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Suggestion: Chat while you browse forum (1 window, not 2)


ørret

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I'm not a coder so I wouldn't know how doable this is, it's just an idea. A "click to join" button without having to refresh or leave current page would do. Chat doesn't need to stay open 24/7 but it would be great to have the opportunity of reconnecting from current page without leaving it. Inactivity could be set to something like 5 minutes, so when you get disconnected, and are back at keyboard, you will see a message that you're disconnected due to inactivity and a button asking you if you want to reconnect. If all chat slots are full, you'll get a message indicating reconnecting is not possible atm and an indicator showing how many slots are taken/available (something similar to what you have in upper right corner of chat tab now when people are connected). If those indicators could somehow be made "real-time" then the user will be able to reconnect when he sees a free slot.

This means if you get disconnected, you're not using up any slot (obviously), and you can click hundred of pages, but you still need to reconnect before you can use the chat on those hundred pages, else you will just keep seeing the "reconnect button" on every page. People who don't want chat on all pages, should of course have the option to totally remove the chat. Also, the 5 minutes limit, is just a suggestion for the "embedded chat" or whatever, not the main official chat page. People using chat through the official chat page, shouldn't be kicked after 5 minutes, i mean these people are on chat because they only want to chat (most likely). I personally think that you will find more people who wants to "browse forum and stay active on chat" at the same time, that those "dedicated just to the chat". Efficiency is the key in a busy world. I could just open a new tab/window, but lets face it it won't happen, because then I would have to stop doing whatever I'm doing in the other tab... I'm hoping I understood and answered your questions, if not please excuse me.

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If completely re-doing the chat so it ends up like a bar isn't even possible or not something IPS thinks of doing, there are still 3 things that are lacking:

  • Video chat
  • Rooms within the chat
  • An alert prompting people when they are about to close the tab/window - "Are you sure you want to leave the chat?"


For a one time purchase of $45, arrowchat has video chat, real-time status, group chat, and more.
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I personally do not like chat bars, like arrowchat and facebook have. However, what I like about these chat solutions is the ability to stay online on chat regardless of what page you're on. Arrowchat seems like a ripoff of facebook, or maybe the other way around, I don't know... What I had in mind, was something like the Shoutbox, just instead with IP.Chat and it's functionality.

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  • 1 month later...

The Shoutbox has a global hook that allows members to continue chatting whilst browsing the forums and posting. However I had to disable even though I have about 3-4 people online at once as it was such a resource hog (according to IPS support staff) and it slowed down my site.

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The Shoutbox has a global hook that allows members to continue chatting whilst browsing the forums and posting. However I had to disable even though I have about 3-4 people online at once as it was such a resource hog (according to IPS support staff) and it slowed down my site.





They just want you to break down and buy one their chat packages :P
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They just want you to break down and buy one their chat packages :tongue:



They just want you to break down and buy one their chat packages :tongue:



LOL. It wouldn't surprise me.

But on a serious note, I figure this would be very resource intensive and probably rather complicated, but it is a really good idea and I would love to see something like this in the future at some point.
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They just want you to break down and buy one their chat packages :tongue:




This is not true.

Setting up a hook that effectively floods your server with requests every few seconds is going to be a resource hog. Regardless of who writes it. This is why IP.Chat does not include such a hook.
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This is not true.



Setting up a hook that effectively floods your server with requests every few seconds is going to be a resource hog. Regardless of who writes it. This is why IP.Chat does not include such a hook.



I assume the only way to get around the lag would be to upgrade the host to a faster system correct?
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There are too many variables to answer that directly. If you wanted some sort of setup where you have a live chat on every page, your best bet is to host the live chat on a separate server dedicated for that purpose, and then to ensure that dedicated server has the resources available to handle the traffic it will get (if you have a site with only 10 users online at a time, it wouldn't need much, but for a large site you might need a cluster of servers just to serve the chat system).

Like I said, there's no direct single answer to that question. It depends on how active the site is, basically.

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There are too many variables to answer that directly. If you wanted some sort of setup where you have a live chat on every page, your best bet is to host the live chat on a separate server dedicated for that purpose, and then to ensure that dedicated server has the resources available to handle the traffic it will get (if you have a site with only 10 users online at a time, it wouldn't need much, but for a large site you might need a cluster of servers just to serve the chat system).



Like I said, there's no direct single answer to that question. It depends on how active the site is, basically.



I see what you mean regardless. My board is small-medium traffic so it wouldn't be too resource intensive. But I see what you mean about it being a better idea to host it elsewhere.
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How about just having a small preview window of what's going on in chat, so that if someone is browsing the forum and they see an interesting topic, they can click "Join Conversation" and it will then bring them into chat?

If you implement this feature, I will buy chat. The only reason I won't, is because there is no accountability. Too often conversations go awry in chat, because it's like a back room. All it takes is someone to stumble in on a conversation that has gone way south. Having a live preview window of chat posted on the forum page will certainly enforce code of conduct, as it's no longer a private room. Plus, it lets everyone know what conversation is taking place should they choose to join.

I run a busy forum, and if a preview window displayed what's going on in chat on the main forum (kind of like shoutbox, but to reply you'd have to join the conversation), it would add accountability to the chatroom members.

Doing it this way would not use a user license either, since it's just one way preview. Also won't bog down the server.

Please consider it. Thanks...

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Having a live preview would require the same circumstances. Every page load would have to ping the chat server (which would force the user to join the room) to retrieve the messages. A live preview as in a snapshot might only use one request on the page instead of multiple, but it's still going to require resources and count as a user in the room. You can't have 80 people browsing your site pinging the chat server and not have this accounted for, I'm afraid.

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By hammering the server. Shoutbox is so resource intensive, we typically do not allow it on our hosting. We've seen first hand the amount of resources it can (I say can, because how often it refreshes is configurable as I understand it) use.

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Would it still be resource intensive if it only updated upon a forum page refresh? That way, if someone had the forum open, chat would not continue to run; it would only show the new chat text upon a forum refresh. Not sure if that would make a difference...?

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Would it still be resource intensive if it only updated upon a forum page refresh? That way, if someone had the forum open, chat would not continue to run; it would only show the new chat text upon a forum refresh. Not sure if that would make a difference...?




That would be fine, though it does mean that every page request is in effect submitting at least 2 requests to your server (assuming the software continued to run out of an iframe or similar). This does mean you still have more resource utilization, and your server stats would be misleading (10,000 requests would really mean 5,000 page loads, with 5,000 shoutbox requests).
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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah I have been running shoutbox for a little while now only allowing about 10 people to use it. It is not bad at that level and seems to have little affect on the speed or server load. But the second I make it public and the entire forum is using it (which I only have about 20 people online at one time) the site becomes virtually inaccessible. Granted, I do have the settings pushing it and my host is nothing to brag about. I certainly see where you are coming from with the intensive resource usage.

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