How to Make a Chat Box in Flash

A chat box is an area of a Web page where visitors can type comments and interact with one another using text, and sometimes video or audio as well. You can create a chat box using many different platforms, including Flash. Creating a Flash chat box requires considerable programming experience, but a free Flash chat box service gives you pre-programmed code you can copy and paste onto any of your Web pages and the Flash chat appears.

Instructions

1. Visit the Free Flash Intros website and customize the appearance of your Flash chat box. This service allows you to create a Flash-based chat window and control its color scheme and title. The free service requires registration. After signup, you can configure the chat box by signing into the Free Flash Intros website and visiting the Chatbox Control Center. There, you can change the colors or title any time, as desired. Because it is free, the Flash chat box does display an advertisement. Additionally, it only displays 10 comments simultaneously. Each of these shows the date it was typed, as well as the name of the sender.

2. Make your chat box in Flash using the 123 Flash Chat service. This is not a free program, but its Shareware license provides you with a free trial before you decide to purchase it. The 123 Flash Chat provides many advanced administrative features. You can moderate the chat so problematic participants are blocked from sending additional messages. Additionally, you can stream video through the chat interface and also customize the appearance of the chat box. The program connects with many popular online community platforms, including vbulletin, Postnuke, phpbb and phpnuke. If you already have an online forum or social networking website that uses these programs, 123 Flash Chat will augment the functionality for your users by provided real-time interaction.

3. Create a chat box for your website at Flash Gear. The service lets you build an Flash chat box using its online interface, then copy and paste the code to your own website. The chat box stores 100 comments, so even if some time passes between visitors, the chat conversation can remain active. However, if your chat box does not receive any activity over a three-month period, the Flash Gear service may automatically de-activate it. When customizing your chat box, you can configure how many consecutive messages to allow per visitor, as well as the required delay between a visitor's messages. This helps prevent chat room spam from building up.

Resources

• Free Flash Intros: Flash Chat Boxes
• File Buzz: 123 Flash Chat Server Software v6.0
• Flash Gear