FAQ

1. What is TrueChat?
   
2. Why was it developed?
   
3. Who developed TrueChat?
   
4. How can I participate and contribute to the free community?
   
5. I downloaded the TrueChat client, now how do I use it?
   
6. What kind of subscription services are there?
   
7. What happened to AvatarExchange.com?
   
8. How can I make my own OnChat™ rooms and avatars available on the TrueChat client?
   
9. Do I need to upload my own avatars and rooms to use TrueChat?
   
10. Can I license TrueChat for commercial applications?
    
11. Can I run my own server?
    
12. Do I need to run my own server to make my rooms available?
    
13. Where do I get updates to the client or new content for the TrueChat client?
    
14. What kind of content will TrueChat allow users to run?
    
15. How will the browsing and trusted users system work? Will there be ratings?
    
16. How is the TrueChat client different from OnChat's ™ Java Graphical Chat Client?
    
17. What platforms will the TrueChat client support?
    

1. What is TrueChat?
TrueChat is a new downloadable visual chat client from the creators of OnChat™. With the TrueChat client, you can participate in visual chat, create rooms and upload avatars to distributed web servers. Eventually, we will be bringing games to the TrueChat client.

2. Why was it developed?
To bring back OnChat™ as a vibrant, growing free community with additional services provided through OnChat™ subscriptions.

3. Who developed TrueChat?
TrueChat client by Shahril Ibrahim and OnChat.com maintained by Steve Fong. Systems Integration by Suresh Rajagopalan and support by Anatoly Pronichenko.

4. How can I participate and contribute to the free community?
To grow the TrueChat community, we will need people to run and host free servers and to make avatar and room image collections available on web sites. We need people to make content and support the development of the TrueChat client. Check out the how-to participate page for more details.

5. I downloaded the TrueChat client, now how do I use it?
Just connect the TrueChat client to onchat.net and register a user account - that's it! Don't forget to remember your username and password, you will need it each time you connect to the server. You will also be prompted for your name and email address. Please supply your correct name and email address since we will use this to verify your identity if you should forget your password. OnChat™ and TrueChat will not resell your name or email address, please see our privacy policy.

6. What kind of subscription services are there?
Currently members of OnChat.com™'s premium accounts (aka booster accounts) will be able to easily upload avatars, create rooms and use them within TrueChat.

Non-premium members can still make rooms and avatars but will have to host them on their own websites. The difference is that OnChat.com(tm) users will be able to create and share rooms and avatars through one-click wizards and buttons; whereas users of other web sites might have to contend with ftp'ing or other methods of upload.

In addition, booster members of OnChat.com will be hosted on fast servers with fat bandwith pipes for an enhanced TrueChat experience.

7. What happened to AvatarExchange.com ?
We tried to implement AvatarExchange.com using Zope (an open source Content Management System) but have had significant problems getting it running smoothly including a disastorous database crash. Does anyone want to help do a new AvatarExchange ? Perhaps on Ning ?

8. How can I make my own OnChat™ rooms and avatars available on the TrueChat client?
There are wizards in the client that will enable you to use and publish your own rooms and avatars.

9. Do I need to upload my own avatars and rooms to use TrueChat?
No. The TrueChat client is already preconfigured with a set of rooms and avatars for you to use.
In fact, you can also use any webpage with avatar or room images in the client. These can be any webpage on the net.

10. Can I license TrueChat for commercial applications?
Yes. The TrueChat client is currenly free for personal use, but companies wanting to use or personalize the TrueChat client for their own purposes should contact simsc [at] cine.net

11. Can I run my own server?
Yes. You need to be running a jabberd server on linux/windows. The server requires a FQDN (fully qualified domain name) and a static IP is preferable. If you have a dsl or cable modem with a dynamic IP, it may be possible using virtual DNS. Please contact simsc [at] cine.net for more info.

12. Do I need to run my own server to make my rooms available?
No, you can run your rooms from any server on which you are a member. Each server can have multiple user accounts and each account can host their own rooms.

13. Where do I get updates to the client or new content for the TrueChat client?
Stay tuned to both TrueChat.com and truechat.blogspot.com

14. What kind of content will TrueChat allow users to run?
Just like the original OnChat™, we intend to create a platform for users to create and build content. Our belief is that we do not have a lock on creativity and instead wish to empower our users to create content and share it with others. Some of the content may be racy while other content might be suited for general use. Our mechanism for bookmarking and sharing content will allow users to link to rooms and other users that share their sense of aesthetic and values. In this way, users can browse other trusted users for rooms that they might enjoy.

15. How will the browsing and trusted users system work? Will there be ratings?
Just like in real life, a user will have a trusted group of friends in TrueChat and will be able to browse their bookmarks for rooms they might enjoy. Basically, when a user finds another user or room that they like, they can bookmark it and their friends can view their bookmarks. This way a group of users can share a set of rooms that they enjoy. If a room is found that a user does not like, (s)he can either remove it from their bookmarks or remove the user who originally bookmarked the offending room. In a sense, ratings will no longer be necessary since the discoverey of new rooms is based on a user's trusted circle of friends.

16. How is the TrueChat client different from OnChat's ™ Java Graphical Chat Client?
They both allow you to chat as avatars in graphical rooms. The TrueChat client is a full application and once you download it you can connect to the TrueChat universe without a browser. TrueChat is faster but is missing some of the polish of the OnChat™ client but has some new features like slideshows and animated avatars.

17. What platforms will the TrueChat client support?
Currently, the Windows platform is the only one supported, but we will shortly make the TrueChat client available forMac OS X.