If your first time at Clown Chat (regularly held at 9 p.m. EST on Thursday) is going to be for this week's visit from Bubba Sikes, you might want to make sure everything is working ahead of time. You wouldn't want to be figuring it all out while the rest of us visit with Bubba
To use the chat room, you'll need the Flash plugin for your browser from Adobe. Most people already have this, but if there's any doubt as to whether you do or not, visit
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/. This page will test your browser and allow you to download the plugin if necessary.
Once you've got Flash, log on to Clown Forum and click on the blue balloon that says "Chat". A new window will open, and you'll be magically transported into the chat room. This is what it should look like:
(Click on the picture to enlarge it.)
The white arrow is pointing to the text box. Click inside of it and type your message, then hit enter or click the "Send" button. Your message will be sent to everyone else in Clown Chat. (You can see a list of people in the chat room in the box on the right.)
To customize the color of your messages, click the small box to the left of the "Save" button and choose a new color. To add a cute little icon to the left of your messages and name, click on the "Options" button, then the "Effects" tab. Be sure to check off the checkboxes next to your avatar selections, or they won't display.