On the LOG IN page, enter your name, or the screen name, you wish to use on the chat page. Only letters are accepted. Numbers are ignored. If the name you select is already in use, a consecutive number will be added to your name. This will also occur if you log in again before a previous log-in has cleared.

Your e-mail address is required. It will not be revealed to others in the chat room. Your e-mail address is required because the chat room is reserved for regular users of the board, and the server will recognize you by your e-mail address.

The chat page should not have a scroll bar since there is no buffer associated with the page. Once a line goes off the top of the page it's gone. If you see a scroll bar, set your font to a smaller size and that'll make things fit. Another tack is to hit the F11 key. This will make the page larger and allow more lines. Hit F11 again to go back to your normal page.

When typing in your comments, hitting the "Enter" key will send the line you typed to the chat page. You can also click on the "Send" button to do the same thing. If you have Java Script ON you will not have to use your mouse to keep putting the cursor back in the chat box.

Each user's comments are preceeded on the chat page by the name he entered at log-in.

The server sends a line showing the time every ten minutes. Since the server is in California, the time shown is Pacific. This will be useful when you log in. You can tell whether or not there is any current activity and approximately when the last line was entered.

The chat room is designed so only those who are participating in the discussion will remain active. If you don't add comments to the discussion, the chat board will eventually time out and you'll be automatically logged out. This is done to keep users from remaining logged in when they are not at their computers, and to help limit the bandwidth for the site. If you don't have any comments to make, but wish to remain connected to the chat page to watch the discussion, simply hit the "Enter" key at least once every 10 minutes.

When you are ready to leave the chat session, simply click "Log Out".

Occasionally, lost packets of information will cause your browser to disconnect from the chat page. If this happens, simply log right back in and continue your chat. When this occurs, the system will add a number to your name, since your original log-in will not have cleared from the chat system yet.