The Blabbelon Welcome Screen

When you first arrive at www.Blabbelon.com, you’ll be presented with several features including the ability to login with your username and password. If you have forgotten your password, simply click the link for “Forgot my password,” follow the instructions and we’ll email a new password to you.

Use the welcome screen to login, retrieve passwords, or register. You can also read about other Blabbelon goodies and follow us too.

If you have never signed up before, the registration form is right there on the front page…and it only takes a valid email address. First time users will receive a welcome email with an assigned password which they can change later.

Refer to the Welcome Screen from time to time as we’ll post the latest information about new products and updates. Also, you can click the “Follow Us” tab to open links to our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Setting Up

The first time you log into the Blabbelon Web App, you will be presented with several panels in the user interface.

Let’s start at the top, or…, the upper right corner. There is a Log Out link, next to which is your currently registered name alias.

Click on your alias to open up Edit Profile options

Click on your name alias and you will open a dialogue window to change your alias, and very importantly, change your password to something that is more easy to remember than what was sent to you in a welcome email.

Edit your information and indicate whether each field if visible for others. You can change your password here.

At your discretion, you can also enter in more info about yourself, to give others more to know about your unique personality. We take privacy very seriously, and put control into the user’s hands by letting them specify which info fields are private or public at the most basic data point level. Note that Blabbelon will never use personal information for spam or other solicitations. Once you’re done, click the Change Password or Save Changes button.

Next, you can find a menu to choose your desired push-to-talk hotkey. This will be different depending upon whether or not you are using a Windows PC or Mac. Pick a hotkey and take it for a test drive by pressing it. Make sure you have your system volume turned up, and you should hear a simple comfort tone when you press on and off your hotkey.

Select a hotkey to use as your push-to-talk by selecting from the menu of options

One nice aspect of setting a hotkey is that you now have freedom to use other software, while the Blabbelon webpage is open in the background. For example, if you’re in a conversation with friends, but want to keep viewing a PDF, you can do so and talk by hitting the hotkey when you want to speak.

Of course, for those who don’t wish to use a hotkey, you can also click the large “Talk” button in the Blabbelon user interface.

You can also click the "Talk" button to talk to others.

Working with Blabs

Blabs are just like rooms, where people can gather to talk. When you’re first starting out, you can either create your own blab, or accept an invite to join one from someone you know. In either case, a list will appear of all the blabs that you can access. To the left of the user interface below the purple “Talk Button” are two tabs, one labeled “Blabs.” Clicking this will open a list of all your blabs, and is referred to as the Blab Center.

Use the Blab Center to not just exit and enter blabs, but also browse the various contents of who is in the various rooms.

To create a new blab, click the link labeled “Create new blab”

Click on the link labeled 'Create new blab'

You will immediately see a dialogue box to enter the name of your desired new blab. Once you submit, moments later, a blab will appear listed in your Blab Center.

To create a new blab, click on the button "Create New Blab" and enter a name

Within a few moments, a new blab will be create and it's name will appear in your blab center list

Clicking the name of the blab in your list will drop you into that room, and you can begin talking if others are present. You can now invite friends to join you in a blab by clicking on the +Invite link. Whenever you are inside of a blab, you will also see a link labeled “+SubBlab” which will again open a dialogue for you to enter a name. Sub-blabs are rooms just like blabs but they are “nested” so that member of a parent blab can see the sub-blabs and the people who are inside them at any time. They’re a great way to have private conversations without disappearing from other members of a blab who might also want to talk.

 

Create a subblab by entering a name. A subblab is a nested room inside of a parent blab.

Another way to add a blab to your Blab Center is if you are invited. Invitations to a blab appear in your Message Board and can be accessed by clicking the tab in the middle panel of the user interface, above the area for instant messaging. Clicking on the message icon in your Message Board will open it, and allow you to reply. If you are being invited to a blab that is not on already in your Blab Center, you will be presented with the option to accept. Moments later, the blab will appear listed in your Blab Center.

 

Invite to blabs

Blabs can be deleted and removed from the Blab Center by right-clicking their name. Upon doing so, a menu will appear with other functions.

Right click on blab names to open available functions

When the originator of a blab deletes it, the blab is erased forever, and for all those who are subscribers. Deleting a blab by a non-administrative member only removes it from that users list and unsubscribes them.

Lastly, note that all Blabbelon blabs have a unique web address that can be copied and pasted to others.

All blabs are web links, so you can copy and paste them to anyone

Adding Friends

Send friend invites either by clicking the +Invite link from within a blab, or by using the Friends tab where you will find a link labeled “Add a friend”

Once a friend accepts your invite, you'll see them in your friends list together with their online status

Clicking this link will open a dialogue to let you specify your friends email or alias. You can also specify a blab to invite to by either select from a list of existing blabs, or naming a new one.

You can invite friends to blab and create new blabs in the same dialogue

People who you talk to in blabs are not assumed to be placed on your “Friends List”. A friend invite must first be sent and accepted.

While interacting with others in a blab, you can access various functions by right-clicking on their name.

Click on the name of another person to bring up a menu of other functions

Using Instant Messages and Linking Media

The largest part of the Blabbelon Web App’s user interface enables people within a blab to send instant messages via text or to copy and paste web links.

Certain media, such as photos and videos from Youtube are handled for a better viewing experience. Media links in a blab are retrieved so users can see images directly in-line with other text. In addition, a “media stage” appears across the top of IM area that serves as a repository of all the media posted by members of a blab within a given session. Note that this media is specific to a blab session and is not persistent once you leave a blab.

You can add links to the IM chat and they will appear in-line with text. Media will also appear in a sidescrolling "stage" for easy viewing as text continues to scroll.

Clicking on media will result in image or video being displayed in it’s own lightbox within the Blabbelon system. The edges of the lightbox can be clicked and dragged to the desired position for easier viewing without obstructing other happenings in the IM area.

Certain links like Youtube videos will open within Blabbelon in their own lightbox. You can click the border of the viewer and drag it around.