Well, sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't. In 1998, AOL made some changes to their way of connecting to the Internet. The effect of this was that some AOL users may sometimes get a Name in Use error when trying to enter WEBMAZE® chatrooms.

For those with a technical background, the error is caused by the way AOL caches the results of HTTP queries. Normally this is a good thing to do, but a chatserver relies upon a connection all the way back to the chatter's PC. This connection is broken when an intermediary server caches the result of a request.

This is a serious issue to WEBMAZE®. Several of our members access the Internet through AOL, so we are doing everything we can to resolve the problem. Unfortunately there are not any easy solutions.

In the meantime, there are some steps you can take to try and enter WEBMAZE® more reliably. The first thing to do is to make sure you are using either Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer. The browser supplied with AOL seems to have some problems with the chatserver. The next thing to try is to disable any AOL proxies you may have enabled in the browser. Instructions on how to do this may be found here. If this does not work, there is yet another alternative which may sound at odds with the last suggestion. And that is to select a proxy outside of the AOL network and set up your browser to use it. This will "fool" the chatserver software into accepting your connection, as long as no one else in that room is using the same proxy. Other than these suggestions, the only thing you can do is try to enter another room for a while.

We hope to have the solution to the AOL problem by sometime this summer. Until then, please bear with us. If you are accessing the Internet through AOL and you are considering joining WEBMAZE®, then please test out whether you can access WEBMAZE® before you join. There are no refunds on WEBMAZE® membership. And realize that sometimes you may have to use another room temporarily.

• Netscape Communicator, version 4
  • start Netscape Communicator
  • click on Edit in the menu bar
  • click on Preferences in the pulldown menu
  • doubleclick on Advanced in the popup menu (changing the plus sign to a minus sign)
  • click on Proxies in the popup menu
  • select the radio button labelled Direct connection to the Internet
  • click on the OK button
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 4
  • start Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • click on View in the menu bar
  • click on Internet Options in the pulldown menu
  • click on the Connection tab on the property sheet
  • select the radio button labelled Connect to the Internet using a local area network
  • uncheck the check box labelled Access the Internet using a proxy server
  • click on the Apply button (if not grayed out)
  • click on the OK button

Any images to be displayed must reside on a web server somewhere on the Internet. They can not be displayed from your own hard drive unless you are running a web server (this is not the same as a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer). In general, it is only usefull to diplay images which are in GIF or JPG format. Suppose the image you want to display is named bannerwebmaze.gif and it resides on the machine www.webmaze.com in the folder images To display the image type the following HTML command into the message window in your chat session
<img src="http://www.webmaze.com/images/bannerwebmaze.gif">
Please note that avatars may be no higher than 150 pixels.

• Click on the Start button in the lower left hand corner of your screen.
• Click on Run on the popup menu
• Type winipcfg into the Open text area
• Click on the OK button
• Read the IP Address from the popup menu

• Netscape Communicator, version 4
  • start Netscape Communicator
  • click on Edit in the menu bar
  • click on Preferences in the pulldown menu
  • doubleclick on Advanced in the popup menu (changing the plus sign to a minus sign)
  • uncheck (check) the check box labelled Enable Java
  • uncheck (check) the check box labelled Enable JavaScript
  • click on the OK button
  • click on View in the menu bar
  • click on Reload in the pulldown menu
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 4
  • start Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • click on View in the menu bar
  • click on Internet Options in the pulldown menu
  • click on the Security tab on the property sheet
  • select Internet zone in the Zone field
  • select the radio box labelled Custom (for expert users)
  • click on the Settings button
  • scroll down to the Active scripting section
  • select the radio box labelled Disable
  • scroll down to the Scripting of Java applets section
  • select the radio box labelled Disable
  • click on the OK button
  • click on the Apply button (if not grayed out)
  • click on the OK button

Wanna have a party, a contest, a discussion night on a particular topic? Again the first thing to do is talk about it and see if it generates interest.

• Planning an event
  Scribble a few notes down and share them with friends. If the event is one you plan for a specific room, you'll need to discuss it with the moderator assigned to that room who will be happy to guide and support your project. You need to figure details such as date, time and any info necessary to get the event going (rules and deadlines if it is a contest for example). Get yourself a small team of helpers for tasks such as judging, hosting etc... then fill out the event request form (under revision) as precisely as possible and send it off, or ask the room mod to do so as soon as is possible so we are not stuck with last minute rushes.

• Announcing
  You will want as many as possible to know about it and the best way to do that is to talk talk talk about it. You may want to create a banner to post in the rooms and on the message board and we will need a small announcement text for the events calendar. Keep it short and informative or no one will read it.

• Room size
  There is much debate on whether room limits should be increased for special events. Basically there are two points of view; Those who feel its good publicity and think we should open up the room to welcome as many as possible to let non members see what WEBMAZE® is about, and those who feel members should have more perks... so why become a member if you can always access all the events without it. Up to you to juggle the thoughts. In any case if you need the room limit raised for the event, you do need to be a member to request it. Please make sure to give us enough notice to ensure that it will done on time for the event, The Webmaster doesn't spend every waking moment online and the request does have to make it to him if it is to be done.

• Sending ideas
  If you have an idea you think might bring in interest but not the time to see it through, please mail us and share it with us, we are always looking for ways to make the site more attractive.

WEBMAZE® moderators are appointed on the basis of a few criteria. It is the responsibility of the staff coordinators to appoint, train and support moderators.

• What's a mod?
  Most chatsites see moderators as chatroom cops, we don't... and perhaps this in itself sets WEBMAZE® apart from the rest. We feel very strongly that our moderators comprise the most visible image of WEBMAZE® and for that reason we see no point in putting goons in charge. You may have noticed we have moderators assigned to rooms, the reason is simple, we want the mods to have a home, and we feel that assigning the moderator to the room where he/she chats is ensuring a presence. We don't want our staff to feel like they are forever wandering and have no place to call home. Of course the mods are expected to answer calls for help outside their assigned room, that goes without saying, however, the main role of WEBMAZE® moderators is to make chatters feel welcome and safe. Boots are simply a means to rid the room of those with whom all else has failed. Some rooms have rules and guidelines of behavior that are specific to a theme and it is only good sense to have a mod who can explain to newcomers how they are expected to behave in that particular room. Most of our mods have actively participated in setting up the room they live in and have an interest in its growth and survival.

• How do I become a mod?
  Send the staff coordinator responsible for the section the room is in a short Private Message on the forums, make sure to include your chat name and the room where you live. The staff coordinator will likely spend time observing how your fellow chatters respond to you, what your general attitude is in the chatroom and how you handle conflict among other things. Of course there is also a matter of whether or not the room of your choice needs another mod, there really is no point in having 4 mods in a room that has 6 chatters in it ~L~. As rooms grow, we assign more mods to ensure proper coverage; monitoring this is also the responsibility of the staff coordinators. **please note that moderators must be senior members of WEBMAZE®**

• Netscape Communicator, version 4.6
  • start Netscape Communicator
  • click on Edit in the menu bar
  • click on Preferences in the pulldown menu
  • doubleclick on Advanced in the popup menu (changing the plus sign to a minus sign)
  • click on Cache in the popup menu
  • in the section titled Document in cache is compared to document on network, select the radio button labelled Every time
  • click on the OK button
• Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 5
  • start Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • click on Tools in the menu bar
  • click on Internet Options in the pulldown menu
  • click on the General tab on the property sheet
  • click on the Settings button in the "Temporary Internet files" section
  • select the radio button labelled Every visit to the page
  • click on the OK button
  • click on the OK button