Chat Line

The chat line is the box that you type on to speak, and it stands under the chat window. A mark after the button at its left end names where your next line will go, in the colour of that channel. Your words start right after the mark.

The channel stays the same after you send a line, until you choose another one. Each time you start the game, the line is set to Say.

Chat Line, friend — The chat line set to write to a friend from Global Chat. The mark is the friend's name in brackets, in the colour of Global Chat, and the words typed go to that friend alone.

Chat Line, say — The chat line set to Say, with nothing typed yet. The mark reads [SAY]: in yellow, and the button at the left end opens the chat menu.

Chat Line, typed — The chat line with the words "good morning" typed after the mark. The words begin right after the mark on the same line.

Opening it

The line shows whenever the chat window shows, and it goes away with it.
The key that starts a line of chat puts the cursor in the line. Pressing it again while you type leaves the line as it is.
Clicking a friend in the Friends window sets the line to that friend and puts the cursor in it.
Choosing a channel from Speak on in the chat menu sets the line to that channel and puts the cursor in it.

Using it

Type and press Enter to send the line. The box empties after it is sent, and an empty line is not sent.
Press Escape to empty the box and leave it.
Start a line with a channel's short word and a space to switch to that channel: /s for Say, /w for Whisper, /p for Party, /g for Guild, /a for Alliance, /e for Emote, /y for Yell, /gm for GM and /c for Chat. The short word is taken off the line.
Start a line with /x and a space to write to the friend you chose last in the Friends window. It does nothing until you have chosen one.
A line to a friend who has left your friends list is not sent. The chat says so in a system line and sets the line back to Say.
Click the button at the left end to open the chat menu. Its hover tip reads "Chat options". Shift+right-click the line to open the same menu.
In the menu, Speak on lists Say, Party, Guild, Alliance, Yell and Chat (Channel) with a tick on the one you speak on. Channels and Friends open those windows. Ignore Player lists Add By Target, the people who spoke lately and a Filters entry that opens the word filters in Settings.
Drag the corner grip at the right end to resize the chat and the line together.
Drag the line to move the chat window.

Changes

v1.0.0-alpha.1

The chat has a menu for channels, Global Chat friends and ignore lists.