Websocket Chatroom Help

User Interface Introduction

The user interface includes (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2):

The chatroom screen with black background is at the center.
The status bar under the chatroom screen shows current user, room, any instant information, and a Settings button.
The textbox to enter texts is under the chatroom.
Upper right is Rooms panel, which shows all current active rooms.
Lower right is Users and Room Users panel.
Users panel shows all logged in users.
Room Users panel shows all users in the current room.

Figure 1. Chatroom screenshot (before sign in).

Figure 2. Chatroom screenshot (after sign in).

Register

A user needs to provide a username and a password to register.

Login

A user needs to provide a username and a password to log in.

Update Password

A user can update password when he logs in, and enter command '#passwd'. This will bring up the update-password panel.

Logout

There are two ways to log out:

1) A user logs out by enter command: #logout, #exit or #x.
2) A second way is to go to "Setting" at the bottom right corner of chatroom, and click on button "logout".

Chatroom commands

All the commands have a shortcut name and a full name.

Commands available to all the users:

#a - #app, show available apps
#a chess - #app chess, open 6-piece chess app window
#a {app} - #app {app}, open given app or url
#a1 - (#a on, #app on, turn on app
#a0 - #a off, #app off, hide app window
#ac - #a clear, #app clear, clear any app and hide app window
#c {room} - #create, create and join a new room
#e - #erase, erase chatroom content
#h - #?, #help, show help
#hm - #help master, show help for room master
#i {user} - #invite, invite a user into current room
#j {room} - #join, join an existing room
#l - #leave, leave a room
#o - #who, list room users
#p - #passwd, update password
#r - #rooms, list rooms
#u - #users, list logged in users
#v1 - #vid, #vid on, turn on video camera window
#v0 - #vid off, turn off video camera window
#w - #where, show current room name
#x - #exit, #logout, logout

Commands available only to room master:

#b - #public, set room as public
#k {user} - #kick, kick a user out of current room
#m {user} - #master, assign another room user as master. There is only one room master at a time.
#s {size} - #size, set room max size. 0 means no limit.
#v - #private, set room as private. Only invited user can enter a private room.

Settings

The settings panel can be opened by moving mouse over the settings icon at bottom right corner of the chatroom. The choices include:

Send on Enter - if checked, the message is sent when the user presses Enter key;
otherwise, a "Send Message" button should be clicked to send a message.
The first way sends one line at a time. The second way can send multiple lines at a time.
Set sound theme.
Set background theme.
Select History - select all chatroom contents.
This is useful when the user wants to copy and paste the chatroom contents.
Clear History - clear chatroom contents.
Logout - logout from chatroom.

Other Use Tips

When "Send on Enter" in Settings is checked, another way to send multiple lines at a time is:
Press Shift key at the same time of pressing Enter, this avoids sending text.
Press the up arrow key can display the last input, press the down arrow key to recover to current input.
Double click on a room name in the room panel can enter the room.
A user can login multiple sessions, later session names will be appended with a sequence number.
To use video function, first open video camera window, then click on "Start" button on top to broadcast. There is no sound yet, just video.
Click on the upload icon on the video's upper left corner, a user can upload an image when he is not boardcasting. (If user is broadcasting, the uploaded image will be overwritten immediately.)