USER INTERFACE:

File Menu - Login, Logout, Exit, Options

Member Menu - Invite, Stop speaking, Reject, Ban, View details

Browser Menu - Back, Forward, Stop, Refresh, Home, Synchronize, Save URL as, Add to favorites

Whiteboard Menu - Pencil, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, Text, Select area, Move selected area, Eraser, Pen style, Brush style, Font Style, Clear paper, Copy to Clipboard, Open, Save as, Capture desktop, Capture area, Capture window

Chat Menu - Clear for all, Copy, Select all, Save as, Print, Options

Web Cam Menu - Clear for all, Copy, Select all, Save as, Print, Options

View Menu - Conferences list, Video preview, Audio Controller, Text chat, Status bar

Help Menu - Contents and index, Home page, Bugs Report, Forum, About

Miscellaneous - Other options and forthcoming add on modules

Questions Menu - Questions and Answers section

BACK-END CONFIGURATION

USER INTERFACE

File menu:

Login - Left click to log back into the conference room after using the logout option.

Logout - Left click to log out of the conference without actually closing the software down altogether.

Exit - Left click to exit the conference software completely.

Options - Left click to open the options menu dialogue box. There are four tabbed boxes called 'General settings', 'User Settings', 'Sounds settings', and 'Hot Key'. Left click on the relevant tab to see each dialogue box.

Under the general settings tab- The first box is where your screen name is input. Screen names can be up to 64 characters in length. The next box is where your moderator password is input if you have one. This can be up to 32 characters in length. In the next section, place a tick in the box if you wish to be automatically re-connected to the main server if you lose your connection at any time. The final option allows you to modify your Internet options.

Under information settings tab- Here you can fill out a user profile and conference configurations. The top two boxes allow you to input your first and last name, the box below is where you can input your regular contact e-mail address. Below that you can type in the URL for your main website if you have one. It is also possible to add a logo in bitmap form. left click on the button to the right of the input box to browse to the location of your image. The large box at the bottom allows for the addition of a brief description to explain your business and introduce yourself. Finally, at the bottom is a check box, placing a tick in this box will allow other users of the room to view these details by using the View details option from the Members menu.
 

Under sounds settings tab- Here you can choose to enable or disable any of the sounds you hear in the software, such as the sound for when someone enters or leaves the room. All the sounds shown in the list you see here, can be enabled or disabled using the check box.

Under Hot Key tab- Here you can the change your hot key/talk button to what ever F key you like.

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Members menu:

Right click on a members name in the list of members to get this box to appear.

Most of these options are only available to if you are the moderator of the room.

Stop speaking - Left click to prevent selected member speaking in the room.

Reject - Left click to remove selected member from the room temporarily.

Ban - Left click to remove selected member from the room permanently or until you remove the ban.

View details - Left click to view the selected member's profile.

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Browser menu:

The browser operates in much the same way as Internet Explorer. Note that when you view or change pages in the browser window, only you will see the changes you make. The exception to this is when a moderator uses the synchronize option, in which case the browser content will change for everyone in the room and display the same page that is currently in the moderators browser window.

Back - Left click to return to previous web page in the browser window.

Forward - Left click to go to next web page in the browser window.

Stop - Left click to interrupt and stop the browser when finding a web page.

Refresh - Left click to refresh a web page in the browser window.

Home - Left click to return to the home page set by the rooms owner.

Add to favorites - Left click to add the current web page URL to your favorites list.

Synchronize - Click on the arrow at the far right of the address bar synchronize the current web page so that it shows in the browser window of all members in the room. If a new member enters the room after you have synchronized the page, you will normally have to click on this again so that the new member sees the new page.

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Chat menu:

From the chat menu you can configure the settings for the text chat area.

Clear for all - Left click to clear the contents of the text chat main area.

Copy - Left click to copy any text you have highlighted in the text chat area. To highlight text to copy left click and hold the mouse button at the start of the text you wish to copy, then move the mouse pointer over the text until you have highlighted all the text you want, then let go.

Select all - Left click to select all the text in the text chat area.

Save as - Left click to save the contents of the text chat area to your hard drive.

Print - Left click to open the print options dialogue box and print the contents of the text chat area.

Options - Left click to open the main text chat area options dialogue box. Here you can select the font style for the text chat area and the colors you wish to have for text and background. Below this there are 4 check boxes, select the options you require by left clicking the box and checking it with a tick. When you have finished making selections click OK to confirm.

Date and time stamps. Check the relevant box to display date, time or both each time you enter text in the chat area.

New window for private message. When this is selected and you get a private message from someone, the message will open in a separate window.

Show hint if form is minimized. When this is selected and you have the conference room minimized on your desktop, you will get a small pop-up from the task bar when someone types something in the room. This is useful if you are busy doing multiple tasks but want to keep an eye on when there is something being typed in the text chat area.

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Web Cam menu:

From the Web Cam menu you can configure the settings for the web cam feature, also enable or disable the web cam. chat area.

also to keep the voice quality clear and crisp the web cam will turn off once a room has more than 20 people in it.

When you have a web cam connected to your PC and you have this option enabled, you will be able to view the web cam image of the person currently speaking in the room. The person currently speaking will appear at the bottom of the members list and have a small speaker icon to the left of their name. Anyone who tries to speak at the same time will be placed in a queue and their names will appear in order below the current speaker. Your place in the queue is also denoted by a number on the speaker icon next to your name.

View menu:

       From the view menu you can select if you want the Status bar visible or not.

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Help menu:

Contents and index - Left click to access the help files.

Home page - Left click to return to the browser home page.

About - About this software.

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Whiteboard menu:

The contents of the whiteboard can be seen by left clicking on the whiteboard tab in the main work area. All members in the room will be able to see the results of another member using the whiteboard. Below are the main options that you have available when using the whiteboard, plus a brief description of how each option works.

Pencil - Left click to select pencil mode. When selected hold down left mouse button to draw and let go to stop.

Line - Left click to select line mode. When selected hold down left mouse button where you wish to begin the line and move the mouse pointer to where you wish to end the line, then let go.

Rectangle - Left click to select rectangle mode. When selected hold down left mouse button to set one corner of the rectangle, then move the mouse pointer to set adjacent corner position, then let go.

Ellipse - Left click to select ellipse mode. Works similarly to rectangle mode to create an ellipse of required size and shape.

Text - Left click to select text mode. When selected, move mouse pointer to where you wish to insert text and begin typing. Text will appear in the format selected using font style option.

Select area - Left click to enter select area mode. Works similarly to rectangle mode, allowing you to select a given area of the whiteboard.

Move selected area - Left click to enter move selected area mode. Use in conjunction with select area mode to move the selected area to a new location. Left click and hold to grab the selected area and release when positioned in new location.

Eraser - Left click to select eraser mode. Left click and hold the mouse button to erase anything drawn on the whiteboard by moving the mouse pointer over the area you wish to erase, then let go.

Pen style - Left click to select pen mode. From the dialogue box you can change the style of the pen you use.

Brush style - Left click to select brush mode. From the dialogue box you can change the style of the brush you use.

Font style - Left click to change font style. From the dialogue box you can change the size and style of font used in text mode.

Clear paper - Left click to clear the whiteboard completely.

Copy to clipboard - Left click to save the current whiteboard contents to the clipboard.

Open - Left click to open a previously saved whiteboard contents file.

Save as - Left click to save the contents of the clipboard on your hard drive for later use.

Capture desktop - Left click to grab the entire contents of your desktop to display on the whiteboard.

Capture area - Left click to select capture area mode. This option allows you to grab a selected area of the screen to display on the whiteboard. Select an area to capture using the select area option.

Capture window - Left click to select capture window mode. This option allows you to grab a selected open window on your desktop to display on the whiteboard.

Miscellaneous:

Status bar - The status bar shows information about the current status of the room and your internet connection.

Powerpoint - At the time of writing this option was in development but near completion. This will allow you to integrate a Powerpoint presentation into the conference room.

Phone to PC - It is intended that a further module will be added to allow phone to PC and PC to phone connectivity.

Full Duplex - Another intended development. This will allow small groups of people to all be able to speak at the same time. For those with a reasonable specification of PC and fast connection, multiple web cams may also be possible. 

Questions & Answers:

Q. What operating systems are supported for The Conference Software?

A. Windows XP, Windows 98 or Windows 98 SE, Windows 98 first edition is not supported.

Q. Error, The Audio/Video conference software was not installed properly. Please launch the installation process again.

A. Remove all instances of The Conference Software from your pc including add/remove programs and Reinstall software.

Q. Getting this error message trying to connect to conference room. !ROOMS SERVER WAS NOT FOUND

A. This could be caused by different things, like server maintenance, upgrades and more and is just a temp problem.

Q. I get an error message indicating it was not possible to enter or create a second room.

A. close down all open conference rooms, then start to open a room, but do not enter the room, click cancel, the click file, options, and check the box to allow multiple rooms, then you will be all set.

Q. Does The Conference software support MAC, computers!?

A. Currently it supports windows only, a mac and linux version will hopefully come in 6 to 9 months.

Q. When i attempt to use my download link for my room, i get the following message within the frame in my admin area This object has been blocked. If i use my link from an external browser page, I get a 403 forbidden message.

A. This could only come from a firewall or internet security issue on your PC.

Q. I'm wondering if it is possible to remove the address bar in the backend configuration, so that only the moderator can use the address bar if required. In this way people who come in are restricted completely to what we allow them to see/link to.

A. If you have someone log into your room with you...as a moderator go on soft presentation mode and you will see the browser bar will disappear for your guest.

Q. In order to be able to show a movie through the room, what format do I have to upload the movie? avi, mpeg,? And once it is uploaded, what do I have to type in the url so as to view that movie?

A. You would have to embed this movie in a webpage then simply pull that website up in The Conference Software. Any format that would normally play in Internet Explorer should work. Don't forget, not everyone has ALL plugins...
 
Q. Error Title Bar Says: Conference, V4.1 Message Says: Access violation at address 00543CD9 in module 'conference.dll'. Read of address 000000C.

A. Try uninstalling, downloading a fresh copy and re-installing the software. If you are still getting this error, please give us full specs on the PC you are using (speed, OS, network, internet connection, etc...)