How the chat works

The bar at the bottom, under the messages: your input box and a row of little pearls; the rarer buttons live in the “More” menu (…). Each letter on the replica matches an explanation — hover either one, or click the pearls: they work.

1. A A. Your message input (500 characters at most). Enter sends, ↑ brings back your last messages.
2. B B. Clear the input box.
3. C C. Clear the screen: the messages already shown disappear, for you only (“More” menu).
4. D D. Open the Gifoscope, the smiley box.
5. E E. Insert a multimedia file (picture or sound): removed. A chat open to everyone does not broadcast files sent by strangers. Removed
6. F F. Your preferences: alerts, sounds, colours, contacts.
7. G G. Your messages and contacts (“More” menu, for members); the contact list is also in Preferences › Contacts. Modernised
8. H H. This guide.
9. I I. Not a member yet? Sign up (“More” menu) and your nickname is reserved.
10. J J. Quit the chat with this button: the others see “*** nickname leaves the salon”.
11. K K. Untick everyone ticked for private messages (PV). Appears as soon as a PV box is ticked.
12. L L. Message to everyone: while PV boxes are ticked, sends this one message to the whole salon.
13. M M. Send the message. New
14. N N. Go away (zZ) — see “Your functions”. New
15. O O. Text colour and style: the 16 colours, a colour of your own, N G I S. The dot shows your colour. Modernised
16. P P. … More: the less frequent 2001 buttons (C, G, I) and, for the operator, their tools. New

The Gifoscope is a picture bank to liven up your conversations. In 2001: 674 animated GIFs in 22 categories. Today it is emoji, sorted into lettered categories, and still one code per smiley.

1. A A. Click the moon or sun to switch between a white and a black background.
2. B B. The selected category (a letter, its name below).
3. C C. The code to type in the input box to make the smiley appear (e.g. Hi to all the &a3 in here!). It works in private messages too.
4. D D. Click a smiley: its code appears in the input box.
5. E E. Next (and previous) smileys.

In 2001 this window produced the HTML for a picture or a sound to show in the conversation. It has been removed.

1. A A. Hide the sound player (volume, play, stop). Removed
2. B B. Start the sound automatically. Removed
3. C C. Upload a file from your computer. Removed
4. D D. Width and height of the picture. Removed
5. E E. Address of the file (http://…). Removed

Why? The chat is open to everyone, minors included: a picture or sound sent by a stranger cannot be checked before it is seen or heard. Only text goes through; it is limited to 2 links per message, and nothing ever plays by itself.

The little cog opens your preferences. As a member they are saved to your account and follow you everywhere; as a visitor they last for the visit.

1. A A. The Preferences, Colours and Contacts tabs.
2. B B. Allow alerts (wake-ups, operator messages, a contact arriving).
3. C C. Allow system sounds: a little beep when someone arrives and when you are woken up. Off by default.
4. D D. Accept messages from someone who is in another salon.
5. E E. How many people in private at the same time, at most (5 by default).
6. F F. Your current text attributes, as a preview.
7. G G. “Remember on this computer” (visitors); for members it is saved to the account. Modernised
8. H H. Save your preferences.
9. I I. Restore the preferences kept on this computer.

Your contact list: you are told when they arrive on the chat, and they are told when you do. As in 2001, your contact must have you in their list too! For members, in the members' area.

1. A A. Type your list of contacts, one member nickname per line (Preferences › Contacts).
2. B B. Then save. Unknown nicknames are pointed out.
3. C C. ⇄ Mutual: you are in their list too. Only mutual contacts are told and can message each other privately. New
4. D D. Your contact arrives on the chat…
5. E E. …and you are told: “Your contact … just arrived in …” (if you allow alerts).

Personalise your text by changing its attributes. They apply to your public messages and, if you are a member, are remembered.

1. A A. The “colour and style” pearl opens the attributes; its dot shows your colour. Modernised
2. B B. Pick one of the 16 preset colours.
3. C C. The salon's default colour. New
4. D D. Custom colour: see “Text colour”.
5. E E. N: back to normal text (no colour, bold, italic or underline).
6. F F. G: bold, gras (Ctrl+B).
7. G G. I: italic (Ctrl+I).
8. H H. S: underline, souligné (Ctrl+U).
9. I I. A preview of your text. New

As in 2001, mix any colour in Preferences › Colours: an HTML code, or the red, green and blue sliders. One rule only: stay readable on the salon's white background.

1. A A. The colour's HTML value: type a code (e.g. #663399).
2. B B. How the text looks on the salon background.
3. C C. Red level (0 to 255).
4. D D. Green level.
5. E E. Blue level.
6. F F. Intensity is handled for you: a colour that is too light is darkened until everyone can read it. Modernised
7. G G. The dot on the “colour and style” pearl shows the chosen colour. Modernised
8. H H. Assign: your text takes this colour.

The strip at the top of every salon: where you are, what it is about, how many of you there are. (The 2001 page was not archived.)

1. A A. The salon name. ★: an official, permanent salon.
2. B B. How many people are connected, live.
3. C C. “private”: a salon you can only enter with its link.
4. D D. The salon topic, under its name. The operator can change it.
5. E E. Logos and skins (background, colours) chosen by the salon's creator: not yet. Not yet

A salon created by a visitor is temporary: it closes by itself after 30 minutes with nobody inside.

Click a salon: you are asked for a nickname, and that's it. No e-mail, no account.

1. A A. Your nickname: 2 to 20 characters, letters, digits, - _ and dot.
2. B B. Enter!
3. C C. The charter is shown to you in the salon; you accept it to write. Modernised
4. D D. A member? Log in from the members' area: your nickname is reserved and protected by a password. Modernised
5. E E. “Introduce yourself in one line”: removed, nothing personal is asked. Removed
6. F F. “Enter without background images”: unnecessary, pages are light. Removed

The navy column to the right of the messages: who is here, and what you can do with each person.

1. A A. Tick the box to go private (PV) with that person; tick several to write to several. The box only appears for mutual contacts who accept messages.
2. B B. The little head: member (circle) or visitor. Click it to ignore the person: it turns into a crossed eye and their messages disappear for you. Click again to undo. Modernised
3. C C. zZ: the person is away. Click to wake them up: they get an alert.
4. D D. @: the salon's operator.
5. E E. Click a nickname: their profile card. Right-click no longer opens a private window. Modernised
6. F F. Who's here / Salons: this salon, or every open salon.
7. G G. The Mrs, Miss, Mr icons: removed, the chat no longer shows anyone's gender. Removed

The “Salons” button in the people column shows every open salon and who is in it, without leaving yours. The figures below are the chat's, right now.

1. A A. Switch to “Salons”.
2. B B. A salon's name: click to go there. Hover for its description.
3. C C. How many people are in it.
4. D D. “You are here”.
5. E E. The nicknames, with @ for the operator and zZ when away.
6. F F. Invite someone into your salon: not yet. Not yet

What you can do for yourself in a salon.

1. A A. Go away: zZ before your nickname, the others see “*** nickname is away zZ”. Click again to come back.
2. B B. Allow or block alerts: in the preferences.
3. C C. Allow private dialogues: “Accept messages from my contacts”, in the members' area. Modernised
4. D D. Write to the salon's operator: not yet. A problem? Use 🆘 or Report. Not yet
5. E E. The bar turning red: if the connection drops, a banner says so and the chat reconnects by itself. Modernised
6. F F. Macros (&&12): not yet. Not yet

In 2001, hovering a nickname opened a menu. Today, clicking a nickname in the list opens their card, and each message has its own actions on hover.

1. A A. The avatar and nickname.
2. B B. Member or visitor.
3. C C. A few words written by the person (members). Modernised
4. D D. Private message: only between mutual contacts. Modernised
5. E E. Address: @nickname is added to your message.
6. F F. Ignore, for you only.
7. G G. Block: opens the 🆘 button. New
8. H H. Report their latest message. New
9. I I. On each message, on hover: ignore the author or report the message. New

A/S/L: Age, Sex, Location — “a rather thin introduction :)”. It got thinner still: to protect the youngest, the chat no longer shows age, sex or town.

1. A A. The nickname and a drawn avatar the member picked (no photo). Modernised
2. B B. Sex (miss, lady, boy icons): removed. Removed
3. C C. Age, town, county, country: removed. What remains is “a few words” (280 characters, no address, school or phone). Modernised
4. D D. Appearing in the members' directory: only if you tick it. New

Whoever creates a salon is its operator (@). The site team is operator everywhere.

1. A A. @ before the nickname: the operator.
2. B B. Delete a message, for everyone.
3. C C. Remove someone from the salon for 15 minutes (from their card).
4. D D. Close the salon for everyone (“More” menu).
5. E E. Mute for 10 minutes. New
6. F F. Ban from the salon for 24 hours. New
7. G G. Change the salon topic: everyone sees “*** nickname changes the topic”.
8. H H. Change the salon's background (skin), receive “to the operator” messages: not yet. Not yet

Everything is logged. The moderation team can ban anyone who seriously breaks the charter from the site.

In 2001, in salons that allowed it, a message starting with <> was HTML. Not any more: whatever you type is shown as is.

1. A A. HTML messages (<>): removed. They could show anything, traps included. Removed
2. B B. For formatting: colours and N G I S.
3. C C. Links stay text, 2 at most per message. Modernised

Codes you type straight into the input box, and handy keys.

1. A A. &a3 … &f20: a smiley from the Gifoscope.
2. B B. @nickname: call out to someone. Tab completes the nickname; Alt-click a nickname in the list adds it.
3. C C. Enter sends; ↑ ↓ your previous messages; Escape clears the input or closes a panel; Ctrl+B / I / U: bold, italic, underline. New
4. D D. &&12: send macro no. 12 — not yet. Not yet
5. E E. <>: send HTML — removed. Removed
6. F F. On IRC: /list, /join #salon, /msg ondiscute help. New

To talk to one person in particular, click their nickname in the conversation.

1. A A. Click a nickname: @nickname is added to your message.
2. B B. The person sees your message highlighted: they know you are talking to them. It is not a private message!
3. C C. Each message's time, in your local time. New