• Click on the the title of the Chat room you wish to enter.
• A new window will pop-up.  NOTE:  If it does not, make sure you have allowed pop-ups for the portal.  Look for a bar at the top of the window, telling you that a pop-up has been blocked.  Then click on options or preferences button in this bar, and allow pop-ups from the portal server.
• The window will have several different areas:
  Messages Window - This large area starting at the top left of the window will display the text of any chatting that is in progress.
  Message Toolbar - Just below the dialogue area is a blue bar which has options to format your text, save the text of the chat, customize alert settings, change your status, and print the chat.
  Message Text Entry Area - The area below the toolbar is where you will enter the text of your message.
  Status Message - Below the text entry area is the status message.  It may say Ready, Away, etc.  If you are idle for a period of time, you may see "Your status has changed to Not Available."  You can still enter a message and as soon as you do, this will change  to "Your status has changed to Online."
  Users Online - In the upper right corner of the window, you will see a list of users who are currently connected to the chat room.
  Chat Rooms - Below the Users Online is a list of chat rooms created for this instance of the chat portlet.
• Enter your message in the text entry area and hit return or click on Send.
• In the messages window, you will see your name (in blue), along with your message.

The formats available in the Message Toolbar  -  font color,  bold,  italic or  underline - will apply to all text in your current message. 

• Click on the corresponding icon for the format you want to apply to your text.  Click again to remove it.  You can click on an icon at any time to apply it to the current and future messages in this session.
• Click on the icon again to discontinue that format.

• With your cursor positioned where you want to insert the emoticon, click on the icon to view the available emoticons.
• Click on the emoticon you want to insert.
• The text representing your emoticon will appear in your message.  When you send the message, the emoticon will appear in the message window.

• Click on the (save) icon.
• Depending on your browser settings, the .txt file will be downloaded to your computer, or you will be asked if you want to open the file or save to disk.

• In the Users Online list, click on the name of the person to whom you'd like to send a private message.
• Click on Private Message.
• This will open a small window with a To User: field (with the user's name filled in) and a Message field. 
• Enter your message and click Send or enter a return.
• The message will appear in the messages window, with a pink background behind the user's name, indicating it is a private message.

•  If there is a user whose messages you would rather not see, you can choose to "ignore" that user.
• In the Users Online list, click on the name of the person you'd like to ignore.
• Click on Ignore.
• You will get a confirmation message that the user will be ignored and you will no longer see this person's entries in the messages window.
• To see the person's messages again, click on their name and select Un-Ignore.  Again, you will get a confirmation that the user will NOT be ignored.

NOTE:  The user will not know that they are being ignored UNLESS he/she tries to send you a private message!!