Download: Shoutbox

[Michael]

All date formatting is done using PHP's built-in date formatting. That would be out of my control. It sounds more like a server level issue.

[Michael]

I just upgraded my board from 3.1.4 to 3.2.3 and upgraded the shoutbox to the latest version, but I can't get it to appear on my forum's main page.

I did F5 and checked all the settings. Not sure what I am missing.

Check that the hook is enabled, check the hook's settings, recache the skins. Please read this topic, this issue has been covered a dozen or more times.

Sorry if this has already been covered - I tried to upgrade from 1.2.1 to 1.2.6 and although the files are in the correct places (AFAIK!) there is no upgrade showing on the Manage Applications page on the ACP.

Have I missed something?

Mark

If it doesn't show that an upgrade is available, then you have not successfully uploaded all of the new files.

[The Krotek]

Michale, could you add an option to disable the stupid green Loading bar at the top? Sometimes it shows and stays for quite a long or forever. Very annoying.

[PPlanet]

All date formatting is done using PHP's built-in date formatting. That would be out of my control. It sounds more like a server level issue.

No worries, a few minutes after posting above, I remembered that my server is located somewhere in the USA, hence 2012 kicked in much later for the Shoutbox. Cheers.

[Dmacleo]

Michale, could you add an option to disable the stupid green Loading bar at the top? Sometimes it shows and stays for quite a long or forever. Very annoying.

there already is, in the settings - ajax refresh: Disable the refresh image?
check yes

[The Old Man]

Last year the Global Shoutbox caused my site to run so slow that I had to remove it (even though it was only visible to logged in members, not guests or search engine bots and running on a good server with lots of resources) which my members really miss. The main Shoutbox page seems less used now that members have to go to it to chat or catch up. IPS Support said its well known for using a lot of resources.

Are there any plans to improve the performance of the Global Shoutbox as I would love to see it back on my site?

[shaks]

I believe since it's such an important part of a forum, IPS should team up and develop this. Or better yet, offer this as a paid mod through collaboration with more developers. However, IPS already offers a paid chat system... which is awkward, to say the least. So, IPS would be glad to see the free shoutbox go out the front door.

Michael, i really really hope that you can hunt down and iron out all the bugs that are still in this mod, to lighten its load the server. Here is an idea, why not offer a Lite version of your mod? I think it's a terrific idea. Or better yet, add the Lite version as an option that can be enabled/disabled by the admin from the ACP. The Lite version should have the bare minimum set of options, with very basic chat functionality, in order to use as little server resources as possible. The admin can then enable sections of the shoutbox as needed, based on the resource usage per community.

[Dmacleo]

IMO, and I easily can be wrong, most of the load is just due to how many people are refreshing/apps refresh rate. not sure the app itself can change how it queries which, again just an uneducated opinion, is what I think the real load is.

but I could be wrong.
LOL maybe a "Pro" version run off amazon clouds :) :)

[shaks]

IPS clouds are already available with their chat system which runs externally on the IPS servers... I guess those who want the shoutbox back would need to go for the paid solution. It's free for 5 users. But any more, then you gotta pay.

[AndyF]

FWIW: Mike actually has a couple of "todo" items to help reduce its resource usage, there were planned well before the 'hosted' guidelines change came in. :smile:

Most issues with Shoutbox imo are not due to the application itself, it has beem efficiently coded and he's done a great job with it. More so the use it gets and / or its configuration such as an ultra short refresh time or loading millions (well not quite) emoticons etc, although by its nature the more use it gets the more load it puts on.

I have suggested a compromise "idea" as such (Mike will be aware of what this is) although that was not practical unfortunately for anyone.

[Inland Gaming]

ANYBODY that knows how to add a shoutbox button. PLEASE READ THIS.

I need to add a shoutbox button,
http://gyazo.com/1a7e7559683f95632a65366830211189.png,
that will fill the text box when clicked,
,
with text.

PLEASE get back to me whether through PM or on this forum.

[Connor T]

I have no clue what that means even though you explained it.

[joelle]

My users say that they can't chat using a smartphone. You can write in the shoutbox, but hitting the shout button does not send the text to the shoutbox.

[Dmacleo]

phones don't process js correctly.
iirc there is something in shoutbox tracker about possibly adding support.

[joelle]

But my users said that they could chat on the 3.1 shoutbox version.
I am not really sure why, but they would enjoy chatting on their smartphones. ^^

[Michael]

I didn't change anything in this version to stop it from working. If it worked in IP.Board 3.1 and not 3.2, then it was IP.Board that changed that caused this problem. FWIW, mobile support for this app has never been guaranteed.

[joelle]

It is not really that important but mobile will get bigger and bigger.
Does someone know if the shoutbox works on tablets (e.g. iPad)?

[Digityman]

It is not really that important but mobile will get bigger and bigger.

Does someone know if the shoutbox works on tablets (e.g. iPad)?

Yes, iOS and andriod.
Works fine

[Rheddy]

Michael, is there a way to change the font size for the global shoutbox? I'm trying to decrease the font size by 2-3 font sizes.

[Michael]

Yoiu could add something like this to your stylesheet:

#shoutbox-shouts-table td { font-size: 0.8em; }

[Michael]

I've just uploaded a new version of this app which should hopefully bring it more in line with IPS's hosting requirements. In this version, the following things were changed:

• The default refresh rate for checking new shouts was raised from 30 seconds to 60 seconds
• Code was added to prevent the refresh rates for checking for new shouts and for active users from being lowered lower than 30 seconds
• Code was added to prevent the inactivity timeout from being increased past 30 minutes
• The Global Shoutbox hook now does not need to auto-load all emoticons, they are fetched only when the Smilies button is clicked
• The Global Shoutbox hook now does not need to load up any editor code, all uses of the editor are done only in the main Shoutbox app

In addition, a few bugs were fixed and new features added:

• Extra break tags + nesting error
• Shout ID # on shoutbox (full) page
• Load emoticons only on the button click

[The Krotek]

That's pretty much super, but have you seen my issue report about archive problem? The one with default value in filter_member_name field.

[Michael]

There is an open bug report about the archive, I don't know if that's the one you're referring to. This release wasn't about fixing every reported bug, it was about trying to address the IPS hosting issues. If there are other open bug reports you're concerned about, they'll be addressed in due time.

[The Krotek]

Ah, OK. I thought you've missed it or such. And yes, I was talking about that same report. No other problems there actually.

[Dmacleo]

sounds nice, thanks Michael.