New Chat feature, tell me how you like it

[John]

OK folks, tell me how you like this new feature.

[Hawkmoon]

Being the computer dope that I am, I could not get into it. I found the link, clicked it, and saw a screen with a transcript of a conversation between John and someone (Woozey...?), but I could not figure out how to insinuate myself into the chat.

[John]

First, you have to be logged in the Forums. Since you saw the conversation, you must be logged in. Second, at the bottom, there is a space where you type what you want to say. Then click POST.

That's all there is to it.

Rgds

[Hawkmoon]

First, you have to be logged in the Forums. Since you saw the conversation, you must be logged in. Second, at the bottom, there is a space where you type what you want to say. Then click POST.

That's all there is to it.

Rgds
Sabotaged by low-tech. :rolleyes:

As El Comandante knows, I'm traveling and using whatever computer I can beg time on. This one has a maximum screen resolution of either 640x480 or 800x600. The Chat screen came up in tile mode rather than maximized, and the tile was much larger than the screen would display. Clicking on "Maximize" straightened it out.

Thanks.

[Recon]

I like the chat room.

I wish the current user list would only show those that are actually in the chat room.

[gottripletsNC]

Hey John,
I like it, but it keeps refreshing, likes its reloading, hard to follow, but otherwise I think it will be a good thing. I like it.

Brian

[John]

That's the way it is showing you the new messages. Can't be done any other way, without having special server software (IRC) etc. Refresh happens every 10 secs., so it shouldn't be too problematic. I thought of taking this up to 30, but then it's not on-line conversation, is it?

Rgds

[mr Hotgun]

Did my first chat today works fine
i have the same comments as the other members typed
You are typing in a red collor ,is this only for moderators ?

[John]

Nope, everyone can select the color he wants (at the moment). Go to the preferences and define the color you like. I can't promise you that it will remain like that, but.....

[bearandoldman]

Looks good to us, Bear and the Oladman Woooooooooofie

[sbvann]

looks great i will try it soon not a very fast typer-Bill :D

[santa]

Hello John,

Great idea the chat room. I like it a lot. It will come in handy for topics we want to discuss in a timely manner. Thanks again for your hard work.

[mr Hotgun]

Goodmorning
After a nice chat yesterday i saw you changed the time It,s now on the right side and working Thanks :)

[John]

The chat feature is nowhere near being finalized. I am looking for ways to improve it and to enhance it. I might even use a totally different program for that, still integrated in the forum, like this one.

There are several problems with this one. For example, due to the way the messages are delivered, it has to refresh the screen every few seconds. That can be frustrating, especially for users on slow dial-up connections. Also, the way it works internally, is not ideal. If a user forgets to log out, his name will be shown in the users list until his session expires. Finally, the number of users in the chat, is shown differently in the Forum's Home Page and in the chat room, but this is probably something I can iron out, with some coding.

But yes, you are right, it is a nice feature. I have been working with the Internet for over 12 years now, and I am still amazed to see someone from Greece, discussing simultaneously with three other guys from US, one from Holland and one from Chile! I guess the Net does bring people together!

See you in the Chat.

[Recon]

John:

My home page showed 115 in the chat room when only five showed on the user list.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Recon/Chat001.jpg

[John]

Fixed, (I think)!

Rgds

[cav_scout1]

yeah the page refreshing every few seconds is a pain in the arse but better than nothing!

[John]

I know that the refresh is a little enerving, but the other option is a software which is not customizable. In this one, in a couple of days, I've customized it to look as much as the standard forums site look, and I've integrated it with the rest of the forums systems, like the warning system. I am not sure I can do the same with the other one, even though it is much more impressive looking.

I just bought that one too, and I plan to install it and test it, but for the time being, we'll have to live with what we have.

Rgds

[mr Hotgun]

it works ok for me
John is there a possibility that you can make the right side of the screen (the users in the room ) a litle bit smaller so there is more room for the text

and that if you return you can scroll the text with out every 10 sec (tip people blink with your eyes every 10 sec lol) go to the actual chat

otherwise its working suberb for me (us ?)
rgds mr Hotgun

[Recon]

I like the chat room.

I think it would good to have a few pre arranged times for people to meet in the chat room.

Currently, it seems to be more of a hit or miss situation. Typically, I'll enter the room at random times, wait for three or four minutes and then leave if no one enters. This has only worked a couple of times.

[Hawkmoon]

That's more or less what I do, too. With forum membership scattered all over the world, and people not all having established schedules for when they can get on-line, that may be the best we can hope for. Pre-scheduled times sounds great in theory, but the Red Cross wants me to make "appointments" for blood drives, too. I always refuse (usually, politely, unless the caller acts like a donkeys hind quarters) because I never know if my schedule might change and not allow me to keep the appointment. Why make an appointment I have a better than 50% chance of not keeping?

[John]

Members who want to arrange for a chat meeting, can publish the schedule in the Calendar. Don't forget this feature of our site. Members can check the calendar to see when the next Chat Meeting is. If we all agree to use the terms "Chat Meeting" when defining one, it would be easy for the rest of the gang to check it out at a glance.

Rgds

[Hawkmoon]

Great idea, John.

I guess that's what makes you El Comandante (aside from the fact that you own the forum) :D

[Recon]

I noticed the max users online jumped to a new high of 197.

On the chat room I don't mind the refresh every ten seconds but now the screen is going blank every 10 seconds as well. It makes it hard to read some of the longer comments and is somewhat hard on the eyes.

[John]

I've never witness this thing, Recon. When you say the screen goes blank, can you be a bit more specific? The whole chat window goes blank or just the messages area? And when you say blank, it shows nothing, until the next refresh? Totally white?

What sort of connection do you have to the Internet? Did you noticed how many users were in the Chat when that happens? The Chat is a big weight on the forum's server, it has to send updates of the screen every 10 seconds to every user. If there are a lot of users, we might be overloading our server and I might have to impose a limit on the number of users inside Chat.

Please let me know.

Rgds

[Recon]

John:

It was the message area and it would go white and show nothing until it refreshed. Normally the message area doesn't change until a new post shows up. The "user list" area was doing the same thing.

There was two of us and then three of us in the room.

Today, Feb 17th, was the first time I've seen it do this.

I have a dial up at 50.6kbps.

I'll go in the chat room again and see if it is still doing it.

Other than going white everything seemed to work okay.

[Recon]

John:

As of Feb 17th, 11:24 PM, MST in the U.S. its still going white in the message area and user list area, everything else on the page stays still. I was the only one in the room at the time.

[John]

Recon,

I think that what you refer to as "going white" is the refresh. Every 10 seconds or so, the program sends out the last messages to each user. This causes your screen to refresh. On a slower connection, there might be a delay where the screen goes blank for a while.

I went to the chat 6 minutes after you logged out, didn't white out on me.

I'll keep it under watch.

[Recon]

John:

I agree its refreshing, but for me something has changed. Previously the message area would not go white when it refreshed it would simply add another post every ten seconds or so and the user list did the same. Maybe something has changed on my end but I don't know what.

[John]

Gee, I must have missed these last posts here. Recon, do you still have problems with the Chat?

Rgds and apologies for not seeing your post earlier (Gosh, it was made more than 3 months ago!, what was I doing?).

[primersinmyshoe]

John,

I used the chat feature for the first time last night. Recon and Joni Lynn were there. I ended my conversation with them and logged out. This morning I got a pm from "The Rule Keeper" stating that I didn't log out and that is a punishable offense (one point). I have two questions - Does the log out function work? Who is this "The Rule Keeper"?

[Sifu]

John -

The CHAT feature is a great feature and it is appreciated. There are a few of us that login regularly but quite often we keep missing each other. As such, the feature is being utilized to it's potential. I think we can better put it to use if we schedule chats about specific chat issues, i.e. trigger jobs, finish, carry mode, etc. Maybe this is something we could incorporate into the calendar function. Users can see in advance what's coming up and at what time. It could then become an informative training/eductional tool as well. Just a thought. Let us know how we could better orchistrate our gatherings.

Again, great feature and thanks. There's a wealth of knowledge amongst the members. Let's share the wealth.

Regards