Please note that Rick (Rpike20625) typed this up and I added the Steps, and Posted it.

Lots of people haven't taken part in the HF Chatroom because of the
problems with the chat software that is used, and the way it rejected
some versions of Java on certain computers.

NXArmada, a HF forum member, has come up with a suggestion for
simplified use of the HF Chatroom for people having problems. The
solution is to download and install the all-in-one program called Pidgin.
Pidgin is a stand-alone instant messaging program for Windows, Linux,
BSD, and other Unixes. You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ,
Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell
GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and
Zephyr.

Pidgin has a built-in IRC chat client that makes chatting on the HF Chat
room simple, and easy. No more login problems, problems with cutting and
pasting text, or problems opening the sneak-peek links provided. The
Pidgin program has been field tested on one of our dumbest forum members
(Rpike20625) and even he is very supportive of this free product. For
MAC users, the similar product is called Adium.
Pidgin is free software. It is licensed under the GNU General Public
License (GPL) version 2. This means you are free to use it and to modify
it, but if you distribute your modifications you must distribute the
modified source code as well.

To get free Pidgin for Windows and Linux, go to: http://www.pidgin.im/

For MAC there is
Colloquy - http://colloquy.info/
XChat - http://www.xchat.org/ - http://www.xchat.org/docs/start/

On XChat you will have to add our network to the list.
Server: irc.netmercs.net
Channel: #hiddenfrontier


Although it is simple to install and setup, here are some details for
Pidgin:

1) Go to the site and download
2) Click on the downloaded program to install
3) Once Pidgin is installed and running, go to your Buddy List, and on
the the ACCOUNTS tab, and click Manage and then ADD.
4) Protocol -- drop down to IRC
5) Screen Name -- enter what you wish to login to HF Forum with...
usually your forum name
6) Server -- delete what is there and add irc.netmercs.net
7) Password - leave blank
8) Local alias-- how you want it to appear on your screen -- type in HF
Chatroom if you want.
9) Click SAVE

Now to enter the chat room there are 2 ways:

1. Goto Buddies > Join a Chat.  Change Account to IRC If you have more then one account, 
if all you have is IRC setup in pidgin the Account should already say IRC.  Type #hiddenfrontier
into the channel box and Click on Join.  You will now be in the chat room.

2. Goto Buddies > Add Chat.  Change Account to IRC If you have more then one account, 
if all you have is IRC setup in pidgin the Account should already say IRC.  Type #hiddenfrontier
into the channel box and Click on Add.  Now the channel will show up on your buddy list always.
Just double click on #hiddenfrontier on your buddy list and you are in and ready to chat

With 1. you have to do this everytime you want to join the chat
With 2. its always showing on your buddy list and all you have to do to join is double click.

I suggest you go with number 2.

Finally, if you want, you can add in your other messaging here... AIM,
Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live etc. To do that, simply repeat steps 3 - 9 (Step 3 making sure to select the Correct
Protocal) again, but select and enter the specific protocol and accounts as you
proceed.

If you have multiple chats going, it will appear tabbed. If you prefer,
you can click on the tab header and drag it off the tabbed window and it
will make a separate window.

All the functions of the current HF Chatroom are available using Pidgin,
including private message (click on the name in the chatroom list),
smileys, and right clicking to open links in browsers.

Give it a try and see if it solves your chatroom woes and makes
participating in the exciting Wednesday evening chats in the HF Chatroom
easier and more fun.

More details about pidgin:

Pidgin can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks
simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AIM,
talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel
all at the same time.
Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file
transfer, away messages, and typing notification. It also goes beyond
that and provides many unique features. A few popular features are Buddy
Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a
sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online,
or returns from idle; and plugins, consisting of text replacement, a
buddy ticker, extended message notification, iconify on away, spell
checking, tabbed conversations, and more.
Pidgin runs on a number of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and
other UNIX operating systems. Looking for Pidgin for OS X? Try Adium.
Pidgin integrates well with GNOME 2 and KDE 3.1's system tray, as well
as Windows' own system tray. This allows you to work with Pidgin without
requiring the buddy list window to be open at all times.




Written by Rpike20625 and NXArmada
Endorsed by Stephen T. Otter



<edits:
Removed Adium notes from how-to.
Added Colloquy and website link.
Added XChat and website link.
>

It works.  It really works.  Now, looking forward to the HF Chatroom, and not fighting with my browser, and Java stuff every Wednesday.

Thanks!

You know I have been using pidgin for a while, even used the IRC function.  But it completely left out the idea of using it for HF.  It is on my work laptop and I use it a lot for private secure chat servers we have setup.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Just FYI - for Mac users, AdiumX does NOT work.  They have specifically left out the IRC function, in favor of suggesting the use of Colloquy.

-Jonathan

Jonathan, do you think Colloquoy is a good basic IRC client for Mac users to use the Chatroom?  Trying to make thing easy for non-techie users who are frustrated with some of the chatroom issues via the website.

Thanks.

Rick

Mac users generally don't have any issues with the website chat system as far as I know - our implementation of JAVA doesn't seem to have the same connectivity issues through Safari, Camino, or Firefox.

Jenn, Barbara and myself use X-Chat Aqua, but that's a bit advanced for the average user unless it's preset by someone else.  A quick field test of Colloquy indicates that it's a solid and easy-to-use Mac App with plenty of options to customize, as well as AppleScript support for more advanced users like Solak or myself. :-)

-Jonathan

Jonathan would you be willing to write up a little how to for Colloquy and we can add it to the how to above.

Funny I use AdiumX on my MAC and did not even realize that it did not support IRC.  Guess I will use X-Chat on it when I am on my MAC.  I used to use X-Chat on my PC but I switched my IRC chatting to Pidgin.

Well, I'm headed to California for a bit to do some training for the company I work for, so if I can sneak in a training walkthrough between classes, I'll go ahead and do so.  It was pretty intuitive, though. :-)

-Jonathan

Intuitive for us (Since we both work in IT) but what about people like Rick lol.

*nods*  True, but we are talking about a product developed for Apple Computers... ...their developers tend to build their UI with a user in mind instead of an IT pro. ;-)

But I'll go ahead and whip up a page in between classes. :-)

-Jonathan

True  :$

I just downloaded Colliquely and it is nice.......once I found the server and chat room all was good. See you all tonight.

Yea I saw you come in and out a couple of times.

I will stay completely silent....

Oh great Jonathan you scared Micheal.  LOL

"You probably killed it" - Dr. Ness

Yes, I was testing it to make sure it works. The acid test will be Rob's links to the goodies.

The links will work.

Stickied.

Thank you for pointing this out... it is really helpful

As a general note to ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite users: you'll need to go into the IM Security settings, hit the settings tab, then the advanced button and explicitly deselect the "block IRC" option. Took me a good 10 minutes of head battering to try to discover why it wasn't working...

Eric

[Edit] Highlighted options for quicker referencing

Just to give a quick review of Colloquy, it is a very good Mac irc client. It's interface is clean, all the links come through, and you are able to change your type styles within reason. The only thing I have not tested was the transfer from one person to another via a file transfer. Another plus is that it is free. The author would like people to make a donation which is understandable, but it is not crippled in any way.

I participated in HF Wednesday night chat totally in the Pidgin IRC product, and it was AWESOME.  Links worked great, clear, easy to use, no drops.  I highly recommend it to Windows-based users.  I've tested it on both WinXP and WinVista, and it works great on both.

So, options are the basic HF Chatroom via the web, other IRC clients (mIRC seems popular), and Pidgin (anc Colloquoy for Mac users).  There's no excuse for anyone who wants to participate in chat not to do so.

Rick

I was surprised to see how many people we had in chat that was using Pidgin or Colloquoy.

Two words, easy and free. The interface on the Mac side was simple, I was able to have a chat experience and enjoy it. An added plus is it does not eat up lots of space on the hard drive and no issues so far.
On the Windows side, it looks like Pidgin is a hit as well, likely for the same reasons. Added plus is it is working with Vista which is a help.

Yea it works well.  When i first started going to chat i used the web chat, I was lick this sucks so by the next chat i had setup Pidgin to use the chat and been using it since.

Dear god, no-one use Ircle. It's driving me crazy.

check out http://colloquy.info/

I used to use ircle.......then I got better.

So sorry to hear that ircle is affecting your mental health, Beo.

Full Disclosure: I am currently using ircle, but that's only because I started on it back on Mac OS 8 when it was the only Mac IRC that I could find (and afford). I agree that no one should start using ircle now; it has way too many idiosyncrasies and there are much better programs available. The only reason I'm still using it is inertia, in that I have some chat rooms bookmarked in it and I have written a helper script for it. However, ircle can save only ten bookmarks, and that script has reached the limit of what ircle can do and gotten so rickety that it needs both a walking stick and a guide dog to keep from tripping over something.

I have tested X-Chat Aqua and found it acceptable. I will give Colloquy a try next week before I decide.

I don't why you lot don't just use the IRC plugin for Trillian. Works just fine for me...

Personally I think Trillian is to bloated, lots of stuff you never going to use. And from side to side test Pidgin took less resources.

Spark is also good, but I use Pidgin because of its abilities for multiple IM connection at the same time.