Startrekker Proxy v2.5 by Cody
Table of Contents:
01... What is the StarTrekker Proxy?
02... Registering an account
03... Creating, editing, and deleting profiles
04... Installing or upgrading the StarTrekker proxy
05... Sending messages to Star Trek Chat
06... Proxy /commands (and Chat commands)
07... Skins (optional)
08... Sound packs (optional)
09... The censor
10... What's New in This Version?
11... Troubleshooting
1. What is the StarTrekker Proxy?
The proxy is a program you download which sends your messages to Star Trek Chat. Its features include:

  • Profiles, which remember your name/colors/URL/email so you don't have to type them in each time
  • Skinnable interface, several skins to choose from (or make your own with an easy tutorial)
  • Choose custom font faces and font sizes for your name and messages (in addition to the custom colors the chat provides)
  • "/away" command for letting others know when you go AFK
  • "/winamp" command for telling everyone what song you're listening to on WinAmp (Winamp version 1.x or 2.x only)
  • Optional auto smileys (turns ":)" into a smiley icon, etc)
  • Optional star trek sound effects
  • A censor you can configure: Replace almost anything in your messages with almost anything else, automatically!
  • Power users can set message headers/footers (automatic insertion of things before and after your messages, like HTML tags)
  • Control panel on the proxy website lets you easily create and modify your profiles

    • 2. Registering an account
    The first step to using the proxy is registering a user account at the proxy website. This is necessary so people can't accidentally (or purposefully) steal and use your name. Open this URL in your web browser:

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/registration.html

    Choose a "Username" and a "Password" and type them into the proper boxes. Here are some important things you should note:

  • Your Username is Not your Chat Name. (You will set that up later)
  • Your Username and Password are CaSe-SeNsiTiVe
  • Your Username and Password cannot contain spaces
  • Do Not use the Password you choose here anywhere else on the internet!

    • Then click "Create my account!", and you now have an account. :-)

    3. Creating and editing profiles
    Once you have an account, the next step is to create some Profiles. Profiles are your different chat "identities" - the messages you send to Star Trek Chat will have a different name/color/etc based on the profile you are currently using. You can have as many profiles as you wish, and you can change/delete them later on. Open this URL in your web browser:

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/profiles.html

    Type the Username and Password you chose when you registered into the proper boxes. Click "Authorize". You will be presented with a list of the profiles you have already made, and the option to create a new one, delete one, or edit one. Here are some important things you should note:

  • Your profile name is not your Chat Name. (You will set that up later)
  • Your profile name is CaSe-SeNsiTiVe
  • Your profile name cannot contain spaces

    • Here's how to CREATE a new profile...
    a) Type a desired profile name into the box and click "Go!"
    b) You will be presented with several form fields. Here's what they mean.
    Chat Name...Your chat nickname. Leave this blank to be a lurker.
    Name Color...The color of your name. Required.
    Message Color...The color of your messages. Required.
    URL...Enter your homepage address here. Optional.
    Email...Enter your e-mail address here. Optional.
    Name Font...Your name's font face. Optional.
    Message Font...The font face of your messages. Optional.
    Name Size...The font size of your name. Optional.
    Message Size...The font size of your messages. Optional.
    Links Color...This doesn't do anything anymore. Please ignore it, lol.
    Message Header...(See note below) (Optional.)
    Message Footer...(See note below) (Optional.)
    Convert :)...Turns ":)" and ":(" etc into WingDings smiley icons.

    (Whatever you type into the Message Header box will Always appear before your messages. Likewise, whatever you type into the Message Footer box will Always appear after your messages. This is an advanced feature for people who like to tinker. For example, if you wanted all of your messages to be Bold, you would type "<b>" for the header and "</b>" for the footer. Most people will never use this option, but I added it anyway.)
    c) Once you're done filling in the fields, press "Create new profile".

    Here's how to MODIFY an existing profile...
    a) Type the profile name into the box and click "Go!"
    b) Modify the text in the boxes as you see fit, and click "Apply changes".

    Here's how to DELETE an existing profile...
    a) Check the circle next to "DELETE profile named:"
    b) Type the name of the profile you want to delete into the box
    c) Click "Go!"

    WARNING: Please be sure that you want to delete the profile, and that you have typed the correct one. There is no verification, and profiles cannot be un-deleted. Thank you.

    4. Installing or upgrading the StarTrekker proxy
    Installation of the StarTrekker Proxy is simple. Open this URL in your web browser:

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/newchat32.html

    a) Click the "Download" link next to "StarTrekker Proxy (NEW!)"
    b) You will be asked if you want to Open the file, or Save it
    c) Click on "Open" and wait for the file to download
    d) WinZip Self Extractor will load.

    If you are installing the proxy for the FIRST time, follow these instructions:
    - Click UnZip on the self-extractor
    - You will see a message saying "Files unzipped successfully"
    - Click Close on the self-extractor
    - Go to your C: drive using Windows Explorer (or however you want)
    - Click on the NewChat32 folder, and then click on StarTrekker2.exe

    If you are UPGRADING the proxy after you already installed it, follow these:
    - Click UnZip on the self-extractor
    - You will be asked if you want to Overwrite Files
    - Here is an explanation of the files and which ones to overwrite...
    ANY .bmp file...The BMP files are a new skin. Don't overwrite them if you like your old skin.
    StarTrekker2...This is the proxy engine. You Must overwrite this to upgrade.

    - You will see a message saying "Files unzipped successfully"
    - Click Close on the self-extractor
    - Go to your C: drive using Windows Explorer (or however you want)
    - Click on the NewChat32 folder, and then click on StarTrekker2.exe

    You have now installed or upgraded your proxy! Be sure to check back occasionally, because the proxy is often updated to fix bugs or add cool new features.

    5. Sending messages to Star Trek Chat
    In order to send messages to Star Trek Chat using your proxy, you need to have already done the following:

    - Created an account
    - Made at least one profile under that account
    - Downloaded the StarTrekker Proxy to your hard drive

    See the sections above for instructions on how to do this. :-) Here's how to start chatting...

    a) Start your proxy (If the proxy doesn't start properly, see the Troubleshooting section)
    b) In the "Username" box, type your username
    c) In the "Password" box, type your password
    d) Click "Set User" (or "Log on")...The status bar should say "Success. User logged in." If it doesn't, see the Troubleshooting section
    e) Type your desired profile into the "Profile" box
    f) Click "Load Profile"... The status bar should say "Loaded profile." If it doesn't, see the Troubleshooting section
    g) In the Message box, type your message to send. Click "Send". The status bar should say "Sent." If it doesn't, see the Troubleshooting section

    Once you've logged in and loaded a profile, the proxy will remember your username/password/profile and you won't have to log-in again. However, if other people in your household have access to the computer and you don't want them impersonating you, it might be a good idea to click "Clear User" (or "Log off") before you shut off the proxy.

    See the sections below on /commands and the censor.txt to get the most out of your StarTrekker Proxy...

    6. Proxy /commands (and Chat commands)
    Commands are things you type into the Message box of your proxy. They perform special functions. Here is a list of them, and examples of their use...

    Please note that when you see a "*", it means you can optionally type something there.

    COMMANDDESCRIPTIONEXAMPLES
    /me *The /me command is for IRC actions./me looks around
    /quit *Closes your proxy with an optional quit message./quit Bye everyone!
    /quit
    /profilesShows you what profiles you have created so far./profiles
    /winampIf you use Winamp2 or Winamp5 (Not Winamp3) and it is running, this command will tell the chat what song you are currently listening to./winamp
    /away *Puts you in Away Mode with an optional Away Message./away watching TV
    /away
    /link *Lets you link to a website easily./link www.yahoo.com
    /topmostToggles always-on-top. Requires that you restart proxy./topmost
    /recallRecalls the last post you made so you can send it again if the chat ate your post./recall

    NOTES:
    - You don't need to use /quit to close the proxy, you can also click the [X].
    - The /winamp command does not work with Winamp 3.
    - The /me command is part of the chat, everyone can use it.

    7. Skins
    Skins are sets of BMP picture files that change how your proxy looks. Many modern programs are skinnable. Your proxy comes with the OMGWTFBBQ skin by Gen. If you wish to get new skins, open this URL in your web browser:

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/skins.html

    Choose a skin you like, and follow the instructions on that webpage to download and install the skin.

    Skins are not hard to make for the StarTrekker Proxy. If you want to make your own, please check out this tutorial:

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/makeskins.html

    8. Sound packs
    Your proxy has support for sound effects. These are optional. So far, there is only one sound pack (Star Trek sounds). If you wish to download it, open this URL in your web browser...

    http://linneberg.com/NewChat/newchat32.html

    and follow the instructions for downloading sound packs. If you want to edit the sounds, here is a list of the WAV files in a sound pack and what they mean:
    FILENAMEWHEN IT GETS PLAYEDIDEAL LENGTH OF SOUND
    accepted.wavLogin (successfully)Doesn't matter
    codes.wavStartup (if not logged in)Doesn't matter
    denied.wavLogin (failure)Doesn't matter
    invprofile.wavLoad profile (failure)Doesn't matter
    offline.wavLogoffDoesn't matter
    online.wavStartup (if logged in)Doesn't matter
    sendmsg.wavSend message soundVery short
    shutdown.wavProxy closedDoesn't matter
    valprofile.wavLoad profile (successfully)Very short
    NOTES:

    - The proxy locks up while it is playing a sound, so make sure sounds that get played a lot (like Send message) are short, or else you will get annoyed fast...

    - WAV.EXE is the program that plays the sound files. The proxy looks for WAV.EXE, and if found, attempts to play the .wav files above. To disable sound packs, delete the file WAV.EXE

    9. The censor
    Your proxy has a built-in "censor" that you can easily configure! Basically, it's used for turning one piece of your message into another for you, automatically. To modify your censor, visit the Profile Editor website and log-in. By default, the censor is set to automatically add color to people's names when you say them. For example, if you typed "!roykirk" in your message, the censor would change it to "Roykirk" (and the word Roykirk would be in his color). "!Nuku" would change to "Cat Girl Nuku", in her color. And so on.

    Each line in the censor is a new word/phrase to replace. You can replace pretty much anything you want with anything else you want. The format is:

    OLD WORD OR PHRASE==NEW WORD OR PHRASE

    Here are some examples:

    Cody==The resident troublemaker
    *s*==*smiles*
    !LOL==*laughs out loud*
    ne1==anyone
    clicky clicky==Check out my <b>cool Trek website</b> at www.example.com
    Those are just examples. If you would prefer not to make use of the censor, delete the file "censor.dat" :-)

    NOTES:
    - The censor is NOT CaSe-SeNsiTiVe... !raven is the same as !RAVEN or !RaVeN
    - The censor will only affect what you say - it doesn't edit anyone else's messages

    10. What's New?

    V 2.5
    This version is a complete install.
    - Finished the new skin system. You can now easily use old-style skins with the new proxy.

    V 2.4 Beta
    This version is a complete install.
    - Overhauled the skin system. Instead of downloading skins each time, you only download them once, and then they become part of your local skin library. But I still haven't fixed all the issues, so this remains an OPTIONAL download.

    V 2.3 Beta
    This version is a beta.
    - Added support for resizing/recoloring/relocating the input boxes and buttons. Skin developers will find this useful. But I still haven't fixed all the issues, so this remains an OPTIONAL download.

    V 2.2
    This version is an upgrade.
    - Oops. Bugfixes.

    V 2.1
    This version is an upgrade.
    - Converted the ugly readme.txt into even uglier readme.html
    - The "Help" button now opens an integrated readme.html, Skin browser, and Profile Editor

    V 2.0
    This version is an upgrade.
    - Fixed the proxy so that it posts to StarTrekker Chat v2.0
    - Added the /recall command

    V 1.11a
    This version is a complete install.
    - All new installer program
    - Censor feature is now server-side! Different proxy/computer... same censor. :)

    V 1.10a
    This version is an upgrade.
    - Fixed an issue related to the /me command

    V 1.09a
    This version is an upgrade.
    - Fixed some bugs in the /link command
    - Added the /topmost command

    V 1.08a
    This release has several bug fixes, and some new features:
    - Trimmed the proxy's HTML so that it uses less bandwidth from the server
    - Fixed some bugs in the /away command
    - You can now press Enter to send messages! :-)
    - The "Help" button actually does something useful now (opens this file)
    - Added the /link command
    This is the first release containing this readme file. Check the website for news about previous releases.

    V 1.07a
    This version was never released. Actually, I just skipped a number because the new release is cool.

    11. Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting PROFILES...
    Q: When I update my profile on linneberg.com, the proxy fails to recognize the changes.
    A: Press "Load Profile" again on the proxy to fetch the latest copy from the website.

    Q: The website and/or the proxy do not accept my profile name.
    A: Make sure your profile name does not have any spaces. Also, the profile names are CaSe-SeNsiTiVe - "riker" is different from "Riker". The same goes for usernames and passwords.

    Troubleshooting SOUNDPACKS...
    Q: The proxy locks up while it is playing a sound.
    A: This is normal. Sorry. :-(

    Troubleshooting the PROGRAM...
    Q: When I close the proxy, it waits for 2 seconds before going away.
    A: This is normal. Sorry. :-(

    Q: When I click "Send", "Load Profile", or "Set User", the proxy locks up.
    A: If linneberg.com is down, you will not be able to logon or change your profile. If startrekker.net is down, you will not be able to send messages. Sometimes, although it is rare, one of these websites will have a problem. Also, check your internet connection.

    Q: The /winamp command says "Unable to query your winamp".
    A: That command does not work with Winamp3, sorry...

    Q: The proxy will not load at all.
    A: This may happen if you use Windows Millennium (Windows ME). At this time, the proxy is not fully compatible with Windows ME.

    StarTrekker Chat is © 2004 Sebastien Rosset. http://startrekker.net

    Proxy connections made with permission from Sebastien Rosset. (Thank you!!)

    Components of the Proxy and its parent website are Copyright (c) 2004 Cody Linneberg.
    Except when they're not. (skins, sounds, etc)

    Cody's Useless Random Info:
    http://www.linneberg.com/NewChat/
    webmaster@linneberg.com
    ICQ - 2242427