The PalacePresents Viewer
The PalacePresents Viewer
This section describes the PalacePresents Viewer and has the following
sections:
What is PalacePresents?
This Palace Plugin allows you to take part in large-scale networked
events such as conferences, guided web tours, slideshows, live interviews, lectures and
other "one-to-many" interactions.
The PalacePresents software creates a multipurpose "stage"
which is hosted on an existing Palace site. This stage appears in a separate window from
the Palace software. The interesting thing about this stage is that once you're connected
to it, you can always see it -- no matter what room you move to in the host Palace.
The PalacePresents software consists of two Plugins: a Moderator
Plugin (which is used by Palace operators to set up and moderate events), and a Viewer
Plugin (which you use to participate in the event while it's "on the air"). The
PalacePresents Viewer allows you to view all events transpiring on the stage, and to ask
questions of the moderator and others on the stage. You can also keep a log of the event,
and may even be invited onto the stage yourself!
What you need
To participate in events via the PalacePresents Viewer, you must be
running the Palace software for Windows 95/NT (version 3.0 or newer). You must also be a
Palace member to participate in an event. Note that membership is free.
The PalacePresents Viewer Plugin is installed automatically by the
Palace software. The name of the Viewer Plugin file is PalacePresents
Viewer.dll. By default this file is installed into your <span
CLASS="Code>PalacedirectoryPluginsStartup
folder, which causes it to load automatically whenever you start the Palace
software. If you would prefer to load the Viewer manually (each time you use it), you can
move it to the <span
CLASS="Code>PalacedirectoryPlugins
folder instead. Note that the file must be located in one of these two places to
operate correctly.
Launching the PalacePresents Viewer
The following steps will get you started with the PalacePresents
Viewer:
- From the Plugins menu, select PalacePresents Viewer.
name="3117">
- The PalacePresents submenu displays. If the PalacePresents Viewer has
not already been loaded, the only entry on the submenu is Load. Click
this to load the plugin. This toggles to Unload once the plugin is
loaded.
- Your PalacePresents Viewer is now loaded and active. Whenever you launch the Viewer
while an event is running, or if an event goes "on the air" while you are
running the Viewer, the Event Notification Dialog Box will appear, as shown in the
following picture. Note that you will only be notified of events transpiring on the
current Palace site.
Click Yes to participate in the
event. The next thing you'll see is the interface of the PalacePresents Viewer itself,
which is described in the section Joining an
event.
Setting preferences
Select Preferences from the PalacePresents
submenu to display the PalacePresents Viewer Preferences window, where
you can customize your PalacePresents.
- Show the Transcript in the Palace Log
When this option is checked, the transcript of the PalacePresents event will be merged
with the Palace log, so that you can follow everything at once.
- Always Accept Stage Invitations Without Prompting
If this option is checked, you will be automatically transported to the stage whenever
you are invited. Leave this option unchecked if you want to change your avatar or throw on
a few props before you hit the stage.
- Prompt to Save the Transcript on Exit
If you exit the PalacePresents Viewer, or if the moderator ends the current event while
you have this option checked, you will be shown a dialog box asking if you want to save
the event transcript to a file. If this option is unchecked and either of these events
occurs, the dialog box will not appear, and the event transcript will not be saved.
- Show System Messages in the Transcript
When this option is checked, additional system information messages are displayed in
the transcript.
- Show Slide Show URLs in the Viewer Window
The PalacePresents Moderator has the ability to run a "slide show" of web
pages while the event is running. If this option is checked, all web pages visited will be
displayed in the Browser Frame of your PalacePresents Viewer (beneath the Transcript
window). If unchecked, your web browser will be launched separately to view these pages.
NOTE: To view the Slide Show within the Viewer window, you must have Microsoft's
"Internet Explorer" installed on your system (it does not need to be your
default browser, however). If you don't have Internet Explorer, you should leave this
option unchecked.
- Always display the Viewer on Top
This option causes the Viewer window to cover all other windows you might currently
have open (including the Palace window itself), and to remain that way until turned off.
- Remember Viewer Window Position across Events
When checked, this option will cause the height, width, and screen position of the
Viewer Window to be stored upon closing the PalacePresents Viewer. The next time you enter
an event (regardless of its location in the Palace Community), the Viewer window will
appear at the same size and position as before.
- Name of the "Gone to Stage" Prop
While you are on the stage, a copy of your avatar remains in the Palace room from which
you came (i.e. in the host Palace), but a special prop is added to it to indicate that you
are onstage. If you want to supply your own "on stage" prop, simply type its
name into this textbox; otherwise a default prop is provided for you.
- Default Button
Click this button to set all preferences back to their original default values.
Joining an event
If you launch the PalacePresents Viewer while an event is running
(or, conversely, if an event goes "on the air" while your Viewer is running),
you will only be notified of the event and given a chance to join the audience
automatically. However, if you decline the initial invitation notice and then change your
mind later, you can still get in.
Selecting Join an Event from the PalacePresents
plugin submenu displays the Select Event to Join window.
Here you can select which event you want to join,
and browse any web pages associated with the event. The first column of this list displays
the names of all PalacePresents events currently running at the Palace Server you're on.
You can join an event in progress simply by double-clicking on its name in this list.
Other features of this dialog box include:
The PalacePresents interface
The PalacePresents Viewer is easy to operate. It contains a few
basic elements, including the Stage, the Textbox, three viewing Frames and a special
Toolbar.
As indicated in the illustration above, the
PalacePresents Viewer allows you to see the avatars of anyone currently onstage. This
includes the event presenter (or presenters, if there is more than one), as well as anyone
else who has accepted the moderator's invitation to come onstage. Note that the moderator
does not directly appear onstage. Moderator speech appears in a standard cartoon balloon
in the upper-left corner of the stage area.
Avatars can move around on the stage just as they can in a Palace
room, and everyone who is connected to the event will see them moving. While onstage, you
can wear props, even animated props, but you cannot change your avatar without leaving the
stage again.
NOTE: While you are onstage you also remain in the Palace room you were
invited from, and a special "on stage" prop is automatically added to your
avatar there. While onstage, you can continue to chat and move around in the Palace
proper, and can also "broadcast" by typing into the viewer. You really can be in
two places at once!
Talking to the stage
Whenever you're not on the stage (and that's most of the time, for
most of us), the label above the Viewer's Input Box reads Submit Question.
Type your question, and submit it to the moderator by pressing the Enter key. If selected
by the moderator, your question will appear onstage, just as you typed it. Note that the
moderator not only has control of which comments are selected, but can also delay or
shuffle comments, and may even preload a series of "simulated" comments prior to
(or during) the event.
NOTE: To submit questions to the moderator, you must be a Palace member. Guests
can view the PalacePresents stage and read the flow of chat taking place there, but they
cannot participate in the event directly.
The viewer's input box allows you to use special balloons just as
you can in the Palace client itself. See the section for more information.
The Viewer Toolbox
To the left of the stage you will notice a column of five buttons.
These buttons comprise the Viewer Toolbox, which provides shortcuts for the most
commonly-used functions. This section describes these buttons and their use.
 Invite
Me
While you are watching an event (i.e. not onstage), clicking on this
button means "Invite Me" (while you are onstage this button is disabled).
Clicking here sends a message to the moderator, requesting an invitation to the stage.
Note that if you have Always Accept Stage Invitations Without Prompting
checked in the Preferences dialog box; you will be pulled onstage as soon
as your request is accepted. Otherwise, you will see the following dialog box, which
serves as your official invitation:
 Off
Stage Button
While you are on the stage, the "Offstage" button becomes
enabled. Clicking here causes you to leave the stage. A prompt will appear to make sure
you really intended to make your exit.
 Preferences
Button
This button displays your PalacePresents Preferences
window; it is the same as selecting Preferences from the PalacePresents
plugin submenu.
 View
Event Info Button
This button launches your web browser, taking you to the Event
Information web page that has been set up by the moderator. It is the same as selecting View
Event Info from the System Menu. Note that if Show Slide
Show URLs in the Viewer window is selected (under Preferences),
all web pages visited will be displayed in the Browser Frame (beneath the Transcript
window). If unchecked, your web browser will be launched separately to view these pages.
NOTE: To view the Slide Show within the Viewer window, you must have Microsoft's
"Internet Explorer" installed on your system (it does not need to be your
default browser, however). If you don't have Internet Explorer, you should leave this
option unchecked.
 Save
Transcript Button
This button causes an ASCII transcript file to be saved on your hard
disk. It is the same as selecting Save Transcript from the System
Menu.
The System Menu
 You
can access a number of special PalacePresents features and settings through the
PalacePresents System Menu. To access this menu, click the system menu
icon in the upper-left corner of the Viewer.
Most of the items on the System Menu are
standard, and will be familiar to all Windows users: Restore, Move,
Size, Minimize, Maximize, and Close.
There are also a few items that are specific to PalacePresents:
Preferences...
Select this option to display the PalacePresents Preferences
Dialog; it is the same as selecting Preferences from the
PalacePresents plugin submenu, or clicking on the Preferences Button in the Toolbox.
Join an Event...
This menu command displays the Event List.
Info About Current Event
This menu command launches your web browser, taking you to the Event
Info page specified by the event moderator. This is functionally identical to selecting
the View Event Info button in the Toolbox.
Save Transcript
Select this option to save a transcript of the event to a text file
on your hard disk. By default, this file is named MM-DD-YY.LOG,
although you can change the name and path to whatever you want. This is functionally
identical to selecting the Save Transcript button in the Toolbox.
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