The chat tool provides a persistent chat room that you can use for daily meetings or just to drop in.
If you type an http:// URL, you will get a link in your chat message.
If you type #99, you will get a link to ticket #99. If you type r99, you will get a link to revision 99.
Select a user to get a popup profile.
Use the "View Chat History" link to seach previous chat messages.
The "Upload file" link to upload a file. The file will go into the File list for the space. You will see a link to the file as a chat message.
Some users will not receive new chat messages. The chat tool requires javascript. By default, it will attempt to establish a direct connection to the chat server using flash and port 1025. If you do not have flash installed, or you are behind a firewall that does not allow you to use port 1025, then it will attempt to fall back to HTTP polling.
We have reports that some users on windows will stop receiving messages, or will see their username disappear from the sidebar. Refreshing the page will fix this temporily.