CruiseCrazies Chat Bar - Detailed Tutorial Guide

[Jason]

The new CruiseCrazies Chat Bar is loaded with tons of features as detailed in the release announcement. This topic is a detailed tutorial which will walk you through just about every aspect of the Chat Bar that you'll need to know.

Here's how it appears on the bottom of every page:

• It will remain open, as well as conversations, when you browse between different CruiseCrazies pages.
  
• If you're participating in a 1:1 chat or chat room and multi-tasking between various websites, you can use the "Popout" option to open the conversation(s) in a new window which may make it easier.
  
• Starting on the left side of the Char Bar the quick launch links (will change occasionally) serve as direct links to popular areas of the site.
  

Facebook Fan Page application:

• Clicking the Facebook button will expand a menu, as seen above, which highlights the content on our Facebook Fan Page. Please make sure you click the "Like" button at the top, if you haven't already. Click the Facebook button again to remove the menu from the screen.
  

"Share This Page" application:

• Essentially by clicking the red 'heart' icon you'll be able to share any CruiseCrazies page directly to your Facebook, Twitter, Google, Email, among other social network options. If you like a page, help show us by sharing the link with your friends and family. The more shares we get across the many social networks, the more exposure and potential new members we will receive.
  

Members Online:

• When members are on the site and available to chat, this is how you will know (You can appear offline if you wish).
  
• Green dots indicate 'online' status. Anything else indicates that user is no longer active.
  
• To chat with a member, click their name.
  

Member Chat:

• Once you click a member's name to chat, this is what you'll see. Couldn't be any more simple.
  
• To 'Popout' the chat into a new window, click the first icon in the upper right corner of the menu
  
• To start a Video Call, Block the user, or Clear the conversation, click the second icon
  
• To exit the conversation, click the X icon.
  

Chat Rooms:

• To access the Chat Rooms, click the blue icon, which is the third icon from the right side of the Chat Bar
  
• You'll be presented with the available rooms. Select your preference.
  
• Notice the settings icon in the upper right corner of the menu
  
• This is what the inside of the Chat Room will look like:
  

• In the right panel you'll see all the users in the Chat Room
  
• Click a user to view their profile, message them, and more
  
• To leave the Chat Room, click the exit icon in the upper right corner
  

Notifications:

• The Chat Bar is integrated with the forum private messages and notifications system. This means that when you receive a private message, profile status comment, or any other event which would create a notification for your account, it will also appear here (Example on right side of above image)
  
• If while using the Char Bar someone sees you as "available" however by the time they message you, you are no longer online, the Chat Bar will save and deliver that message to you when you do return online. The example on the left side of the Char Bar illustrates this.
  
• Simply click the notifications to view and remove them.
  
• When you click the "Notifications" icon within the Chat Bar, you'll see a list of all recent notifications:
  

Your Privacy Matters!!

• By default, all members are set as "Available to Chat."
  
• If you wish to reverse this option, in essence becoming unavailable to chat, you can do so at any time.
  
• From the Chat button (which indicates how many users are currently online), click the settings icon in the upper right corner. Uncheck the last option, "Available to Chat" so there is no check mark showing next to it.
  
• This is where you can update other Chat options as well.
  

Wow, this took a while to put together! But I'm happy to do it because I know this will be very helpful as you become familiar with the new Chat Bar. As I mentioned before, this will enhance the way we communicate with each other at CruiseCrazies, and I'm excited about all the cool new features available with this Chat Bar. If any questions send me a private message.

Happy Chatting!!!