diff --git a/web/static/img/mobile.png b/web/static/img/mobile.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f69250 Binary files /dev/null and b/web/static/img/mobile.png differ diff --git a/web/static/img/screenshot.png b/web/static/img/screenshot.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..703113a Binary files /dev/null and b/web/static/img/screenshot.png differ diff --git a/web/templates/about.html b/web/templates/about.html index 87d2f9f..3034eb9 100644 --- a/web/templates/about.html +++ b/web/templates/about.html @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
-
+

About BareRTC

@@ -41,20 +41,189 @@ +

+

Help & Support

-

Browser Support

+ + +

Tour of the user interface

+ +
+ Screenshot of the user interface on desktop +
Pictured: Screenshot of the user interface on tablet or desktop-sized screens.

+ Screenshot of the user interface on mobile +
Pictured: Screenshot of the mobile interface +

- BareRTC should work on most modern web browsers. It has been tested in - Firefox and Chromium on desktop Linux and on Android. It utilizes open - web standards including - WebSockets - (for most of the text chat features) and WebRTC - (for webcam and microphone sharing). + Above are screenshots of how the chat room looks on desktop and mobile displays, respectively. + For a description of some of the features pointed out above:

-

Webcam Streaming

+
    +
  • + Your camera controls: Clicking on the + + button will enable your webcam and your video may be watched by other people + in the chat room. While broadcasting, you can Stop your webcam, Mute your + microphone, and see who is currently watching you by clicking on the + + button, which will show the number of watchers inside the button itself. +
    • +
  • + The Who List shows all of the people who are currently connected + to the chat room. The Who List is global to the entire chat - it is the same list + of people no matter which Channel you are currently looking at. In the Who List + you may also find buttons to open a Direct Message (DM) or tune in to somebody's + webcam if they are currently broadcasting. +
      +
    • + + This button will open their profile page, if they have one. +
      • +
    • + + This button will open a Direct Message (DM) chat with this person. +
      • +
    • + + This button will open the user's webcam, if they are broadcasting. + A blue button means they're live, + a red means their video feed is + marked NSFW or explicit. A greyed + out button means they are not currently broadcasting their video. +
      • +
    +
    • +
  • + The Channels & DMs panel lists the available public chat channels + you may participate in as well as any currently open DMs for private one-on-one chats + with other people. Some channels may have red notifications beside them to indicate + unread messages have appeared. +
    • +
  • + The Message entry box at the bottom of the screen is how you type a + message and send it to the currently selected Channel or DM conversation. +
    • +
  • + In the upper right, the Settings button + will show some chat settings. Some interesting features in there include: +
      +
    • + Video scaling: you can make the webcam videos larger on + your screen to see your chat partners in better detail. +
      • +
    • + Sound effects: by default it plays a sound when you receive + a new Direct Message but you can also turn on sound effects for public chat + messages and when people join or exit the room. If the chat room is currently + empty, you could set a sound effect when somebody joins so you know there may + be someone to chat with then! +
      • +
    +
    • +
+ +

+ On mobile web browsers that don't have large enough screens to show everything + at once, the Chat Room screen is shown by default and buttons appear in the corners to get to + the two side panels (to change channels or manage your DMs, and to see Who Is Online and tune + in to their webcams, respectively). +

+ +

Supported browsers

+ +

+ Currently, BareRTC works best on Chromium browsers (including Google + Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, and other Chromium derivatives) as well as + Mozilla Firefox. +

+ +

+ It works in these browsers on desktop operating systems (including Windows, + Mac OS and GNU/Linux) as well as on + Android devices. +

+ +

+ Unfortunately, the chat does not work on Apple's mobile + devices such as the iPad and iPhone -- but research on this is underway and hopefully iOS devices + will be supported soon! +

+ +

+ Feature support matrix of browsers currently tested: +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Device TypeWeb BrowsersChat works?Video works?
All Desktops Mozilla Firefox✔️✔️
All Desktops Chromium (Chrome, Edge)✔️✔️
Mac OS Desktop Safari✔️❌
Android Mozilla Firefox✔️✔️
Android Chromium (Vanadium)✔️✔️
iPhone & iPad All browsers❌❌
+ +

Webcam sharing

The WebRTC technology used by this chat room allows for direct, peer to peer @@ -72,7 +241,16 @@ have text chat conversations as normal.

-

Styling Your Messages

+

+ Notice: because of the peer-to-peer nature of the webcam feature, it is possible + that your chat partner may discover your IP address + if they check their local computer's connections. This is true of all WebRTC-based video chat systems. + Also, it is possible that your chat partner may "screen record" your video -- also true of all video + sharing systems. Please inform a moderator if you know somebody is violating your privacy in this + way so that they may be banned from the chat room. +

+ +

Styling Your Messages

BareRTC supports Markdown syntax for your chat messages. You can make text bold @@ -84,6 +262,49 @@ Hyperlinks you paste that begin with https:// will be clickable as-is, or you can create a custom label for it by typing e.g. [click my link](https://www.wikipedia.org/).

+ +

+ To learn more about Markdown, please check out the Markdown Guide + website. +

+ +

Privacy

+ +

+ Some of the privacy considerations with this chat room include: +

+ +
    +
  • + The server does not maintain long-term state of chat history. Messages are pushed out as + soon as they come in. +
    • +
  • + However, the server does keep temporary log files to help the server admin + troubleshoot issues and check on the health of the server. These logs may include chat + messages sent to public channels. Private chat (DMs) are not logged by default. + If the server is running in debug mode (which provides a ton of telemetry to diagnose issues), + the contents of DMs may be logged since debug mode will record the low-level chat protocol + messages sent between the server and clients. +
    • +
  • + Chat moderators DO NOT get to see the contents of your Direct Message + conversations - that feature is not programmed in to this chat room. The server logs which + might capture your conversations are usually not actively monitored. Consider taking your especially + sensitive conversations to a different platform if you are very concerned about it. +
    • +
  • + Webcam sharing is peer-to-peer so it is possible that your chat partner + could identify your IP address by checking their computer's open connections. But this is + true of basically all WebRTC webcam services and is part of how WebRTC works. +
    • +
  • + As with all video sharing services, it is always possible that your chat partner may screen + record their computer and thus record a copy of your video. This is a risk inherent with all + video sharing platforms - you can't control what software the other party may be running, + so choose your risk tolerance accordingly. +
    • +