This page is to let you know about Alamak's special features that can make chatting simpler and more fun.

The main Alamak web site is on a different server from the chat rooms. If the web server goes down, most users figure the chat is down, but it's NOT! The web page is only one point of entry.

All users, including Ops using secure entry, can set up direct links to chat servers using Alamak Direct.

To set up the link, create an Alamak Direct entry bookmark that will bypass the entry server and log you directly into the chat. Try it out!

We suggest you save several different Alamak Direct links, then if one or other server is down you can easily switch. Use Alamak Direct and make the bookmarks now or they won't be available when you need them!

In the unlikely event that the chats are all down in one country, Alamak has a number of mirror sites around the world.

The /len command increases or decreases how many lines of chat text you see. You can increase it to keep up with a fast room or reduce it if you want to really concentrate on sending private messages. /len 25 is close to optimal for most browsers.

Autorefresh is an adjustable rate that sets how often the chat from is refreshed. The default setting is 20 seconds. The command is /speed nnn.

Some people don't like autorefresh. It can be disabled by setting the refresh speed very high. We suggest you choose /speed 300 because the chat will kick you out after 300 seconds if you are being idle anyway. Note that if you set the speed above 180, you may miss some private messages since they only last 180 seconds (3 minutes).

Frames keeps Message Field and Chat apart

In Frames mode, the lower frame with the Message Field is fixed. It does not move up and down the page as the level of chat changes. Addtionally you can re-size the upper and lower frames to make the Chat area smaller or larger. Just use the middle mouse button or hold your macintosh mouse button down for more than one second on the frame divider and then drag it up or down.

It's Faster!

With frames you don't have to wait for the page to finish loading before you can start typing again. You can in fact just start typing as soon as you hit enter!

It's Faster... Again!

Frames loads more quickly because the lower frame contains all the 'hidden data' and doesn't need to be refreshed. Since the upper frame only contains chat data, it's smaller and is downloaded by your browser faster.

Old Message Buffer

Frames has a really cool message buffer. Everything you type in frames mode is saved in a message loop of 100 lines. You can access the message loop with the [<] [||] [>] buttons. To get the previous message click [<]. To get the one before that, click it again and so on. You can reverse and step forward through the list by using the [>] button. If you change direction you'll need to click twice on the appropriate button.

The [<] button works great if you want to send the same message to several people, or if you want to change some part of one command like /id into another command like /kick /ban or /summon without having to retype the nick. Unfortunately the buffer is lost when you change rooms or nicks.

Finally, the [||] button returns you to the start of the message loop, as well as clearing the message field.

Switching Into and Out Of Frames Mode

You can either select frames mode before you login or, if you forget, just type /fr to enable it. If you want to disable frames just type /fr again.

Away Mode

Alot of people liked the old away mode where they would not be logged out of Alamak when they were idle. Frames mode has replaced this. Just set your /speed 200 and type /away and it will be exactly like the old /away mode.

The Best Reason to Use Frames

Use frames because it's what Alamak uses! *L*