CommunityZero®Help
Permanent chat rooms are created in the Chat tool main page. To add a chat room, select the “New” button located on the top left corner of the main page of the chat tool. Only members that have permission to add a chat room will have access to the add function. On the add form, enter information in the required fields which are indicated with a red star.
Chat Room Name
Provide a descriptive name/title for the chat room.
Description
Enter a description to make finding the chat room through a keyword search possible.
Link to Related Content
If you wish to associate the chat room to other existing content in the community, select the checkbox labeled "Link to Related Content". For more help, see Linking Related Content.
Modify Permissions After Posting
(option shown only while adding a chat room)
If permitted to modify chat permissions, an additional check box will appear labeled "Modify permissions after posting". Select this check box when you would like to immediately set custom access rights to the chat room (i.e. control who can view and edit). See the help section on Modifying Permissions After Posting.
To edit a chat room, select
the edit icon 
next
to the chat room on the chat tool main page or click the "Edit"
button while viewing a chat. To
delete a chat room, select the delete icon next to the chat room on the
chat tool main page or click the "Delete" button while viewing
a chat.
Each member group in the community can be assigned different permission rights that will determine their status as a participant.
Default permission rights and corresponding participation status for
a chat room are listed below:
1. View only (Observer)
2. Post messages (All expect Observer)
3. Edit (Room Manager and Room Owner)
4. View history transcripts (Room Manager and Room Owner)
5. Delete history transcripts (Room Manager and Room Owner)
6. Moderate (Room manager by default: Founder/Administrator/Moderator)
Permissions can be set on the main page of the chat tool by selecting the permissions button. The permission button will only be displayed to members that have edit permissions rights. You can also edit member group permissions for permanent chat rooms in the community administration member management section under membership groups.
You can also set member group permissions for a specific chat room by editing the chat room and selecting the "Modify permissions after updating” check box at the bottom of the edit form.
On the main page of the chat tool next to each room an enter chat room icon and link will be displayed. If you do not have permission to enter the chat room, the link will not be displayed. To enter a chat room, click on the "enter" link. You will be automatically entered in the chat room and can immediately participate in the conversation.
Chat Rooms on Chat Tool Main Page
Note: If
you are having trouble opening a Chat room, please review the "Allowing Pop-Up Windows" page.
To view the details of a chat room, click on the name of the chat room. The detail view of the chat room will provide a description of the chat room, list all related transcripts of the chat room and allow members to enter the chat room for immediate participation.
Detail View of a Chat Room
To access the details of a permanent chat room transcript, click on the hyperlinked name of the transcript. The details of the transcript will open in the same window and list the messages in reverse chronological order.
Detail Transcript view for a permanent chat room
You can also edit and delete transcripts listed in the detail view of
a permanent chat room. To edit a transcript, select the edit icon next
to the name of the transcript or click the "Edit" button while
viewing the details of the transcript. To
delete a transcript, select the delete icon next to the name of the transcript
or click the "Delete" button while viewing the details of the
transcript.
The participants list area provides a visual display of the number of participants currently in the room and their level of status. Depending on the permission rights of a user in the participants list area, different options will be available. By default, each room has at least one room manager and any number of participants or observers that are all clearly indicated. To access the participants list area, click on the "participants" link located in the upper right corner of the chat room.
Room Owner
By default, the user who created the chat room is the room owner. Room
owners have the following rights:
Room owners have the permission to invite or remove members from the chat room. Room owners can remove room managers from the chat, however room managers cannot remove other room managers or the room owner. To remove a participant or room manager from the chat room click on the delete icon next to the user name. The user will be automatically removed from the chat room and will receive a message on the next refresh of that user’s screen stating that they have been removed. Only the room owner or room managers will see the remove option.
Room owners only have the right to view the history tab of the chat room.
Room Manager
Room managers of a temporary chat room share the same rights as room owners
except the following:
Room managers cannot remove other room managers or the room owner.
Participants
Participants of a chat room have basic chat rights and can directly contribute
to the conversation by adding messages. However, participants do not have
the right to remove other participants from the chat or have the right
to promote other participants to room manager.
Observers
Observers of a chat room have a view only status; they can view the all
the messages of a current chat but cannot contribute to the conversation
by entering text. Observers do not have any other permission rights and
therefore cannot promote or remove members.
Favorites
Members can be added to or removed from your favorites member list during
an open chat session. To
add a member to your favorites list, click the empty star next to the
user name. To remove a member from your favorites list, click on the filled-in
star next to the user name.
Block
Members can be can blocked or unblocked during an open chat session. Blocked
users are clearly indicated; their user name is crossed out in red text.
To unblock a user, select the "Unblock" link that is displayed
next to blocked user. Once unblocked, the user name will appear normally
with the crossed out text removed. To block a user, select their user
name and press the "Block" button displayed at the bottom of
the participants list area.
The "Invite" link located at the top right of the participants list area of the active chat room provides the ability to invite additional members to the conversation. The initial view of the participants list area displays the current participants and their status level in the chat room. If the chat room is new and no participants have been invited, the only participant listed in the view will be the room owner. Click the "Invite" link, to display a list of online users that can be invited to the chat room.
Participants invite area
Please note: when the "Invite" link is selected the link will immediately be changed to "List Participants". The "List Participants" link when selected will switch the view back to participants list area.
To invite users to a chat session, select user names from the invite list in participants area press the "Send chat invitation" button.
Participants list area
In permanent chat rooms, users displayed in the invite tab includes all online members of that user’s community and favourites who have view permissions on that chat room.
When a member is invited to chat, a pop-up message box will appear to that member containing an invitation message from the room owner or manager with the option to either "Accept Invitation" or "Decline Invitation".
Invitation Message
If you choose to accept the invitation you will automatically be entered in the chat room as a participant and can immediately contribute to the discussion. If you decline the invitation the pop-up message box will close and nothing further will be initiated.
The live chat view is the default view for the chat room where all current messages of the participating members are displayed. In this view, all messages are ordered with the most recent message appearing at the top and your messages will be visually distinct from the messages of the other users. Also, any change in the current status of a user will be displayed (e.g. "Mary Smith is idle" or "Mary Smith is back").
Live Chat view in a permanent chat room
The live chat view also provides additional features such as an option to expand the message input area and a couple of options for handling new messages.
Expand message input area
Above the message input area located at the top of the page, a link is provided to expand the input area. By selecting this option the message input area will expand to allow multiple line message entries. Please note that the chat window does not support HTML and if used, the HTML tags are rendered as text. However, URLs entered as text will be hyperlinked. Once the input area is expanded, the link above the message area will be changed to "Collapse input area” that allows the setting to be reverted back to its original state.
New message options
To be notified of each new message you are provided with the option to set the following two features: Bring to top and Play sound. The Bring to top option sets individual message windows to automatically gain focus when a new message is received. The Play sound option provides an audio cue when a new message is received and can be set to beep only when the window is not in focus. Changes to these settings are retained as a preference in the user's session for all other message windows.
The History area of a temporary chat room displays the entire chat room conversation during an active session. The conversation is recorded from the beginning of the chat and each message is displayed with the user name, date and time, sorted in reverse chronological order.
History View
Only the room owner or manager of the chat room has access to the messages in the History view. By default, participants will not have access to the history tab unless they are given permission rights to view chat transcripts.