This paper discusses the need for and the design requirements of generic chatroom software that is readily configurable to particular domains and that is also extensible. The architecture of a client/server chatroom generation system, ChatterBox, implemented in Java, is presented. The following components of ChatterBox are described: (1) the basic client/server system; (2) interface features; (3) configurability, including messaging format and use of profiles; (4) extensibility, including use of plug-in technology, implementation, and examples of use. Further developments are also considered. (MES)