New Chat Client or Options?

[Jimbo7]

I've mentioned this to a few admins/mentors in passing, but would it be possible for us to get a better chat client?

As soon as you get 4-5 people in there it becomes a jumbled mess, especially if there is just random chat going on and one person is looking for help. Something as simple as adding SW, FW, Random and maybe Emergency channels or rooms would work.

I have seen IRC and mIRC mentioned on other boards and places, not 100% on how that is implemented in a forum like this, but maybe something to look into?

One last thing, there was a thread Ziggy started a long time ago that brought up the idea of having some of the higher ups or what-have-you have designated times or appointments to discuss certain topics or lectures, and be open to questions. This thread received a lot of positive feedback but never really went anywhere; could we possible discuss bringing this idea back?
I would be willing to help coordinate any of the above, I realize its quite easy to complain about what we have, so I would love to help if possible.

 

[Aquarium1]

I agree, those are some really good ideas. I'm sure it would help some of the newer members that might need some urgent help quite a bit, and also let them introduce themselves and socialize a bit.

 

[mgamer20o0]

As soon as you get 4-5 people in there it becomes a jumbled mess, especially if there is just random chat going on and one person is looking for help. Something as simple as adding SW, FW, Random and maybe Emergency channels or rooms would work.

thats what the private messages are for. you can directly help them with out the "mess" of others talking.

 

[dkpate]

+1 for Gamer. If we had split rooms, there wouldn't be enough people to fill them up.

 

[logansmomma1228]

+2 lol for all the above posts

 

[neilanh]

Thanks for the feedback. There's quite a bit of discussion going on amongst the site staff about what to do with the chat now that it's gaining popularity. A few different options are being evaluated.

 

[Jimbo7]

thats what the private messages are for. you can directly help them with out the "mess" of others talking.

And if there is more then one person interested in what someone is talking about?

I'm not saying the rooms should be filled at all times, nor do i expect them to be, but if a couple people want to move somewhere and have a discussion about something in particular, might be more convenient.

 

[mommytron]

great ideas, Jimbo. i think it would be helpful especially with the traffic lately, to have a room designated for questions and advice, and one for socializing. questions could start in the social room then whoever may be interested can move to the other room ... or something like that

i think that scheduling lectures or appointments to talk about certain topics would be so cool! i would totally participate!

 

[maxima423]

i agree with mgamer, thats what seriously private chat is for, one on one convos to help them directly, there are other methods which you can also do...

examples:

1 - get mIRC and make a page

2 - get other peoples screen names and chat on msn / aim.. only takes a total of 5mins to make a screen name and install ( AND NO THERE ARE NO VIRUS SO STOP BEING SO PARANOID, if there were viruses on these programs, then millions of people around the world would of been screwed )

3 - private messages, this helps a lot since people arent on the comp most of the time, but if they have blackberry or any other phone that has a email program installed, than they know they have a message and they can reply on the spot if they choose too

4 - i think this should go on #3, get their email address and compose a message and send it

their are other options out there that you can consider, i am just really tired now and about to leave so i just decided to post on this thread, stop being so lazy

 

[krap101]

Well, giving us the ability to make our own channels could help, and I'd imagine all you'd need is to change one line of code or change the access options. There's the option there already for us, just currently it is reserved for moderators and admins (of the chat, and I'm not sure of the distinctions between forum and chat admins). I don't think making 20 million channels is as fun as changing names, but you could set a cooldown on how often you can open a channel, and maybe set it so the channels will close after like an hour of being empty.

 

[maxima423]

making the option available to make channels will definitely be good, but that would be annoying to a point

example:

1- if you dont want people to come in and only have the people that you want to talk to to be in there, than that will show a negative to other peoples POV

2- people can literally crash the server creating too many channels if they decide to abuse this power

3- if they decide not to give the authority to make a password for that channel you want to create, anyone can join and this will just be the same as having one channel, but more annoying

#1 "hey join this channel XXXXX"
#2 "okay brt"
xxxx has joined the channel, cccc has joined the channel, vvvv has joined the channel
#1 "hey get out please we are trying to have a private discussion"
xxxx, cccc, vvvv ( if they decide to be diffcult will most likely say ) "no"

lol well, its better to just get a chat program outside this forum and just do it that way, much simpler, much more convenient and you dont give the mods such a tough time, they are trying to accommodate to everyones needs, but not everyone will be accommodated

 

[krap101]

#1, freshies generally don't want to talk to salties about fish, and there isn't any negativity other than a little joking around between the two

#2 that's why there are cooldowns, just like posts

#3 refer to #1

If you want private go private, chat rooms aren't meant to be private. I understand that they're trying, but most of these changes will be pretty simple to execute. (I'm not sure about the cooldowns or the timeouts or the max channels, but I'm guessing they're already somewhere in the code, and just need to be turned on)

 

[Jimbo7]

making the option available to make channels will definitely be good, but that would be annoying to a point

example:

1- if you dont want people to come in and only have the people that you want to talk to to be in there, than that will show a negative to other peoples POV

2- people can literally crash the server creating too many channels if they decide to abuse this power

3- if they decide not to give the authority to make a password for that channel you want to create, anyone can join and this will just be the same as having one channel, but more annoying

#1 "hey join this channel XXXXX"
#2 "okay brt"
xxxx has joined the channel, cccc has joined the channel, vvvv has joined the channel
#1 "hey get out please we are trying to have a private discussion"
xxxx, cccc, vvvv ( if they decide to be an arse will most likely say ) "no"

lol well, its better to just get a chat program outside this forum and just do it that way, much simpler, much more convenient and you dont give the mods such a tough time, they are trying to accommodate to everyones needs, but not everyone will be accommodated

I see your points in this post and your earlier one, but I tend to disagree a bit.

I could send out my skype and AIM address to everyone here, and we could get a chat going, but I use those for my personal life, and wouldn't really want people to be able to contact me whenever for whatever reason.

And I do use private messages and emails, but again, if more then one person would like to talk about something, your kind of screwed then. Neither really make for a fast and accurate conversation either.

Your most recent list I believe to be completely inaccurate, this is a fish forum not some private chat community. I can't think of one scenario that someone would come in a room where others dont want that person to hear what they are saying. The chat can get pretty personal sometimes, but never that personal.

I am neither giving the mods a hard time or whining. I offered to help if I could if you would refer to my OP, these are merely concerns that several people have expressed. There are simple solutions to most of these already built in the chat software we have, whats the harm in inquiring about them? I don't know how an outside chat program is easier when we have the capability to change ours or get a new one for free. I honestly don't understand why people are getting riled up about this.

 

[Janet H]

Some of the the other chat clients are security risks (hackable) and this is why we settled on this one.

There are 3 new rooms added now and maybe that will help relieve some of the traffic jams in chat

 

[krap101]

On the like 30 minutes I spent on the "new" chat, I think this will work out pretty nicely. For awhile, until it becomes more popular, I think most people will end up in the lounge, but it does give the flexibility that I think we needed. Also, I don't know if this was new, but the instant messaging feature was definitely helpful.

Thanks!

 

[logansmomma1228]

IM has been there , but I think it will work out good. What about the seminar thing that was mentioned? I would really love to attend something like that.

 

[Aquarium1]

One last thing, there was a thread Ziggy started a long time ago that brought up the idea of having some of the higher ups or what-have-you have designated times or appointments to discuss certain topics or lectures, and be open to questions. This thread received a lot of positive feedback but never really went anywhere; could we possible discuss bringing this idea back?
I would be willing to help coordinate any of the above, I realize its quite easy to complain about what we have, so I would love to help if possible.

Yeah, this plan, it sounds like a really good idea.

 

[krap101]

Webinars . Maybe webcams would get too hectic though..