Introduction Chat

Introduction Chat

A chat is used for communication between two or more people. The participants have to be in the chat at the same time to be able to exchange small message texts. Chats can be created anywhere in ILIAS.

The communication in the chat is organized in rooms.

  • The main room is where all users can equally view the previous communication and participate.
  • However, users can also open side rooms, so-called séparées. Only invited users have access to the séparées.
  • The administrator of the chat must enable the séparée function.

The history of the chat is recorded through a history that the administrator can view. A daily or session history of the chat communication can be output.

Chats support learning and teaching.

Chats can support teaching and learning processes in several ways:

  • Open information exchange: learners exchange information about technical and other topics in a self-organized manner in the chat.
  • Consultation hours: Teachers are available at fixed times in the chat to answer individual learners' or groups of learners' questions.
  • Expert interview: Chats are also used to obtain external expertise.

Chat

Enter chat room

You want to enter the chat room.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. The chat communication will be displayed in the large box located in the center. In front of each post is the chat name of the author.
  3. You can participate in the chat by following others' posts or posting yourself (see Posting).

"Write "To All

You want to write a post in the main room. The post will be displayed in the main space and visible to all chat participants.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. The input line is located at the bottom of the main field. To compose a post, enter it in the Message area in the To all text input field.
  3. To publish the post, click Submit or press Enter on your keyboard. ILIAS will display your post in the main field. When you do this, ILIAS automatically puts your chat name and the time the message was published in front of your post.

Note: To customize your post, click the Show settings link in the Layout section. You can make settings for font color, font type, font appearance, and font size.

Addressing present participants directly

You want to write a post addressed to a user in the chat room.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. In the Users block on the right, click the name of the user you want to address.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Click on the Address link.
  5. ILIAS changes the response mode in the Message block in front of the text input field from To all to the name of the user you want to address.
  6. Type your contribution in the text input field and submit it.
  7. ILIAS publishes the post in the main field and automatically adds @username in front of the post.

Note: The response mode will remain until you exit it. To exit the response mode, click the Exit link in front of the text entry field.

Whisper invisibly to present participant.

You want to communicate only with a certain user, and the messages should not be visible to other chat users. This is called "whispering".

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. In the Users block on the right, click on the name of the user you want to whisper to.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Click on the Whisper link.
  5. ILIAS changes the response mode in the Message block in front of the text input field from To all to the name of the user you want to whisper to.
  6. Enter your contribution in the text input field and send it (cf. Compose contribution).
  7. ILIAS will display the post in the main field only visible to the whispered person.

Note: The whisper mode remains active until you end it. To exit whisper mode, click the Exit link in front of the text entry field.

Invite an absent user to the chat room.

You want to invite another user to the chat room or a séparée.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. Click the Actions link in the upper right corner.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Select Invite to the current room.
  5. ILIAS opens a new window.
  6. In the Username text entry box, type the username of the person you want to invite to the chat room.
  7. ILIAS will notify the person about your invitation.
  8. Now you have to wait for the person to respond.

Create a séparée

You want to create a séparée to which only you and selected users invited by you have access.

Note: You can only create a separate one if the chat is set accordingly.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. Click the Actions link in the upper right corner.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. In the Actions menu, click the Create segregation link.
  5. ILIAS opens a new window.
  6. In the Name of séparée text entry box, type the desired name of the séparée.
  7. Click OK.
  8. ILIAS creates the séparée and automatically redirects you to the adjoining room.

Deleting and leaving a séparée

After you create a séparée, the Actions menu automatically expands to include the Exit Séparée and Delete Séparée options:

Exit Séparée:

  1. To return to the main room, click the Exit Séparée link.
  2. ILIAS will redirect you to the main room.

Note: You can return to the séparée by clicking the link of the séparée's name in the Actions menu.

Delete séparée:

  1. To delete the séparée, click the Delete Séparée link.
  2. ILIAS will delete the séparée and redirect you to the main room.

Organize chat communication

Ejecting participants at short notice

Insults and bad behavior disrupt the learning atmosphere. You should sanction participants who do not follow the agreed rules.

You want to interrupt a participant's communication immediately.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. In the Users block on the right, click the name of the user you want to kick out of the chat.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Click the Eject link.
  5. ILIAS opens a new window.
  6. To kick the user out of the chat, click OK.
  7. The participant will then receive the message "The connection to the chat server has been interrupted".

Note: An ejected user can rejoin the chat communication anytime by reaccessing the chat.

Permanently blocking participants

Insults and bad behavior disrupt the learning atmosphere. You should sanction participants who do not follow the agreed rules.

You want to ban a participant from the chat permanently.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. In the Users block on the right, click the name of the user you want to ban.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Click on the Lock link.
  5. ILIAS opens a new window.
  6. To lock the user for the chat, click OK.
  7. The participant will then receive the message "The connection to the chat server has been interrupted".

Note: A locked user can no longer join the chat communication.
Locked users will also receive the message when trying to rejoin the chat.
"You have been banned from this chat room". All banned users of the chat will be displayed to you in the Banned Users tab. There you also can unblock users.

Unblocking

You want to unblock one or more participants.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. Select the checkbox in front of the name(s) of the user(s) you want to unlock.
  3. Click the Unlock button at the top or bottom of the list of locked users.
  4. ILIAS unlocks the user(s).

Delete message history

You want to delete the chat dialog record displayed in the main window.

  1. Open the Show tab in the chat.
  2. Click the Actions link in the upper right corner.
  3. ILIAS opens a selection menu.
  4. Select Delete message history.
  5. ILIAS opens a new window.
  6. To delete the message history permanently, confirm with OK.

Logs

Log of the communication of one day

You want to view a specific day's communication history and chat log.
Prerequisite: You can do this only if the Enable hit history option is also selected for the chat.

  1. Open the History tab in the chat.
  2. In the Period drop-down menu, select the desired period for which the history should be displayed.
  3. In the Room/Séparée drop-down menu, select the chat room for which you want to get a history.      
    Note: You can only view the history of the separates you created yourself.
  4. Click on View.
  5. ILIAS will show you all chat posts made in the specified time period.    
    Note: The history does not include posts made in whisper mode.

Note: You can also export the history as an HTML file. To do this, click Export instead of the View button. You can clear the automatic record again by selecting Clear message history in the internal Actions menu of the chat. The same function is available to all chat participants in separées they have created.

Log of communication of a session

You want to view a particular session's communication history and chat log.
Prerequisite: You can do this only if the Enable History option is also selected for the chat.

  1. Open the History tab in the chat.
  2. In the Session drop-down menu, select the session whose history you want to view.
  3. Click the View button.
  4. ILIAS displays the message history of the selected session.

Note: You can also export the history as an HTML file. To do this, click Export instead of the View button. You can clear the automatic recording again by selecting Clear message history in the internal actions menu of the chat. The same function is available to all chat participants in separées they have created.

Settings

Settings

You want to edit the settings of the chat.

  • Title: Enter the desired name of the chat in the text input field Title. This input is mandatory. Description: Select a short description of the chat. This input is optional.
  • Allow anonymous login: Check this box to allow people who do not have an ILIAS user account to participate in the chat. ATTENTION: Please ensure that you have configured the appropriate rights settings for this (cf. Rights). The role of Anonymus must have the rights "View" and "Read access". In addition, the chat must be located in a place in the repository that is accessible to the Anonymous role.
  • Automatically generated usernames: ILIAS has a scheme, "Autogen #" for automatically generated usernames for anonymous users. Thereby a placeholder '#' is automatically replaced by a number. However, you can also customize this placeholder as you wish.
  • Freely selectable user names: Check the checkbox to allow chat users to create their usernames.
  • Enable history: If you want the user to be shown messages previously written when entering the chat room, check the checkbox.
  • The number of past messages: Enter the number of past messages you want displayed. An entry of "0" disables the display of past messages in the chat room but not the recording of history.
  • Enable separates: To allow chat users to create séparées, check the checkbox.