You need to use a web browser that is Java enabled in order to use chat on an About.com site.

If your browser is not Java enabled you will not see the chat room but get a message 'Sorry your browser is not Java enabled.'

Windows 95 users may chat using any of the following browsers: Netscape 2.0, or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or higher.

Win 3.1 users can use Netscape 3.01 Beta with Java for Windows 3.1. (See below for more Win 3.1 questions.)

MAC users must use MS Internet Explorer 3.01b. The chat rooms will not work reliably with Netscape 3.0. (Please see below for more MAC related questions.)

There are known problems with Netscape's implementation of Java on the MAC and the ParaChat software developers are working with Netscape on a solution. The recommended version of Netscape for MAC users is Netscape 3.04. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.01b is known to work well for some Mac users but with some repaint bugs.

Sorry, but you will be unable to access any of the chat rooms from behind a firewall or via a proxy server.

No. Even though this chat client uses a superset of the IRC protocol, the chat server cannot be currently accessed via an IRC client. Similarly the chat client cannot be used to connect to an IRC channel.

No, this chat does not work with Web TV.

Make sure that your browser's Java feature is enabled. For Netscape Navigator, enable Java by going to the browser's pull-down menu and clicking "Options," "Network Preferences," "Language." Make sure the "Enable Java" checkbox is checked.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer, select "View" from the browser's pull-down menu then choose "Options," "Security." Check the "Enable Java programs" checkbox.

These errors are due to your Internet connection going down or your inability to access the chat servers. This can be due to a failure on your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your modem or a downed computer on the path between your computer and the chat server. It can also be because you are behind a firewall or using a proxy server (i.e not directly connected to the Net).

Flush the browser's cache:

For Netscape : On the browser's menu bar, go to "Options," select "Network Preferences," select "Cache," click on "Clear Memory Cache Now," click on "OK." Click on "Clear Disk Cache Now," click on "OK." Set "Verify Documents to Every Time," click on "OK."

For Microsoft Internet Explorer: On the browser's menu bar, go to "View," select "Options," select "Advanced," click on "Settings for the Temporary Internet Files." Check the "Every Visit" to the page option under Check for newer versions of stored pages. Click on "Empty Folder" and select "Yes" to the delete temporarily files message. Click on "OK" in the Options Dialog.

Exit the browser completely and restart it.

Netscape Gold 3.0 users may get this error due to a parameter passing bug present in that particular version of the browser. On certain versions of Netscape, this problem can be fixed by changing the Document Encoding to 'Western'. On your browser, click on Options, then click on Document Encoding and set it to Western. If that does not correct the problem, you may need to use another browser/version like Netscape 3.0 (non Gold), Gold 3.01 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. If you still experience a "bad parameter" message after taking the above steps, please let us know.

On any About.com site, click Chat in the top frame to go to the site's chat area. To enter the room, click on "Log on to Chat." Enter your username/nickname. Chat names can not contain any spaces or special characters. You may also enter your real name email address, and a password. (We do NOT verify this information). Click "OK, Connect." You will now be in the chat room. You will see the other chat users in the black window on the right. Type your message in the text box at the bottom of the screen (where it says, "Type Here") and hit return. Messages are sent to all users by default.

[NOTE: You cannot save or reserve your chat nickname. Nicknames are freed up as soon as you log out of a chat room.]

Certainly. Type '*chat' in the text box (where you type to send messages) to get help on how to change fonts and colors for your window. [Note: You must include the asterisk (*).]

For example:
*chat bgcolor black (changes background color of the chat window to black)
*chat fgcolor green (changes foreground (text) color of the chat window to green)
*chat font courier (changes font of the chat window to Courier)
*chat fontsize 14 (changes font size of the chat window to 14)
*chat (gives help on the entire list of commands available)

[NOTE: The chat room settings will revert back to the default when you log out of a room.]

Yes, you can. Use the *beep command in the chat room to set an audio cue when anyone enters or leaves the room. If you enter *beep (in the message line) you will get a help message as well as the current beep settings.

To turn beep on when someone enters the room use:
*beep enter on

To turn beep on when someone leaves the room use:
*beep leave on

To turn beep off when someone enters the room use:
*beep enter off

To turn beep off when someone leaves the room use:
*beep leave off

[NOTE: Settings will revert back to the default (sounds off) when you leave the room.]

This is just an informational message. You can ignore it.

Highlight the user you wish to send a private message to, check the "Private Chat" checkbox and then type your message. Your message is sent only to that user with a [PRIVATE your_name] in front of it so he/she knows who sent it and that it is private. Only two users can participate in one Private chat.

Yes definitely. To silence annoying chatters in your room, highlight the user, check the 'Ignore User' check box, and then any message sent by the user will not be displayed on your screen. If you prefer using keyboard commands you can type '*ignore add <username>'. It’s as if that annoying user just went away! More than one user can be ignored in a session.

By default, the Surf button takes you to the last URL entered in the chat room, i.e., the last URL someone typed in as part of their message. If you want to surf, highlight the URL in the chat window and hit "Surf." This is how you can visit that cool site some user just typed a message about. Please note, the Surf option takes you to the URL on a new browser so you can keep chatting on the original browser window.

Click on the Float button to bring up the chat applet in its own window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independently of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to fix the room back on the chat web page. Please note, by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can re-size it as you wish.

You can ignore the user by highlighting their nickname and clicking on the "Ignore User" button. The Ignored users imput will not be visible to you after that. You can also email About.com with details of the problem, however About.com may opt not to follow up on these complaints as much of this is just the nature of the Internet chat experience. Most of the time About.com's chat rooms are unmoderated so the Guide will not be available to assist you.

Click on the "Float" button to bring up the chat applet in its own window, separate from the browser. This separate chat window can be resized and moved independent of the browser window containing the chat web page. Use Unfloat to fix the room back on the chat web page.

Please note by default the size of the floated window is 3/4 the size of your browser window. You can re-size it as you wish.

If you log back via the same machine (IP address) it detects a more recent login and lets you in. However if you use another IP address (another machine or a dynamic IP address), it will not permit another login if it still has a login under that user name. After a time-out period of 15 minutes the user is automatically logged off and you can then reuse the same user name (nickname).