More about Group Chats


A Group Chat is different from an Instant or Direct Message in that you can have a number of people around the world in the same "chat room" (which looks amazingly like an Instant Message window) all chatting at once.

You can create a new Group Chat with a unique name and invite a large number of people to join you, as explained on page 497. .Mac members, AOL members, AIM users, and Jabber users can all be invited into the chat.

You can join an existing Group Chat that another buddy has created if you know the exact name of the Group Chat, as explained below.

1.

From the File menu, choose "Go to Chat…."

2.

In the "Go To Chat" window, type in the name of the Group Chat you want to join (shown bottom-left).

3.

Click the "Go" button. If other buddies are already there, you will join them. If you're the first one there, type a greeting and wait for a response from others as they join in.

Note: If you enter the name of a Group Chat that some other iChat users in the world have already set up, you will land in their room! So you want to be sure to type the correct name of the room you want to join. Caps and lowercase don't matter when typing the name of a Group Chat.

An easier way to start a group chat

You can quickly start a new group chat without having to type an invitation. First, make a multiple selection of buddies by Commandclicking on people in your Buddy List that you want to invite to a group chat. Then Controlclick on any selected Buddy in the list, and choose "Invite to Chat…" from the contextual menu that pops up. A new message window will open and every selected Buddy will receive an invitation in the form of an iChat window popping open on their Desktop.

Create Chat Groups

If you have lots of buddies, you can organize them into groups. When you tell iChat to "Use Groups," a default group named "Buddies" appears in the Buddy List that contains all of the buddies you've added to your list.

To use groups

1.

From the View menu, choose "Use Groups" (shown on the right).

2.

The default group, "Buddies," appears in the list as a gray row with a black disclosure triangle on the left side. Click the triangle to hide or show buddies in the group.

To create a new group

1.

Click the Add button (in the bottom-left corner of the iChat window) and choose "Add Group…."

2.

In the sheet that slides down, type a name for the group, then click the "Add" button.

3.

The new group appears in the list as a gray row.

To add a new buddy to a group: Click the Add button (shown right), then choose "Add Buddy…" to open an Address Book window in which you can select a buddy, or click a "New Person" button as explained on page 487.

To move a buddy to another group: Drag a buddy from the current group to another group. The buddy is removed from the original group. To keep the buddy in the original group, Option-drag to copy the buddy to the new group.

To move offline buddies to a different group: From the View menu, choose "Show Offline Buddies," then drag the dimmed-out buddy to another group. Or Option-drag to copy the buddy to a group without removing from the original group.

To delete a buddy in a group: Select the buddy, then hit Delete. A buddy that you delete from one group remains in other groups.

To delete an entire group: Select a group, then press Delete. An alert asks you to confirm your decision. This will delete all buddies in that group. If those buddies are not duplicated in another group, you'll have to manually add them again later if you want them in your Buddy List. Before you delete the group, drag the buddies you want to keep to another group.

To hide groups: Go back to the View menu and uncheck "Use Groups."

Another way to create a Group Chat and invite others to join you

1.

From the File menu, choose "New Chat."

2.

A new message window appears. Before you type anything or choose anyone to invite, go to the View menu and choose "Chat Options…."

3.

From the pop-up "Mode" menu, choose "Chat," as shown below.

4.

Type a name in the "Chat Name" text box. Be sure to enter a name that no one else in the world would be using at this moment or you might end up in someone else's chat room. Click OK.

Tip

Caps and lowercase don't matter in a Chat Name, nor do spaces; "tea room" is the same as "TeaRoom."


5.

To invite one or more of your buddies to the new chat, drag them from your Buddy List to the chat's Participants drawer (shown below). Or click the + button at the bottom of the Participants drawer, then choose people from your list who are online at the moment.

Drag buddies from your Buddy List to the Participants drawer. Or, click the + button (in the bottom-left corner of the Participants drawer) to select buddies from a pop-up menu, shown on the right.

Buddies that show up in this AIM Buddies pop-up menu are currently online. Select a buddy in the list to add her to the Paricipants drawer. Click "Other" to open an Address Book window and invite a buddy that's not already in your Buddy List. See page 487.

6.

To invite someone who is not in your Buddy List, click the + button at the bottom of the drawer, then choose "Other…." Type a buddy name in the sheet that slides down from the top of the message window (shown below), then click OK.

7.

Once you've added participants to the list, type a message into the text field at the bottom of the window, hit Return, and that message goes out to everyone in the list.

You can add more participants at any time, and anyone in the world can enter your Chat Room name and drop in to your window. For instance, if someone is not yet online when you send out an invitation, you can send them an email asking them to join you in that particular room as soon as they are online.

8.

All invited participants will see a message on their screens inviting them to the chat. As soon as they respond, they appear in your window.

Join an existing Chat Room

You can join an existing Group Chat that another Mac.com member started if you know its name. You cannot join a chat that an AOL user started in AOL.

1.

From the File menu, choose "Go to Chat…."

2.

In the "Go to Chat…" window, type in the exact name of the Group Chat you wish to join, then click "Go."

If a Chat Room by this name exists somewhere in the world, you will appear in it and it will appear on your screen.

If there is no such existing room, an "Empty chat room" will open on your screen. People can join you there if they know the chat name.



    Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps. A guide to iLife '05,  .Mac, and more.
    Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps. A guide to iLife '05, .Mac, and more.
    ISBN: 321335902
    EAN: N/A
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 277

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