Praize Messenger Help Getting Started Praize IM's Modes Finding People on Praize IM Different Ways of Communicating Praize IM's Compatibility Communication Statuses Your Privacy Technical Matters Finding your Personal Info Getting Started The Praize IM Concept Download & Installation Problems with Registration Problems with Connecting Praize IM Display Access from other computers The Praize IM Concept Q: Praize IM: What is it? A: The Praize Messenger is the leader in Christian Instant Messaging, with a strong commitment to cross-platform interoperability. With Praize IM, you can locate other users around the world by demographic information, establish regular contact with friends, or view the most popular Christian Web sites, all in real time. Praize IM allows you to find and make contact with people who have similar interests, as well as contact your buddies on other Instant Messaging programs such as ICQ, MSN, AOL and Yahoo!. Q: What does "Praize IM" mean? A: Praize IM stands for Praize Instant Messenger Also, Praize IM stands for Praise "I AM" (Praise God)! Download & Installation Q: I am a new user to the Praize Messenger. How do I download it? A: You can download the Praize Messenger easily by going to the Download Page. IMPORTANT: Once you have installed the software on your computer and have launched the messenger please click "new user" before you do anything else. This is very important as you can't login to the network without a Praize ID and Password. Also, remember that there are separate memberships for both the Messenger and the main Praize Site. You can try to use the same ID to keeps things easier. After you submit your user information you should be automatically logged into the network via the Praize Messenger. Problems with Registration Q: What should I do if I have problems completing registration? A: The ID you have chosen might be in use or you haven't filled out all the required fields. Also, you may be operating behind a firewall or proxy server. When your registration fails, go back to the second registration window and using the last option in the window, change your firewall settings. If you still encounter trouble, please contact Praize IM support at im@praize.com. Problems with Connecting Q: I can't connect what should I do? A: If you have already registered an account but you are unable to connect: a - Check your Praize IM connection settings by selecting the Connection menu item under the Settings button. Verify that the information matches your current connection. If you are unsure, try all the choices or ask your network administrator or ISP. b - Maybe your connection speed is too slow. Try connecting several times and wait for a couple of minutes between retries. c - Our network may be temporary unavailable due to upgrades or maintainace. Try connecting again in a couple of hours. d - If the problem persists, uninstall Praize IM by going to Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. Install it again and try connecting. Please note: You will not delete any personal information as all data is stored on our servers. Also, you can try another computer to see if the technical problems are computer related vs software related. Praize IM Display Q: What happens when the messenger disappears from my screen? A: The Praize Messenger has not vanished, it sits in the bottom-right hand corner of your computer when you have clicked on another application or webpage. You can double-click the little "\0/" icon in your system tray to launch the messenger. If you still can't find the "\o/" in your system tray look for where the time is on your computer to locate Praize IM Access from other computers Q: Can I access my username ID from another computer? A: Once you have Version 3.0 + running your ID on one computer, you will be able to logon to Praize IM from any computer on which Praize IM Messenger 3.0 or above is installed. When you launch Praize IM on a computer, select New User if you do not have a username ID. If you already have a Praize IM ID Fill in your username and password and hit "enter" on your keyboard, click "connect" or click "online" where it reads "offline". A great way to login is to click the "save your password" check box after you have entered your Praize IM ID and password. Back to Top Praize IM's Modes Friends List Web Panel Friends List Q: What is Friends List Mode? A: The Friends List Mode displays the list of selected users you have asked to be your "Friends". From this mode you can easily see their connection status (Online, Offline, Away, etc.). An icon also indicates whether they are running Praize IM, AOL, MSN, ICQ or Yahoo. When your friend sends you a message, an envelope icon will flash next to that user's name. You can contact your friends directly from your Friends List by clicking on their icons and selecting the desired communication method. In this way, your buddies are only a click away at any time. You can add friends to the list by clicking on their icons in Online Users or Add & Search Users mode and sending them an "Add friend" request. Q: Can I categorize my Friends List? A: You can either categorize your friends, family members and co-workers into contact groups (Grouped) or leave friends as one uncategorized list (Ungrouped). You can move friends, family members and co-workers from one group folder by clicking on "Move" when on a specific user. You can also create and rename the folders of friends by clicking on the "People Folder". Q: How can I see my Praize IM Friends if I logon to a messenger on another computer? A: Your Friends List is saved on our servers, so that you are now able to logon to an Praize IM messenger on any computer with your Praize IM contacts ready for access. When you launch Praize IM on a computer, enter your username and password. If you don't have a Praize IM username and password please click "New User" from the main "Tools" menu. Web Panel Q: What is the Web Panel Mode? A: Praize IM Web Panel provide you with a unique way to look at various Praize Channels that are relevant to your interests from within the Praize IM application. Moreover, if you belong to a specific Web community, you can receive community-related information through the community channels. Recieve Email Notification, search the web, check the news and more... When you click the little arrow on the right hand side the web panel should open or close depending on your settings. Back to Top Finding People on Praize IM Finding Praize Operators Finding People Finding People Again/Staying in Contact Inviting your friends to join Finding Praize Operators Q: How do I find a Praize Operator? A: You can contact Praize Support representatives by searching for the usernames PraizeOP. Moreover, representatives can assist you with live support or help you through email. Also, Praize Operators, if online, might invite you to a special chat room to assist you further. Please Note: If you are unable to get connected to the Praize Messenger you can contact a Praize Operator by going to the Live Support Page. Finding People Q: How do I find only women from ages 25-37? A: Select the People Search mode, open Praize IM's pop-up to choose the age, gender, country, or any other characteristic of the users you'd like to find, and click the "Search" button. The users that match your query will be displayed in the Praize IM's main window. Q: How can I search for users through their personal ID's? A: If you know a user's Praize IM ID number, full or partial nickname, first name, last name or email address, you can find them with the "Search Users" option from the "Add & Search" menu. When you find relevant users, you can view their details or contact them by clicking on their names. Also, you can search for other ID's on the four major networds by clicking Add ICQ, AOL, MSN or Yahoo! You must have these accounts acitve to add others to your list. Finding People Again/Staying in Contact Q: I met some interesting people today. How can I contact them again? A: The easiest way to maintain contact with other users is to add them to your Friends List. In your IM window, click "Add Friend," and then "Send." When your friend accepts your offer, a message appears and the user is added to your Friends List. The other user may also "Accept and Add" your offer, which will add your name to the other user's Friends List as well. Inviting your friends to join you on Praize IM Q: How do I invite my friends to chat with me? A: Simply click the "invite people" button and you will see a pop-up screen with a message ready to send to your friends. Type in the email address of the friend that you would like to invite to Praize and then click "add". You can enter as many email addresses as you wish. Also you can click on "Select from my address book" to add all your friends at one time. The message will be sent in your name so your friends will know that it is not SPAM. Back to Top Different Ways of Communicating Sending a Message Chat Room Multi-User Chat Voice & Video Chat Calling People on the Phone Sending Files Signatures Sending a Message Q: How do I send a message to a user? A: Click on any user's icon to see a menu of options. Select "Information" to learn more about that person. Select "Send Message" to open a IM window. Type in your message, and click the "Send" button. Chat Room Q: How can I have a one-to-one chat with a user? A: Click on the user's icon and select "Chat request" tab from the buddie you want to chat with. Click the "Send" button. If the user accepts your chat request, an Praize IM Chat window automatically opens. Multi-User Chat Q: What is multi-user chat? A: Click on the user that you would like to invite into your chat. You will see a "Join" option you can click to add the user to your chat room. If the user accepts your chat request, a Praize IM Chat window automatically opens. You can invite multiple users into your chat room. Voice & Video Chat Q: How can I have Voice & Video Chat with other users? A: To use Video Chat on Praize IM, you need to have sound capability on your computer (i.e. a sound card and a microphone). You also need to have Microsoft NetMeeting installed on your computer. This is a free download Calling People on the Phone Q: How can I phone someone using the Praize Messenger? A: To use Web2Phone Feature on Praize IM, you need to click the phone icon. You will have to have sound capability on your computer (i.e. a sound card and a microphone). A headset will work best but a microphone and speakers will work as well. All the Phone Help Documentation will be found on the dialer. Sending Files Q: How do you send Files via Praize IM? A: You can send any type or size of file you wish though Praize IM. When you click on the send a file tab you are able to browse to the file you wish to transfer. Select it and click "Send." Note that the receiver must accept the file transfer request before it can be executed. Please note: File transfers will not work if you or the recipient are behind a firewall. Setting up signatures Q: How do I set up my signatures? A: You can let others know your online status by an email signature or embeding code into your website. People can send a message or talk to you live without having Praize Messenger downloaded to their computer. For more information please see the Praize IM Signature area. Please note: You will have to have the "I want my presence to be notified in the Online People Search" enabled for the online status feature to work. You can enable this by going to "Settings" then Security and Password. Back to Top Praize IM's Compatibility MSN AOL ICQ Yahoo! Please don't run the above programs when operating Praize IM at the same time. Please note: You can access your MSN, ICQ, AOL and Yahoo Accounts from the "Settings" Menu. MSN Q: How do I connect to MSN via Praize IM? A: You will need a Hotmail account to use this feature of the messenger. Simply enter your Hotmail username and password after clicking the "MSN" Button under Settings. If you do not have a MSN Account please click "register new account" to get a valid username and password. The MSN button on the IM should turn a green color if connected to MSN. Q: How do I add an MSN user to my Friends List? A: Make sure you are connected to MSN. Your buddy list should automatically transfer over into your Praize IM. Also you click "Search & Add" and insert your Friend's ID. AOL Q: How do I connect to AOL via Praize IM? A: You will need an AOL account to use this feature of the messenger. Simply enter your AOL username and password after clicking the "AOL" Button under Settings. If you do not have a AOL Account please click "register new account" to get a valid username and password. The "AOL button" should turn a green color if connected to AOL. Q: How do I add an AOL user to my Friends List? A: Make sure you are connected to AOL. Your buddy list should automatically transfer over into your Praize IM. Also you click "Import Buddies" or insert your Friend's ID from the add people menu. ICQ Q: How do I connect to ICQ via Praize IM? A: You will need an ICQ account to use this feature of the messenger. Simply enter your ICQ Number and password after clicking the "ICQ" Button under Settings. If you do not have a ICQ Account please click "register new account" to get a valid username and password. The "ICQ button" should turn a green color if connected to ICQ. Q: What if I have the version of ICQ that will not work? A: To get connected simply click "Register New ICQ Messenger Account" on the ICQ settings window. Type in a password then verify the password again and everything should work! The "ICQ button" should turn a green color if connected to ICQ. Q: How do I add an ICQ user to my Friends List? A: Make sure you are connected to ICQ (through the "Login" menu) Click "Search & Add" and insert your Friend's ICQ number to add them to your list. Yahoo Q: How do I connect to Yahoo via Praize IM? A: You will need an Yahoo account to use this feature of the messenger. Simply enter your Yahoo ID and password after clicking the "Yahoo" Button under Settings. If you do not have a Yahoo Account please click "register new account" to get a valid Yahoo ID and password. The "Yahoo button" should turn a green color if connected to Yahoo. Back to Top Communication Statuses Visibility Status Settings Visibility Q: How can I control my visibility on Praize IM? A: Praize IM users can choose how to be seen in the search by other users. Click on the little icon of the green icon (near bottom-left corner of the Messenger) to view the dropdown "Visibility" menu and select the visibility that suits you. A user who chooses to be "Invisible" will not be seen by other Praize IM users. However, the user will still be able to receive messages from their friends. Status Settings Q: How can I change my status to away? A: Praize IM lets you decide the status of how you will appear to other users and your Friends List. Your status may be Online, Occupied, Not Available, Invisible, or (Offline). Click on the top icon (near bottom-right corner of the Messenger) to view the dropdown menu and select the Status Setting that suits you. Back to Top Your Privacy Wireless Device Details Password Protection Hiding Your Email Address and setting Authorization Ignore List Wireless Device Details Q: Can anyone see my email address if I configure my wireless devices? A: Regardless of whether you allow other users to send messages directly to your device or not, the wireless information you entered will not be disclosed to other users. Password Protection. Q: Why do I need to add a password to my Praize IM? A: You need to add a password to protect yourself from being impersonated on Praize IM by someone else using your computer, and also to be able to logon to Praize IM from any computer on which the Praize IM Messenger is installed. When you launch Praize IM on a computer, select "New" from the "Select a User" window. If Praize IM is already open, select "Personal…" then "Add New User" from the "Tools" menu. When the registration window opens, select "I am an existing user," and fill in your user ID and password. Note: You can change your password at anytime by going to "Settings," " Security & Password …," and then "Change my Password." Hiding Your Email & Setting Authorization Q: I want to maintain as much privacy as possible. How can I do that? A: You can hide your Email Address and turn on Authorization so members will need your approval before adding you to their list. Please go to "Settings," " Security & Password …," and then check the "Needs Authorization" box. Ignore List Q: Can I block certain users from sending me messages? A: You can click on the user then click "Ignore" and you will not recieve any more messages from this user. Also, at anytime you can remove yourself from anybodys' list. This can be done by clicking the "I'm in their list" folder at the top of the messenger window. Find the user and Click "remove" and you will be taking out of the users list. Back to Top Technical Matters System Requirements Connection Problems Preferences Connection Problems Firewalls & Proxies System Requirements Q: What are the system requirements to run Praize IM? A: We recommend that you meet the following system requirements: The minimum requirements are: - Pentium 100 mhz CPU - 32mb RAM and 10 Mb of available HD space - Mouse - Internet connection The recommended requirements are: - Pentium II, III or 4 CPU - 128mb RAM and 10 Mb of available HD space - Mouse - Internet connection The operating systems supported are: - Windows 95, 98 and ME - Windows NT 4 and 2000 - Windows XP Problems with Connecting Q: I can't connect what should I do? A: If you have already registered an account but you are unable to connect: a - Check your Praize IM connection settings by selecting the Connection menu item under the Settings button. Verify that the information matches your current connection. If you are unsure, try different choices or ask your network administrator or ISP. b - Maybe your connection speed is too slow. Try connecting several times and wait for a couple of minutes between retries. c - Our network may be temporary unavailable due to upgrades or maintainace. Try connecting again in a couple of hours. d - If the problem persists, uninstall Praize IM. Install it again and try signing in again. Please note: You will not delete any personal information as all data is stored on our servers. Also, you can try another computer to see if the technical problems are computer related vs software related. Preferences Q: How can I make Praize IM open automatically when I am connected to the Internet? A: Go to the "Settings" button and click "startup settings" then check the boxes "Connect Automatically when loaded" & "Load Automatically on Windows Startup" and click "Accept." The next time you connect to the Net, Praize IM will open automatically on your screen. Many of Praize IM's defaults can be set in the "Settings" area. Click on all the tabs to find out what options are available. Q: How do I personalize my messages with the fonts and colors I like? A: You can set these preferences in the message window itself. Experiment with different background colors, text colors, fonts, and sizes, and font styles. The settings you choose will remain the same for all of the messages you send afterwards. Please note: you can only change these settings in chat mode not “send message”. Firewalls, SOCKS or HTTP Proxies Q: I'm running Praize IM from a computer that's behind a firewall. What do I need to do? A: Praize IM can be configured to run optimally behind a firewall or a proxy. Please go to the "Settings" and click on "connection" to configure Praize IM to work behind Firewalls / SOCKS and HTTP Proxy Servers. Please enter all the necessary information. Finding Your Personal Info Finding your Password Finding your Praize ID Finding your Profile information Finding your Password Q: I've lost my password, where can i find it? A: We can email your password to you from the first Screen before you login. Type in your Praize ID then click "Forgot Password" this should send your password to your main email address you used when signing up for Praize Messenger. Finding your Praize ID Q: I've forgotten my Praize ID, where can i find it? A: If you have forgotten your Praize IM ID please go to Search Members and try searching ID's or you can email IM support and we will try locating your information. Finding your Profile Information Q: We're can I find and edit my profile information? A: Go to the "Settings Menu" then click Profile. You can change your profile information from this screen. Back to Top Did you find the answer to your questions? If not, Try finding answers or posting your question in the Praize Messenger Forum. There are hundreds of posts with similar topics that you might be encountering. For further assistance: Please contact an On-Site Representative (Praize Operator) or contact us by email. Back to Top