FCChat V2.X

Use the on/off button to toggle the chat on or off. If you do not wish to use the chat it is probably best to leave it off. By turning it off, you make yourself invisible to other users. When the chat is on, your online presence is known to all other online users.

1.2.2 Signing in to the chat. (Without an external account)

If the chat has been configured to allow anonymous logins, you will be automatically assigned a guest account when you enter the web site. These accounts are named "guest1", "guest2", "guest3", etc. Thereafter, you may sign in under a different screen name by opening up the chat panel, clicking on your guest account name, and selecting "Sign in" from the user dialog box.

If the chat has not been configured to allow anonymous logins, you must sign in before entering the chat. To do this, simply click the "Open Chat" button"

When you sign in, you will be presented with a login dialog box which asks you to enter a screen name and a password. If this is your first time logging in, you may enter any name and password you desire, as long as that name has not already been taken by another user. Screen names and passwords may be between 3 and 15 characters long. Only letters, numbers and underscores are allowed. Your name and password will be stored so that the system will remember you whenever you return. Unfortunately, your password cannot be recovered if you forget it; however, you can always create another account. These accounts are not permanent and may deleted from time to time.

1.2.3 Signing in to the chat with your site account.

If the chat has been configured to work with external user accounts, you must first sign in or register with the site before you can enter the chat room. After logging in to the site, the chat will automatically recognize that you are signed in. Then you may use the 'Open Chat' button to enter a chat room.

1.2.4 Signing out.

To sign out of the chat, open the chat panel, click on your screen name, and then click on the "Sign out" link which appears in the user dialog box. If you are signed in with a site account, you must sign out of the site in order simultaneously sign out of the chat.

1.3 Chat Panel layout.

The chat panel in Window mode...

1.3.1 The chat room window (A). Conversations in this window are viewable by all room members. Room participants are listed in window D.

1.3.2 The private chat window. (B) In this window, you can carry on a private conversation with another online user. The private chat window also allows you to carry on multiple private chats at the same time.

1.3.3 The online user window. (C) This window has the title "Who's Connected', and lists all the users who are currently online and signed in to the chat system. It does not list users who have their chats turned off.

1.3.4 The chat room members window. (D) This window lists all the users that are currently chatting in the specified room. In the illustration above, both kobe and bob are currently chatting in the room 'The Lobby'. When you first open up the chat panel, you are assigned to the default room, which is chosen by the administrator. After that, you may change to any of the available rooms (See 1.6.1.1 View/Change Rooms.). When you close the chat panel, you are removed from the room list; however, you are still listed in the online user window, and may still receive private messages from other users.

1.3.5 The private group window. (E) The private group window was included to allow convenient access to users you wish to converse with privately. In order for a user to appear in this window, you must add them to your private group (See 1.5.1.2 Add/Remove a user from your private group.). You may add multiply users to your private group, but you may only chat with the user that is currently selected. A user is selected when they are highlighted in green, and have a little arrow by them. To select a user, simply hover over the desired user and click on their container.

1.3.6 The message text box. (F) This is where you type in your chats.

1.3.7 Send to Room button. (G) Sends the chat to the room you're currently in. Your chat message appears in window A.

1.3.8 Send Private button. (H) Sends the chat to the currently selected user. Your message will appear in that user's private group window, and in your private group window. If the recipient of your message has their chat panel closed, the message will still appear in their private message alert box (See 1.2 FCChat Display).

1.3.9 Send to room by default. (I) When this is checked, if you type a message and press the enter key, your message will be sent the chat room (window A) by default.

1.3.10 Send private by default. (J) When this is checked, if you type a message and press the enter key, your message will be sent the private chat (window B) by default.

1.3.11 Options Button. (K) Opens the options dialog box. (See 1.6.1 Options Dialog box)

1.3.12 Help Button. (L) Opens the help panel.

1.3.13 Close Button. (M) Closes the chat panel.

1.3.14 Text format icons. (N) Inserts bold, italic, or underlined text. Place the text you wish to format between the two tags.
eg. Entering "Hello, my name is =b= bob =b= " will be displayed as "Hello, my name is bob "

1.3.15 Insert image icon. (O) Inserts an image into your message. Place the image you wish to insert between the image tags.
eg. If you have an image named cat.jpg, insert it into your chat message like this: "Hello, this is my cat [[cat.jpg]]" (Of course, you will need to upload the image first. See 1.3.13 Upload image icon. (P)) Your chat message will be displayed as:

"Hello, this is my cat
cat "

1.3.16 Upload image icon. (P) Opens the upload image dialog box. Before you can share images in your messages, you need to upload them. You may upload images in the GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats only. The chat administrator may place restrictions on the size of images you may upload.

1.3.17 Create avatar icon. (Q) Opens the create avatar dialog box. From this dialog, you may choose from the selection of gallery avatars, or upload your own.

1.3.18 Add smiley icon. (R) Choose a smiley to add to your message.

1.3.19 Clear room. (S) Clears the current room. After clearing, you may still access the message history by clicking on 'Previous Messages'.

1.3.20 Turn room alerts on/off. (T) When room alerts are on, you will receive a notification, displayed in the chat room window, whenever someone enters or exits the room.

1.3.21 Filter private conversations. (U) When this icon is checked, only the private chats from the user selected in the private group window will be displayed. If no user is selected, all private messages will still be displayed.

1.3.22 Sliders. (V) Use these to resize the chat panel dimensions.

1.3.23 Video chat icon. (W) This button opens the video chat window.

1.3.24 Webcam icon. (X) Clicking on this icon allows you to view the person's webcam.

1.3.25 Maximize/Split-screen mode. (Y) Clicking the maximize window button sends the chat into the split screen mode (if enabled). The split-screen mode is discussed in 1.8 Chat Modes.

1.4 User's Chat Status

The little square to the left of each user's name displays the user's chat status according to the following legend:

Online

Offline

Online/Blocking*
* If a user blocks you, you are not permitted to send them private messages.

1.5 User's Dialog Box

Click on any online* user's name and their dialog box will appear:

*Clicking on an offline user's name will bring up their profile

1.5.1 User Dialog box controls From the dialog box, you may perform the following functions.

1.5.1.1 Send a private message. Enter your message in the text box and press 'Send Private'.

1.5.1.2 Add/Remove a user from your private group. When this box is checked, the user will appear in your private group window. A newly added user automatically becomes actively selected.

1.5.1.3 Block/Unblock. When this box is checked, the user's link will change to red, indicating that they have been blocked. A blocked user is prohibited from sending you private messages. You, however, may still send private messages to them (unless, of course, they block you).

1.5.1.4 View profile. Clicking this link will bring up the user's profile page. If the chat panel is open, this page will appear in the chat room window.

1.5.1.5 View status. Clicking this link will bring up the user's current chat status. The status report will appear in your private group window. The status report states the user's current room, how long the user has been online, how long they have been idle, and shows any actions (room blocks, etc.) taken by moderators against this user.

1.5.1.6 Sign in. If you are logged in as a guest, your user dialog box will display a 'sign in' link. Select this link and you will be presented with a dialog box which asks you to enter a screen name and a password. If this is your first time logging in, you may enter any name and password you desire, as long as that name has not already been taken by another user. Screen names and passwords may be between 3 and 15 characters long. Only letters, numbers and underscores are allowed. Your name and password will be stored so that the system will remember you whenever you return. Unfortunately, your password cannot be recovered if you forget it; however, you can always create another account. These accounts are not permanent and may deleted from time to time.

1.5.1.7 Moderate. If you have administrator/moderator privileges, then your user dialog box will display a 'mod' link. Selecting this link will take you to the moderator control panel.

1.6 Options Dialog Box

To open the options box, click on the 'Options' button on the chat panel.

1.6.1 Options Dialog box controls From the options box, you may perform the following functions.

1.6.1.1 View/Change Rooms. The current room is highlighted in green. Simply click on a room to enter that room. The number to the right of each room represents the number of users currently chatting in it. If a room is locked, you must provide the correct password to enter it. If a room is grayed out/disabled it means that you are not allowed to enter.

1.6.1.2 Remove a user from the block list. Click on any user's name in the list and then press remove.

1.6.1.3 Change Mode. Toggle between the Window and Split-screen modes. (See 1.8 Chat Modes).

1.6.1.4 Display/Hide Timestamp. With this option, chats will appear with or without timestamp info.

1.6.1.5 Change Font Size/Color. Changes font display characteristics for greater accessibility.

1.6.1.6 Web/Home The web option is for use when you are in the Split-screen mode (See 1.8 Chat Modes). It allows you to navigate to a URL outside the current domain (google, for instance), while, at the same time, keeping you connected to the chat rooms. This feature must be enabled by the site administrator.

1.7 Private Message Notification

When new messages come in, they are displayed in the private message alert box. At the same time, the page title and tab title change to serve as a secondary notification. This can be especially useful if you use tabbed browsing.

1.8 Chat Modes

The examples above demonstrate the main features of the chat in the Window mode. When in the Window mode, you may open and close the chat panel from any page in which the toolbar is displayed.

If you would rather chat and surf the site simultaneously, there is an alternative, called Split-screen mode. To get to the Split-screen mode, open the options box and click on Mode:Split-screen. Then your chat layout will look something like this:

A view of the site in Split-screen mode. The right panel contains the chat system. From the left panel, you may navigate to any page in your domain. The sliders allow you to adjust the size and width of the two panels.

1.9 Video Chat

To access the video chat, click on the Video chat icon (1.3.19) above the message text box. To view another user's webcam, click on the Webcam icon (1.3.20) below their screen-name.

The video chat components. The window on the left is the video pool. The video pool window automatically resizes itself when you add or remove video screens. You may view a maximum of 5 other user's webcams. When you click on a user's video screen, you will open an expanded view of their webcam (the right window). The expanded view window is resizable.

2 Administrator Guide

2.1 Chat Server Requirements

2.1.1 Supported Platforms

- IA32 Windows
- Itanium 2 Windows
- AMD Opteron Windows (32 bit)
- IA32 Linux
- Itanium 2 Linux
- AMD Opteron Linux (32 bit)
- Solaris SPARC
- Solaris x86
- Solaris x64

The Chat Server is compatible with any platform that can run Java's JRE 1.4.x or later. For full configuration support info, refer to java.sun jre v1.4.2 supported system configurations.

For Windows, Linux, and Solaris installations, the JRE is bundled with the server. For other platforms, you will need to verify that there is a version of the JRE (1.4.x or later) installed, and if not, download and install one on your machine, before you can run the Chat server.

2.1.2 Hardware Requirements

The hardware requirements for this server are minimal, and can be met by most any modern system.
- 400 MHZ or faster processor
- 128 MB of RAM or more
- 128 MB free hard disk space or more

The Chat server uses Java Nio for socket multiplexing, thus it does not consume as much RAM/disk space as thread based servers.
Multiple Processors/Faster Processors will improve performance for large numbers of simultaneous connections.

2.1.3 Port Requirements

The Chat server uses two ports, one for the chat messages and one for the serving of policy files required by Flash XMLSockets. By default, both of these ports are set to 443, which is the https port. This port has the advantage of being able to penatrate most internet firewalls. However, if you are running the chat server yourself, and you need the https port available for another service, you may change either of the ports mentioned above to any value to any in the range of 1-65535. The two ports may be set to different values or the same value. (See 2.2.3.1 Changing the Default Ports. Server Side)

2.2 Chat Server Administration

2.2.1 Starting/Stopping The Server

In Windows: You may run the server as a console application or you may install and run it as a service. We recommend that you start the server in console mode for initial testing. Later you can switch to running it as a service.

To start the server in the console mode click on Start_Chat_Console_Mode.bat in the FCChatServer folder. To stop the server, close the console window.

If instead, you want to run the server as a Windows service, do the following:

1) You will need administrative privileges to install and run a Windows service, so make sure you are logged in as an administrator.

2) Navigate to FCChatServer/conf and open the file chatserver.config with a text editor. Find the line that says registration number=1 and replace the 1 with the 24 digit product registation number you received by email. If your product registration number is already there, disregard this step.

3) Click on Install_Chat_Service.bat in the FCChatServer folder. This will install the chat server with the service name FastcatChat. If you go to your services manager (In Windows Server 2003 Start->Administrative Tools->Services) you should see that the service is installed.

4) Click on Start_Chat_Service.bat. This will start the chat server. Next to FastcatChat, in the services manager, you will see that the service is now started.

Note: You cannot run the server in console mode and as a service at the same time.

In Linux: Start the server by running :Start_Chat_Server.sh in the FCChatServer directory. From the terminal execute the following commands:

$ cd PREFIX/FCChatServer/
$ sudo ./Start_Chat_Server.sh

Replace PREFIX with the path to your FCChatServer directory, for instance 'usr/bin'.

2.2.2 IP Binding.

The Chat server is licenced to run on a maximum of 2 different machines connected to the Internet (or in other words, it can operate on 2 different IP addresses). Each time the server is started, it binds itself to the IP address of the machine it is running on. After binding itself to 2 different IPs, it will not be able to run on anything other than those IPs. Take care that you do not "use up" your IPs before installing the Chat Server in your production environment. If this does happen, contact us and we will reset your server for you.

2.2.3 Chat Server Configuration-- The chatserver.config file.

The chatserver.config file is located in the FCChatServer/conf folder of your installation, and contains the variables necessary for configuring the Chat Server. Only the essential configuration parameters are discussed here. For other parameters, refer to the file itself, which contains a description of the function of each variable.

If you server is hosted by us, we will configure the server to your specification. (Please send an email to support@fastcatsoftware.com with your desired server configuration changes. Include your customer number in your email.)

2.2.3.1 Changing the Default Ports. Server Side

1) Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

2) Set the configuration variable port to the desired port number (1-65535). The value of port in FCChat/config/config.js must match this parameter (See 2.4.15 Changing the Default Ports. (Client Side))

3) Set athe configuration variable policy_port to the desired port number (1-65535). The value of this variable may be the same as that of port above, or you can specify a different port for serving policy files. The value of policy_port in FCChat/config/config.js must match this parameter (See 2.4.15 Changing the Default Ports. (Client Side))

2.2.3.2 Adding Default Administrators/Moderators.

Below are the instructions to add a permanent list of administrators and moderators to your chat through chatserver.config. You may also add and remove moderators through the administration panel. Administrators, however, can only be configured through chatserver.config.

2.2.3.2.1 For the Standalone Mode.

Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

Find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;For anonymous logins
;adminAccount=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of adminstrators. You must specify the screen name and password for each one. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;For anonymous logins
adminAccount=admin1/password1
adminAccount=Sue/password2
adminAccount=Bill/billpass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Screen names and passwords may be 3-15 characters each. Don't forget to uncomment the adminAccount variables)

Next, find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;For anonymous logins
;modAccount=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of moderators. You must specify the screen name and password for each one. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;For anonymous logins
modAccount=mod1/password1
modAccount=Mary/password2
modAccount=Joe/joepass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Screen names and passwords may be 3-15 characters each. Don't forget to uncomment the modAccount variables)
(**DO NOT OVERLAP ADMINISTRATORS AND MODERATORS!**)

Save and close chatserver.config

Restart the server for your changes to take effect.

2.2.3.2.2 For the Forum Integrated Mode.

Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

Find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Administrator List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;adminID=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of administrators. You must specify the forum user_id for each admin. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Administrator List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
adminID=1
adminID=4
adminID=312
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next, find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Moderator List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;modID=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of moderators. You must specify the forum user_id for each mod. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Moderator List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
modID=2
modID=3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(**DO NOT OVERLAP ADMINISTRATORS AND MODERATORS!**)

Save and close chatserver.config.

Restart the server for your changes to take effect.

2.2.3.3 Adding to the Default Blocked IP List.

Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

Find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Blocked IP List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
blockedIP=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of blocked IPs. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Blocked IP List
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
blockedIP=127.1.1.0
blockedIP=127.255.255.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save and close chatserver.config.

Restart the server for your changes to take effect.

2.2.3.4 Adding to the Default Filtered Phrase List For Chat Messages.

Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

Find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Filtered Phrase List for Chat Messages
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
filteredPhrase=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of filtered phrases. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Filtered Phrase List for Chat Messages
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
filteredPhrase=dirty
filteredPhrase=poo
filteredPhrase=poop
filtertdPhrase=monkey poo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(phrases may have 50 characters max)

Save and close chatserver.config.

Restart the server for your changes to take effect.

2.2.3.5 Adding to the Default Filtered Phrase List For Screen Names.

Open FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config with a text editor.

Find the following text:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Filtered Phrase List for Screen Names
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
filteredScreenNamePhrase=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a list of filtered phrases. Here is an example:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;Filtered Phrase List for Screen Names
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
filteredScreenNamePhrase=larry
filteredScreenNamePhrase=ronald
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(phrases may have 50 characters max)

Save and close chatserver.config.

Restart the server for your changes to take effect.

2.3 Installing FCChat

When you download and unzip the FCChat package the contents will look like this:

To install, open the file Install.html. This will direct you to the online installation guide for your package.

2.3.1 Overview of the installation process.

The How to install section contains the step by step instructions necessary to install FCChat. Only a brief overview is given here.

- Download the FCChat package
- Upload the folders FCChat and FCChatServer to your web server, placing them in appropriate directories.
- Copy and paste the Chat Client inserts in to your web pages.
- Set up forum integration (if necessary).
- Configure the Chat Client by editing the config file.
- Configure and start the Chat Server (if necessary)

2.3.2 Downloading FCChat

After purchasing the product, you will receive an email with your customer login info, and a link to our download center. Follow this link, and enter your email and customer number when prompted (if necessary). You will then be given access to the FCChat Download area.

You may also download FCChat by signing up for a free trial.

2.4 Chat Client Configuriation - The config.js file

2.4.1 Using relative positioning vs absolute positioning for Toolbar placement.

Relative positioning is set by default. This means that the toolbar is embedded in the page, in the same way that you might embed an image or Flash movie in your web document.

The toolbar may also be positioned absolutely. This means that the chat toolbar's position is fixed to a certain (x,y) coordinate on the page. This type of positioning is sometimes preferable if you wish to set the toolbar at the very top of the page, and/or you have many other absolutely positioned elements in your page.

To turn on absolute positioning, do the following:

a) Open FCChat->config->config.js with a text editor.

b) Refer to Figure 2 below. Number 1 shows you the location of the absolute_positioning, top, and left parameters within the config file.

b) Set absolute_positioning:true,

c) Set top:<Y_COORDINATE>,

(Where <Y_COORDINATE> is a number representing the distance from the top of the page to the chat toolbar, in pixels.)

d) Set left:<X_COORDINATE>,

(Where <X_COORDINATE> is a number representing the distance from the left side of the page to the chat toolbar, in pixels.)

e) Save and close config.js

Example:

absolute_positioning:true,
top:0,
left:0,

This would place the toolbar in the top left corner of the page

2.4.2 Images/Avatars.

2.4.2.1 Enabling Images/Avatars.

Images and avatars are disabled by default. If you wish to enable them, first verify that you have either php or asp (classic or .net) installed. These are two common scripting components, available in almost all hosting environments. If your hosting environment is Windows based, then you should have asp installed. If your web host is Linux based, then it most likely supports php. If it does not, you should download and install php from www.php.net before proceeding. Once you have determined you scripting language, you will set the configuration variable upload_suffix to either 'php' or 'asp'.

Step One: Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set...
upload_suffix:'asp',

(set to 'asp' or 'php', depending on your scripting environment)

To enable images, set...
use_images:true,

(enable=true, disable=false)

To enable avatars, set...
use_avatars:true,

(enable=true, disable=false)

Step Two: Set write permissions for the upload directories

FCChat images are stored in the directory 'FCChat/html/images' and avatars in 'FCChat/html/images/avatars'. Set write permissions for both of these directories. (For Linux: 777 or -rwxrwxrwx within your FTP Client)

2.4.2.2 Creating Avatar Galleries.

In order to create an custom avatar gallery, you will need to obtain some avatar images and upload them to the directory FCChat/html/images/avatars. You will find many free avatar gallery sites on the web, which you may use to stock your avatar gallery. Alternatively, you can create your own avatars.

The avatar images must be named appropriately so that FCChat will recognize them. Each avatar image name must be prefixed with 'fastcat_'.

For example, if you have an image that called dog.gif that you wish to use as an avatar, you will need to change its name to fastcat_dog.gif, and place it in the avatar directory.

Avatars are displayed beneath the user's screen name in the 1.3.3 Online Users Window and the 1.3.4 Chat Room Members Window. The height that the avatar image is displayed at is controlled by the variable avatar_sz, found in FCChat/config/config.js. By default, this variable is 35 (pixels). You may change this value to change the display size of avatars.

The actual height of an avatar image may differ from the value of the variable avatar_sz, in which case, the image will be shrunk or expanded to meet the required height. Take care not to make your avatar gallery images too large (or small), or the magnification factor will distort the image.

After placing your avatars in the avatar directory, go to the chat panel and click on the Avatar Button. Verify that the avatar gallery has been populated with your custom avatars. If not, check the value of the configuration variable avatars_dir found in FCChat/config/config.js to make sure that it points to the correct directory.

2.4.2.3 Linking Site/Forum Avatars.

If you are running the chat in Forum Integrated Mode, you may link your forum avatars to FCChat. To do so, complete the following steps.

Step One: Open FCChat/html/config/asp_config.asp

Set...
USE_BOARD_AVATARS = 1

(Enable=1, Disable=0)

Step Two: Open FCChat/html/config/php_config.php

Set...
define ("USE_BOARD_AVATARS", "1");

(Enable=1, Disable=0)

2.4.2.4 Setting Other Image/Avatar Parameters

In FCChat/config/config.js

avatar_sz This controls the height, in pixels, at which avatars are displayed. This value may be different than the actual size of the avatar icon.

In FCChat/html/config/asp_config.asp (or php_config.php)

MAX_IMAGE_SIZE The maximum size of uploaded images, in kilobytes.

IMAGE_WIDTH/IMAGE_HEIGHT The maximum width and height of uploaded avatars. The two parameters must have the same value.

MAX_DIR_SIZE The maximum size (in bytes) of the upload directory. When this limit is exceeded, no further uploads will be allowed.

2.4.3 Creating/Editing the Room List.

1) Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set...
chatRooms:"Room 1,Room 2, Room 3,...,Room N",

You may enter a maximum of 50 rooms in this list. Separate each room with a comma. Note: You must escape any double quotes in your room names by preceding them with a backward slash ( \" )

2.4.4 Setting up Password Protected Rooms.

1) Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set...
lockedRooms:"lockedRoomIndex1,lockedRoomIndex2,...,lockedRoomIndexN",

Where lockedRoomIndex1 is the position of the first locked room in the room list, lockedRoomIndex2 is the position of the second locked room in the room list, and so on. Note: The first room in the room list has an index of 0, the second room 1, etc.

Example:

chatRooms:"Room 1,Room 2, Room 3,...,Room N",
lockedRooms:"0,2",

This would lock the rooms at indexes 0 and 2, or Room1 and Room3 respectively.

2) Next, we will assign passwords to the locked rooms. This can be done via the administration panel or by directly editing FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config. The later method is described below. To accomplish this through the administration panel, see 2.5.2.10 Set/Clear Room Password (J) in the Administration Panel Layout section.

Open the server configuration file (FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config). Find the text:

;Locked Room List: The format is Room#/Password. The first room in the room list (Found in config.js) is
numbered 0, the second is 1, etc.
Passwords must be 3 to 15 characters. Numbers,letters, and underscores only.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;lockedRoom=0/password1
;lockedRoom=1/password2

Enter the indexes and desired passwords of your locked rooms. Passwords must be 3 to 15 characters, letters numbers and underscores only. here is an example:

This would assign the password lucky to the room at index 0, and the password ducky to the room at index 2. Indexes 0 and 2 represent the first and third rooms in your room list.
Don't forget to remove the leading semicolons

3) Restart the chat server, so that the changes to chatserver.config may taked effect

2.4.5 Setting up Member Only Rooms.

You can employ member only rooms by disabling access to rooms outside the member areas of your site. Here is one way to acheive this:

1) Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set...
disabled_rooms:"disabledRoomIndex1,disabledRoomIndex2,...,disabledRoomIndexN",

Where disabledRoomIndex1 is the position of the first restricted room in the room list, disabledRoomIndex2 is the position of the second restricted room in the room list, and so on. Note: The first room in the room list has an index of 0, the second room 1, etc.

Example:

chatRooms:"Room 1,Room 2, Room 3,...,Room N",
disabled_rooms:"0,2",

This would disable access to the rooms at indexes 0 and 2, or Room1 and Room3 respectively.

2) Next, on your member pages, override the variable disabled_rooms in the page level configuration section, See 2.4.6 Page Level Configuration, like this:

2.4.6 Page Level Configuration.

When you change the configuration variables in FCChat->config->config.js, these changes are applied, globally, to all pages in which the toolbar is installed. If you wish to have a special configuration for a particular page, you need to use page level configuration.

In order to employ page level configuration, find this little excerpt from the code you cut and pasted into your web page:

This is just an empty script tag. Any configuration variable placed here will override the values in config.js.

Let's say, for instance, that you want to make the toolbar width on a particular page a little wider (20px) than on other pages in your site. Simply place the configuration variable 'width_offset' between the script tags, as follows:

Because you are referencing width_offset outside the configuration file, you need to preface if with FCChatConfig.

2.4.7 Chat Toolbar Display

2.4.7.1 Adjusting Toolbar Layout

Figure 1

1) Position of the chat toolbar relative to the top left corner of the page. (Ignored if absolute_positioning is set to false.)
2) Width of the chat toolbar.
3) Height of the chat toolbar.
4) Position of the alert box (the gray box in figure 1) with respect to the top left corner of the chat toolbar.
5) Width of the alert box.
6) Height of the alert box.
7) Position of the 'Off' button with respect to the top left corner of the chat toolbar.
8) Position of the 'Open Chat' button with respect to the top left corner of the chat toolbar.
9) Position of the new message alert with respect to the top left corner of the chat toolbar.
10) Width of the expanded alert box.
11) Height of the expanded alert box.

In order to change the parameters above, open the client configuration file located in the root directory of your FCChat installation (FCChat/config/config.js) with a text editor. The following figure shows the location of the parameters 1-11 within the config file.

Figure 2

2.4.7.2 Toolbar Style Options

2.4.7.2.1 Setting toolbar styles manually

In Figure 2 above, which shows an exerpt from the client configuration file (FCChat/config/config.js), those variables labeled 'css' allow you to set the style for different parts of the toolbar. The syntax to use when applying styles is standard CSS. When setting the styles manually, be sure to set the external_template variable (number 12 above) to an empty string, ie. external_template:"",. Otherwise, your style settings will be ignored.

2.4.7.2.2 Using ready made style templates

You may download ready made style templates for the chat toolbar from the Download Center. After downloading, place the template file in the templates directory of your FCChat installation. Next, open the config file (FCChat/config/config.js) and find the external_template variable contained within the chat_toolbox object (number 12 in Figure 2 above). Set this variable to the name of the template file you downloaded, ie. external_template:"chat_toolbar_default.js",.

2.4.8 Chat Window Display.

2.4.8.1 Chat Window Style Options

2.4.8.1.1 Setting chat window styles manually

The client configuration file (FCChat/config/config.js) contains an object called the chat_window object. Here is an example of a complete configuration file: config.js. Search this config file for 'chat_window' and you will see where the chat_window object is located. The variables contained within the chat_window object (inside the curly braces) control the style and layout aspects of the chat window. Those variables labeled 'css' may accept any combination of valid CSS attributes. Other variables, such as those which specify border and color properties, expect an attribute which is appropriate for their type, ie. background_color:"#555555" or border:"1px solid #aaaaaa" . When setting the styles manually, be sure to set the external_template variable contained within the chat_window object to an empty string, ie. external_template:"", (The chat_toolbox object and the chat_window object each have their own external_template variables, so make sure you are setting the right one!). Otherwise, your style settings will be ignored.

2.4.8.1.2 Using ready made style templates

You may download ready made style templates for the chat window from the Download Center. After downloading, place the template file in the templates directory of your FCChat installation. Next, open the config file (FCChat/config/config.js) and find the external_template variable that is contained within the chat_window object (Note: The chat_toolbox object and the chat_window object each have their own external_template variables, so make sure you are setting the right one!). Set this variable to the name of the template file you downloaded, ie. external_template:"chat_window_default.js",.

2.4.9 Turning Auto-Login On/Off.

The Auto-Login feature applies only to the standalone package. When Auto-Login is on, every new user who comes to your site will automatically be logged in to the chat as a guest. When the Auto-Login feature is disabled, new users must first create a screen-name and password before they are signed in to the chat.

To disable Auto-Login:

a) Open FCChat/config/config.js with a text editor.

b) Set autoLogin:false,

To enable, set to true.

2.4.10 Changing Toolbar Messages.

In FCChat/config/config.js

startText (Message displayed before a user signs in, or after they log out [sign-in mode])

autoGreet (This is an automatic greeting a user receives when they enter the chat room. Leave this blank if you dont want to use the auto greet feature)

loadingText (Message displayed when the toolber is loading up)

readyText (Message displayed after the toolbar finishes loading)

loadingPageText (Message displayed when a new page is loading)

loadingChatText (Message displayed when the chat window is loading)

loadingRoomText (Message displayed when a new room is loading)

chat_toolbox_connectionLostText (Message displayed in the toolbar when the connection is broken)

alert_panel_connectionLostText (Message displayed in the main chat panel when the connection is broken)

disabled_roomText (Alert given when someone tries to enter a privileged room)

sessionText (Set this one the same as loading text above.)

offText (Message displayed when the chat is off.)

signingOffText (Message displayed while a person is signing off)

autoLogoutText (Message displayed in the toolbar after someone logs out. [auto-login mode])

These messages may be plain text, or HTML. Note: You must escape any double quotes by preceding them with a backward slash ( \" )

2.4.11 User Profiles.

User profiles are not a built in feature of the chat. However, it is possible to link each each user's chat account to a custom made or pre-existing profile page.

If you installed the chat to be used with one of the supported internet forums, you may want to link the user's chat accounts to their forum profile pages.

To do so:

Open FCChat/config/config.js

For PHPBB3:

Set prof_subdir:"/phpBB3/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=",

If you are running the chat as a standalone application, you can create your own custom profile pages for your chat users. Of course, this is not a trivial task. You will need to write scripts which accept the user's userid as as an argument in the querystring, and set up a database table to store user info. The details of doing this are beyond the scope of this manual. Please contact us for more information on how to write custom user profiles.

You may also turn profiles off all together.

To do so:

Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set useProfiles:false,

2.4.12 Adding Smileys.

You may add your own custom smileys to the chat or download them from any number of free smiley sites on the web. Place you smiley images in the directory FCChat/html/images/smileys. To use these smileys in the chat do the following.

1) Open FCChat/config/config.js

Set...
smileys:[['SMILEY_IMAGE_NAME_1', 'EMOTICON_1','SMILEY_IMAGE_HEIGHT_1'], ['SMILEY_IMAGE_NAME_2', 'EMOTICON_2','SMILEY_IMAGE_HEIGHT_2'], ...,['SMILEY_IMAGE_NAME_N', 'EMOTICON_N','SMILEY_IMAGE_HEIGHT_N']],

SMILEY_IMAGE_NAME_1 is the name of your first smiley image, ie. happyface.gif.
EMOTICON_1 is the text you want to associate with this smiley, ie. :-).
SMILEY_IMAGE_HEIGHT_1 is the height, in pixels, of your first smiley image.

You must enter these three parameters for each smiley you want to include. Note: You must escape any single quotes in your emoticons by preceding them with a three backward slashes ( \\\' )

Below is an example of a correctly formatted smiley list, which includes three smileys.

smileys:[['happyface.gif', ':-)','18',],['sadface.gif',':-(','24'],['surprised.gif',':-o','15']],

2.4.13 Link Web Page to a Specific Room.

By default, when you first open the chat panel, you land in the room that occurs first in the room list (the room list is the variable chatRooms in config.js). However, you may have different pages in your site automatically open in different rooms.

In order to configure a web page to start in a designated room do the following:

1) Open the web page in a text editor.

2) Next, add the variable open_in_room to the page level configuration section, See 2.4.6 Page Level Configuration, like this:

3) Change the value of open_in_room to the desired number, representing the position of the target room in the room list.
0 = the first room, 1 = the second room, etc...(See also 2.4.3 Creating/Editing the Room List.)

2.4.14 Changing the Default Ports (Client Side)

1) Open FCChat/config/config.js with a text editor.

2) Set port to any number in the range of 1-65535. Note: The value of port in FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config must match this parameter (See 2.2.3.1 Changing the Default Ports. Server Side)

3) Set policy_port to any number in the range of 1-65535. The value of this variable may be the same as that of port above, or you can specify a different port for serving policy files Note: The value of policy_port in FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config must match this parameter (See 2.2.3.1 Changing the Default Ports. Server Side)

2.4.15 Definitions of other selected configuration variables in config.js.

allow_split_screen_mode Enables/disables access to the split screen feature.

allow_web This enables the web control in the options dialog box. When this is enabled, a user may use the web feature to visit other sites on the web while remaining connected to the chat server. (Default: false)

display_timestamp If true, the a timestamp will displayed by each chat message. This option may also be set by the user from the options panel. (Default: false)

max_chat_size Limits the maximum size, in characters, of a single chat message.

no_chat_history If true, no chat messages will be archived. Also, if this is set to true, the variable 'showNewestMessages' in FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config must be set to zero. (Default false)

noshow If set to true, the toolbar will not be shown on the page.

preload_images When this is enabled, the chat will preload all of its images. This may make image transitions a bit smoother; however, it will increase bandwidth consumption. (Default: false)

show_online_count When this is enabled, the number of online users is shown in the message alert box. (Default: true)

showTyping Controls whether the word 'typing' is displayed next to a user's name when they type a message. (Default: true)

userbox_mode When this is set to 0, you must click on a screen-name in order to view the userbox. When it is set to 1, the userbox will pop up automatically when you hover over a screen-name (Default: 0)

zindex_base Many of the elements of FCChat use the z-index property for stacking. To avoid potential conficts with page elements, and to make sure that the chat window is not hidden by page elements, the base z-index of FCChat elements is adjustable. Raising the value of this parameter brings the chat window closer to the foreground of the page. (Default: 0)

2.5 FCChat Administration

FCChat comes with a built in administration panel. There are two levels of administrative privileges, administrators and moderators. Administrators are granted all moderation privileges and must be predefined in the chatserver.config file before starting the chat server. (See 2.2.3.2 Adding Default Administrators/Moderators.) Moderators are granted a limited set of privileges, and are created in one of two ways. The first is by editing the moderator list in chatserver.config file. A second way to create a moderator is to have an administrator promote a regular user to moderator status. The latter method is achieved through the administration panel.

2.5.1 Getting to the Administration Panel.

Administrators and moderators gain access to the administration panel through their user dialog box. Open the chat panel and click on your screen name. If you have administrative privileges (ie. if the words <admin> or <mod> appear next to your screen name), you will see, in your user dialog box, a link that says 'mod'. Click on this link and you will be taken to the administration panel.

2.5.2 Administration Panel Layout.

A view of the administration panel. Click to enlarge

2.5.2.1 Search Window. (A) In this window, the results of your search queries are displayed.

2.5.2.2 User Search Box. (B) Search for a particular user, or a group of users, with the User Search box. A search consisting of the letter 'a', for instance, will bring up all users whose screen names begin with 'a'.

2.5.2.3 Common Query Select Box (C) Select from the following queries:

1) Show all users
2) Show globally blocked users (Users that have been blocked from chatting in all rooms)
3) Show users blocked from sending private chats.
4) Show auto-blocked users (users that have been automatically blocked by the system for possible spamming activities)
5) Show users blocked in current room.
6) Show blocked IPs (only administrators have access to this function)
7) Show Moderators
8) Show Administrators
9) Show Chat Text Filter (only administrators have access to this function)
10) Show Screen Name Filter (only administrators have access to this function).

2.5.2.4 User Administration Window. (D) Load a user into the User Administration Window by clicking on their name in the Search Window. Moderate the activities of individual users through this window. (See 2.5.3.9 Single User Moderation)

2.5.2.5 Chat Status Panel (E) Status updates in response to administrative actions appear here.

2.5.2.6 Clear Chat Room (F) Deletes all chats from a particular room.

2.5.2.7 Add to Blocked IPs (G) Adds to the list of (permanently) blocked IPs. You may display this list by selecting 'Show blocked IP's' from (C). The 'remove' option after each member of the list allows you to remove that item from the list.

2.5.2.8 Add word/phrase to chat text filter (H) Adds a word or phrase to the chat text filter list. You may display this list by selecting 'Show Chat Text Filter' from (C). The 'remove' option after each member of the list allows you to remove that item from the list. The chat will filter (block) any sequence of characters you enter from being used in chat messages; thus, you must be carefull when entering a short phrase. For instance, entering 'ant' into the filter would block 'ant', 'plant', 'antimony', and any other phrase containing the sequence 'ant'. A maximum of 50 characters is allowed per phrase.

2.5.2.9 Add word/phrase to screen name filter (I) Adds a word or phrase to the screen name filter list. You may display this list by selecting 'Show Screen Name Filter' from (C). The 'remove' option after each member of the list allows you to remove that item from the list. The chat will filter (block) any sequence of characters you enter from being used in screen names; thus, you must be carefull when entering a short phrase. For instance, entering 'ant' into the filter would block 'ant', 'grant', 'anthony', and any other screen name containing the sequence 'ant'.

2.5.2.10 Set/Clear Room Password. (J) Sets or clears a rooms password. When a room's password is cleared, this means that you may access the room without a password. A room's password may be between 3 and 15 characters in length. The password may only contain letters, numbers and underscores. This function must be used in conjunction with the variable 'lockedRooms' found in the client configuration file Fastcat/config/config.js. When you set/clear the password for a room, you must also update the 'lockedRooms' variable (See 2.4.4 Setting up Password Protected Rooms.).

2.5.2.11 Reboot Chat. (K) Reboots the chat server. This will clear all rooms and delete all users. The reboot does not happen immediately. Instead, clicking 'Reboot Chat' schedules the server to reboot itself within the next 300 seconds. This function is not cancellable.

2.5.2.12 Server Configuration Viewer. (L) From this window, you may view you current chat server configuration, specified by the file FCChatserver/conf/chatserver.config, which is located on the machine hosting your chat server. If you are not physically hosting the chat server yourelf, this file is not directly editable. In this situation, you may only make changes to the chat server configuration through the administration panel controls, or by contacting your chat server host, and asking them to manually update the file.

2.5.2.13 Update Select Server Configuration Variables. (M) You may update the values of the server configuration variables 'showTyping', 'useAvatars', and 'showNewestMessages'. See also 2.5.3.8 Setting Server Configuration Variables

2.5.3 Administrative Functions

2.5.3.1 Censor Chat Message

When in the administration panel, the word 'Censor' appears next to each chat message in the Chat Room Window. Click on this to censor the associated chat message. When a message is censored, the entire message is replaced by the phrase **Comment Deleted**.

2.5.3.2 Clear Chat Room (Administrator privileges required)

See 2.5.2.6 Clear Chat Room (F) above.

2.5.3.3 Add/Remove Blocked IPs (Administrator privileges required)

Use the 'Block IP' control to add an IP to the blocked IP list. IPs blocked in this way are blocked permanently. (There is a second way to block an individual user's IP. See 2.5.3.4.5 Block User's IP). To remove a blocked IP, select 'Show Blocked IPs' from the Common Queries Select Box. A list of blocked IPs will appear. Beside each one, you will see the remove option.Note: You may also create a default list of blocked IPs by directly editing the chatserver.config file in the FCChatServer folder. (See 2.2.3.3 Adding to the Default Blocked IP List.)

2.5.3.4 Add/Remove A Phrase from the Chat Text Filter (Administrator privileges required)

Use the 'Add word/phrase to chat text filtered Phrase' control to add a word or phrase the chat text filter. Adding a word to this filter automatically censors that word in chat messages. A censored word, such as 'dirty', for instance, will appear in chats as *****. The chat will filter (block) any sequence of characters you enter from being used in chat messages; thus, you must be carefull when entering a short phrase. For instance, entering 'ant' into the filter would censor 'ant', 'plant', 'antimony', and any other phrase containing the sequence 'ant'. To remove a word from the word filter, select 'Show Chat Text Filter' from the Common Queries Select Box. A list of filtered phrases will appear. Beside each phrase, you will see the remove option.Note: You may also create a default list of filtered words and phrases by directly editing the chatserver.config file in the FCChatServer folder. (See 2.2.3.4 Adding to the Default Filtered Phrase List for Chat Messages.)

2.5.3.5 Add/Remove A Phrase from the Screen Name Filter (Administrator privileges required)

Use the 'Add word/phrase to screen name filter' control to add a word or phrase the screen name filter. Adding a word to this filter automatically blocks any user from signing in with a screen name whose characters contain the filtered phrase. The chat will filter (block) any sequence of characters you enter from being used in screen names; thus, you must be carefull when entering a short phrase. For instance, entering 'ant' into the filter would block 'ant', 'grant', 'anthony', and any other screen name containing the sequence 'ant'. To remove a word from the screen name filter, select 'Show Screen Name Filter' from the Common Queries Select Box. A list of filtered phrases will appear. Beside each phrase, you will see the remove option.Note: You may also create a default list of filtered screen names by directly editing the chatserver.config file in the FCChatServer folder. (See 2.2.3.5 Adding to the Default Filtered Phrase List for Screen Names.)

2.5.3.6 Set/Clear Room Passwords (Administrator privileges required)

See 2.5.2.10 Set/Clear Room Password (J) above.

2.5.3.7 Reboot Chat (Administrator privileges required)

See 2.5.2.11 Reboot Chat (K) above.

2.5.3.8 Setting Server Configuration Variables (Administrator privileges required)

If you have access to the server configuration file FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config (ie. you are hosting the chat server yourself) you may edit this file and the variables contained therein directly. Note that after making changes to the file in this way, you will need to reboot the chat server in order for those changes to take effect. If you do not have direct access to the server configuration file, you may still edit a few select server configuration variables via the administration panel, namely, 'showTyping', 'useAvatars', and 'showNewestMessages'. See 2.5.2.13 Update Select Server Configuration Variables. (M) above. If the variables are changed using the administration panel, a server reboot is not neccessary. The other variables found in the server configuration file cannot be edited through the administration panel--they must be changed by directly editing the file. If the need arises, and you do not have direct access to you configuration file, you may contact a Fastcat representative and we will update your configuration file for you.

2.5.3.9 Single User Moderation

The functions below are accessible after loading a user into the User administration Window. To do this, perform a search for a user, and click on their name in the Search Window.

2.5.3.9.1 Block in Room(s)

You may block a user from chatting in any particular room, or globally (in all the rooms at once) if you have enough privileges.

2.5.3.9.2 Release Auto Blocks

This function releases the auto-block placed on a user. An auto-block may be generated when the system suspects that a user is attempting to spam with private chat messages. An auto-block blocks a user from sending private chats for a period equal to autoLockingInterval, a configuration variable found in chatserver.config, whose default value is 900 seconds. Auto-blocks are controlled by two additional configuration parameters, offlineUserMsgThreshold and blockThreshold, whose definitions are given in chatserver.config.

2.5.3.9.3 Boot User

This function disconnects a user from the chat server. It does not prevent them from returning, however. If you want to keep them from coming back you must use this in conjunction with IP blocking.

2.5.3.9.4 Delete all Messages

This Function censors all a user's chat messages at once. Administrators have this privilege by default. Administrators may grant or revoke this privilege from moderators. The affect of this command is not instantaneous, unlike single message censorship. End users will not notice any change until they refresh and reload their chat panels. Thus, if you need something removed instantaneously, use single message deletion.

2.5.3.9.5 Block User's IP

This function is for use by administrators only. You may place two types of IP blocks on users, a temporary block, lasting for 30 minutes, and a permanent block. Most of the time you will want to use the temporary block, since permanent blocks can potentially make the chat inaccessible to more than just the intended recipient of the block. To remove an IP block, select 'Show blocked IPs' in the Common Query Select Box. When the list of blocked IPs appears, select the remove option from the IP you want to delete from the list.
Note:Simply blocking a user's IP will not remove them from the chat if they are already connected. You must use this command in conjunction with the Boot User Command in order to 'Kick and Ban' a user.

2.5.3.9.6 Promote to Moderator

Administrators may promote user to moderator status. They may also assign or revoke the following privileges:

1) Allow/Deny global message blocking.
2) Allow/Deny private message blocking.
3) Allow/Deny Delete all messages privilege.

2.6 Video Chat Administration

2.6.1 Setting up the Video Chat

Detailed instructions for installing the video server on a single machine can be found in the installation guide: Setting Up the video chat.

2.6.2 Video Chat Configuration

2.6.2.1 Setting the video quality.

In FCChat/config/config.js

capture_width Width (in pixels) captured by a user's webcam,

capture_height Height (in pixels) captured by a user's webcam,

fps Capture rate (frames per second)

quality Higher quality means less compression. Range is 0-100.

Increasing capture_width, capture_height and quality will increase the video resolution. Increasing fps will make the video appear less choppy.

Of course, increasing any of these values will also increase the video bandwidth consumption. If bandwidth is a major concern for you, you will be best served by setting these values conservatively.

2.6.2.2 Limiting the number of concurrent video streams.

In FCChat/config/config.js

max_video_streams Maximum number of concurrent video streams. Regulated by the chat client.

In FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config

MAXSTREAMS Limits the number of streams the video server is able to handle.

Note: Whenever you make changes to the video parameters in chatserver.config, you must restart the chat server and the video server(s), in that order.

2.6.3 Load Balancing

Load balancing is achieved by installing the video server on multiple machines. It is quite easy to do this, simply follow the Setting Up the video chat instructions for each machine you wish to place the video server on.

In FCChatServer/conf/chatserver.config, make sure you include each of your machines' IP adresses in the videoservers section.

Note: Whenever you make changes to the video parameters in chatserver.config, you must restart the chat server and the video server(s), in that order.

If you have a pre-sales question, submit your inquiry via our sales contact page. For general, non-sales inquiries, contact us at support@fastcatsoftware.com.