1. Introduction

The Multibot version of Cynthia™ allows you to run multiple bots on the same domain using a single subscription.

Whereas you can put the standard version of Cynthia™ on as many webpages as you like (all you have to do is paste the HTLM in all the places you want the bot to appear), you will need the Multibot version if you want to endow every incarnation with its own singular character and intelligence.

The way this works is that the Multibot version allows you to create a separate subdirectory for every bot. In every subdirectory you can put a personalized version of cynthia.ini, which points to a character file and a brain that are specific to the bot. As an added advantage, you can run all Multibots with a single Cynthia™ subscription.


2. Installation

First of all, you will need to purchase and download one of the Multibot packages. After unzipping the package, you will end up with a new cynthia_bot.swf file, which you should copy over the existing one. Next, the subdirectories are to be created:

Cynthia™ Multibot 3 allows for the following 3 subdirectories in the root of your webserver: cynthia (use for your existing bot), cynthia2 and cynthia3. Cynthia™ Multibot 10 accommodates for cynthia in addition to cynthia2 through cynthia10. Cynthia™ Multibot Unlimited allows you to freely create as many subdirectories as you need (always in the root of your webserver).

The next step is to copy all files in the original cynthia subdirectory (with the new cynthia_bot.swf) to every other subdirectory. Once this is done, you can start personalizing cynthia.ini files in every subdirectory, pointing the characterFile parameter to a bot-specific character file (which you will need to upload to the same subdirectory) and the botID or botURL parameter to a bot-specific AIML implementation.

Next comes pasting the HTML code where you want your Multibots to appear. For every Multibot other than the original one in the cynthia directory (which doesn't require any changes to its HTML code), you should include the following code in your web pages:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="200" height="500" id="cynthia_bot"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="salign" value="top" /> <param name="movie" value="http://yoursite.com/cynthia/cynthia_bot.swf" /> <param name="quality" value="medium" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#fafafa" /> <param name="flashvars" value="dir=subdir" /> <embed src="http://yoursite.com/cynthia/cynthia_bot.swf" bgcolor="#fafafa" width="200" height="500" name="cynthia_bot" salign="top" flashvars="dir=subdir" quality="medium" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /> </object>

Of course, you need to replace yoursite.com with your domain name (you might or you might not have to add "www." in front) and subdir with the name of the subdirectory of the bot (e.g. cynthia2 or cynthia3).

As a finishing touch, you can tweak the other parameters in cynthia.ini. Please remember to delete your browser's Temporary Internet Files (IE) or clear its cache (Firefox) before previewing any changes you make to cynthia.ini.