| HTML
Chat
Setting
up to Serve HTML Chat while in DWS mode - server issues
Setting up to Serve HTML Chat while in
CGI mode - server issues
Setting up to Receive HTML Chat - user
issues
HTML Chat Interface
Customizing the Interface
Troubleshooting
Resources
Setting
up to Serve HTML Chat while in DWS mode
You can
serve HTML chat without any special configuration if your Web
Crossing server is running in Direct
Web Service mode.
In order
to serve HTML chat while in DWS mode, take the following steps:
- Go
to the Control Panel > Chat Services
> Web Crossing Usage
- Check
the box to serve chat.
- Fill
in your Web Crossing server's IP address.
- Select
a port for browsers to connect to chat. This must be the same
port number as you Web Crossing Direct Service Mode port.
- If
you're using Java chat at all, double-check that the path to
your WBChat directory is correct. That's where the Java applet
is stored.
- Below,
check the box to allow HTML chat (and Java, if you wish), in
the row of checkboxes.
- Submit
the form.
Setting
up to Serve HTML Chat while in CGI mode
If your
Web Crossing server is running in CGI mode, you'll need to turn
on Direct Web Service mode to
serve your HTML chat. You don't have to switch from CGI
mode to DWS mode for your whole server, but you do need to
turn it on to serve HTML chat. It's more complicated to set up
this way, but it's possible to run in both modes at the same time.
In order
to serve HTML chat while in CGI mode, take the following steps:
- Go
to the Control Panel > Chat Services
> Web Crossing Usage
- Check
the box to serve chat.
- Fill
in your Web Crossing server's IP address.
- Select
an unused port on the server (cannot be port 80) for
browsers to connect to chat. This will be the same port number
as you will use for Web Crossing Direct
Service Mode.
- If
you're using Java chat at all, double-check that the path to
your WBChat directory is correct. That's where the Java applet
is stored.
- Below,
check the box to allow HTML chat (and Java, if you wish), in
the row of checkboxes.
- Submit
the form.
- Create
a test chat room and make sure you can get in with Java, if
you've enabled it.
Next,
go to your webx directory and make the following changes:
- If
there isn't an HTML directory at the root of your Web Crossing
server, create one.
- Put
an alias to your Web Crossing script itself into the HTML directory.
- Put
an alias to your Images directory into the HTML directory.
- If
your WBChat directory isn't inside the Images directory, it
needs an alias in the HTML directory too.
Then
go to the Control Panel > Direct Web
Service.
- Check
"enable direct Web (HTTP) service."
- Fill
in the same port number you used for chat.
- Leave
the other things as they are, and submit the form.
- Turn
your Web Crossing server off, and then back on.
Try accessing
your conference:
If
we were to do this on webxharbor.com, chose port 8080 on which
to serve HTML chat, and had an HTML script name of "webx.cgi"
we would point to:
http://www.webxharbor.com:8080/webx.cgi?
If all
is well, this should get you into your conference. Now you'll
create the HTML chat door to your chat room.
- Log
in as sysop.
- Take
note of the uniqueID
of your test chat room.
- On
the same page as your existing test chat room, click "Add
Link."
- Create
a link to the test chat room using the URL formula you just
used to enter the conference.
- If
our test chat room was
.ee6b3a6
the URL to the HTML door would be:
http://www.webxharbor.com:8080/webx.cgi?196@@.ee6b396
- Label
the link "HTML Entrance to Test Chat Room." Then click
OK.
- Try
entering the room. You should be shown the HTML interface no
matter what your chat preferences are.
Setting
up to Receive HTML Chat
If HTML
chat is enabled, and the user doesn't have a chat preference specified,
most users will be served the Java applet. However, users arriving
with AOL and WebTV browsers will see the HTML chat unless they
specify otherwise in their preferences. Any individual user who
wants to use HTML chat rather than the Java applet (for instance,
someone using Windows 3.1, which don't support Java), they can
set a preference for HTML chat at the bottom of their Preferences
page.
Guests
will be served HTML chat if they are allowed in the chat room
at all.
Figure
1 - Chat preferences
HTML
Chat Interface
Figure
2 - Screenshot from HTML chat room
The
HTML chat interface is similar to the Java page. Messages appear
at the top left, and scroll from bottom to top. A popup list of
chat tables appears at top right. The current list of chatters
is below that.
To
change tables: choose a table from the popup list and click
Change Table below.
To
change your chat name: type your new name into the Message
blank and click Change Name just below.
To
send a private message: type the message into the Message
blank, highlight the recipient at right in the list of members,
and click Private Message.
To
send a message to the room: type your message into the Message
blank and click Send/Refresh, or press the Enter
key if your browser will allow you to submit forms that way. The
maximum message size is 250 characters.
To
leave: use the Leave button.
To
refresh the page to see new messages from others: click the
Send/Refresh button.
There
are no host tools or commands available in this interface. In
order to host, you'll need to use the Java interface.
As the
chat progresses, the window will stretch vertically to a degree,
and then begin scrolling old messages off the top of the field.
Although
users in HTML chat will not be able to change their text color
like Java users can, the colors chosen by Java users will show
up in the HTML chat window. Java users can invite HTML users to
a private room, but the reverse isn't true: HTML users can't make
the invitation.
Customizing
the Interface
You
can customize the HTML chat interface as you can other Web Crossing
pages.
The
"chatroom_html" macro is the basic default HTML chat
room macro. You can make changes to this macro, put it in your
webx.tpl file and the changes will be reflected in all
of your HTML chat rooms.
If you
have an individual room which needs a special configuration, you
can set it up differently than your other rooms. Say your Java
chat template for that room is called specialChatRoom. You can
create an HTML chat template for the same room by altering the
chatroom_html macro and then saving it with the other template's
name followed by _html. In this instance, it would be called
specialChatRoom_html.
For more
information about editing
or creating your own macros and templates, see the WCTL section.
There
are a number of individual WCTL parameters you can set using this
macro. See the sysop
docs for more complete information.
Troubleshooting
If you
have trouble connecting:
- Check
that you're running in Direct Web
Service Mode
- Check
to see that the chat port number is the same as your DWS port
number
- Check
your IP numbers in the configuration panels
If Web
Crossing keeps loading Java chat despite your preferences being
set for HTML chat:
- Turn
off webx.tpl use or remove your old customized chat template
from your template file. There are changes to the new chat template
which make it possible to use HTML chat. If you need a customized
chat page you'll need to start with the new chat template.
Resources
Sysop
Documentation
Sysop
Control Panel
Web
Crossing FAQ
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