This guide will take you through the introductory steps that must be performed to setup a RealChat server.
The first step in setting up a RealChat is installing it on your server. To run RealChat, your server must meet the following minimum requirements:
After you have ensured that your server can be used with RealChat, you can install the server. If you are installing
on UNIX or Linux, the installation instructions are located here. If you are
installing on a Windows Server, the installation instructions are located here.
After the installation finishes, you should be able to access the control center.
If you are unable to access the control center, please verify that the firewall on the server has been configured to
allow requests on the control center port. If you need assistance configuring the Windows Firewall, please see the
How to Configure the Windows Firewall topic.
After you login to the control center the first thing you should do is change the administrator password so that unauthorized users cannot login. This is done on the Access Control page. At the same time, you can restrict access to only allow specific IP addresses to access the control center.
After you have properly restricted access so that unauthorized users cannot access the control center, you should verify that the Bind Settings are correct. The bind settings can be modified on the Bind Settings page. The bind settings control what IP address and ports are used to access the control center as well as the chat client. When you adjust the bind settings, make sure to adjust your firewall to allow the appropriate connections.
Now that your server is installed, you should decide what rooms you want your chat server to have and what permissions you want your users to have. For more information on this step, please see the How to Manage your Chat Rooms topic.
You can change the RealChat server Welcome message on the Server Settings page.
With the Enterprise Edition you may also change the Private Brand which is also on the Server Settings page to
contain the name of your website or company.
The chat client window can be customized to match the appearance of your website so that your users look at the chat
functionality as an extension of your own website. The colors are customized on the Color
Themes page. Color themes allow you to define the specific colors used to display each element within the
client window.
The Client Profiles page allows you to define what functionality is available
within the client. Using profiles allows you to ensure that your users do not have access to functionality which
you do not want them to have. You can also reduce the functionality of the client to avoid confusing your users with
advanced functionality.
If you have an existing website which already has a user management component, you can integrate RealChat with your existing system so that your users do not need
to log-in to RealChat as a separate step and to ensure that only users who are already registered with your website
can access the chat.
If you do not have an existing membership database, you can simply use the Code
Generator to create links to your chat system.