Copyright: Beta version 1.0   Wednesday, March 05, 1997 19:31:37


To view a list of topics, click Help Topics.


What is V-Chat?

V-Chat lets you communicate with other V-Chat users through your PC in a V-Chat environment. You use a form of graphical representation, called an avatar, to move around within an environment. In addition to typing text, you can communicate by making your avatar perform gestures such as a wave, a shrug, a frown, or a smile. You can even make your avatar flirt!

Each member in the V-Chat session is either a participant or a spectator. A V-Chat session may also have one or more hosts. The host facilitates the conversation and determines whether members are participants or spectators.

To join a conversation, you go to a V-Chat environment that interests you. If you have participant status and you want to contribute, you can send messages to the other members.

 Related Topics


To send a message to a V-Chat
To send a message in V-Chat

Type your message in the V-Chat Compose pane in the lower-left corner of the V-Chat window, and then press the ENTER key.

You can also “whisper” to one or more users by selecting the user(s) in the member list and clicking the whisper button at the right of the text box.   Whisper will only send a message to the designated user that you specified.

Notes

To indent a line, press CTRL+TAB.

If the host designated you as a spectator rather than as a participant, then you can't send messages to the V-Chat.

You cannot whisper to yourself.

 Related Topics


To display information about a V-Chat member
To display or change member information

1.	Click a member in the V-Chat Member List pane.

2.	Click the View menu, and then click Profile.

3.	If you would like to change the information for your profile, click the appropriate field and enter the information.

Tip

You can also double-click a member’s name in the V-Chat Member List to display member profile.


To customize the V-Chat window

1.	Click Options on the Tools menu.

2.	Click to select the options you want for your V-Chat sessions.

Tip

You can also change the size of the V-Chat window font. Click Font on the Tools menu, and then click the font size you want.


To gesture in V-Chat

1.	Click Gestures on the Avatar menu.

2.	Click the gesture you want your avatar to perform.

Tips

You can display or hide the Gesture toolbar, which lets you click the gesture you want. To display or hide the Gesture toolbar, click Gesture Toolbar on the View menu.

There are two types of gestures in V-Chat: idling behaviors and explicit gesturing. When your avatar is idle, it can look left or right, blink, nod, and so forth. You have no control over these gestures. You can make your avatar perform an explicit gesture, such as a greeting or flirt gesture, by clicking one of the gestures on the Avatar menu.


V-Chat member support numbers
Contact The V-Chat Team

Product Feedback

To submit suggestions, send e-mail to vchatsug@microsoft.com

Tip

Frequently asked questions and other support issues are located on the V-Chat web page.


The V-Chat window

The V-Chat window has a Main toolbar, a Gesture toolbar, and a Status Bar designed to help you complete tasks quickly. You can display or hide the toolbars and Status Bar by using commands on the View menu.

To learn more about a V-Chat windowpane, click its button.

 V-Chat History pane

 V-Chat Compose pane

 V-Chat Member List pane

 V-Chat Self-View pane

 V-Chat Environment View pane

 Related Topics


The V-Chat Compose pane

This pane is below the V-Chat Environment View pane. It's where you type the message you want to send to the V-Chat.


The V-Chat Self-View pane

This pane is to the lower right, and displays the avatar you choose. The Self-View pane displays any gestures you choose to make your avatar display.

In two-dimensional worlds you will also be able to see yourself in the Environment pane. In three-dimensional worlds you will not be able to see yourself in the Environment pane.

 Related Topics


The V-Chat Member pane
The V-Chat Member List pane

This pane, which appears to the right of the V-Chat Compose, V-Chat Environment, and V-Chat History panes, displays a list of members in the V-Chat and identifies whether they are participants, spectators, or hosts. When you ignore a member, the member status icon next to the member’s name appears dimmed.

Tip

If you check the Hide Distant Members command on the View menu, the member status icons of members whose avatars are distant from yours will appear dimmed.


The V-Chat Environment View pane
The V-Chat Environment pane

This pane is located to the left, between the V-Chat History and V-Chat Compose panes and displays the V-Chat environment that you are currently in. You can choose which environment you want when you enter V-Chat. Once you choose an environment, you cannot change environments unless you start another V-Chat session, choosing a different environment at that time.

 Related Topics


The V-Chat History pane

This is the upper-left pane. It displays all participants' typed messages and gestures from the time you join the V-Chat until the time you leave, provided you don't clear the V-Chat history.

As messages are sent, they are added to the end of the V-Chat history. Bold messages notify members about other members, such as when a member joins or leaves a V-Chat environment. These messages are generated by V-Chat automatically; however, you can suppress them by using the Options command on the Tools menu.

This pane should scroll old messages up as new messages are sent to it. The pane will not scroll unless the last message sent to the pane is in view.


To change your V-Chat avatar

1.	Click the Avatar menu, and then click Select Avatar.

2.	Click the avatar you want on the Avatar list.

Tip

You can preview your avatar in this dialog by clicking on the different icons on the gesture toolbar.


To change the size of the panes in your V-Chat window

Drag the edge of a pane right or left, up or down.

Tips

You cannot resize the V-Chat Self-View pane.

To hide a pane, resize it until it is hidden. For example, drag the right pane over to the left pane or the top pane over to the bottom pane.


To ignore a V-Chat member's messages

1.	In the V-Chat Member List, click the name of the individual whose messages you don't want displayed on your screen.

2.	Click the View menu, and then click Ignore Members.

Tips

V-Chat members won't know if you're ignoring them.

You can also click the name of the person you want to ignore and then either click the Ignore Member button on the Main Toolbar, or right-click on the name and click Ignore Members on the shortcut menu.


To enable or disable notifications about other V-Chat members

1.	Click the Tools menu, and then click Options.

2.	Under Notify Me When Members, click to select the options you want. If options you do not want are selected, you can click to clear the options.


To show or hide spectators in the V-Chat Member List

Click the View menu, and then click Show Spectators.


To create a shortcut in V-Chat

Click Create Shortcut on the File menu. The shortcut appears on your desktop.


To save a record of a V-Chat

1.	Click the File menu, and then click Save History.

2.	If you haven't saved your file before, type a name for the file, and then click Save.

Tips

To preserve all formatting in the V-Chat history, save the file as Rich Text Format (.RTF).

To automatically save a record of a V-Chat before you clear the V-Chat history or leave the V-Chat, click the Tools menu, click Options, and make sure Save chat history before clearing or exiting is checked.


To print a V-Chat history

1.	If you haven't already done so, save the V-Chat history. It is saved as a Rich Text Format (.RTF) file.

2.	Open the file in WordPad or any program that reads Rich Text Format files.

3.	Use the program's Print command to print the file.

 Related Topics


To clear a V-Chat history

The V-Chat history may require clearing if it becomes unmanageably large, to do this click the Edit menu, and then click Clear History.

Note

To automatically save a record of a V-Chat before you clear the V-Chat history, click the Tools menu, click Options, and make sure Save chat history before clearing or exiting is checked.


Frequently asked questions about V-Chat

To see the answer to a question, click a button.

 How do I indent a line in the Compose pane?

 How do I print a V-Chat history?

 How do I convey emotions and gestures?

 What common abbreviations are used in chats?


To contact a V-Chat host

1.	In the chat environment, look in the V-Chat Member List at the right side of the V-Chat window. A gavel icon identifies the host

2.	Click on the host’s name, and use whisper to chat with the host discretely.

Tips

If there is no host (gavel) icon, this V-Chat environment does not have a host.

For more information about the V-Chat host, double-click the host's name.


Chat History pane

This is the upper-left pane. It displays all participants' messages while you are in V-Chat if you don't clear the V-Chat history.

As messages are sent, they are added to the end of the V-Chat history. Bold messages notify members about other members, such as when a member joins or leaves a V-Chat. These messages are generated by V-Chat automatically; however, you can suppress them by using the Options command on the Tools menu.


Compose pane

This pane is below the V-Chat Environment pane. It's where you type the message you want to send to the V-Chat.


Member List pane

This pane, which appears to the right of the V-Chat Environment and V-Chat History panes, displays a list of members in the V-Chat and identifies whether they are participants, spectators, or hosts. When you ignore a member, his or her member status icon appears dimmed.

Note

If you check the Hide Distant Members command on the View menu, the member status icons of members whose avatars are distant from yours appear dimmed.


Common abbreviations

Abbreviation	Meaning
B	I’m back
BRB	Be right back
BTW	By the way
IMHO	In my humble opinion
LOL	Laughing out loud
ROFL or ROTFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
TY	Thank you
WB	Welcome back
YW	Your welcome


To indent a line in the V-Chat Compose pane

To indent a line in the V-Chat Compose pane, press CTRL+TAB.


To publish a custom avatar

To publish a custom avatar, go to the Avatar menu under Custom Avatar/Publish. A user can publish either public or private avatars.

1.	Create your avatar using the Avatar Wizard. If you do not have the Avatar Wizard, you can download it from the V-Chat web page.

2.	Enter a valid .png or .vwp file or browse the directory containing a valid avatar file.  After successful confirmation of the password, the avatar will be loaded to the server, you will see  “The avatar ‘publ$name.vwp’ has been successfully published” displayed.

3.	Select your avatar and begin using it.

Note

You can use letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. You cannot use spaces.


To download a custom avatar

1.	 In the V-Chat Member List pane, click the name that corresponds to the custom avatar you want to download.

2.	On the Avatar menu, click Custom Avatar. From the cascading menu, click on Download.

3.	In the Internet Location edit box, the location of the avatar will automatically be entered.

4.	Click OK.

Tips

Another way to download a custom avatar is to right-click the name that corresponds to the custom avatar you want to download, and then click Download Custom Avatar on the shortcut menu.


To create a custom avatar

Avatars are .PNG files that consist of 20 frames. To create a custom avatar, you can install the Custom Avatar Wizard from the V-Chat web page.

To make your custom avatar a private avatar, go to the Avatar menu under Custom Avatar/Make Private. This will allow you to secure your avatar with a password.

Note

A private custom avatar file name has a .vwp extension.

Tip

When you name your avatar, you are restricted to eight characters. You can use letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. You cannot use spaces.

Your avatar must be a properly formatted .PNG file, 20 frames tall, with each frame measuring 128 by 128 pixels.


Using custom avatars
To use a custom avatar

In addition to the avatars that are provided by V-Chat, you can use custom avatars created and published by you or other V-Chat members.

What do you want to do?

 Create a custom avatar

 Publish a custom avatar

 Download a custom avatar


Shortcuts within V-Chat Environments

Within some V-Chat environments there exist shortcuts to other V-Chat environments and Internet sites. If the mouse pointer turns into a hand while it is over the Environment pane then the mouse is pointing at one of these shortcuts within the environment. At this time the Status Bar will give some hint as to the destination of the shortcut. Clicking the mouse button will execute the shortcut.


Avatar List Files

An avatar list file (*.lst) is a text file where one or more avatars and an URL (Uniform Resource Locator) are listed on each line.

If the avatar name does not have an URL associated with it, then you will find it in the same directory where you downloaded the avatar list file.

Here is an example of an avatar list file that list a collection of bird avatars:

...

JaneDoe$Cat.png

JaneDoe$Bird.png

http://www.someisp.com/johnspage/JohnDoe$Crow.png

ftp://ftp.someisp.com/Jeffspage/JeffDoe$Parrot.png

...

The format for the avatar file names is as follows:

<publisher name>$<avatar name>.png


To set up Content Advisor to enable Internet ratings

1.	Under the Tools menu, click on Options.

2.	Click on the Enable Ratings.

3.	If a supervisor password has not already been set up for your computer, Windows prompts you to create one. If one has been set up, Windows prompts you to type it.

4.	On the Ratings tab, click a category in the list, and then adjust the rating slider to set the limits you want to use. Repeat this process for each category you want to limit.

Tips

You might want to write down your supervisor password somewhere, because you will need to type it any time you change the Content Advisor settings.

Not all chat environments are rated. To allow people to look at environments that are not rated, click on the General tab, and then select the following check box: Users can see sites which have no rating.


V-Chat

A chat client that allows you to join real-time conversations in two and three-dimensional environments with other V-Chat members. In V-Chat, an environment is a designated area in which the conversation takes place.


participant

The status of a V-Chat member who can both read and send comments to other V-Chat members in the same environment.


V-Chat environment

The area or room in which a V-Chat takes place. An environment can either be two or three-dimensional. In two dimensional environments your view of the environment is displayed as though you are looking down on the world from above. In three-dimensional environments your view of the environment is displayed as though you are looking through the eyes of your avatar (if it has eyes!).


spectator

The status of a V-Chat member who can read comments of V-Chat participants but cannot send comments to the V-Chat.


compose pane
V-Chat Compose pane

The bottom pane of the V-Chat window into which you type messages.


host

The V-Chat member who moderates activities within a chat environment.


member list
V-Chat Member List

A list of members logged onto V-Chat. The V-Chat Member List is located on the right side of the V-Chat window.


conversation history
history

A record of the V-Chat conversation, located within the V-Chat History pane, that originates at the time you log onto the chat and ends when you log off.


avatar

An illustrated character, that you choose to represent you in a V-Chat session. Your avatar can move to any location within the V-Chat environment as well as perform gestures.


Status bar

The status bar is located at the very bottom of the V-Chat window. The right hand side of the status bar displays the total number of V-Chat members in your environment. The left hand side of the status bar displays information specific to the current context.


member status icon

The icon to the left of a member’s name in the V-Chat Member List pane.


.PNG file

A graphic image file that has a .PNG file extension.


custom avatar

A custom avatar is an avatar created by a third party and is not among the standard avatars available when you download V-Chat. A custom avatar used by another V-Chat member appears as a ghost character in your V-Chat environment until you download it.


properly formatted avatar file

A properly formatted custom avatar file is a collection of images stored in a new graphics format that contains the file extension .PNG. You can create a .PNG file by using the Custom Avatar Wizard. You can install the Custom Avatar Wizard from the V-Chat web page.


shortcuts to other V-Chat environments

When a shortcut to another V-Chat environment is executed, the environment will be entered via a new V-Chat session started on your computer. If the new environment has not already been downloaded to your computer, then it will be downloaded at this time.


shortcuts to Internet sites

When a shortcut to an Internet site is executed, the Internet Explorer will be opened to display the destination (e.g. web site) of the shortcut.


The V-Chat History pane. This pane displays a record of the comments of V-Chat members from the point when you joined the V-Chat.


The V-Chat Environment View pane. This pane displays the two or three-dimensional V-Chat environment that you are currently in.


Specifies whether you want V-Chat to display a message notifying you when a member joins the current V-Chat. Clear the box if you don't want to be notified.


Specifies whether you want V-Chat to display a message to notify you when a member leaves the current V-Chat. Clear the box if you don't want to be notified.


Specifies whether you want V-Chat to prompt you to save the V-Chat History when you leave a conversation. Clear the box if you do not want to save the V-Chat History.


Allows your avatar to display a greeting, such as a wave.


Allows your avatar to display a happy gesture.


Allows your avatar to display a flirting gesture.


Allows your avatar to shrug.


Allows your avatar to display a sad gesture.


Allows your avatar to display an angry gesture.


Allows your avatar to display a silly gesture.


Saves the contents of the V-Chat History pane.


Saves the contents of the V-Chat History pane with the filename you specify.


Creates a shortcut for your current V-Chat environment and places it on your desktop.


Removes selected text from the V-Chat Compose pane and places it on the Clipboard.


Copies selected text on either the V-Chat History pane or the V-Chat Compose pane to the Clipboard.


Pastes text at the insertion point that you have copied from the V-Chat History pane, or cut or copied from the V-Chat Compose pane.


Selects all text in the V-Chat History pane or the V-Chat Compose pane, depending on which pane the insertion point is located.


Clears all V-Chat text from the V-Chat History pane.


Moves the avatar to the V-Chat member’s avatar you want. Click the name you want in the V-Chat Member List pane and then click here.


Opens Select Avatar, where you can select the avatar you want.


Indicates in the V-Chat History pane that the comments you type are contained within quotation marks.


Indicates in the V-Chat History pane that the comments you type are thoughts.


Indicates in the V-Chat History pane that the comments you type are emotive and appear as you typed them.


Moves your avatar to where it first entered your current V-Chat environment.


Displays an overall view of your V-Chat environment.


Displays or hides the Main Toolbar.


Displays or hides the Gesture Toolbar.


Displays or hides the V-Chat Status Bar. The Status Bar displays the total number of V-Chat members in your environment.


Displays V-Chat members who have spectator status. Spectators can read comments from other V-Chat members but cannot send comments to them.


Hides the comments of members you select in the V-Chat Member List pane.


Displays details about V-Chat members. Select the member you want in the V-Chat Member pane and then click Profile in the View menu.


Filters out comments from other V-Chat members whose avatars are not near you. In the V-Chat Member List pane, the member status icons of those avatars appears dimmed.


Displays V-Chat text in a small font.


Displays V-Chat text in a medium-size font.


Displays V-Chat text in a large font.


Displays the Select Members submenu.


Displays Host Controls. Host Controls are available only to V-Chat hosts.


Displays the Options dialog box, which allows you to choose from several V-Chat session options.


Moves the splitbar between panes to change their sizes. To move the splitbar, move the pointer to the splitbar between panes. When the pointer changes appearance, click and drag the splitbar to the location you want.


Displays the V-Chat Member List, which is a list of V-Chat members participating in the V-Chat environment you are in. V-Chat members with spectator status may not appear in the V-Chat Member pane, depending on whether the Show Spectators command on the View menu, or the Show Spectators button on the Main toolbar, is selected.


Displays the V-Chat Self View pane. This pane displays the avatar selected on the Avatar list that represents you in a V-Chat environment. To view a list of available avatars in the current V-Chat environment, click Select Avatar on the Avatar menu.


Displays the V-Chat Compose pane. You can type your comments in this pane and then press ENTER to display your comments in the V-Chat History pane. You can also click one of the Say, Think, Emote, or Whisper  buttons to the right of this pane to display your comments in the appropriate context.


Displays the V-Chat window. To find Help for specific items in this window, click the Help button on the Main Toolbar and then click the item you want Help information about.


Disables the local display of your avatar gestures in order to run V-Chat with low memory resources. If you select this option, your avatar will not display gestures you choose, but other V-Chat members will be able to view them and they will be recorded in the V-Chat History pane.


Selects all the members listed in the V-Chat Member List pane.


Reverses which members are selected and which are not in the V-Chat Member List pane.


Displays Download Custom Avatar, where you can download a new avatar into V-Chat.


Displays the same default avatar for every V-Chat member. You can use this option to preserve your system’s memory resources.


Displays Performance Options, where you can select options to customize display speed and manage your system’s memory use.


Displays About V-Chat, which includes information such as the V-Chat version number and copyright information.


Displays a list of avatars from which you can select the avatar you want.


Specifies whether you want sound effects, such as the noise that accompanies avatar collisions with walls etc., to play during your V-Chat session.


Specifies whether you want the background sound to play during your V-Chat session.


The V-Chat Main Toolbar. This toolbar contains the Save, Show Spectators, Member Properties, Ignore Members, and Context-sensitive Help buttons.


The V-Chat Gesture button bar, which contains the Greet, Happy, Flirt, Shrug, Sad, Angry, and Silly gesture buttons.


The V-Chat Text Entry bar, which contains the Say, Think, and Emote buttons.


The V-Chat Status Bar. The total number of V-Chat members in the environment you are in is indicated on the right side of the status bar. The left side displays information about a command or toolbar button.


This area is where V-Chat toolbars can reside.


Specifies whether you want to be notified when another V-Chat member’s avatar performs a gesture.


Specifies whether you want V-Chat to display a brief introduction in the V-Chat History pane when you enter an environment.


Specifies a range of options you can set to occur during your V-Chat sessions.


The V-Chat Main Toolbar.


Displays the V-Chat Introduction dialog box, which contains basic instructions on how to use V-Chat as well as trademark and copyright information.


Displays the name of the current V-Chat environment.


Help is available for each item in this group. Click the Help button at the upper-right corner of the dialog box, and then click the specific item you want information about.


Reverses the last Edit command or deletes the last entry you typed in the V-Chat Compose pane before it is sent. Note: you cannot undo, or recall, a statement once it is sent.


Switches V-Chat to a lower display resolution when you move your avatar to preserve system memory resources.


Closes this V-Chat environment.


Provides a place for you to type the name of the file that contains the avatar you want to publish. If you don’t know the name of the file, you can click the Browse button and look for the file you want.


Click this option if you want the avatar you are about to publish to be available for anyone to download.


Displays a preview of the avatar selected in the Avatar Name list.


Displays online Help for Microsoft V-Chat.


Displays the About V-Chat dialog box, which contains V-Chat version, trademark, and copyright information.


Changes the status of the selected members to Host. They will then be able to invoke the Host Control options.


Invokes the kick dialog for kicking the selected members out of the chat.


Invokes the Ban / Unban dialog which allows you to prevent users from entering the V-Chat environment.


Invokes the Profile dialog where you can enter information about you which can be viewed by other V-Chat users in the environment.


Changes the status of the selected members to Participant. They will then be able to communicate in the environment.


Sends the text to the Compose pane, but only to the members selected in the member list pane.


Changes the status of the selected members to Spectator. They will no longer be able to communicate in the environment and their avatar will not be visible.


Displays the Remove Custom Avatar dialog box, which allows you to locally remove custom avatars that you have previously downloaded.


Displays custom, common, and world specific avatars.


The avatar selection / remove preview window


Allows user to preview private avatars.


Lists avatars you can download.


A list of custom avatars.


Displays name of avatar publisher.


Sorts custom avatars by name.


Displays the destination V-Chat environment, brief description, and current population.


Updates available environments, descriptions, and current populations


Allows user to activate the rating system for supervisor control.


Sets level of discretion.


Allows the user to enter the name of the avatar and its location.


 Enter your password to protect publisher name.


Allows user to search for specific file using the File Open dialog box.


Enter name that the avatar is to be published under. This will help identify the avatar on the server.


Enter your password to secure your avatar file.


Eliminates the need to re-enter password each time.


Allows the user to enter the name of the avatar and its location.


Name of avatar server to be used for publishing.


Re-Enter your password for your protection.


Displays the list of custom avatars that you can remove.


Displays the server where you will access the V-Chat environments.


 Allows user goes to the V-Chat environment specified in the edit box.


Lists the available V-chat environments name, brief description, and current population.


Displays the destination V-Chat environment.


Closes this dialog box and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog box without saving changes you have made.


Displays the overview help topic for this dialog box.


Invokes the Make Private dialog box and allows you to password protect your avatars.


This will remove custom avatar from harddisk.


To publish a custom avatar

This feature is not implemented in Beta 1.1, but individual avatars on any web server.

Tips

To name your avatar, use letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. You cannot use spaces.

The avatar must be a properly formatted .PNG file, 20 frames tall, with each frame measuring 128 by 128 pixels.

To create a custom avatar, install the Custom Avatar Wizard from the V-Chat web page.


Enter Internet Location for Avatars

1.	In the edit box, enter a valid http or ftp URL (uniform resource locator) where the avatar is located.  If you want to download a single avatar, include the name of the .png file after the URL.  For example, http://vchat.microsoft.com/avatar.png. If you want to download a list containing the name and location of multiple avatars, include the name of the .lst file after the URL.   For example, http://vchat.microsoft.com/avatars.lst.

2.	Click OK.

Tips

To view or enter the location of the previous avatar list downloaded, click on the down arrow on the right side of the edit box and select the URL from the popup list.

Alternately, to download a custom avatar right-click the name that corresponds to the custom avatar you want to download, then click Download Custom Avatar on the shortcut menu.

To create a custom avatar, you can install the Custom Avatar Wizard from the V-Chat webpage.

Note

Your avatar must be a properly formatted .PNG file, 20 frames tall, with each frame measuring 128 by 128 pixels.

A .vwp file is a password protected avatar file.

An avatar list file is a text file where one or more avatars and an URL (Uniform Resource Locator) are listed on each line.

If the avatar name does not have an URL associated with it, then you will find it in the same directory where you downloaded the avatar list file.  Here is an example of an avatar list file that list a collection of bird avatars:

...

JaneDoe$Cat.png

   JaneDoe$Bird.png

http://www.someisp.com/johnspage/JohnDoe$Crow.png

ftp://ftp.someisp.com/Jeffspage/JeffDoe$Parrot.png

...

The format for the avatar file names is as follows:   <publisher name>$<avatar name>.png


Download Custom Avatars

1.	In the select avatars to download window, select the avatars to download. Click on a single avatar or hold down the control key and select multiple avatars. Also, the can be sorted publisher’s name or avatar’s name by selecting one of the radio buttons.

2.	Click OK.


Select Avatar

1.	The avatar currently in use is highlighted.  To change your avatar, click on another avatar name.  After clicking on an avatar, preview the selected avatar in the Preview window.

2.	Click OK to accept the avatar selection change.

Tip

 Preview the selected avatar gestures by clicking on the icons in the gesture toolbar under the Preview window.

Password

Enter the password to preview a private avatar.


Remove Custom Avatar

1.	In the Custom Avatar Image dialog, highlight the custom avatar to be removed from your hard drive. Switch to a new avatar to free up the avatar you intend to remove.

2.	Click OK to make the removal permanent.

Tip

To remove multiple custom avatars, hold down the control key while you select the avatars to be removed.

Preview the avatars in the Preview window by clicking on the avatar name.


Connecting to a V-Chat environment

The following options are available in the Connect dialog boxes:

Name

Enter a name that you want to use for chatting.  You are limited to sixteen characters.

Server

Displays the environment server. In the box, type the name of the server where the environments are located.

Go to V-Chat environment

In the box, type the name of the environment selected.

Shows all available environments

Specifies that you want to connect to a server and display a list of environments to choose from.


Select a V-Chat environment

Select an environment. If the environment listed is grayed out, you will need to install the environment first. For instructions on installing a V-Chat environment go to the Chat now web page on vchat1.microsoft.com.


Ban / Unban Dialog

Enter or select the filter string of the user(s) you wish to ban or unban.  The filter string format is as followed:

‘name’ ! ‘user name’ @ ‘domain name’

When a user is banned they will no longer be able to enter the V-Chat environment. You can use this dialog to ban users or remove bans on users.

Tip

•	If the user you wish to ban is logged on, then highlight them in the member pane list before going to the Ban dialog and a default string will be placed in the edit box which will work to ban just this user.

•	You can use the wildcard characters ‘*’ and ‘?’ to specify a filter for the user(s) you wish to ban or unban. The ‘*’ servers to match any string of characters and the ‘?’ is a match of any one character.

•	You can ban someone by their user-name, their logon name, or both. The most effective ban is to ban someone by his or her logon name. Be careful if you ban someone by their domain only because they might share a domain with other users and they to would be banned.

•	To unban someone, you must select the user(s) associated with the specific string from the drop down list in the dialog box.

Note

When banning a user in this way they will only be banned for the existence of this execution of the V-Chat environment. In other words, when the specific channel associated with a V-Chat environment on the server is shutdown and re-started the ban that you placed will no longer be in effect. The only way to permanently ban a user is to do it on the Chat Server itself. Contact a system administrator of the chat environment to permanently ban someone.


Profile Dialog

Enter your personal profile in this dialog or view another member’s profile.  To change your personal profile, go to the Change Profile command in the Avatar menu and enter the information.  To view a profile, select a user in the member list and select Profile in the View menu.

Note

•	The User ID can not be changed.

•	You can not change another member’s profile.

•	You can change the name by restarting V-Chat and entering a different name in the start up screen.

•	You can also view another member’s profile by double clicking or right mouse clicking on a member in the member list.


Select an environment

Select an environment from the list of available environments. This list shows the name, topic and current occupancy of each environment. If an environment is greyed out, you will need to install it where you installed the first environment. The information is updated when the update list button is selected.

Tip

•	The information can be sorted by name of area, description of area, members currently in an area. Click either on environment, topic, or members, respectively.


Password

Select a password and enter it here.


Make Avatar Private

This allows you to enter your avatar file name and protect it with a password. No one else can then use your avatar.  After the avatar has been made private, the file name created will have a *.vwp extension.


Publish Custom Avatar

This lets you create and protect your publisher name. Your password can be remembered to eliminate retyping each logon if the remember box is selected.


To Publish a custom Avatar

A user can publish either public or private avatars. A private avatar is one that is password protected and a public avatar is available to anyone.  Name your avatar file to reflect the names of both the avatar and the publisher. The format for naming the avatar file is: <publisher name>$<avatar name>.png.

Enter the avatar file name you wish to publish. The file must end in .png (portable network graphics), or .vwp (virtual worlds private).

The Avatar Server location will contain the URL where your avatar file will be published.


New Publisher Information

Re-enter your password to verify creation of the publisher name.


 # Hide Distant Members

Any user outside your immediate area will be ignored. You will no be able to see or hear them. Distant members can however hear and see you. For discretion, try the Whisper feature.


#Whisper

Whisper allows you to chat privately with another member. Highlight the user you wish to whisper to, type in the text, and click on the fourth button from the left of the text compose pane.


#Say, Think and Emote

These features allow you to add another dimension to your chat. Your avatar can chat, express emotion, or think your message to others.