Administering Your Palace Server

As the owner of your Palace, you need to periodically maintain the actual Palace files on your machine. One file in particular that will grow noticeably in size over time is the file that contains your props (the pserver.prp file). This file stores the binary data associated with all props used in your Palace site by all members. This file can become quite large if your site becomes popular; it's not uncommon to hear of 10- or 15-MB propfiles.

This section describes how to administer your Palace site. This includes:

Maintaining Palace files and network settings

Setting user access and privileges

Changing the look of your Palace site

Owner and operator commands

Maintaining information for web-based users

Maintaining your site page in The Palace Directory

Maintaining Palace files and network settings

As the owner of your Palace, you need to periodically maintain the actual Palace files on your machine. One file in particular that will grow noticeably in size over time is the file that contains your props (the pserver.prp file). This file stores the binary data associated with all props used in your Palace site by all members. This file can become quite large if your site becomes popular; it's not uncommon to hear of 10- or 15-MB propfiles. There are two ways to control the size of this file:

 

• Use the `purge or `flushprops command. `Purge is a operator command and `flushprops is a owner command that has been built into the system for prop maintenance. For more information see The Palace Wizard's Guide online at The Palace website.

• Make a backup copy of your pserver.prp file, while it contains only those props you want it to contain. Periodically thereafter, you may overwrite your current propfile with the backup version. However, do not copy the prop file while your Palace is running. This can crash your Palace, corrupting the prop file and negating any changes you have made in authoring mode.

Art and sounds

All artwork and sounds for your Palace web-based users reside on your Palace web server. When users access your Palace, this web server provides the artwork and sounds for them. In addition, if a user with the stand-alone Palace User Software accesses your Palace, the sounds and artwork for that room are downloaded to their machine from this web server.

Your Palace installation has a built-in mini web server to serve this media. You can keep your media here, or move it to another own web server (for example, to reduce the load on your machine). Note that this web server is not intended, nor supported, as a general purpose web server.

NOTE: If you move your media to a different web server, consider leaving a copy on your machine. If the web server goes down, standalone Palace User Software users will still then be able to access the media from your machine. Web-based users, of course, will not be able to access any media.

* To put your art and sounds on a different web server

1. Bring up the Palace Server Preferences by clicking Preferences on your Palace's control panel.

2. Click Network.

3. Check the field Use an external web server for media.

4. In the field URL for the media server, enter the URL pointing to this new location.

* To customize sounds for your site

Your sounds are contained in .wav and .au files. The .wav files are for Palace User Software clients; the sounds in the .au files are for Instant Palace clients visiting your site. Note that .au files need to be 8KHz and either 8 or 16 bit mono.

 

1. To make a sound available for your site, make sure it exists in both formats, and copy the sound file(s) to the media folder of your palace server (by default, PalaceServerpalacemedia).

2. If you want users to be able to access and play this sound from their Sounds window, you must add the sound to your sounds list file. In your soundlist.txt file (residing in the same directory), list the name of the file, minus the file extension. For example:

       	Amen 
       	Applause 
       	Belch 
       	Boom 
   

Setting user access and privileges

You can set rules for users visiting your Palace sites.

NOTE: To access your Palace site preferences, click Preferences on your Palace's control panel.

What to do	How to do it
Set the number of users who can access your Palace site, or any room within your Palace site. Purge props at regular intervals Let users whisper (hold private conversations). Maintain a log of conversations.	Palace Preferences General
Let users wear props. Let users create rooms and draw within a room. Allow non-registered users (guests), and how many can visit at a time.1 Allow user scripts (called robots) on your site. 2 Allow operators, and specify what they can do.3	Palace Preferences Visitors
Set operator password to give to other users Automatically kick off users who are trying to hack this operator password (by entering it more than 3 times).	Palace Preferences Security
Kick the user off the system.	The 'banuser or 'kill command.
Prevent a user from returning immediately after being kicked off Automatically kick off users who send lots of messages Set this message limit	Palace Preference Security
Control access by and create custom avatars for web-based users.	See Maintaining information for web-based users

¹Guests have limited privileges to your Palace site; they cannot wear props nor have custom avatars.

²You can also allow robots room-by-room through from your Palace User Software. Enter operator mode using the instructions in Owner and operator commands, go to the specific room, then select Wizard:Room Info, and check No User Scripts.

³For more information, see Owner and operator commands.

Changing the look of your Palace site

You can change the look of your Palace site by customizing and adding rooms. These rooms can be linked together, have original artwork, and scripts that execute when users enter the rooms. You can use a new template from The Palace, or add the new artwork one room at a time through the stand-alone Palace User Software.

Using a new Palace template file

The easiest way to change the look of your Palace is to download a template from The Palace website and then have your Palace use this new template. Templates are the look and feel of your Palace site; they contain artwork, sounds, scripts and a configuration file (.pat) containing information about your Palace rooms. The Palace website has many different configuration files you can download, such as a beach resort or an office. You can download as many of these templates as you like, and change the look and feel of your Palace whenever you want.

To obtain a new template, go to the downloads page and select the templates section. To use this new template, configure your Palace to use the .pat file associated with this template.

* To use a new .pat file

1. From your server control panel, open Preferences:General.

2. In the Palace Configuration field, navigate to where your .pat files reside (generally in the psdata directory). Select the .pat file you want.

Creating new room artwork

Each room in your Palace site corresponds to a graphics file (Jpeg or GIF file). You can use background images from anywhere; but they must meet the following requirements:

• 512x384 pixels.

• Jpeg images should just conform to the s512X384 size.
• GIf images have to be 256 color and conformed to the Palace Palette Color Scheme

• Conform to The Palace Palette color scheme. To ensure this, download The Palace Palette from The Palace website, open your image in a graphics editing tool (such as JASC PaintShop Pro or Adobe Photoshop), and load The Palace palette according to your graphic tool's instructions. You can also open a Palace image in your graphics editor (using The Palace User Software) and save The Palace Palette from that image, again according to your graphic tool's instructions.

  Once you have the palette source, open your image file in the graphics editor and convert it to 8 bit/256 color, loading The Palace Palette to convert the image to The Palace color scheme.

When you have your room artwork ready, you can customize your site with these new background images either through The Palace Authoring Tool or your Palace client's operator mode (formerly known as Wizard Mode).

Using The Palace User Software

If you create your own graphics files for rooms you can add them through the stand-alone Palace User Software client. You must have at least operator capabilities to do this.

NOTE: You cannot add graphics files through Instant Palace.

* To add graphics through The Palace User Software

The following steps describe using operator mode from a Windows Palace client. The Macintosh version has slightly different menus and windows.

 

1. From your Palace User Software, enter operator mode (described in Owner and operator commands).

2. When operator capability is enabled, you will see the Wizard menu. Use the options on this menu to create and link rooms. (For detailed information on these operator menu items, see The Palace Wizard's Guide.)

3. Use the New Room option to create a new room on your Palace.

4. Use the Room Info option to bring up the Room Info window. From this window, enter a name for the room, attach your graphics file in the Picture field (browsing to get it if necessary), and set options for the room.

5. Enter authoring mode by selecting the Authoring Mode option. Now, instead of activating doors and rooms, you can edit them when clicking on them.

6. Use the New Door option to add a door to this room. Then, use the Door Info option to set options for this door, such as its destination, and add a script. Doors that execute scripts, such as connecting to other Palaces or activating web pages, are called Spots. You need to change this door type from Passage to Normal.

Owner and operator commands

 

NOTE: Owner and operator are the terms for the former god and wizard, respectively.

You perform most of your Palace site maintenance through The Palace control panel. However, there are some tasks you perform through your client. These can include

 

• Writing, adding or modifying rooms, and testing out your changes

• Enforcing crowd control and behavior standards

You perform these tasks with owner and operator commands entered through The Palace User Software. These two types of users are described in Introduction.

Operator commands let you do things such as change room graphics, add scripting, and remove unruly visitors. The owner commands let you do everything a operator can do and more. These commands and capabilities are discussed in detail in The Palace Wizard's Guide, available from The Palace website. For a list of these commands, see Palace Command Summary.

To become an operator or owner, you must enter the correct password on The Palace client. You establish these passwords when you install your Palace server.

* To enable operator and administrator mode on your client

1. Start your client.

2. Do one of the following:

   Select Wizard Mode from your Palace client's Options menu (for a Macintosh client, select Wizards from the Edit menu). In the resulting password dialog, enter the operator or owner password.

   Or

   In the text input box, type ~susr owner or operator password

* To change your owner and operator passwords

1. On your Palace control panel, bring up the Preferences window by clicking Preferences.

2. On the resulting Preferences window, click Security.

3. In the Owner password and Operator password fields, enter the appropriate passwords.

Or

1. Connect to your Palace through The Palace User Software (described in Connecting through the standalone Palace User Software).

2. Enter owner mode using your current owner password.

3. Enter the owner's new password with the following syntax:

    		'ownerpass newpassword
   
   Default owner password is: owner
   

4. To change the operator password, type:

   	 	'operatorpass newpassword
   
   
   Default operator password is: operator
   

You retain your operator status until:

 

• You turn it off,

• You disconnect from the current Palace, or

• A local owner turns the operators Permission off.

  NOTE: Your operator status is not saved anywhere on your Palace site. If you want to use operator or owner powers next time you sign on, you will have to enter the password again. This is a security feature; it keeps others who use your client from automatically becoming operators themselves.

   

You retain your owner status until:

 

• You turn operator mode off, or

• You disconnect from the current Palace.

Maintaining information for web-based users

Many of your Palace users will be accessing your site from the Web, using the web-based Instant Palace. You can make this Instant Palace more accessible to users, control web-based links to your Palace site, and provide custom avatars for these web-based users.

Embedding the applet

The Instant Palace is an applet, and can be embedded on one of your web pages. Applets are programs that run inside of a web page, often initiated when you click their link. Embedding The Instant Palace on your web site and pointing it to your Palace encourages users to visit your Palace. Anybody visiting your web page can instantly then visit your Palace site simply by clicking on the link. They do not have The Palace client software installed on their machine themselves.

To attract even more visitors to your site, you can encourage others to embed The Instant Palace in their web page and point to your site. They don't have to have a Palace site installed to do this.

* To embed The Instant Palace on a web page

1. Go to the site page of the Palace you wish to point to (see Maintaining your site page in The Palace Directory).

2. On that Palace's site page, click the field on linking to that Palace.

3. You receive online instructions on how to embed The Instant Palace on your web page, pointing to that Palace.

Controlling Instant Palace links to your Palace

Anybody can embed The Instant Palace in their web page and point to your Palace site. Note that this does have issues. While you might welcome having your Palace linked to by many web pages, you also might want to control the web content surrounding this link. For example, if you operate a family-oriented Palace site, you probably don't want links to your Palace site appearing in web pages containing adult content.

You can set security that deals with web-based users. You can specify:

 

• An authorized directory of URLS. You can specify that only certain web sites are authorized to contain pages with a Instant Palace pointing to your Palace site.

• An entry page for non-authorized access. If somebody tries to access your Palace site through a Instant Palace that resides in a non-authorized web page, that user will access this page instead of your Palace site. By default, this page is automatically generated by Communities.com. However, you can change it to one of your own. You can customize your entry page to contain any content you want, such as a password form. It doesn't even have to contain The Instant Palace link.

  Once you specify a custom entry page, your Palace Page in The Palace Directory also points to it when somebody clicks the link to your Palace.

The Instant Palace is no longer supported

Setting up custom avatars

By default, all Instant Palace clients access a standard avatar library of over 100 images provided by Communities.com. You can provide an alternate set of images for these users by either creating your own, or directing users to somebody else's avatar library. For example, if your site is based on a science fiction theme, you could provide a set of alien creatures as default avatars.

An avatar library can contain up to 103 different avatars. Each avatar image is contained in its own GIF file.

NOTE: Custom avatars are only applicable for web-based users (Instant Palace and InstantPalace).

* To create a custom avatar library

1. Create one 44x44 pixel GIF file for each of your avatar images. Use a transparent background for the portions of the image you don't want visible.

2. You must name these files using the format cfnumber.gif, where number ranges from 0 to 103. For example, cf0.gif, cf1.gif, cf2.gif, etc.

3. Put these files in a directory where your Palace web server can access them. If you are using the default web server provided with your Palace installation, this directory is Palace installation directorypalacevatars (this directory structure is Program FilesCommunities.comPalaceServerpalacevatars if you are using the default installation).

4. Bring up your Palace site's Preference window (click Preferences on the Palace's control panel)

5. Click Instant Palace.

6. Check the Set up Custom Avatars for Java clients checkbox.

7. In the text entry box, enter the new URL where the new avatar library is in the form:

   	http://server/directory/ 
   

   where server is your Palace web server address, and directory is the directory where the avatar images reside. The default local settings for the URL are entered by default. You must also enter the port number if it is different from the default port of 9998.

   For example, if your machine IP number is 299.199.99.99 and you are using the default installation and the built-in Palace web server, this would be (assuming the a port of 9990):

    http://299.199.99.99:9990/palace/avatars/

   If you have a dynamic IP address (for example, if you use a dial-up modem), you can also use the variable currentIPAddress:

    http://[currentIPAddress]:9990/palace/avatars

8. When a Instant Palace user logs onto your Palace, they access this new avatar library.

Maintaining your site page in The Palace Directory

Registering your Palace site automatically creates a web page for it in The Palace Directory; this is called your Palace site page. Users can access this page by clicking your Palace link in The Palace Directory, or the Palace Info button on The Instant Palace.

Your site page contains information such as:

 

• Whether or not your Palace is up and running.

• A link to your Palace. When users click this link, they go to the entry page for your Palace. See Controlling Instant Palace links to your Palace for more information.

• A link to a form for inviting friends to The Palace.

This page is publicly accessible and is online 24 hours a day, whether or not your Palace is running. Of course, you must have your Palace running in order for users to connect to it.

You can control the information in this page by using the Site Administration Page.

* To access the Site Administration Page

1. Click the Site Administration Page button from either your Palace Control Panel or from your Palace's Site page.

2. If you are accessing from the web, you are prompted for your owner password (see Owner and operator commands.

3. Your web browser launches and goes to your Palace Site Administration Page. This page has the following fields:
   • Server Name

     This is the name of your Palace specified through The Palace Preferences.

   • Current Rooms

     This is the number of rooms you currently have. To edit rooms, use The Palace Authoring Tool.

   • Current Users:

     This is the number of users currently in your Palace.

   • Description:

     Enter a description here for your Palace.

   • Announcement:

     You can list announcements on your website, such as upcoming events.

   • Image for Site Page:

     You can display a small image on your site page, for example, a room in your Palace. Enter the location of the image file here.

   • Date Founded:

   • Owner Name:

     Enter your name as you would like it to appear on the site page.

   • Owner email:

     Enter your email address here, if desired.

   • Owner Profile ID:

     This is your registered Palace Profile ID number; users can click this to bring up your Palace Profile. You have a Palace profile ID if you are a registered Palace client user.

   • Invitation Subject

   • Invitation Body

     When a user clicks Invite your friends on your site page, this sends an email to their designated recipients inviting these recipients to visit your Palace. Enter the subject header and the text of this email here.

   • Operating Hours

     List the hours that your Palace is up and running.

   • URL to Download Palace Graphics

   • URL to Download Palace Sounds

     Users can download your graphics and sounds in advance, which bypasses a lengthy download process when they try to enter each of your rooms. For standalone Palace User Software users, this media is stored on their machines. For web-based Instant Palace clients, this media is stored in their browser cache; it will be available until their cache is flushed.

   • Terms of Service

     Enter any guidelines and terms of services for users.

   • Community Home Page URL

     If you are a member of a web community, you can enter its URL here.

   • Operator n Profile ID

   • Description

     If you have operators for your Palace (designated power-users to whom you give your operator password), you can enter their Palace Profile IDs and descriptions here. They must be registered Palace client users to have a profile. A user can then click the profile ID to bring up that operator's Profile page.

   • Primary Language

   • Secondary language

     These indicate the language visitors will be using on your site.

   • Rating

     Enter a rating for your site here (for example, This site is rated G for kids!)

   • Members-only

     This is checked if you do not allow guests.

   • Related Palace N

     Enter enter related Palaces here. Use the lookup link to find these Palaces.

   • List Palace in Directory?

     Make sure this box is checked if you want your Palace to list in the online Palace Directory.

   • Prop Control

     This is checked if you have prop control turned on.

   • Instant Palace Entry URL

     This link to the entry page for your Palace; that is, the page that contains The Instant Palace pointing to your Palace. For more information, see The Instant Palace.

     NOTE: Some fields on your Palace Site Page, such as Members Only or Prop Control is on, are set only through your Palace's control panel.