How To Use The Shoutbox

[Dakota Valkyrie]

1 - Shoutbox tab: Viewable by members & guests.

2 - Active Users tab: Lists recent chatters. (not always correct but pretty close.)

3- Bold Members tab: Shoutbox area viewable and useable by Bold Members only.

4 - Notifications tab: Listing of various notices that have appeared in the Shoutbox.

5 - Shoutbox Title: Display links to Archive (view the chat archives), Options (general chat options), or Detach (Shoutbox on it's own page).

6 - Quick Commands: displays various pre-typed commands for lazy or forgetful people.

7 - Shout button: Sends whatever entered in the input area - pressing the Enter key also works.

8 - Shout To: Bold Members have the option to enter into private conversations with other members. Click "Shout to", enter the username, then click "Look Up". A tab (room) will open up and type your message there. A message will also display as "[Private to...]" in the main Shoutbox visible to only you and the recipient. The recipient must have Private Conversations enabled in their Shoutbox settings to receive the message. Otherwise you're just talking to no one.

9 - Clear: clears the input area.

10 - Smilies & Formatting: selected smiley will be inserted into your shout. NOTE: Changing the bold/italic/underline/color/font will change the display of all your current and past shouts! You can try out various options without sending a new shout.

11 - Create New Chat: Bold Members may create an "invite only" chat room for private discussions. Non-bold members can be invited to private chat rooms.

12 - Invite To Chat: Bold Members can invite others to a private chat room. You must be active on the tab (in the right private room) when you send the invite(s). The username you entered will receive a pop up notice of your invite... as long as they are logged into the Forum. The do not need to be active in the chat.

13 - Mute/Unmute This Tab: turns off/on the notification "pop" that occurs when there are shouts in other tabs. A tab will also turn yellow if there is a shout while you are active in the Shoutbox. "Enable Shout Sounds" must be checked in your settings.

14- Text Size: changes the display size of all Shoutbox text. Does NOT change what everone else sees. If people say your font is too small, they need to use a bigger size or you can select a font style that is larger.

15- Sticky: Really important stuff will appear here. Anyone's guess if it really is important.

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MISCELLANEOUS

Edit Your Shout! Ninja Edit for Bold Members only! Double click on the shout to edit. It will appear in the input area. Edit it and hit "Enter" or the Shout button. Press the "Escape" key to cancel editing.

Basic BBCode (B,I,U,URL,IMG) codes may be used in the Shoutbox. Bold Members may also use Color, Size, Font BBCodes. If you don't know what this means, just ignore it.

Custom Commands! You can create your own Custom Commands on the settings page under "Shoutbox" > "Custom Commands". The commands you create are available only to you.

Private Message notification: If you recieve a PM in your Inbox while you are on the Forum main page and not idle in chat, "I just sent a PM to your Inbox:" will display in the main Shoutbox tab. Click the PM title to go directly to it.

The "You are currently flagged as idle." message indicates you're not doing anything in the Shoutbox. While you are idle, the Shoutbox will not update. Click it as indicated or submit a shout to get busy.

Additional custom settings for the Shoutbox are on your settings page. You can hide the avatars, control notification, tab order, and other options.

Bold Members may also click on a member's name in the Shoutbox to get some handy dandy shortcut options.

[4Cats]

i am still confused as to what the shoutbox actually is. is it for chatting?

[Deja]

Oh good Lord! Shoutbox? I'm too old for this!
I have seen the "PM notification" but I thought that was chatbox.

EDIT: If I send a PM to someone, why is the notification in chatbox? It used to just notify the recipient they had a PM...seems unnecessary for everyone to see who's PM'ing everyone else - not a big deal, just an observation with all the new changes.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

i am still confused as to what the shoutbox actually is. is it for chatting?

It's a chat box. The company that it was purchased from calls it "Shoutbox" so we do too. It also has notifications in it of new threads and other things. You can turn the notifications off in your settings.

If I send a PM to someone, why is the notification in chatbox? It used to just notify the recipient they had a PM...seems unnecessary for everyone to see who's PM'ing everyone else - not a big deal, just an observation with all the new changes.

Only you and the person you sent the PM to will see the notice in the Shoutbox. They will also get the usual PM notification at the top of the page.

[Private to ...] <--- whenever you see that, only the two members listed in the full message can see it.