Manic Design's E-Commerce web packages include VolanoChat, a Java-based chatroom which can be placed on your site, allowing your visitors or customers to interact with each other. If you have the Domain web package, you can add VolanoChat for an additional $5.00/mo. Follow these simple instructions to activate your chatroom:

Activating your chatroom

Step 1: Create a file named chat.html



Create a file named http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/chat.html which will link to your chatroom. Along with your desired page contents, include the following HTML code within this file:



<applet codebase="http://chat.yourdomain.com/vcclient"    archive="COM/volano/MyVolanoChat.zip"    code="COM.volano.MyVolanoChat.class"    width=500 height=125>    <param name="cabbase" value="COM/volano/MyVolanoChat.cab"> </applet>


It is important to copy the HTML code exactly as shown, remembering to replace "yourdomain.com" with your actual domain. The file MUST be placed at http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/chat.html



Step 2: You're done... Enter your chatroom

To enter your chatroom, point your web browser at your newly created chat.html page. You will be prompted to enter your nickname, and an optional email address. Click the "Volano/Chat" button to enter the chatroom.

Once users enter the chatroom, they can choose from the "Help" menu to learn more about VolanoChat.

If you are unable to enter your chatroom, please read "Troubleshooting your chatroom".

You can customize your chatroom by adding other param lines to the HTML code in your chat.html file:

Specify the name of your chatroom. The chatroom name appears in the title bar of the VolanoChat applet:


<param name="group" value="John's Personal Chat Room">


Specify the background color of the chatroom login screen (the space which shows up on your chat.html page), in #RRGGBB format. The default is white:
NOTE: the foreground (text) color of the chatroom login screen is NOT configurable.


<param name="color" value="#FFFFFF">


Specify the background and foreground (text) colors of your chatroom, in #RRGGBB format. These determine the actual colors of the VolanoChat applet window:


<param name="color.background" value="#C000FF"> <param name="color.foreground" value="#000040">


Disable banners at the top of your chatroom:


<param name="banner.code" value="">


Specify the language of VolanoChat system messages. Choose from english.txt, french.txt, german.txt, italian.txt, protuguese.txt, spanish.txt:


<param name="text" value="english.txt">


Change the "Chat" button on the chatroom login screen:
Upload 2 images to your /chat directory


<param name="image.button1"    value="http://chat.yourdomain.com:8080/servlet/proxy?src=    http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/yourimage.gif"> <param name="image.button2"    value="http://chat.yourdomain.com:8080/servlet/proxy?src=    http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/yourimage.gif"> <param name="image.button.width" value="88"> <param name="image.button.height" value="31">

The above lines should not contain spaces. They are shown with spaces for readability.

Change the image which appears to the left of the main chatroom window:
Upload an image to your /chat directory


<param name="image.logo"    value="http://chat.yourdomain.com:8080/servlet/proxy?src=    http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/yourimage.gif"> <param name="image.logo.width" value="100"> <param name="image.logo.height" value="200"> <param name="image.logo.background" value="#FFFFFF">

The above lines should not contain spaces. They are shown with spaces for readability.


Please note: VolanoChat is a 3rd-party product. Manic Design provides technical support for the above customizations only. If you wish to customize banners, sounds, system messages, etc., you may wish to visit the VolanoChat properties list to learn about other (functional, but unsupported) ways to customize your chatroom.

Keep in mind that you must use the proxy syntax when referring to images and sounds on your site, i.e. http://chat.yourdomain.com:8080/servlet/proxy?src=http://...

The chat.html file must reside in the /chat folder. Simply use Webby or Microsoft FrontPage normally to password-protect the /chat folder.

When visiting your chat.html page, if you do not see a login area (if you're seeing a blank page, or a grey box):


• Make sure that Java is enabled on your browser
• Check to make sure that your web package includes a Java chatroom
• Make sure that you have replaced "yourdomain.com" with your actual domain. For example, if your domain were "123456.com", your HTML code should read "codebase=http://chat.123456.com/vcclient".
• Be sure that you are connecting via a quality internet connection. The VolanoChat java client can be large, depending on your browser type.
• Check to make sure that you are using a recent version of Netscape or Internet Explorer. Older browser versions tend to have buggy Java support.

If you receive an error message when attempting to enter the chatroom:


• Make sure that your web package includes a Java chatroom
• Make sure that the file which links to your chatroom is named http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/chat.html. Specifically, the chat program WILL NOT work if you link in using the IP address.


Note: VolanoChat checks the full URL of the linking page when users enter the chatroom. The "location" bar at the top of the visitor's web browser MUST be http://www.yourdomain.com/chat/chat.html, where yourdomain.com is your account's primary domain.

• Only one chatroom is allowed per account. Additional chatrooms are available at $5/month.
• Manic Designreserves the right to limit the number of simultaneous users per chatroom
• Manic Design's standard policies apply to chatroom use
• Logging is not available