Instant Messaging

TrayGames provides an instant messaging (also called IM or chat) service so you can have a private conversation with friends and/or set up a game. Whenever you get a group of people together for a game, or try to IM a friend, you'll see the Chat window.

To form a chat you select a number of people from your friends list or lobby list (hold down the CTRL key and left-click to select each). After selecting them you right-click on them to bring up a popup menu (also called a Context Menu), and select one of the Chat to options. Click here to learn more about the other Context Menu options.

If you just want to chat to one person, you can double click on their name in the list. In either case a Chat window (shown below) is launched and you can start having a conversation by typing in the bottom text box and pressing the ENTER key:

Your conversation will appear in the top text box. If you have the Automatically Keep a History of Conversations option turned on in your Preferences you will see the previous 12 hours of chat messages between you and the other person. The time and person says: text next to these messages will be gray in color. New messages will show that information in black. You can also see any conversations you've had with the selected person in the past 30 days by selecting the View Chat History option from the right-click menu. This option is also available as a link on the Chat window. If you don't have any previous conversations, or you are having a conversation with more than one person, this option will not be available. Conversations older than 30 days are automatically deleted during your next conversation. Viewing your chat message history will launch an internet browser window:

Besides having a friendly conversation you can also get a game started from the Chat window with your friends. To do this select a game you would like to play from the game dropdown-list at the top of the Chat window:

Once the game is selected the Chat window shows us a few new buttons. Let's examine them:

The Ready button is disabled (gray in color) because as the owner of the group, you are assumed to be ready to play. After all you are the one who chose the game! Now we just have to wait for Baldric to indicate he is Ready, his icon will turn green when he does:

There we go. Now we've got two players ready, let's begin the game with two people and two computer opponents. We click the Launch Game button, the Chat window disappears, and the game begins! You can continue your conversation from within the game, so you don't have the trouble of switching between two windows.

Emoticons

Emoticons (also called smileys) are a combination of text symbols to form an icon that helps express emotion and help keep conversations flowing smoothly. For example, when you string together a colon and a right-parenthesis, you're expressing a smile. If you look at it sideways, it even looks like a smile! :-) The following chart shows what emoticons are available for you to use during your conversations in a TrayGames Chat or Lobby window:

Quick Reference Chart

Icon	Text	Description	Icon	Text	Description	Icon	Text	Description
	:)	Smile		;)	Wink		:))	Big Grin
	^O	Foxy		^)	Embarassed		(S)	Sweating
	:(	Frown		:$	Blush		:|	Bored
	:D	Laugh		O.o	Doh!		O:)	Innocent
	???	Confused		:0	Oh-My-God!		>:)	Evil
	:@	Angry		B)	Cool dude		:P	Sticking out tongue
	:@@	Very Angry		(peace)	Peace dude		;P	Tongue w/wink
	:S	Sour		X-P	Dead		:C	Ugh
	|)	Sleeping		:~	Sick		:((	Cry
	8)	Nerd		(hmm)	Thinking		:/	Wince
	(D)	Disco		:-*	Secret		(:)	Stealth
	<3	Heart		(U)	Broken Heart		(*)	Star

Acronyms

First-time instant messaging users are often confused by all of acronyms used in the IM world. Here is a short list of common acronyms you might see when chatting with other members.

Quick Reference Chart