In this section I want to make sure people are informed about the dangers of chatting. I’ll be adding to it as I get information that I think is relevant.  Continue reading →

First things first:
Our chat websites are not about making new chat rooms popular. They are about exposing chat rooms that have done the legwork, gone through the teething process, came out on top, and already have a loyal following.

Adding chat rooms with very few chatters will simply frustrate new chatters that connect to it, they will leave immediately. The room will not have the opportunity to grow, and do us more damage than good in the end for having so many redundant chat rooms. We do not have an advertising budget, and thus rely solely on word of mouth and good reputation for connecting to chat rooms worth chatting in.

Continue reading →

There are several possibilities:

• You might not have the latest Java Runtime Environment installed. (A little red cross where the chat applet (room) should be.) Go to http://www.java.com to get the latest version. Since 2007/07 Chat27 has a CGI option on some indicated chat rooms that don’t require java, though java is still advised.
   
• When the popup window first appears and asks you for granting permission, you might have chosen the wrong options. Without such permission, the applet will not be able to connect to any IRC servers around the world. You will be presented with one or both of the popups below. They differ in subtle ways, but it’s important to click the correct button in order to allow the program to connect:

  
  POPUP 1
  This popup should present itself only once if you select the correct options below:
  

  
  POPUP 2
  This popup will present itself each time you start a new browser session:
  

• You might be behind a firewall and cannot connect to IRC servers outside. It means that the CHAT27 applet can only connect to IRC servers inside your local network if you are behind company’s firewall. Currently, CHAT27 supports proxy connections (experimental) via the “Advanced Users” section in the channel list. Since 2007/07 Chat27 has a CGI option on some indicated chat rooms that bypass most firewalls.
   
• You might be using very old version of IE or Netscape. Only IE4 or above and Netscape 4.08 or above is supported by our chat applet. To view what version you’re using, go to the top menu of your browser, and choose “Help” and then “About…”
   
• Some IRC servers deny connection from some ISP domains (due to abuse or flooding coming from that domain). For example, some IRC servers do not allow AOL users to connect. And some IRC servers require you to have Identd installed and running on your computer (Identd is included in jIRC, and it is turn on by default). There are thousands of public IRC servers available, you can always find one that is friendly to your environment.
   
• Mobile devices are currently not supported. As there is a huge variety of mobile hardware and software variations, I don’t expect that we’ll be supporting mobile connections in the foreseeable future. A website on Since our mobile visitors are increasing, I thought it was time to at least address the issue on http://mobile.chat27.co.za/ has however been created to notify mobile visitors of this. I expect mobile technology to catch up with chat27 software before the alternative happens.

Basic commands

Ok, so here are things you can actually use. Remember (to avoid embarrassment), to substitute the text in red for your personal info when using the commands. Also remember the / when typing a command!

/nick yournickname
This changes your current nickname to whichever new one you choose

/me yourtextgoeshere
Displays the text as an action, like: “/me hops” will be displays as: “Jack hops”

/clear
Clears your chat window of any text it had, starting with a fresh screen

/quit yourmessage
Disconnects you from a server & channel with the personal quit message displayed to everyone

About Java Chat

If you haven’t figured it out by now, double-click on someone’s nickname in the Java Applet’s list to send them a private message, or right-click on a nickname in the list to see your options.

Choose a nickname as original as possible to avoid finding that “Nickname already in use” message

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you give ANY private information like your precise location or telephone numbers to someone you’ve met on here. If you’d like to stay in touch with someone you’ve met in a room, we suggest you make regular appointments to chat here. Please be careful.

The general rule is: Respect others and they will respect you. Do not choose an offensive nickname or make a nuisance of yourself, and you’ll be fine. If someone else is giving you a hard time, there’s the “ignore” option when you right-click on his/her nickname in the list.

It is important to know that registration is not required to chat. This guideline is for people who find themselves using the same nickname every time, and want to make sure nobody else gets to use it.

Ok, so here’s the deal on registering your nickname, the point of it being that you want to make sure that you’re the only one that can use that nickname on the server.

1st thing you have to know:
This chat site connects to many public IRC servers, the equivalent of connecting to MSN, YAHOO, AOL, etc… with the implication that you have to register your nickname on each server you want to reserve your nickname. Each chat room’s corresponding server is listed to its right in the channel list in the top right section of the chat website.

The registration process involves some/all of the following, depending on the server you want to register on – the server response will steer you in the right direction:

1. When in a chat room, you’ll see a SERVER Msg link in the nickname list, click on it so the messages you type to the server won’t be displayed in the chat room by accident.
2. Type: /msg nickserv register ****** youremail (replace ****** with password, youremail with your valid email address – some servers don’t require the email address, so you might be able to leave that out).
3. Your nickname will now either be registered, or an email will be sent to you with a confirmation code – follow those directions.
4. Now, EVERY time you log into that server with that nickname, you will HAVE to type: /msg nickserv identify ****** or you will be kicked/nickname will be changed. You usually have 60 seconds to do this.
5. As an added security method, you can type: /msg nickserv set kill on , and anybody trying to use your nickname without entering the authorisation code mentioned in point 4 will have their nickname changer or will be kicked off the server.

For more info, go look on each servers home page listed at the bottom of the channel list.