vbHyperChat

[ThePimp]

Ok, I've been milling over this for a while now and would love to see this happen.

Basically, it would be a chatroom integrated into vb, with user db hooks for logged in users, and also the ability to use the vb smilies. The chat "Room" titles become thread titles, and the chat messages in the room become posts in a specified forum.

The chatroom would have some user commands as well as admin commands, I will list the ones that come to mind below:

USER COMMANDS:
/makeroom $TITLE (creates a room in the chat system and redirects the creator to the room. This command will CREATE a thread in a specified forum from the AdminCP using $TITLE as the thread title)

/closeroom (Closes the current room. Must be initiated by the user who created it. This will close the thread in the forum)

/roomlist (This will create a link to a popup window with the last XXX created rooms with links to each one)

ADMIN COMMANDS:
/boot $USERNAME (boots a user from the chat until /unboot $USERNAME is used)
/unboot $USERNAME (unboots a user from the chat)
/prune $USERNAME (deletes all messages by $USERNAME in their current room)
(Maybe other admin features, these were just the first that came to mind)

I think this could be a rework of the vbShout extension somehow, but one of the key features that would make it rock is that it takes a room title and creates a thread. Also, it would be quite nifty where if someone on the forum posts a message in response to one of the chat threads... it shows up in the chatroom as well as posts on the forum. Enabling this chat to increase post counts would also be essential, so the users got credit for chatting. :)

Anyhow, this is a thought in progress... I've tried to cover the logic as best I can here. If someone wants to pick this up and run with it... I'm sure alot of others would have a use for it.

EDIT: Private rooms might be an idea also, which would end up being threads that only admins / mods can see.

Thanks for reading! :)

[ThePimp]

ADDITION / REVISION:
Another way to do this might be to have a checkbox in on the NewThread page, that is selectable like the "Yes, post a poll with this thread", but instead have "Yes, post a chat with this thread".

This check box would then call a shoutbox at the top of the New Thread. All "Shouts" in the chat, get stored as normal posts in the database under that thread title, and increases the user's post counts (maybe with the ability to turn it on and off in the admincp).

If anyone thinks they can do this, it would be a great addition to any board, and pick user activity up substantially.

Note: This addition / revision would solve the problem of having to create "Rooms" as the chat would be associated with the thread title.

[Talisman]

I love the idea.. this would be great for a number of different purposes. Back with my old group, I definitely would have used this to post transcripts from staff/brainstorming sessions so admins who couldn't be online then could read through our discussion later on. And when we needed to do something like this for training purposes (few years ago), we had to go open a temporary chat room, then splice together the chat text for posting. That was an awful lot of work.

Our members played in an online strategy/simulation game. We scheduled weekly live sessions where a panel of advanced players could answer questions posed by beginner and intermediate players. (Which later came to be known as, "Stump the Chump.") The transcripts we pasted together from those sessions helped us develop useful training reference material later on. Having a forum automatically record these discussions would be really nice.

A few thoughts on features... we don't use a word censor at my forum, but those who do would probably want that working during these chats........ There should be some visible notice prominantly displayed whenever this "recording" has been activated -- making sure all chat participants realize the discussion is not as private as they may believe...... If access to the chat and/or resulting forum threads are limited by usergroup to registered members, admins/mods, premium members, or some committee group.. then they should not be able to copy/paste text from that active window -- otherwise you might find the entire text from your private discussion meeting just got published at somebody else's website.

This could get complicated ... but it's a wonderful suggestion that many people would find very useful.

[ThePimp]

I think it would make sense to put this as an "On / Off" swtich in the Forum Manager for each forum. "Can have chat threads: Yes / No".

This would turn on the "Add a chat to this thread" feature in the "New Thread" page.

I'm thinking that it should also add a little icon or something next to the thread like a talk bubble or a CHAT: prefix.

I agree, the censor should apply, but don't think it's necessary for an alpha / beta version, at least to get it rolling.

BBCode / Smilies should definitely be available.

From what I've been milling over, I think the ZeroTolerance shoutbox could be broken apart to do this, with some integration into vb a little more.

[ThePimp]

Anyone?

[Kacela]

There is a Flash-based module that you can embed or launch as a separate dialog box, that sounds like it has everything you want. It's called Flashchat, and you can demo it here. It's only $5 if you want to use it. It's got a neat "wow factor" about it. Just an idea - you can see it here (http://www.tufat.com/s_flash_chat_chatroom.htm).

[ThePimp]

There is a Flash-based module that you can embed or launch as a separate dialog box, that sounds like it has everything you want. It's called Flashchat, and you can demo it here. It's only $5 if you want to use it. It's got a neat "wow factor" about it. Just an idea - you can see it here (http://www.tufat.com/s_flash_chat_chatroom.htm).

I don't think you understand the concept here.

I am talking about a shoutbox that not only "shouts", but it also stores shouts in the database as "posts" in the thread that the shout is generated on. Hence "HyperChat". It is a posting mechanism.

Imagine if the Quick Reply were a chat/shoutbox. That's what I am talking about.

I can setup chats all day long, but they don't post to a thread.