Chat

1 What is Chat?

Chat means "informal conversation" and can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat. A chat is similar to a series of emails between two people that follow rapidly one another in real time. The single messages do not appear in different windows or web pages, but are displayed in the same chat window below each other, comparable to a conversation in a book, but with different text colours to mark the different individuals. The same window offers a text field where the next message can be typed and send. Emoticons (e.g. little faces with different expressions) can be added to the text to express feelings. One's own messages are visible as well as the other person's messages.

2 Start a Chat

To start a chat you must first make sure that the person you want to chat to is also online. You can check who is online by opening the school pages. At the bottom of the side column of each school's profile page is displayed how many users are online and who. Click on a user to open their profile. Below the profile picture you can find a block called "Chat". Click on the "Begin Chat" button to start the chat.