"The lights are on...
and somebody's home"

ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ FEATURES
Handles
Chatter Names
Friend Finder
Be Discovered, or,
Find A Friend
Message Center
Pick Up Messages, or,
Leave A Message
Chatter Search
Throughout the House
Telegraph
Throughout the House
Private Rooms
ch@tmosphere
Family Tree
Chatter of the Minute
Cyber Weddings
Reserve our Chapel
Virtual Celebrations
Custom Chat Parties for any Special Occasion

ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ MEMBERSHIPS
Non-Registered
Public Access Chat
FREE Registration
Membership Benefits
Subscriptions
Exclusive Features
Comparison Chart
At A Glance

GETTING AROUND IN THE CHATHOUSE™
Who's in the Chathouse
see who's chatting where
The Floor Plan
all the rooms at a glance
Chathouse™ News
the latest and greatest
The Family Tree
our chathouse kith and kin

 		. . .

Welcome to the Channel 1® Chathouse™ -- the most popular chat site on the Internet!

Just the FAQs (a.k.a. HELP!)

If you are a New Visitor you may want to start with our Welcome Mat or How to Chat pages. Please see the links to your left for information ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ FEATURES and ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ MEMBERSHIPS.

scroll down or use these "jump ahead" links
* PASSWORDS * HANDLES * E-MAIL CHANGES *
* USING IMAGES * CGI ERROR *
* TIME OUT/ROOM FULL * SERVER/DATABASE ERROR MESSAGES *
* CONTACT CHATHOUSE STAFF * TELL ME MORE *
PASSWORDS

I am a Non-Registered User What do I use for My Password?
Use any Temporary Password you want with any Temporary Handle you want to use when you enter a Public Access Chat Room.

I Registered and Applied for a Password, But I Didn't Receive Anything Yet
The response time from our database is immediate, for the most part. In some instances your service provider may have a firewall setup that delays mails from autoresponse systems. If you have not received your password within 4 hours, please go to Registration and re-register. Be careful to type your E-Mail Address correctly with no extraneous stray spaces, marks, or brackets, as this is THE MOST COMMON REASON Passwords go astray. As long as you have a valid E-Mail Address and your E-Mail Address is entered correctly, the response should be immediate. [AOL Customers Please Note: we have had reports of this e-mail taking up to 2 days to reach AOL customers.]

My Password Doesn't Work
If you have been having trouble remembering or properly entering your Password, you might want to try just copying it from the E-Mail we sent you, and pasting it in the box when you are prompted for a Password. Please remember that Handles and Passwords are case sensitive and MUST be typed exactly as they appear in the E-Mail sent to you when you Registered... ie; joker is different from JOKER is different from jOkEr... Be careful to type your Password correctly as this is the most common reason Passwords "don't work." If your Password is too difficult for you to remember, go to Edit Profile and Change your Password.

I Forgot My Password (or My Handle)
Go to Registration and re-register. Our server will send you e-mail again with your current registration Profile from our database which will include your current Password. You don't have to fill out the whole thing again. Do include your E-Mail Address and make sure your E-Mail Address is typed CORRECTLY. Include your Handle, too, if you know it. If you don't remember your Handle, just type a guess. We will look up your original registration in our archives and then send you an E-Mail which will tell you your Handle and Password.

I Want to Change my Password
Go to Edit Profile to change your Password in your current registration Profile.

I Have a Problem with My Password Not Covered by the Above Information...
Non-Subscribers may send mail to passwords@chathouse.com but should note that this is a FREE service and you will receive only an automated response. If you are a Subscribed Member, please write to vip@chathouse.com for personal assistance. (And, Thank You for your support of the Chathouse™!)

HANDLES

I Forgot My Handle (or My Password)
Go to Registration and re-register. Our server will send you E-Mail again with your current registration Profile from our database which will include your current Handle(s). You don't have to fill out the whole thing again. Do include your E-Mail Address and make sure your E-Mail Address is typed CORRECTLY. We will look up your original registration in our archives and then send you an E-Mail which will tell you your Handle and Password.

I Want to Change My Handle
You can't change your Handle, but if you are a Non-Subscriber, simply do not use it for 30 days, and it will be automatically deleted anyway. You are allowed to Register up to 4 Handles, so if you would like to add a new handle, go to Edit Profile. DO NOT REGISTER AGAIN! If you are a Subscription Member (whose Handles don't automatically expire!) and you wish to Change a Handle, please write to vip@chathouse.com for personal attention. [We are currently working on a new Edit Profile feature for Subscribed Members that will allow you to Change your Handles online whenever you wish.]

My Handle got Deleted
If you are a Registered Member, but NOT a Subscribed Member, your Handle will expire if not used for 30 days. Also, if you are not a Subscribed Member, please note, our Registration database sometimes gets upgraded, overloaded, or simply crashes. There are no guarantees for this FREE service with regards to your Handles. Subscribed Members, by all means, if you have any problem with your Handle, please send E-Mail to vip@chathouse.com for personal attention.

I Want to Add a Handle
Go to Edit Profile to add Handles to your current Profile. You are allowed up to four Handles per Registration Profile (all on one Password and one valid E-Mail Address).

I Want to Use HTML in My Handle
Only Registered or Subscribed Members may use HTML in their Handle, or, their Handle itself may be an image. Go to our HTML Tips and follow the instructions to include HTML in your handle. Then go to Registration (if you have not yet Registered) and enter the handle with HTML included, or to Edit Profile (if you have already Registered) and follow the instructions to Add a Handle. (Each Registration profile is entitled to up to four active Handles per valid E-Mail Address.)

I Want to Delete a Handle
Do not use a Handle for 30 days and it will automatically expire. Subscribers (with guaranteed Handles that don't expire!) currently will have to write to vip@chathouse.com to have a Handle manually deleted. [We hope to have a Subscribers Feature for editting and changing Handles in the very near future.]

E-MAIL CHANGES

My E-Mail Address Has Changed
Simply Re-Register with all new information. (Your old Registration and Handles will expire if not used for 30 days.) If you are a Subscribed Member and you wish to have your Registration Profile editted (so that you will maintain your Registered Handles) please send a message to vip@chathouse.com Please indicate your Old E-Mail address, your New E-Mail address, your Password and Handles you wish to retain.

My E-Mail Address Was Refused by Registration
We are no longer accepting Registration from the free web based E-Mail domains. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we have had many problems with these accounts. If you have an E-Mail address and account with an Internet Service Provider, please use that address to Register with our FREE chat service. You may, however, purchase a Subscription Membership using a web-based E-Mail account. Please visit the Chathouse™ Cornerstore at mall.channel1.com/Chathouse to use your Credit Card online, or, you may use our Print Out Order Form to use Check or Money Order. You will be notified how to Register after we process your Subscription. (Or, you may send E-Mail to subscribe@chathouse.com with your specific questions.)

USING IMAGES

I Want to Use an Image... for My Handle, in ch@tmosphere, while Chatting...
If you wish to use an image, the first thing you need to know is the image's actual URL or web address or location. For example, your image might be a .gif or a .jpg with a URL something like this:
http://www.exampledomain.com/yourname/picture.gif

The second thing you need to know is some HTML (hyper text markup language) to hyperlink this image where you wish for it to appear. You will type something that looks like this if you simply want to call the image (image source equals...):
<img src="http://www.exampledomain.com/yourname/picture.gif">

Or, if you want to create a hyperlink with Text that will link to your picture, you will type something like this (hyper reference to...):
<a href="http://www.exampledomain.com/yourname/picture.gif">Click here to see my picture</a>

If you want to use an image for your Handle, go to Edit Profile to add a new Handle using the <img src="http://www... tag.

For more info, look for the link "HTML Tips" while in any Members Only Chat Room or check out some of the WWW Resources (such as "A Beginner's Guide to HTML") on the Channel 1® Support page for other HTML and WWW resources.

If you're interested in being included in the Family Tree and having your image be eligible for "Chatter of the Minute" you must be a Subscribed Member.

CGI ERROR

I Receive a Message that says "Cgi Error"
Microsoft Internet Explorer sometimes does not store CGI variables correctly, especially CGI variables of pages in its cache (i.e., not the one that you are currently viewing). This problem seems to happen most often when a chatter uses the "Back" button while chatting. If our server does not recieve all of these variables properly, it returns the error message: "Cgi Error." In order to eliminate this problem, we recommend that chatters use Netscape to view the Chathouse.

TIME OUT/ROOM FULL

I Keep Being Timed Out of Rooms
Be sure to click on the "chat" button regularly. If you do not click "chat" (even if you have nothing to say!) at least once every 300 seconds you will be timed out. See our How to Chat page for details.

I Get "Timed Out" or a "Room is Full" message even though I've been clicking my 'chat" button and I know there are empty slots...
Your browser is not set up correctly. Go to the "Options" menu in your browser, under "Network Preferences," and make sure that in the "Cache" menu you have the "verify documents" option (or for Macs, the "check documents" option) set to "every time." This may sound confusing, but if you don't do this, you may often be timed out, or see the same messages repeated over and over again. Please refer to the help section in your browser, as all browsers are different.

After chatting for a few minutes my computer locks up and I get a message that "Files are Downloading", and I have to reboot, or I get a CGI error message..
Our chat system uses forms, and some browsers do not handle forms in the standardized way. Reference Microsoft's info on Explorer "known problems" located at www.microsoft.com/ie/ You should be using Netscape to access our site, and take advantage of all of our features. You can obtain this browser at: http://www.netscape.com usually for Free.

SLOW!!!!
There are many reasons this problem can occur. Remember that you're connected to a multi-billion dollar network that is the greatest technological wonder in the history of mankind...so you can expect some screw-ups from time to time. The internet is like a chain, and if ther is an outage or problem anywhere in between our server and your server, you will experience slow connections or Time Out problems.

SERVER AND DATABASE ERROR MESSAGES

There are, unfortunately, a variety of Server and Database Errors that can occur with a system as large and complex as the Chathouse. Search here for your error, and the reason you may be receiving it.

  • You are in a Room and suddenly the server stops responding:
    Our front page (homepage) is available on all 10 of our servers. You may go to another server, or another floor of the Chathouse™ by typing in a direct URL to get to a different server:
    To get to......type this URL(type of rooms)
    First Floorhttp://www1.chathouse.comMembers Rooms
    2nd floorhttp://www2.chathouse.comPublic Access
    East Winghttp://www3.chathouse.comMembers Rooms
    Downstairshttp://www6.chathouse.comMembers Rooms
    ch@tmospherehttp://www7.chathouse.comPrivate Rooms
    Next Levelhttp://www8.chathouse.comPublic Access
    Wild West Winghttp://www9.chathouse.comMembers Rooms
    Flip Sidehttp://www10.chathouse.comPublic Access
    This will enable you to get to other floors (or servers) that are up and running.

  • Internal Server Error
    There are just too many reasons you might receive this error to list them all. Consider it a message that basically says: "Something is wrong." If you receive this message, please write to:errors@chathouse.com, telling us *exactly* what the error message said, what time you received it, what you were doing when the error was generated, and what floor or, more specifically, which room, you were in.

  • Receiving a FORBIDDEN message
    Your domain is temporarily denied access. This usually only applies to the Second Floor, the Next Level and the Filp Side. This occurs when a particular user is abusive and harassing, and this individual's actions result in our having to ban that person's entire domain. Usually domains are only blocked for two weeks. However, if a particular domain has troublesome users, it may be longer. We are not the people to complain to about this, and we will NOT reply to requests for access to be restored.

  • Why do I get a "files are busy" message?
    This just means that someone else is trying to access a file at the same time that you are. Wait a minute, and try it again. If this message persists, you can E-Mail errors@chathouse.com.

  • Miscellaneous Errors
    For any other errors, simply write to errors@chathouse.com telling us exactly what error you received, when you received it, what you were doing when the error was generated, and what floor or room you were in when you received the error.

TELL ME MORE

Whew! That wasn't enough yet?! Okay, see all those wonderful hyperlinks to your left? (Well, they were on your left, you'll probably have to scroll back up again...) Here's what they're for:
  • ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ FEATURES pages will tell you: What a Feature is or does, Who can use it, How it works, Why you might want to use it, and Where to find it in the Chathouse™.

  • ABOUT CHATHOUSE™ MEMBERSHIPS pages explain what you can do as a Non-Registered User, as a Registered Member, or as a Subscribed Member. There are also several levels of Subscriptions available (Charter, Cornerstone, Foundation, Sponsor).

  • GETTING AROUND IN THE CHATHOUSE™ pages can be very useful for Navigating over 100 Chat Rooms! Many of our regular chatters will bookmark The Floor Plan or Who's in the House for their favorite floor. The Chathouse™ News will also let you know what's going on.

  • HELP PAGES contain our most Frequently Asked Questions (this page), Who (at the Chathouse™) to Contact about What (if you can't find the information you need), How to Chat, the Welcome Mat for New Visitors, and... The Chathouse™ Rules!
HELP PAGES
Welcome Mat
for New Visitors
Chathouse™ Rules
for Our Community
How to Chat
and Advanced Chat
Just the FAQs
and Answers Here
Contact Us
our E-Mail Addresses

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