Feedback And Suggestions

The program wouldn't go anywhere if i didn't have fresh ideas pointed out to me every so often, so feel free to drop a suggestion or 2 in this thread, or comments if you desire

Notice: This is not a support thread

Thanks,

- Zero Tolerance

[sv1cec]

Well, this is not new to you, but I thought that I should remind you about it. Being so much older than me, I have to act as your consiousness.

LoL

[Zero Tolerance]

For a second there i thought "what the hell?", didn't see what you were talking about, then i noticed your message title

Don't worry, i havn't forgotten about it

- Zero Tolerance

[oldengine]

2.3 is installed and all appears well. Will provide end user feedback as it comes in.

Why are smilies random rather than fixed? Ten is enough and these should be prioritized in the order set in the VB control panel smilie manager.

Need option to not use "Status" - takes up frame space. I have removed it, but there may be a better way than hacking it out. In the interest of saving space in the right hand panel, I have also condensed "Current Users:" and "Send Pvt Msg" to keep items on one line. (More space for user names.)

Is there a way to assign a specific skin to the chat? (One with smaller font sizes.)

Out on the main forum page (FORUMHOME template), where you see "No one is currently inside vBChat" or the names of those users that are in chat, it would be good to see which users are in specific permanent rooms. Probably an intensive code challenge, but only a suggestion. A link from there to these specific rooms would be good as well. I use four permanent rooms, so these and the default would make up five different user lists and links.

The admin (User #1) should have the option to enter or leave the rooms unnoticed. (Stealth mode!)

[sv1cec]

Originally Posted by oldengine

2.3 is installed and all appears well. Will provide end user feedback as it comes in.

Why are smilies random rather than fixed? Ten is enough and these should be prioritized in the order set in the VB control panel smilie manager.

Need option to not use "Status" - takes up frame space. I have removed it, but there may be a better way than hacking it out. In the interest of saving space in the right hand panel, I have also condensed "Current Users:" and "Send Pvt Msg" to keep items on one line. (More space for user names.)

Is there a way to assign a specific skin to the chat? (One with smaller font sizes.)

Out on the main forum page (FORUMHOME template), where you see "No one is currently inside vBChat" or the names of those users that are in chat, it would be good to see which users are in specific permanent rooms. Probably an intensive code challenge, but only a suggestion. A link from there to these specific rooms would be good as well. I use four permanent rooms, so these and the default would make up five different user lists and links.

The admin (User #1) should have the option to enter or leave the rooms unnoticed. (Stealth mode!)

I second the admin's stealth mode, it's quite interesting.

[yinyang]

Any possibility of an integration with vBadvanced where a module can be made that shows who's in the chatroom?

[spence2]

Thanks again, ZT, for all your hard work on this!

By way of a new feature ... I'd love to see "Chat Events".

Here's the idea:

1) A user wants to schedule a chat based on a given interest or topic (or for any reason).

2) They pick a name, date & time for this chatting "event".
(for example ... "Chevrolet Lovers Chat" ... March 1, 2005 ... 7pm pst)

3) Either they enter this event via a Chat Calendar or in an "Scheduled Chat" announcement forum.

4) Users can "sign up" for this event (limited number of "slots" for those who wish to participate if server crash and burn might be an issue).

Typical uses might be:
Members who want to discuss a particular interest, current event, cause, "club" meetings, chats with an "expert" ... etc.

This is a rough sketch of something I'm certain you & others can improve. 'Hope it's an idea you like and might consider.

Thanks!

[Zero Tolerance]

I may make the option to choose permanent smilies instead of random ones, you will have the choice to choose between the two, some may still want random

As for skin, it uses the skin that the user has selected, this will remain as is, full integrating into the vB system is one of the main good things about this chat.

I believe showing which room a user is in isn't required on forumhome, it isn't like WOL shows where they are on forumhome, perhaps a page on vBChat listing all users then showing which room they are in? This would be more perferable for some and doesn't mean more queries on forumhome

Stealth/Invisible .. sounds cool, anything that sounds cool i'll probably do

@ spence 2 - Sounds good, little dry on what this is exactly and in detail, if you provide that i'll be sure to give it thought

- Zero Tolerance

[spence2]

Originally Posted by Zero Tolerance

@ spence 2 - Sounds good, little dry on what this is exactly and in detail, if you provide that i'll be sure to give it thought

Thanks. I'll try to elaborate a bit more.

Let's say I have a forum based on music, and I have a member named Joe, who is crazy about the blues. He would like to chat with other members of the forum who share his interest -- specifically, those who really like B B King.

Now imagine that it was possible for Joe to go to a forum named "Chat Meetings" or "Chat Events" or "Scheduled Chats" ... or else a calendar by one of those names. His purpose would be to announce a date and time for everyone interested in chatting about B B King to "meet up" in a chatroom. He might name the chat he was scheduling: "B B King Chat Event".

Entries might look like:
Name.....................................Date..... .....................Time........................C hatroom
"BB King Chat Event".............March 3, 2005...........7pm (pst).................The Blues
"Usher Chat Event"................March 12, 2005.........4pm (est).................Hiphop
"Aerosmith Chat Event"..........April 3, 2005.............8pm (cst)..................Rock

People interested in "Chat Events" could go to this forum or calendar (via a link on the vB Chat interface) and check out the scheduled chats (or schedule one of their own).

By the way, there is already a Calendar Hack that allows users create an event or to "register" to attend an event already posted. I'm unclear whether all users or only admins are allowed to create eventd (we would need registered users to create events). Something similar to this (with the "fixes" you will find in the thread) might work ... as it allows users to respond, saying that they intend to attend the posted event ... that is, for our purposes, that they will join in the scheduled chat.
OR ... conversely, something along the lines of the Announcements forum created by vBJukebox ... something to list the scheduled chats.

Whatever works. I bow to your expertise!

Of course, it would be great if all those who responded could be sent a pm or email to remind them of the name, date and time of the scheduled chat. Perhaps it might even be wise to try to limit the number of responders, those who intended to chat at once due to server load ... I dunno.

That's the general idea, anyway. to allow users to create & announce scheduled chats in some organized fashion.
If I haven't been clear, I will be glad to try to be more precise. And, no doubt, others might have some great ideas for this as well.

Thanks again for your consideration.
Spence

[Zero Tolerance]

Hmm, so they set a date for a chat room to be automatically created, and users can click to attend, wether they do or not is upto them.

I suppose it would make things easier for organizing, however the server output on this could be deadly, lets say about 20 chat rooms every hour were auto created, the cron job would go nuts.

It's a nice suggestion, however i think good old fasion "notice(s)" in the calender/forum for people to read would work better, and it wouldn't mean the cron job has a heavy load to deal with.

- Zero Tolerance