Communicator Help: Using Instant Messenger<sup><font size=-1>TM</font></sup> for AOL<sup><font size=-2>®</font></sup> Communicator

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Using Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator

Using Chat Rooms

Inviting Buddies to Chat
Sending a Chat Message
Sending an Instant Message from a Chat Room
Stopping Messages from People in a Chat Room
Ending a Chat

Inviting Buddies to Chat

To invite a buddy to chat:

1. If your Buddy List window isn't visible, open the Window menu in any AOL Communicator window and choose Instant Messenger.
   If you're not already signed on, enter your screen name and password and click Sign On.
2. In your Buddy List window, select the names of the people you want to invite to the chat room.
   To select multiple names, hold down the Ctrl key as you click each name.
   To invite all the buddies in a group, select the name of the group.
3. Open the Actions menu and choose Send Chat Invitation.
   The Buddy Chat Invitation window opens.
   If you want to send the invitation to additional buddies, type their screen names in the Screen names to invite field. You can either type one screen name on each line or separate the screen names by commas.
   You can also change the default invitation message.
4. Click Invite to send the invitation.
   When a buddy accepts your invitation, Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator displays a message indicating that the buddy has entered the room. You can start typing your chat messages in the text area after you receive the notification. The same message is displayed for each invitee.

You can also invite a buddy to join a chat in progress. To do so, open the Actions menu and choose Invite Others, or just drag names from the Buddy List window into the Chat Room window's list of participants.

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Sending a Chat Message

To send a chat message:

1. Type the message that you want to send in the text area box near the bottom of the Chat window.
   You can format chat messages in much the same way that you can format instant messages: with links and smileys, different fonts, or styles such as bold, italic, or underlining.
2. Click Send.

When you are finished with your chat conversation, you can open the File menu and choose Save this Chat to save the conversation to a file.

Related topic:

Adding Formatting, Smileys, and Links

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Sending an Instant Message from a Chat Room

You can send someone participating in a chat conversation an instant message directly from the Chat Room window. Follow these steps:

1. In the Chat Room window, select the name of the person to whom you want to send an instant message.
2. Click the Send IM button.
3. Type your message in the Instant Message window that appears.
4. Click Send.

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Stopping Messages from People in a Chat Room

To stop receiving messages from one or more people in the chat room:

1. Select the person's screen name in the field that lists participants in the chat room.
2. Click Ignore. An X appears next to the selected screen name.
   Click Ignore again to turn the Ignore feature off.

Once you've clicked Ignore, you won't see any messages from that screen name in that chat room. However, others in the chat room will continue to see messages from Ignored screen names. You will also see messages from them in other chat rooms, and they can still send you instant messages.

Related topic:

Blocking and Unblocking Users

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Ending a Chat

A chat ends when all parties close their chat windows. To close your chat window, click the close box.

When you finish a chat, your Buddy List window remains open and you can continue to send instant messages or start new chats.

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Last Updated September 16, 2003