Welcome to your sixth installment of Alumni Community Highlights, focusing on the Online Chat resource available in the online community. Looking for an opportunity to reconnect with professors? Want to have realtime conversations with fellow alumni? If you would like instructions on how to use the online chat capability of our community, keep reading! Please note, these instructions will be necessary if you wish to participate in the upcoming monthly chat sessions with Regent faculty and deans. Look for invitations to these sessions in your inbox over the coming months. Each month's session will be hosted by a different member of the faculty or staff, focusing on a variety of interest areas, topics, etc. to be determined by the chat host. Hosts will be assigned on a rotational basis. If you would like to see your favorite professor or staff member host one of these monthly chat sessions, please email us at alumni@regent.edu and use the subject line "Chat Session Host Recommendation." While it will not be possible to arrange for every host recommendation, we will do our best to take your suggestions into consideration as we invite faculty to participate.

If you have not yet had opportunity to sign in to the community, please visit www.regentalumni.org and use the "First Time Login" link located in the uppermost right corner of your screen (in the light gray portion) to set up your account. If at any time you have questions or concerns with the community, please feel free to contact us at alumni@regent.edu.

If you did not receive the first five installments of Alumni Community Highlights and would like request a copy, please email Michelle McGrath at mmcgrath@regent.edu.

Previous Installments Available:
Highlight #1: Finding Your Classmates Is Easier Than Ever! - Online Directory
Highlight #2: I'm Registered, Now What? - My Account and My Profile, Part I
Highlight #3: Part II: I'm Registered, Now What? - My Profile continued
Highlight #4: Part III: I'm Registered, Now What? - My Profile concluded
Highlight #5: Bring on the Networking! - Career Center

Highlight #6: Online Chat

The Alumni Community Online Chat resource provides chat room capabilities similar to those available on the web or via Instant Messenger, but private and accessible only to members of the Regent University community.

The Online Chat may be accessed from the community homepage or from any subgroup page (i.e. school pages, chapter pages, etc.) . Chat windows opened from the community homepage will be available to all members of the community. Chat windows opened from a subgroup page (i.e. School of Law page, Hampton Roads Chapter page, etc.) will be available only to members of those subgroups.

To access the Online Chat feature, visit the Regent University online alumni community at www.regentalumni.org. From the homepage, select the "Online Chat" link in the light gray, vertical navigation bar on the left hand side of your screen. If you are not yet logged in, the screen will prompt you to enter the username and password that you previously created.

Once on the Online Chat page, click the "Open Chat Window"  button at the bottom of the page. A new window will open with your chat room screen. Remember, anything that is typed in this chat room is viewable to any member of the community who also opens the chat window. There is a private chat option, which will be reviewed below, but the default setting is the "public" room (public only to community members).

On the right hand side of your chat window, you will see a white screen with a scroll bar titled "Nickname." This screen will list all members who have entered the chat room with you. Above this screen, you will see four grayed out buttons. Click on a name listed in your chat window in order to activate the buttons.

Button Icons

 
 = Information - This button will provide you with information about the name highlighted in your user window (shown above). When chatting, users have the ability to create a nickname for themselves. Clicking on the "i" button in your window will provide you with their profile information.

 = Private Conversation - If you would like to initiate a private conversation with one of the members in the chat room, select their name in your user window (shown above) and click on the "p" button. This will open a separate, white window that will be viewable only to you and the person that you have selected. Conversations that take place in your main, green window (opened first) will continue to be viewable by everyone in the chat room. You may also double click on the person's name in order to open the private window. Chat room members will not know that you have invited them to a private chat until you send them a note in the private chat window. See below ("Chatting") for further details.

 = Flag Messages - To make messages written by a specific individual in your chat window appear in a different color, you may choose to flag their name. Click on the name of the person whose messages you would like to highlight and then select the flag icon. From that point on, all messages from that individual will appear in the color that you have designated (see below for information on setting your color).

 = Block User - To ignore all messages from a specific user and to prevent that user from viewing your profile, you may select the user's name from your user window (shown above) and click on the block button. A red line will appear through the person's name in your user window. This option does not prevent the user from using the chat room. It merely hides any of their messages from your screen. To unblock a user, select their name and hit the block button a second time.

Setting Your Chat Preferences

To set your chat preferences, click on the "Settings" button below your user window. A new window will open with with tabs running across the tope.

         

Profile Tab
Within this tab, you may choose what information you would like to have displayed when other users select the "Information" button on their user window. You may also choose to block your profile entirely from other users. Along the very bottom of this screen, you may choose to select an icon for yourself. This icon will appear next to your name with all of your chat messages. Click save once you have finished your selections.

 

Options Tab
"Message Scroll Speed" refers to how quickly messages will appear in your chat window. "Enable Auto-Popup of Private Messages" will automatically open a new, small, white window every time someone opens a private chat with you. Leaving this box unchecked will cause their message to appear in your general chat window, highlighted in yellow. To then respond to their private message, you would have to single click the highlighted message. Click save once you have finished your selections.

Fonts Tab
The fonts screen is where you set the preferences for your personal chat window. Fonts and colors that you select will not effect any other users. "Normal Message" refers to messages sent by general users. "Flagged User" refers to your color selection for any users that you choose to flag, as described above. "Private Message" refers to the font color that will appear when a member invites you to a private chat (if the "Auto-Popup" option listed above is not enabled). "Private Message Background" refers to the highlight color that will be used to outline any private messages received in your public screen (described as a yellow highlight above). Click save once you have finished your selections.
 
Sounds
Sound settings are similar to color settings as listed above. Click save once you have finished your selections.

Chatting

To chat, place your cursor in the small box below your chat window, type your message and then press your Enter key or select the "Send Message" button below your "Settings" and "Logout" options. Responses from other chat members will appear in your view window, much like Instant Messenger. (See image below)

Private chat messages sent to you by another member will appear highlighted in the color of your choice (see settings instructions above). In the image sample below, the private message is highlighted in yellow. These highlighted messages are not visible to others in the chat room.

 

Ending a Chat Session

To end a chat session, select the "Logout" button located below your user window.





Subgroup Chats

Subgroup Chats (school, chapter, etc.) are conducted in the same way as main community chats. The only difference is that they are open to a smaller group of people (i.e. only alumni from the School of Education or alumni residing within the Washington, D.C. chapter). To access these smaller chat rooms, visit your preferred subgroup using the "Schools" or "Chapters" links in the light gray, vertical navigation bar on the left hand side of your screen. From those screens, select your appropriate subgroup link. Once in your subgroup, select "Online Chat" and follow the same procedures as listed above.

We hope that this feature will provide you with wonderful opportunities to reconnect with fellow alumni and Regent faculty and staff. As always, if you have any additional questions about the Online Chat or any other feature within the online community, please don't hesitate to contact Michelle McGrath at mmcgrath@regent.edu or 888.294.ALUM.

logo