If your rules are hard to find for users or to complex, making the rules aware to users may prevent having to ban or kick them. Often times chat rooms with no rules displayed will give users the instinct that you have no rules for the chat, that will only lead to misuse of your chat by others. In short, letting users know were the rules are located, or what the rules may be, will prevent having to ban or kick frequently.
[edit] How many moderators should I make?
You should make enough moderators to look after your chat box when you are away. You need to be careful whom you make a moderator as it only takes one bad one to ruin a chat box.
[edit] I’m not an owner anymore, how do I get my owner status back?
Click on the create link that you bookmarked when you made your chat box or click on the link in the email we sent you when you created your chat group. This will restore your ownership status. If this doesn’t work contact us, explain what happened (including a link to your chat box) and we will send you the relevant link.
[edit] I’ve received feedback
If someone presses the Send the Owner a message button we will relay this to you by e-mail. If the message is about moderators abusing their powers when you are not around you should investigate but some people will complain even if they have been banned fairly.
[edit] I made a main owner that I shouldn’t have or someone has hijacked my chat box?
If you have owners on your chat box that you didn’t make or no longer want then you can reset the chat by going to "Edit" above the chat, then filling in your password and clicking "Submit", then clicking "Reset Chat" at the bottom. Everyone on the chat will be made a guest excluding the person who reset the chat.
[edit] How do I make more main owners?
We would strongly advise against making multiple main owners. Only the original main owner, who created the chat box/group, should make a person a main owner.
To make a second main owner/admin give them the URL for editing the chat box. You can get this by going "Edit your chat", "Extra Features"
The URL will look something like:
http://www.xat.com/web_gear/chat.php?id=123456&pw=12345678
Give the link to the person you want to make a main owner. You will be still the main owner of your chat if you add another main owner.
WARNING: ONLY GIVE THE LINK TO A PERSON YOU CAN TRUST! OTHER MAIN OWNERS CAN EDIT YOUR CHAT AND CAN NOT BE DEMOTED OR BANNED!
[edit] Can I put the same chat box on several different pages?
Yes, you can paste the embed code on as many pages as you like. If you have multiple social networking sites you can use this as a way of connecting them together so your friends for each site can interact with each other.
[edit] Can I put several chat boxes on the same pages?
Yes, you can but generally we would advise against it. The exception is if you have a personal and a group chat box and want them separate.
[edit] $tealth Mode
Owners can appear on the user list as a guest (green) by putting a $ as the first character of their name. So if you were normally called WuggyBunch, you would change your name to $WuggyBunch. Only you will be able to see the $. You can use this if you just want to talk with your friends and don't want to be bombarded with private chats by new visitors.
Moderators and other owners may still be able to figure out you're an owner by clicking on your name and seeing that the "Ban" "Kick" and "Make Member/Guest" buttons are grayed out.
[edit] Scrolling messages
To make your message scroll in the text box instead of appear on the chat box window were all normal posts go, put /s before your message, then when you press the button that enters your text it will scroll instead of reveal on the chat page were all other messages go. /s*message* You can also change the color for the scrolling messages. To customize your text color get the code for the color you want Here or Here for a list of hex codes. Simply add the color code you want after your message example:
/s*message*#9400D3
[edit] Chat Group Owners
[edit] How do I start a chat group?
Go here http://www.xatech.com/web_gear/chat/creategroup.php and complete the online form. Be sure to use a correct and valid email address.
[edit] How do I put stuff on my page?
When on xat, click Edit my Page, enter your password that we emailed you and you will be able to edit the settings and add stuff to the page. If you put interesting content, this can make your chat group more popular as people will visit it to see it.
[edit] What can I do if I don’t want to run my chat group anymore?
You can't delete a chat group. But if you want to close it, edit your group, RESET the chat box and set it to members only.
[edit] I'm not owner of my group anymore?
Go to your group on xat, eg xat.com/MyGroup. Next press the "Edit this page" button. Type in your password and press the "Submit" button next to it. Then press the "Edit MyGroup ChatBox" button. This will restore you as owner.
[edit] How to set a group background
The editgroups page now includes a box for a background URL. In here you can put the URL of an image eg http://www.mydom.com/MyPic.jpg. Note the image must start with http:// in lowercase. You can also enter background CSS in this box, so for example if you want an fixed, centered, non repeating image use:
background-image:url(http://www.mydom.com/MyPic.jpg); background-position:Center Center; background-attachment:fixed;
(Note this must be one line with no line breaks)
[edit] How to stop my group being listed
On the chat box click "Edit your chat", then "Extra features". Scroll down to "other options" and check: "Don't include this chat box in any lists or charts"
