New Chatroom?

Breaking this off from "Think of this online place like a Service in...." It was meant as a random thought but is also a bit of a derail so....I'll just open it up here in the Miscellaneous forums

This isn't a "Formal Request" or anything just...."Oh what about/what if...?"

Jamie Stick wrote:

Trisskar wrote:

Jestor wrote: Apprentices, Knights, Masters (though never used), Clergy and Council have our areas for chatting without the extra input of the masses on topics... Every 'level' should have a 'forum'

You know....Another Option would be to get a better Chatroom. One that allows members to make different "Rooms" Just a side "Ah ha!" thought that came up reading your post. GFC and JJ uses Freichat which so far seems to work and it's like facebook which allows one on one chats or group chats....It might actually help encourage more private messaging over forum bickering......Just a thought....sorry for rambling....

You can do that in our current chat program. I've used that feature before delivering a sermon via live service so I could talk with specific people about the service (usually whoever is going to start the service and whoever is going to lead the congregation in The Creed at the end). Basically you can create a room under your name and invite people to join it. I think you can even rename it if you want. I'd be happy to show you how.

But maybe I misunderstood what you meant?

Yea....You did but you didn't? I'll start a new thread...don't want to detract

Slack is a pretty popular alternative, and is available across all platforms...
https://slack.com/?story=video&v=2

Part of what you mentioned is some of what I meant Jamie, yes I did not realize members could make more rooms in the current chat.

However....

The chat is very isolated and the PM messaging system is so very basic. Painfully so haha It's a gripe i have had with Kuena for...ages. For being so top notch its soooooo lacking, but then i am spoiled with other systems.

There is however a Plugin called "Freichat." And you can get the basic version for free.

It is just like facebook. As in....You can message and chat with your friends and online members in the bottom right corner of your browser while doing your regular forum activities. It makes it so much easier to communicate and I believe it also works well with phones. (Never actually tried) It also has cute smilie icons and such to help illustrate your mood and feelings.

I feel this would help alot with encouraging more private conversations between members because it is fun, innovative, and not "Separate" from the normal activities of the forum.

I was trying to get a member on to GFC to take a Screen Shot buuuut it is still too early. I will take a screen shot later

In addition you get the regular group chat room similar to the one we have here, but you can make multiple rooms, change it's names and privacy settings.

Just a thought as I said

So it works like a shout box? At the time the site originally went up apparently it was not compatible with shout box add ons, would be nice if that Is no longer the case. I miss the shout box...

Zenchi wrote: So it works like a shout box? At the time the site originally went up apparently it was not compatible with shout box add ons, would be nice if that Is no longer the case. I miss the shout box...

Yes....And it should work. I mean....TOTJO uses the same Joomla patforms my community does and it works quite nicely. (well not this moment, my server has been going through some updates which requires some synching. Fixing soon!)

But yes. Its nice, streamline, it even "Poofs" when you close it haha <--Inner Fox Squee

The Group Chatrooms also overlay just like the shoutbox. So you can be in group chats with your top left corner...and still browse your forums.

You hear that Ren? Where's my shout box? :evil:

Like I said...I am not trying to make demands and such....It was just a "Ooo this might be nice..." random thought.

I don't even know if it really will work here. In theory it should? Maybe Ren has already tried it....I dunno.

I just think the more innovative and fun and inviting the Private & Group Messaging system is....the more people might use it.

The shoutbox was fun but it was also a troll magnet and needed constant policing... The 'wall' kind of does the same job but better, I feel...

Ref chat, on the one hand I'm inclined to say 'but we all use Skype to talk to each other anyway', but I know that's not entirely true. Many of us do, but Skype isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I guess the Facebook-style chat-messenger thing would avoid the whole tedious fandango of asking people if they have Skype and what their contact details are...

V-Tog wrote: The shoutbox was fun but it was also a troll magnet and needed constant policing... The 'wall' kind of does the same job but better, I feel...

Ref chat, on the one hand I'm inclined to say 'but we all use Skype to talk to each other anyway', but I know that's not entirely true. Many of us do, but Skype isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I guess the Facebook-style chat-messenger thing would avoid the whole tedious fandango of asking people if they have Skype and what their contact details are...

*nods* Skype is Off Site....a Seperate Program....another window.....

At least for me....more windows mean more frustration and thus i am less likely to use it haha But that's what I get for being a web manager and a story writer......I can't even begin to tell you how many windows I Have open.

With FreiChat....I could be chatting with you right now WHILE I am responding to this thread all on the same window and same tab.

I find the more people have to open up links and windows....the less likely they are to use them.

Oh and with the Shout Box Trolling....Harder to do with Frei chat because you can manage your contact list. Just like Facebook.

Just out of curiosity...

I have heard a few times before that the chat we use isn't good, or that we could get something better or what ever. What I am curious about is, what is the deficiency with the TotJO chat?

Wescli Wardest wrote: what is the deficiency with the TotJO chat?

Other than the fact that it looks and functions like we stole it from 1995?

Wescli Wardest wrote: Just out of curiosity...

I have heard a few times before that the chat we use isn't good, or that we could get something better or what ever. What I am curious about is, what is the deficiency with the TotJO chat?

I find it very valuable and worth my effort...

steamboat28 wrote:

Wescli Wardest wrote: what is the deficiency with the TotJO chat?

Other than the fact that it looks and functions like we stole it from 1995?

:laugh: I was thinking along the same lines

The current Chatroom is.......A rotary phone compared to an Iphone (Or whatever new fangled grade cell phone is out there today)

Its not that it is a Deficiency its just that.....it could be 10x better and more interactive.

One of my biggest compaints with the current chat is A: Its in yet another window which I forget about alot and B: When you get 20 so odd members in that chat and you look away for just a moment...then try to scroll up to catch up with the topic....while others are still chatting....and getting bumped back down to the bottom every single time someone says something.....Grrrrrrrr

Anyways.... :whistle:

I think for delivering live sermons our current chat room works really well. I don't really have a problem with the chat room. To me it's more a PM thing.

I think it would be really cool if the PM system functioned a bit more like Facebook's messenger system did where it opens up in the bottom corner of the screen and is more like instant messaging than emailing. It just makes it easier when you're having more of a conversation with someone. Right now you have to leave the forum and go to your inbox and then scroll all the way to the bottom every time.

I feel like we could do that and still have our current chat room for live sermons and general "Hey lets all talk" type things.

If that didn't happen I wouldn't complain, I do think things work the way they are, but that would be kind of cool if it could happen.

Exactly. And that is what Frei Chat allows No need to get rid of what the Temple already has...But...For free? Why not give a look?

Again...Just Talking/Musing. Up to the Council to take it or leave it...I know they are busy so....whatever

Trisskar wrote: When you get 20 so odd members in that chat and you look away for just a moment...then try to scroll up to catch up with the topic....while others are still chatting....and getting bumped back down to the bottom every single time someone says something.....Grrrrrrrr

Auto-scroll is the absolute best thing, until you need to scroll up. Then you invent new curse words for it.

Also, half the time the emoticons and bbcode are bugged; sometimes they'll work if you type them in, and the rest you have to click the button. And it's darn near impossible for me to use on my phone, because I have a sensitive screen and fingers much broader than the buttons. The sound suite is annoying as heck and reminds me of some old-school AOL chatrooms circa 1997, and there's no volume whatsoever. It's either "Soviet sub in US waters" or "Hope you didn't like your eardrums!" The PM function is really clunky, especially since (as stated above) most of the time it only works if you click things rather than typing it in. Private rooms are very limited in their usability and scope. The available themes are all eye-searing given the nature of users' predilection for choosing fun colors. Connectivity is horrid and timeouts take forever. There's no option for tagging anyone (like, @steamboat28 to get my attention with a sound cue or a brighter color or a bold font or anything), which would really ease the way chat works when there are more than 8 people in it actively talking at once.

There are a ton of things that could be better about it. Honestly, if we upgraded to something with modern chatroom capabilities and moved away from something that I haven't seen used since my pre-Myspace ICQ days, I'd probably use it a heck of a lot more often.

Amen.

you look away for just a moment...then try to scroll up to catch up with the topic....while others are still chatting....and getting bumped back down to the bottom every single time someone says something.....Grrrrrrrr

That is also a complaint I have had with it. Very annoying when you're trying to copy things for records as well. Like the Ceremonies.

A lot of the interactive functions that some of the chats have tend to slow things down when the chat is full. They're fun, but I don't feel they are necessary. Not saying we would never get something with them, but if we did we might disable them as a possibility... just depending on how things went.

I would like a strong chat platform that was maybe a little more customizable, but more importantly, I would be able to go back through a record and see what was happening.

Honestly, I dislike the chat room because it is clunky and "old" feeling. I don't have too much issue with the features. OHhh but rooms would be nice!!