Suggestions for the chatroom

[bryan1]

I do see there are several new rooms which is a great idea so I had to try them out only to find one logs out of the current room. I'm thinking the idea of not having the member logout of the main room just so they can join another room.

Let me give an example say if several members are having a good chat and a new member comes in asking for advise. The main subject of the chat is lost and members often leave due to the topic change.Now I'm thinking one could direct them to the microcontroller room and when a new message is done in that room the icon will highlight so members can reply but still stay in the main room to continue the current topic.

Of course the Meeting rooms should stay isolated so members can chat in private too.

Just my 2.2 cents including GST

Regards Bryan

 

[Sceadwian]

This is the way IRC works it's quiet nice. Only problem with IRC is that it doesn't inherantly support BBCode or inline HTML linking unless custom Java client is used.

 

[bryan1]

G'day Guy's,
I have talked with a few members in private and everyone has said it is a good idea. Now I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to adopt the code. Too many times I have got a good chat going only to find it was drowned out by other members. Surely EM this won't be too hard IF you can find the time.

Regards Bryan

 

[ElectroMaster]

Hi Guys,

I have not overlooked this thread and am looking into the suggested changes. Unfortunately the code for the chat is somewhat complex due to the exponential amounts of data being transferred when dealing with multiple rooms.

As to my view of where I'd like to see the chat, I'd like it as close to IRC as possible but still within the browser and to not have to download separate software..

Regards,
EM

 

[bryan1]

Hi EM,
If you like I can ask a good mate of mine to setup a IRC room for this forum. If you do want to go with this I can make a thread where I can show just how easy it is to use IRC. Or another option would be to setup your own IRC server. But one handy tool on my mates IRC network is the RossBot. That bot is pretty smart and will convert a heap of things, one good thing about IRC is the DCC command where members can transfer files, pictures etc. Although it is text only IRC is a great way to chat and will work on minimum bandwidth.

For a trial I could ask my mate to set a channel up for us if you wish.

Regards Bryan

 

[Sceadwian]

ElectroMaster, no download is required, a basic Java IRC client can be embedded in the website easily. More serious users can download a separate client themselves if they spend any large amount of time there at their option. The setting up of a controlled channel on most major networks is trivial and takes minutes after a very simple registration process.

For refrence.

Although it's been a while since I've spent any serious time on the IRC (life happens ) I've spent 5-10 years either seriously or casually chatting on Dalnet, Undernet, IRCnet, EFnet a little, and a few others at random times just to check out different crowds. Please note the number of users on the larger networks and think seriously about it as you'll be exposing every one of those users that wishes to do a search in the channel listing to this website whom may not have found it otherwise, more to the point on the larger networks would result in an uptick in account registrations.

It will however drastically change the dynamics of chat, I see the same 5-10 users in chat ALL the time, there's barely an influx of through traffic or exposure to new or contrasting ideas here, it's the same people all the time with very very few exceptions. On the IRC you open the flood gates to a huge community, and it's a very vocal one. It however would definitely introduce new blood to the website over time.