First is the /me box. It posts what is known as an action command. If you have ever been in a chat and a message comes up that says (for example):

Return-To-Oz waves at everybody!

then you have seen an action command. To use this, simply put whatever you want into the box to the right of the /me box and your name will be put at the beginning of it. To do the "Return-To-Oz waves at everybody!" I would type "waves at everybody!" (without the quote marks:) as below then hit the Enter/Return button

The boxes that are MOST useful are the message boxes. They are used to send private messages to other chat participants. There are 2 ways to use these boxes, for a one time private message, or a convenient set up for someone you send a lot of private messages to. To send a one time private message, in the box to the right of one of the /msg boxes, type a person's name, put one space, then type your message, such as:

when you click the Return/Enter button, it all goes away after your private message is sent (in this case, to Bob). You will have to enter his name in again with any additional messages. Note, you can also click the Private button, check a name and enter the message in the box provided to send private messages, instead of using the /msg boxes in this manner.

However, if you send private messages to Bob all of the time, you can put his name in the same box with the /msg and put your message in the box to the right (as below):

Now when you send the message (by hitting Return/Enter), the message goes to Bob and clears out of where you typed, but Bob stays in the side that says /msg. All you have to do to send Bob further private messages is just type them in the box to the right of the /msg Bob. This comes in really handy if you send a lot of private messages to someone with a long name.

Suppose Bob is harassing you or you just don't want to see his messages. Just put his name in the box next to /ignore and click Enter/Return as below:

No more Bob. Note, you MUST spell it exactly as it appears in chat or it won't work. Suppose you decide to give Bob another chance and want to stop ignoring him and allow his messages to appear on your screen once again, just put a minus and his name (-Bob) in the box next to /ignore, hit Enter/Return and Bob will come back:)

You'll notice that there are 6 empty boxes in a row at the bottom of the other boxes. These allow you to put in a favorite saying, some info you would like to share regularly but don't want to type each time, etc. Just put something in these boxes and each time you want to "say" that, just click on the box and it will send it to the chat. Example:

Don't worry that you can't see all of the message in the box after you type it. It's all there. Just remember if you use these boxes to "flood" the chat room, other folks will simply use their /ignore boxes:)

Don't worry if you're lost. Just hang out, read and ask for help if you need it. A lot of the folks who come to this chat are not ordinarily chatters, including myself:)
My goal was to keep it as simple as possible for the most inexperienced while offering a few extras for those more experienced in an easily learnable format.

Enjoy!

R-T-O