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Administration Guide -
Once
you've installed
and optionally
configured jChatBox
you can launch it and create/manager/monitor chatrooms. You
can add/update/remove moderators. You can also track user's
sessions. Finally you can modify jChatBox system properties.
Administration
GUI is login/password protected.
When you access http://yourserver.com/admin/index.jsp
you get the screen below.
- Default SYSTEM login is : system
and default password is : password.
You could change both in System properties.
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Default
MODERATOR login is : moderator
and default password is : password.
You could change both in Moderators properties.
You could also add and remove moderators.

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Authentication page -
jChatBox
provides moderation feature. You
can add/remove/update moderators. A moderator is defined by
an username (login), a password and an email. Email field
is not mandatory. Links between moderators and chatrooms could
be configured in chatroom forms. In addition to chatroom's
moderation (kick off, ban, transcript, ...), a moderator can
open many new chatrooms. However moderators cannot backup
chatrooms, modify jChatBox System properties, and add/remove/update
others moderators.
Note : Moderators information are persisted in jchatboxusers.xml
file. All passwords are encrypted, they can't be reversed.

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Add/Remove/Update moderator page -
jChatBox
supports multiple chatrooms. You can open new chatroom
by following "open a chatroom"
link. You can manage a chatroom by selecting the chatroom
in the list box named "Manage
chatroom". You can backup all chatrooms by
following "Backup chatrooms"
link. See the screen below to locate these features.
Note that you can logout the administration
through the "Logout"
link. System properties page is available through "Manage
jChatBox" link.

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Menu page -
You
need severals parameters (basics
and advanced) to open
a new chatroom :
Name : The name of the chatroom.
Subject : The subject
of the chatroom.
Max. users. : Maximum
users for the chatroom. No more users allowed to enter in
the chatroom once this limit is reached.
Display Mode : There are
four ways to display chatroom's content (i.e. chatooms clients).
It could be in an HTML/JavaScript page, an Applet, a Java
application or in a Macromedia Flash5 client. So, for HTML/JavaScript
clients, you have to choose between Framed
(JSP) or Buffered-Framed
(JSP) modes. Buffered-Framed one is optimized to
lower flickering effect.
Note that "Framed" means that HTML/JavaScript
clients need frames.
History : It's the number
of lines, from the chatroom's content, that will be displayed
on clients. It's a "window" on the chatroom's content
starting from the most recent message. The more history value
is high, the more you need bandwith. One page is around 5
KB with history=40.
Refresh model : jChatBox
uses a PULL system to keep all clients synchonized. It means
that each client asks for the chatroom's content periodically.
jChatBox provide three model of "time-period" to
refresh clients :
+
Time-Constant => Period
is constant
(in seconds).
+ RoomLoad => The more chatroom is loaded, the more its
clients are "refreshed".
+
Action-Tracker => The more an user chats, the more it is
"refreshed".
Refresh
limit : This parameter is linked to refresh model
above. Refresh period can't be longer than this value. The
more this value is low the more refresh period is fast.
Private message : This
parameter allows system user to enable/disable private message
feature for the chatroom.
Language
: This parameter allows system user to select a language for
the chatroom. It will work only if the skin support multilanguage
feature. If you want to add more languages then see API &
Extension section.
Filters : This parameter
applies filters to the chatroom's content.
+ HTML filter escapes "<"
and ">" characters to prevent from HTML tags
send by users. These tags could mess up the chatroom (i.e.
: javascript tag, images ...).
+ URL Converter filter
transforms - on the fly - user's messages including http://...,
ftp://..., mailto:..., news://.. into hyperlinks. It could
be useful for users. Note that links are always opened in
a new browser's window.
Much
more filters to come ...
Finally,
you can select moderators for the chatroom to open.
Multiple moderators are allowed. A moderator can list/kickoff/ban
chatroom's users. He can also generate transcripts and update
chatroom's parameters.

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Chatroom opening page -
Once
the chatroom is opened you can update some parameters : Subject,
History, Refresh Model, Refresh Limit,
Private Messages, Language, Filters and Moderators.
The update occurs in real time, as soon as you click on "Update"
button.
You can generate a transcript (text file dump) of the chatroom
through the Transcript form. Fill in a transcript filename
and click on "Generate".
The text file will be stored in logs folder.
You
can clear the chatroom content through "Clear"
link.
You can close the chatroom through "Close"
link. The whole chatroom will be lost.
You
can join the chatroom by following "Join"
link. You will be logged as SYSTEM or MODERATOR user so filters
don't applies. That's the only way for moderators and system
user to join a chatroom.
For Users and Blacklist features see Users
section.

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Chatroom management page -
You
can list users through "Users"
link. You will learn about Name, IP Address,
User Agent (Netscape, Internet Explorer,...) and last
accessed time (in seconds) of any logged user.
You can also kickoff or ban any user. "kickoff"
means that the user will be kicked off the chatroom for a
few seconds only. He could join the chatroom again. "ban"
means that user's IP Address will be banned. He couldn't
join the chatroom with the same IP.
All banned users (IP) move to Blacklist.
You can clear the whole blacklist or only some IP address.
Note that only SYSTEM and MODERATOR users knows about users'
IP.
jChatBox identifies guest users (nickname). Moreover It does
provide authentication (login/password) through Add-Ons tools.
See Add-Ons homepage.
You
can modify jChatBox system properties (jchatbox.xml) through
the administration GUI below. Once saved, modifications will
be taken into account on the next login.
Backup file : Backup filename of jChatBox. Chatrooms'
dump will be stored there.
Log
folder : Log folder of jChatBox. Log files will be stored
there.
System
login : SYSTEM login. Default is system.
You should modify it.
System
email : SYSTEM email.
TimeOut
: User's session timeout in seconds. (e.g.
if an user closes its browser then he will leave the chatroom
automatically after the TimeOut period).
USERSESSIONID : Name of an internal variable for session
management. Do not modify it except if you have a conflict
with others WebApp in your servlet engine.
Default
Language : Default language for chatrooms.
License file : License filename. You have to modify
it if you purchase a license to use.
Update password : You should modify SYSTEM password.
Default is password. You
have to select the checkbox and fill in password forms twice
before submiting. Note this password is stored as its MD5
value (i.e. encrypted).

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System properties page -
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