Spark Advanced Chat Options

Should you wish to do a bit more than simply chat with your friend, you can do a number or other things you can do during a Conversation.

  • The "Profile" option at the top of the Conversation window accesses the Profile information that your friend may or may not have created about themselves - this information is *not* automatically populated or updated.
  • The "Conference" option will convert your one-on-one chat session into a Conference room (aka groupchat). The conference room created via this method will have a dynamically-generated name of the form CNetID_*** (where the *** is a randomly generated string of numbers and/or letters). To invite others into your new conference room, right-click on the list of users on the right-hand side of the window and select "Invite Users" with a left-click - this will bring up the "Invite To Conference" dialog. Click on "Roster..." to add others from your contact list or you can add users not on your contact list by entering their CNetID@im.uchicago.edu in the "Add JID" field and clicking on "Add". Customize the "Message:" field as you see fit, but do not modify the "Room:" field, then click "Invite".
  • The "Send File" option permits you to do just that - send a file to the user you are chatting with. Select the file you wish to send via the file browser dialog and click "Open" when you've located it to send. You may receive a message at this point from your firewall software asking if you wish to block or unblock the transfer - you will need to unblock and/or allow the transfer for the send be initiated. The receipient will then be presented with a dialog asking them to "Accept" or "Reject" the file transfer - you will be notified in you chat transcript whether or not they accept.
Two other options exist in the Converation window that you may wish to use from time to time:
  • A Check Spelling option for the text you are composing can be accessed by clicking on the small ABC-checkmark icon located above your chat message. By default, Spark checks your spelling as you type and will underline your mispelled words in red.
  • Graphical respresentations of some of the more common emoticons can be accessed by clicking on the yellow smiley face icon located above your chat message.

Last updated: 8/30/06