Friends

[TestingSomething]

I have always thought it would be cool if forums had those little messages pop up when friends get on the forum, just as the instant messaging services do. I suggested that in the 2.1 friends system modification, for example. I am sure it would not be the easiest thing to do, but I assume it could be done. And maybe have each member have settings for which ones they getrt the popups for, where there wouldnt be constant popup messages if they have many friends.

[krocheck]

I was actually thinking about this today.

I don't have enough experience in the AJAX programming technique, but I'm pretty sure that it would involve sending timed requests to the server to see who has signed on and/or checking it each time a page is loaded.

IPB does have a pop-up messaging system built-in now, so it would be easy to actually display them, but the logic behind tracking who is on and who is not would be a little tricky.

Keith

[Mark]

Well it would be the similar to the logic as what makes the PM pop-up.

When someone signs on, a function would have to be added to 'flag' all their online friends for the pop-up.

So a function that does something along these lines would be added to the login:
- Grab ID numbers of all 'mutual friends' from database
- For each friend, check if they're online
- For each online friend, flag account for pop-up with the user ID of the member that has just signed on

And then add a function that does something along these lines to wherever it checks if the PM pop-up is needed (I think it's on each page refresh):
- Check if account is 'flagged'
- If it is, grab member's username
- Display popup