1. Utilizing ParaChat For Moderated Events
   
2. How It Works
   
3. Types of Users
   
4. Tips for Setting Up a Moderated Event
   
5. Moderating An Event
   
6. Multiple Moderators & Speakers
   
7. After a Moderated Event
   
8. Retrieving your ParaChat transcripts via your browser
   
9. Download your Chat Transcripts
   
10. Anatomy of ParaChat Moderation
    

ParaChat v4.5 is equipped with a moderated event feature that is used to hold organized and structured events online, and in real time. ParaChat has developed its moderated event feature to be easy to set up, easy to use, feature-rich, and intuitive for end-users, moderators, speakers and room administrators alike. Below you will find a guide to setting up, conducting, and completing a moderated event. If you have any questions about utilizing ParaChat for moderated events, please contact .

User asks question  >>>  Moderator screens question  >>>  Speaker answers question  >>>  All users read question and answer

ParaChat's moderated event feature includes 4 types of users. Each type of user has different attributes and responsibilities during a moderated event, and has access to different features. Below is a summary of these attributes:

1. Standard User:

A user who attends a moderated event. The Standard User accesses a ParaChat room using a nickname of their choice. When a ParaChat room is placed in moderated mode, text submitted by a user is automatically forwarded to a Moderator for review prior to being answered by a Speaker. A user will see their submitted question in their chat window, and receive a confirmation that their question has been submitted.

Below is a list of tips for ensuring a successful moderated event.

1. Generate a Transcript:

ParaChat's transcript feature allows you to "record" your moderated event. The chat text submitted to the main chat window during the event is written to and retained on the chat server. When your moderated event has ended, simply retrieve the transcript and post it on your web site, or distribute it by email. To generate a transcript of your moderated event, the Room Administrator must turn the feature "ON". The transcript feature is controlled from the GUI Admin Console. Chat text in the main chat window will be saved to the transcript file until the transcript feature is turned off, or until the Room Administrator exits the room.

To conduct a moderated event, the Room Administrator, Moderator(s), and Speaker(s) should be familiar with the Moderation Console, and take the steps outlined below.

The Moderation Console:
The Moderation Console is used by the Moderator(s) and Speaker(s) to screen and answer questions submitted by Standard Users. It provides the ideal interface to manage questions. The Moderation Console may be launched by the Room Administrator, Moderator(s), or Speaker(s) by typing the following command into the chat text field: %moderate. The Moderation Console will launch in a separate window from the ParaChat room.

The following options and actions are available to manage user questions, each of which corresponds to a button at the base of the Moderation Console. Highlight a question by clicking on it with your left mouse button. You may take the following actions with each highlighted question by clicking on the appropriate button, each of which is described below:

Fetch	Retrieve up to 10 newly submitted questions from the server. The number of fetched question updates when 11 new questions are submitted to the room. (Moderator only. Speaker questions queue automatically.)
Previous	Presents a previous set of questions that were fetched from the server. Answered or deleted questions will not display.
Next	Presents a next set of previously fetched questions. Answered or deleted questions will not display.
Answer	Answer the highlighted question, and submit to the main chat window.
Edit	Edit the highlighted question prior to forwarding or answering it.
Forward	Forward the highlighted question to a speaker. If there is more than one speaker, a question is submitted in a round-robin format.
Forward To	Forward the highlighted questions to a specific speaker. Speakers may forward to another speaker only.
Post	Submits a comment to the main chat window without responding to a question.
Gag	Block unwanted questions submitted by a specific user.
Delete	Permanently deletes the highlighted question.
Help	These options will quickly get you back to ParaChat's online moderation documentation.
Action Pull Down Menu	The Action pull-down menu contains options: Delete All Questions in Current Window Permanently removes answered questions from the Moderation Console. View Ignored Users Displays a list of gagged users

Room Administrator Task Summary

Set a Topic or Greeting (optional): Before the event begins, set a relevant greeting or topic of discussion that users will see when they first log into the room. In the Admin Console, Configure tab >>> Topic tab >>> enter a topic and press the "Set" button.

Set Profanity Filter (optional): Although questions are screened by the moderator prior to being submitted to the chat room, unwanted profane language can automatically be filtered by turning on the Profanity Filter. In the Admin Console, Configure tab >>> Profanity tab >> press the "Turn On Filter" button.

Turn on Transcript (optional): Record a transcript of the moderated event using the Transcript feature, In the Admin Console, Configure tab >>> Transcript tab >>> enter a file name of your choice and press the "Start" button.

Set up Moderator(s): Add the user name(s) that will be used by the Moderator(s). In the Admin Console, Moderation tab >>> Moderator tab >>> enter a Moderator user name and press the "Add Moderator" button. You will see an updated list of current Moderators printed in the main chat window. To review a list of current Moderator names, press the "Current Moderators" button to review the list in the main chat window. To remove unwanted Moderator names, enter the user name and press the "Delete Moderator" button.

Set up Speaker(s): Add the user name(s) that will be used by the Speaker(s). In the Admin Console, Moderation tab >>> Speaker tab >>> enter a Speaker user name and press the "Add Speaker" button. You will see an updated list of current Speakers printed in the main chat window. To review a list of current Speaker names, press the "Current Speakers" button to review the list in the main chat window. To remove unwanted Speaker names, enter the user name and press the "Delete Speaker" button.

Turn on Moderation mode: Change the room mode from open chat to moderated chat. In the Admin Console, Moderation tab >>> Status tab >>> click the "Turn Moderation on" button.

Large-scale moderated events may require multiple moderators, as well as multiple speakers. ParaChat's moderation mode utilizes a round-robin format for distributing questions from Standard Users to Moderators, and from Moderators to Speakers.

Examples:

If an event has two Moderators, questions from Standard Users will be distributed evenly between the two Moderators. Moderator 1 will receive questions 1,3,5,7, etc., and Moderator 2 will receive questions 2,4,6,8, etc. If one of the two Moderators disconnects from the session for any reason, any unanswered questions will automatically appear in the remaining Moderator's Moderation Console.

If an event has two Speakers, questions forwarded by Moderators using the 'Forward' button are distributed evenly between the Speakers. Speaker 1 will receive questions 1,3,5,7, etc., and Speaker 2 will receive questions 2,4,6,8, etc. Questions forwarded by Moderators using the 'Forward To' button are distributed to a Speaker specified by the Moderator. If a question is not relevant to a particular Speaker, each Speaker may highlight the question, press the "Forward To" button, and send the question to another Speaker on the speaker list. If one of the two Speakers disconnects from the session for any reason, any unanswered questions will automatically appear in the remaining Speaker's Moderation Console.

At the conclusion of a moderate event, there are several post-event tasks that may be performed.

Turn Off Transcript: In the Admin Console, Configure tab  >>>  Transcript tab  >>>  and press the "Stop" button.

Turn Off Moderation: In the Admin Console, Moderation tab  >>>  Status tab  >>>  click the "Turn Moderation off" button. The room will automatically revert to an open chat, where users may freely submit chat text directly to the main chat window.

Retrieve the Transcript: The transcript can be retrieved by logging into the Server Admin Pages using your Room Administrator name and password, entering your ParaChat room name, entering the transcript name (with a .log suffix) into the "Fetch Room Transcripts" field, and pressing the "Fetch Transcript" button.

Questions Are Cleared: When the Moderator(s) and Speaker(s) close their Moderation Consoles and disconnect from the ParaChat room, the list of questions contained within the Moderation Console are permanently cleared. A record of the questions that have been answered, and posted to the main chat window, are found in the transcript if one was generated.

You may retrieve the transcript using one of two methods. The first is from the Server Admin Pages. Point your browser toward:

http://<your_host_name.com>:7877/plynx/parachat/index.lhtml

and use your server or room admin name and password to gain access to the server web pages.

1. Navigate to the room you wish to get the transcripts

2. Click on the "View Room Transcripts" button

   

3. Under "Fetch Transcript" select the transcript you would like to view. When you click on this link you will see the transcripts page launch in a new window.

   

4. From within this window you can save your transcripts in many different ways:
   • Cut and paste
   • Save the page
   • Save the source of the page

   

The second way is to retrieve the .log file directly from the server. Log files are written to the "logs" directory on the chat server, and each ParaChat room has its own directory into which the log file is stored (..Program Files/ParaChat/ParaChat450/logs/#roomname/logname.log).