Certain support issues are discussed below. Please take a look at this
list of frequently-asked questions to see if your issue is already addressed.
Otherwise, contact MessagePal Customer Support.
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How do I install MessagePal?
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MessagePal is very simple to install. Follow these steps:
- Download the MessagePal installation program from
here and save it at a location on your
computer that you can remember.
- Find the downloaded installation program and open it by double-clicking on
the file
- Start the downloaded file either by selecting Run right after downloading,
by double-clicking it from Windows explorer or by using the Run command from
the Start menu. The installation program will guide you through the
installation procedure.
- Repeat the procedure on each computer you want to communicate with.
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How do I select a Username? |
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You will be prompted for a Username when you run MessagePal for the first time.
You may change the Username at any time by choosing 'Setup' on the main screen. |
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Do I have to download MessagePal separately on each
computer? |
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You can download MessagePal once, save it on a local server or other drive and
install on each computer from there. Or, you can download and run
MessagePal on each computer separately. You will need to purchase adequate
licenses for the number of computers you're installing. |
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Any tips or tricks for using MessagePal? |
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There are lots of nifty features in MessagePal, many of them not so obvious when
first starting to use the software. So, it might be helpful if we pointed
out a few extra features that other customers have found useful...
* Each of the 24 Preset Buttons (Send or Reply) can be customized by
right-clicking on the button, and then changing the button label and the text
that will be sent. You can also change the color of the button text and
whether the button text is sent immediately upon pressing the button, or only
after pressing 'Enter'. An orange indicator next to a button on the 'Send
A Message' form indicates that the button text will be sent immediately when
pressed. If no orange indicator is present, then the button text will
appear in the compose message window, but won't get sent until 'enter' is
pressed or the 'send message' button is clicked.
* Each preset button can also be 'clicked' by pressing the indicated F-key.
Minimizes distractions if you're already on the phone when answering a message.
* You can change the behavior of the enter key on the 'Send A Message' form by
selected the behavior on the 'User Profile' tab of the Setup form. The
'enter' key can either send the message, or go to a new line - your choice.
* You can send a message to more than one MessagePal user or group at the same
time by 'control-clicking' each name or group you want to include
* Pressing 'Esc' closes a window. Pressing 'Esc' at the main MessagePal
window minimizes it to the System Tray. From the system tray, MessagePal
will be restored to full-size when you either (a) receive a message, or (b)
doubleclick the MessagePal icon in the system tray.
* You can resend or reply to any prior message by double-clicking on the
appropriate message in the message history window.
* Pressing ctrl-c or 'enter' from the main MessagePal screen are shortcuts to
opening a new 'send message' window. |
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Where do I configure my 'Buddy List'? |
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MessagePal's user lists do not need to be configured. Anyone who installs
and runs MessagePal on the same LAN network will be visible in the user list to
all other MessagePal users. Only those users who currently have their
computer turned on will have an entry in your User list. You may customize
your 'Group' lists within MessagePal to include any sets of users. When
sending a message to a 'Group' list, MessagePal will send the message to
whichever group members have MessagePal running at that time. |
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How do I configure User
Groups? |
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The group list editing interface is confusing sometimes, so let me suggest
some steps to try...
1) Open the 'Edit Groups' window by pressing 'Ctrl-G' from the main MessagePal
window.
2) Click in the box below 'Type New Group or Group Member'. Type a group
name (e.g., 'Test Group').
3) As soon as you start typing the name of the group, the 'Add Group' button
should become active.
4) After typing the full group name, press the 'Add Group' button. You
should see 'Test Group' appear alphabetically in the list of Existing Groups
on the left of the window.
5) Now, to add members to the 'Test Group', CLICK 'Test Group' in list at left.
Type a name (e.g., 'Darla') in the box at the top. The 'Add Member'
button should become active (if it doesn't, make sure the 'Test Group' is
clicked and that there's someone's name in the box). Press the 'Add
Member'
Button. The group member name should appear in the list on the right.
6) You can repeat step 5 for each member you want to add.
To add members, be sure that the group list you want to add them to is
highlighted. |
System Requirements & Compatibility
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What are the minimum system requirements to run MessagePal? |
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- Microsoft
Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP *
- Intel Pentium II Processor and above.
- 64 MB RAM (128MB Recommended).
- 5 MB of available hard drive space for program installation.
- Windows-compatible display with at least 800x600.
- Windows-compatible mouse or pointing device.
- Windows-compatible sound card (recommended).
- TCP/IP Local Area Network (LAN) connection between each computer that wants to
communicate using MessagePal. Internet connection not required.
* May work on Win95 & NT-4.0. These platforms are currently untested &
unsupported.
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Is there a version of MessagePal for the Macintosh or
Linux?
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To date, we have not had strong demand for a Mac or Linux version. If
you're interested,
let us
know. |
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What changes do I make to my firewall or router to
enable MessagePal? |
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In 99% of all cases, none. If you are experiencing problems seeing other
MessagePal users in your 'User' list, it may be that there is a firewall or
other device blocking the required port between the two computers. We
provide some information here that may help your systems administrator in
opening the correct firewall ports.
For security reasons, MessagePal will not communicate with users via the
Internet. It is designed only for use within an office LAN.For the
technically-inclined: MessagePal communicates using UDP packets via IP port
8473 (the standard port assigned to UDP Peer-to-Peer conversations), which must
be open and available to MessagePal end-to-end to each computer using
MessagePal. Most LAN's will have this port open and available - consult your
systems administrator if you suspect you are having problems. Contact
Technical
Support if your systems administrator needs more assistance. If you are
trying to configure your network to allow MessagePal to be used across a VPN,
check out these VPN configuration suggestions. |
Purchasing MessagePal
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How do I buy MessagePal? |
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A trial version of MessagePal can be downloaded from this website. You
should try the software and get comfortable that it meets your needs - on as
many computers as you'd like. When
you are ready to purchase MessagePal, decide how many users will be using it
(you can always change your mind later), and purchase licenses for that number
of users by completing the order process under the 'Order' button at the top of
this webpage. Within a few minutes of your purchase, you will receive an
email with the license key numbers you need to convert the trial version of
MessagePal into a fully-licensed copy. |
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What methods of
payment are available? |
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We want you to feel comfortable placing an order. You may submit an order
online, via fax, phone, mail, wire or purchase order. Press the 'Order'
button at the top of this webpage, complete the first two pages of order
information, and you will choose your order method.
We accept the
following form of payments: Visa, MasterCard, American
Express, Discover/Novus and Diners Club. We also accept Personal or
Company Checks, Money Orders, and Bank Wire Transfers. |
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How do I ask a question about my order? |
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You may email us anytime at
MessagePal
Customer Support. If your question relates to credit card charges, you
can contact our payment processor, RegNow, directly at
RegNow Order Support. |
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Can I have a MessagePal CD send
to me? |
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Yes. You can order a MessagePal CD and have it mailed to you by clicking
the appropriate selection during the checkout process. |
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Are custom features or
private-label versions of MessagePal available? |
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Yes. Please contact our
Sales
Department with your requirements and timing. |
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I have lost my serial number. What do I do? |
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If you have purchased MessagePal since 2007, you should be able to locate your serial number using the Quick Order Lookup function of our payment processor, RegNow. You'll need your Order Number OR your email address and credit card number. Click to lookup your order information in RegNow.
If the RegNow service doesn't work, you can email us at
Customer Support with the First/Last name, Company Name and e-mail address
of the original purchaser, and
we'll get back to you.
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How do I retrieve my serial number from my registered
copy of MessagePal? |
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Its best to keep your serial number(s) in a safe, secure place. If you
have misplaced your serial number(s), press the "Setup" button on the main
MessagePal screen. Then, press the "Advanced" tab. Your serial
number will be shown on that tab. For security purposes, the first few
letters of the serial number will be replaced with *'s. If you need your
full serial number, email the portion of the serial shown along with the name
and email address of the purchaser to
Customer
Support. The full serial number will be returned. |
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Troubleshooting
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MessagePal users can see my
username in their Userlist but I can't see theirs. What's wrong? |
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Something is preventing UDP packets on port 8473 from reaching your machine.
This is commonly caused by one of two reasons:
(1) There is a software or hardware firewall on your computer that is
blocking inbound messages on port 8473. This can be software like ZoneLabs,
Windows Internet Connection Firewall, Norton Internet Security or other products
from Symantec or McAfee. There may be
settings on your computer that are different than the other computers. All of
these software packages include the ability to open UDP port 8473.
(2) Your computer is attached to a switch or router port that is setup
differently than the other MessagePal users on the same router or switch.
Make sure that computer is attached to the same router as other working
MessagePal users. If it is, switch the router ports between the MessagePal
working and nonworking ports to see if something in the router configuration is
different between the two ports.
Let us know if these suggestions don't work for you at
Customer
Support. |
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What bug fixes and improvements
have been made to MessagePal recently? |
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MessagePal is constantly being improved based on user suggestions, bugs, and new
features. You may download the latest version of MessagePal for free if
you are a customer of the same major version (e.g., 1.x).
A complete list of revisions made to MessagePal is
available for your review. |
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When I press 'Enter', my
message is sent. However, I just want to add some blank lines to my
message. |
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It is easy to change the behavior of the 'Enter' key when sending messages:
From the main MessagePal window, press the 'Setup' button in the lower right
hand corner of the window. The MessagePal Setup window will open. Choose the
'User Profile' tab. An option says 'Select Key to Send Messages'. Choose
'Ctrl-Enter or Alt-Enter'. Press 'OK' button at bottom of window.
From now on, pressing Enter moves to a new line and pressing Ctrl-Enter sends
the message. |
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Why are some MessagePal
users in my office missing from my 'Users' list? |
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If you see some users, but not others, there could be several causes:
- MessagePal will only show you those users who have their computers turned
on and their MessagePal software running. Otherwise, the user name will
not appear at all on the 'Users' list.
- Make sure all users are using the latest version of the MessagePal
software. You can check each user's software version by pressing the
'Check Versions' button on the 'Advanced' tab of the 'Setup' window.
- Some of the users may not be on the same LAN as you, or you may be
attempting to connect to users across the Internet, both of which are not
possible with MessagePal.
- Your LAN might be configured in discrete 'subnets', where certain ports
or UDP packets are blocked from flowing to other subnets. Please review
your LAN architecture with your systems administrator. You can tell
him/her that MessagePal communicates using UDP packets via IP port
8473 (the standard port assigned for UDP Peer-to-Peer conversations), which must
be open and available to MessagePal end-to-end to each computer using
MessagePal. Most LAN's will have this port open and available - consult your
systems administrator if you suspect you are having problems. Contact
support@messagepal.com if your systems administrator needs more assistance.
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Will MessagePal work across a VPN
(Virtual Private Network)? |
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We do have users who are using MessagePal to communicate among users located at
different ends of a VPN. We have several suggestions if you're trying to
make it work in your VPN environment: MessagePal relies in part on 'UDP
broadcasts' over port 8473 to communicate status between MessagePal clients.
In order to make MessagePal work over your VPN link, you need to enable the
forwarding of port 8473 UDP broadcast packets through the routers on each side
of the VPN. Configuring for UDP broadcast forwarding may depend on what
type of router(s) and VPN equipment/software you have. Here are some links
with more information that may be helpful:
UDP Broadcast Flooding: (Cisco refers to UDP broadcast forwarding as 'UDP
Broadcast Flooding')
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ics/cs006.htm or
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/idg4/nd2019.pdf
Intel/Shiva AccessPort:
http://www.intel.com/support/si/routers/accessport/apre2662.htm
Remember, its important that UDP broadcast packets on port 8473 are
forwarded, not just other ports. Contact
support@messagepal.com if you need more assistance. |
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I received an error message, what do I do?
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Most MessagePal error messages are self explanatory and user correctable.
If you're still puzzled about what to do, send us an email at
support@messagepal.com with the circumstances creating the error and a
detail of the error. We'll try to help. |
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Some of the colors I chose for
button presets don't look very good. Can I improve them? |
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Certain colors look better than others. We've found that white, yellow and
grey look best. |
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Is there any way to copy
button presets from one machine to another within the office? |
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Yes! The button presets are stored in a file in your MessagePal directory.
The file name is 'MSGPAL.BTN'. Once you create a set of preset button
settings that you like, you can copy this file to the MessagePal directory of
any other MessagePal user, and they'll have the same set of presets. You can
also copy Group lists by copying the file called 'GROUPS.CFG'. |
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How do I make MessagePal work
with Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall? |
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MessagePal needs UDP port 8473 manually opened in XP Internet Connection
Firewall.
More background is at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307554
Specific instructions for opening a port (in this case, UDP port 8473) can be
found at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308127
(In step 8, you will type 8473 as the internal and external port)
(In step 9, select UDP)
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