Comic Chat User's Guide
Comic Chat Help

Comic Chat is a comic-strip version of Chat. You select a cartoon character to represent you, and your conversation appears as word balloons in frames of a comic strip. You can express a wide range of emotions, send "thoughts," and even save the session.

Connecting to Comic Chat

Working Off-Line

What’s In the Comic Chat Window

Menu Commands

Toolbar Buttons

Keyboard Shortcuts


Connecting to Comic Chat

When you start Comic Chat, the Connect dialog box appears. You can connect to any Internet chat server, or click Cancel to work off-line.

You can connect to Comic Chat in one of two ways:

•	By connecting to a favorite chat room you have saved in your Favorites folder of the desktop.

•	By clicking the Expand button and specifying the server, port number and channel of the chat room you want to connect to.

Connecting to a Favorite Chat Room

To connect to a chat room saved in the Favorites folder of your desktop:

1	In the Favorites drop-down list box, select the name of a Comic Chat Room file (*.ccr) in your Favorites folder.

2	In the Nickname text box, type a nickname for yourself that contains up to nine characters. This is your "handle" while you are connected. Nicknames cannot contain spaces. If you do not enter a nickname, the default name is "anonymous. "

Nicknames must be unique.  Your connection is refused if anyone else is registered with the same name, or if you run multiple concurrent sessions using the same nickname.

3	Select a character from the Character drop-down list box. This is the comic character representation that you'll use in Comic Chat. The default character is the one you selected in the most recent chat session.

This is the minimum information necessary to connect to Comic Chat. After you select a chat room from your list of favorites and fill in the other two text boxes, just click OK.

Specifying a Server and Chat Room

For your first connection, or any time you want to change chat servers or rooms, click the Expand/Collapse button for additional options:

Server

•	Type the name of the server you want to connect to—for example, comicsrv1.microsoft.com.

Port

•	This is the TCP/IP port number for the IRC connection. (The recommended value is 6667. This is the most common IRC port number.)

Channel

•	Type the name of a chat room on a server, beginning with a number symbol (#). If you type a name that does not exist, a new one is created with that name.

Real Name

•	Type your full name here.

You can use the Expand button when you connect to view the default values for the current session. When you are in expanded view, the button changes to Collapse and returns you to the shortcut menu when you click it.

Click Cancel to work offline.

 Related Topics


Working Off-line
Working Offline

You can use Comic Chat even when you are not connected to a chat server. When the Connect dialog box appears, click Cancel. The status bar displays "Disconnected." You can work offline to practice working with Comic Chat.

You can also work offline to create your own comic strip. You can select a new character to represent yourself, and the next word balloon remains in the same conversation panel. You can change from one character to another, save the session as a Comic Chat Conversation file (*.ccc), and print it. Comic Chat automatically determines:

•	The outline form of each word balloon

•	The layout of word balloons in the panels

•	When to move on to a new panel

•	Where the characters should be placed in each panel

•	What zoom factor to use for each panel


What's In the Comic Chat Window
What’s In the Comic Chat Window

The Comic Chat window is composed of the following parts:

•	Menu commands

•	A toolbar

•	A Starring pane, which prints the title of the chat and lists the participants

•	The Member List pane

•	The viewing pane where conversation occurs and chat history appears as a comic strip

•	A message/status bar that displays information about your connection

•	A Self-view pane that shows what your character looks like

•	The Emotion wheel

•	A Compose pane where you type your messages

 Related Topics


Menu Commands

Menu commands are divided into the following categories:

File Commands

Edit Commands

View Commands

Send Commands

Member Commands

Options Commands

Favorites Commands

Help Commands


Toolbar Commands
 Toolbar Buttons

The seven icons on the toolbar are shortcuts for the following menu commands:

File New

File Open

File Save

Edit Cut

Edit Copy

Edit Paste

File Print

To show or hide the toolbar:

On the View menu, click Toolbar.

When the command has a check mark next to it, the toolbar is on.


File Commands

The File commands control opening, closing and saving your session.

 	New

 	Open

 	Save

 	Save As

 	Create Shortcut

 	Print

 	Print Setup


Edit Commands

The Edit commands act on the text you type in the Compose window.

 	Undo

 	Cut

 	Copy

 	Paste

 	Delete

 	Select All


View Commands

 	Toolbar

 	Status Bar

 	Member List

 	Panel Size


Send Commands

When you Say, Think, Whisper, or send an Action, text from the Compose pane is sent to the conversation panel in the viewing pane.

 	Say

 	Think

 	Whisper

 	Action

All of these commands are still available if you turn off the Send Comics Data option.


Member Commands

 	Ring

 	Get Profile

 	Ignore


Options Commands

 	Choose Character

 	Change Profile

 	Send Comics Data

 	Prompt For Save


Favorites
Favorites Commands

 	Open Favorites

 	Add To Favorites

 Related Topics


Help Commands

 	Help Topics

 	About Microsoft Comic Chat


The Member List Pane

The Member List pane is located in the upper right-hand corner of the window. It lists the participants in the chat session. You can display either the icon and nickname for each person, or just their nickname. Select List or Icon from the View/Member List menu item to switch between the views.

You can point to one of the characters in the Member List pane and then right-click  to see a shortcut menu. This menu enables you to ring the person, see their profile, or ignore them. The same commands are available if you click the character by using the left mouse button and then click the Member menu on the toolbar.

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The Emotion Wheel

The emotion wheel allows you to select from eight emotions:

•	Shout

•	Laugh

•	Happy

•	Coy

•	Bored

•	Scared

•	Sad

•	Angry

Click the black dot in the center of the circle, and drag it around the wheel. The character in the Self-view pane displays each emotion as you move around the circle. The closer to the outer edge of the wheel you move the dot, the more extreme the emotion; the closer to the center, the more moderate.

Not all characters display the full range of emotions.

When you position the pointer in the emotion wheel and right-click, a dialog box appears, allowing you to:

•	Freeze or unfreeze an expression—Select this option to make all conversation panels show your character with the same expression (Freeze). Click this option again to turn off an expression you have frozen.

•	Send an expression—Sends the selected emotion the next time you speak. All following expressions are randomly selected.

 Related Topics


Keyboard Shortcuts

CTRL+A	Selects all text in Compose window.

CTRL+C	Copies selected text from Compose window to the Clipboard.

CTRL+D	Deletes selected text from the Compose window.

CTRL+I	Send Action. Sends text from the Compose window to the chat pane, as a caption.

CTRL+N	Closes the current Chat session and opens a new connection.

CTRL+O	Opens a file.

CTRL+P	Prints a file.

CTRL+R	Ring. Sends a page to a character you select.

CTRL+S	Saves a file.

CTRL+T	Sends the contents of the Compose window as a thought.

CTRL+V	Pastes the Clipboard contents to the Compose window.

CTRL+W	Sends the contents of the Compose window as a "whisper."

CTRL+X	Cuts the selected text to the Clipboard.

CTRL+Y	Sends the contents of the Compose window.

CTRL+Z	Undo. Reverses the most recent action in the Compose window.

 Related Topics


Shortcut Mouse Commands

When you position the pointer over a character and right-click, a shortcut menu appears, containing the following commands:

Ring	Pages the selected person.

Get Profile	Displays the profile for the selected person in a new conversation pane.

Ignore	Blocks messages from the selected person.


Adding a Chat Room To Your Favorite Places

You can save your connection to a chat room in one of two ways:

•	Click File Save As. Type a name for the Comic Chat Room (.ccr) file. The file extension is .ccr.

•	Click Favorites/Add To Favorites. Microsoft Comic Chat saves a Comic Chat Room file whose prefix is the name of the chat room, and whose extension is .ccr. For example, if you are connected to #Eliza, the file added to the Favorites folder of your desktop is Eliza.ccr. The name of the Comic Chat Room file appears on the title bar.

Microsoft Comic Chat also adds a shortcut to this chat room on your desktop.


How To Work Offline

1.	Start Comic Chat.

If Comic Chat is already running, click File New. Click either yes or no in the Save Changes dialog box. The Connect dialog box appears.)

1.	In the Connect dialog box, click Cancel.


Changing Chat Servers or Chat Rooms

1.	Click File New. Click either yes or no in the Save Changes dialog box. The Connect dialog box appears.

1.	If you want a new nickname, type it in the Nickname text box.

2.	If you want a new character, select one from the Character drop-down list box.

3.	Click Expand.

1.	Type the name of the new server you want to connect to—for example, comic1.microsoft.com.

1.	Type the name of a chat room in the Channel text box, beginning with a number symbol (#). If you type a name that does not exist, a new one is created with that name.

1.	Click OK.


Character Gestures

When you begin a sentence with this	Your character does this

I	points to itself

You	points to the other person

Hello, or Hi	waves

Bye	waves

Welcome	waves

Howdy	waves

When your sentence contains this word	Your character does this

are you	points to the other person

will you	points to the other person

did you	points to the other person

aren't you	points to the other person

don't you	points to the other person

i'm	points to itself

i will	points to itself

i'll	points to itself

i am	points to itself

When you type this	Your character shows this emotion

All capitals	Shout

!!!	Shout

ROTFL	Laugh

LOL	Laugh

:)  or :-)	Happy

:( or :-(	Sad

;-)	Coy


Changing an Expression

To change your character’s expressions in the same frame:

1.	In the emotion wheel, drag the black dot to an emotion.

2.	Right-click, and then from the shortcut menu click Send Expression.

3.	Left-click in the Compose pane.

4.	Press ENTER.


Viewing Chat History

•	To see previous frames of the conversation, scroll up in the chat history pane. Conversation panels continue to be added to the bottom of the viewing pane while you are reviewing the chat history. To see the conversation you missed, scroll back to the bottom. Autoscrolling occurs when you are scrolled to the bottom of the pane, and is interrupted when you scroll up to another location.


Freezing an Expression

To freeze an expression:

1.	Click the black dot in the center of the Emotion Wheel, and drag it to the expression you want.

2.	Right-click, and then from the shortcut menu click Frozen.

Each frame displays the emotion you have selected until you unfreeze the emotion.

To unfreeze an expression:

1.	Point to the Emotion Wheel and right-click.

1.	From the shortcut menu, click Frozen.


How To Ignore A Character

•	Select a character by right-clicking their icon or nickname in the Member List pane.

•	On the Member menu, click Ignore.

Messages from this person no longer appear in your conversation panels. Others in the chat room can still see and hear them.

When the command has a check mark next to it, the Ignore feature is on.

Turning off Ignore

On the Member menu, click Ignore.


Autoscrolling in the viewing pane

When you are scrolled to the bottom of the viewing pane, then your window scrolls automatically to keep new panels in view.

Autoscrolling interrupts temporarily when you scroll to a location other than the bottom. To reengage autoscrolling, scroll back to the bottom.


File Open

•	Opens a .ccr file you have previously saved. It connects to the chat room named in the file, using the character and nickname specified.


New (File commands)

•	Displays the Connect dialog box; opens a new chat session; closes your current chat session, if you have one open.


Save (File commands)

•	Saves the options you specified in the Connect dialog box. Use the Open command to recall these options. If you have not previously saved these options, the Save As dialog box appears. Saved files have a .ccc file extension.


Save As (File commands)

•	Saves a copy of the conversation to the desktop with a .ccc extension. You can view it again using Comic Chat.


Create Shortcut (File commands)

•	Creates a shortcut to the chat room on the Windows 95 desktop.


Print (File commands)

•	Prints the chat history in the form you see it on the screen.


Print Setup (File commands)

•	Displays the default printer and enables you to change printer options.


Undo (Edit commands)

•	Reverses certain actions or deletes the last entry you typed.


Cut (Edit commands)

•	Removes the selection from the Compose window and places it on the Clipboard.


Copy (Edit commands)

•	Copies the selection to the Clipboard.


Paste (Edit commands)

•	Copies the contents of the Clipboard to the Compose window, replacing any selected text.


Delete (Edit commands)

•	Deletes the selected text or the following character.


Select All (Edit commands)

•	Selects all text in the Compose window.


Toolbar (View commands)

•	Shows or hides the toolbar.


Status bar (View commands)

•	Shows or hides the status bar.


Member List (View commands)

•	Enables you to display only nicknames of chat room members, or icons in addition to nicknames, in the Member List pane. Click List to display just the nicknames, or click Icon to display the icon for each participant.


Panel Size (View commands)

•	Enables you to select how many conversation frames to display. You can select from one to five frames, depending on the size of your monitor.

TIP

•	Enlarge the size of the main viewing pane to display more frames.


Say (Send commands)

•	Sends the contents of the Compose window to the chat room. You can also use the Say icon to the right of the Compose window, or just press the ENTER in the Compose window.


Think (Send commands)

•	Sends the contents of the Compose window to the chat room as a "thought." A thought appears as a word balloon with bubbles leading up to it. You can also use the Think icon to the right of the Compose window.


Whisper (Send commands)

•	Sends the contents of the Compose window to the chat room as a "whisper." You can also use the Whisper icon to the right of the Compose window. Whispered text is underlined in the balloon.


Action (Send commands)

•	Sends the text in the Compose window as a caption box at the top of the panel. All actions begin with your nickname followed by the text you typed. For example, if your nickname is Jack and you type "laughs wickedly" in the Compose window, clicking Send Action prints "Jack laughs wickedly" in the chat frame.


Ring (Member commands)

•	Pages the character you select. The page message appears as a dialog box on the person’s screen.


Get Profile (Member commands)

•	Adds a frame to the viewing pane that contains the profile of the character you selected. Before you can use the Get Profile command, you need to select one of the characters in the Member List pane.


Ignore (Member commands)

•	Enables you to block messages from the selected character. Other members of the conversation still receive messages from that person. When the command has a check mark next to it, the Ignore feature is on. Before you can use the Ignore command, you need to select one of the characters in the Member List pane.


Choose Character (Options commands)

•	Enables you to choose a character to represent yourself. When you click a name on the drop-down list, a drawing of this character appears on the right side of the window.


Change Profile (Options Commands)

•	Enables you to change the text which describes yourself. You can access a person’s profile by right-clicking while the pointer is pointing to a character, and clicking Get Profile on the shortcut menu.


Send Comics Data (Options commands)

•	Enables you to either send or suppress the visual information. Use this command if you are chatting with someone who is not running Comic Chat to send simple text strings to that person. The command has no effect when you are talking to others who are running Comic Chat.


Prompt For Save (Options commands)

•	Enables you to choose whether to be prompted to save a session when you quit Comic Chat.


Open Favorites (Favorites commands)

•	Opens or finds a Comic Chat Room file (*.ccr).


Add To Favorites (Favorites commands)

•	Saves the connection information as a Comic Chat Room file (*.ccr) in the Favorites folder of Windows 95, and adds a shortcut to your desktop.


Help Topics (Help commands)

•	Displays the online help for Microsoft Comic Chat.


About Chat (Help commands)
About Microsoft Comic Chat (Help commands)

•	Displays the version number of this Microsoft program; copyright and licensing information; user and organization name; and software serial number.