Connecting

The opening connection screen requires two fields to be filled in. The first is the nickname field. This will be your nickname on on the IRC server. This field will automatically be set to the nickname you chose for that server unless you specified to use the global preferences. The second required field is the server. The default server is CF3N / PalmChat. See Adding Servers for more information on adding and removing servers. The two optional fields are Password and Server Pass. Password is used to send a NickServ password upon connection. Server Pass is used to send the server password upon connection. A lot of servers allow you to use the Server Pass field for your NickServ pass and often times this method works better than using the NickServ password field. To connect click the Connect button. To change the preferences click the Prefs button. See Preferences for more information on changing the individual preferences.

Adding Servers

Server Name: Servers are identified in ptpChat by the label. This name will be shown in the drop down menu on the connection screen. The Server field is where the address to the server is kept. This can be a regular address like "irc.cf3n.com" or an ip address like "255.255.255.255". The port field is used for the port you wish to connect to, ie 6667.
Using Global Settings: Checking the box next to one of these settings will cause ptpChat to use the global preferences specified in the preferences panel. A common situation where this option would be used would be when you use the same nickname for all of the servers you connect to but connect to different channels. In this case you would check Use Global for the Nickname field (the field can then be set to anything or blank) and leave Use Global for Chans to Join unchecked.

Changing Preferences

 

Server (Global): This section specifies all of the global preferences. These fields are only used if "Use Global" is checked in the server information. The second and third choice for nicknames are not settable at the server level and will be used for all servers if the first chosen nickname isn't available; however a prompt will always appear allowing you to change to something different.
Connection: The Auto Reconnect option tells ptpChat to try it's best to reconnect you to a server when you're disconnected. If it can not reconnect after three tries it will give up.
Controls: Select Right/Left Changes Tab if you'd like the right/left controls on the 5-way navigator to toggle channel tabs. Uncheck this option if you'd like to be able to use the right and left 5-way to edit the text field.
Background: Here you will find the option to Return if keyguard active. Having this option checked will cause ptpChat to return to itself if it comes on and the keyguard is active. This option is very useful if you accidently forget to switch back before shutting your screen off.
Sound: The Beep on Nickname and Beep on Highlight options set the device your beep preferences. Beep on Nickname causes the device to beep whenever your current nickname is used and you are not in ptpChat (ie in another application). Beep on Highlight causes the device to beep when any of the words in your highlight list (see next preference) are used. There can be up to a 15 second delay between when the beep is triggered and when it is actually heard.
General: Set your highlight words here. The highlight words (in addition to your nickname) will cause the tabs to change to the color blue whenever they are used in a channel. The selected highlight words also trigger a device beep if that preference is selected and ptpChat is not the currently active application.

Chatting

Topic/Channel Display: Found at the top of your screen (next to the ptpChat logo) is a small T and C toggle button. When T is selected the current channels topic is displayed. When the C is selected the current channels name and modes are displayed. The right and left arrows to the right of the display scrolls the display. Each channels display scrolls independantly to each other and is remembered.
User List: The user list simply displays a list of members currently in the channel. Future versions of this list will also have commands to kick/op/ban/etc.
Channel List: WARNING: DO NOT USE THE CHANNEL LIST FOR LARGE CHAT NETWORKS SUCH AS FREENODE AND EFNET. DOING SO WILL CAUSE THE CLIENT TO HANG INDEFINITELY. The ptpChat channel list is similar to some desktop IRC clients. To populate the list with channels click Load List to load the list of channels on the server (this is equivilant to typing /list). After the list is loaded it can be sorted by channel name, user count, or topic. To sort the list click on either Channel, Users, or Topic. The results can also be filtered to only show results with a minumum and maximum amount of users. To filter by user count change Min Users to the minimum users and Max Users to the maximum users then click Update. To join a channel simply select it from the list and click join.
Scroll Lock: Underneath the scroll bar is a small lock button. When set to the locked position the main text area is restricted from auto scrolling. This is useful for scrolling up and reading missed text. To return to auto scroll simply unlock the button.
Tabs: The channels and chat queries are listed in the form of tabs at the bottom of the screen. Each tab gets smaller as new tabs are openened and get bigger as they are closed. Clicking the a tab associated with a channel will switch to that channel. When there is chat activitiy in a channel that you aren't currently watching the tab caption associated with that channel will turn red. If there is chat activitiy and your nickname or highlight words are used then the tab caption will turn blue. These colors will revert back to black once that tab is selected.
Keep Screen On (In the Prefs menu): If you'd like your screen to stay on while you're chatting and not shut off at the set auto off time seelct Keep Screen On (Enable). If you'd like to dim the screen after you've set it to keep screen on then select Disable.