There is a trial for a chat box (also called a "shout box", but thats not what this is meant to encourage) underway.
This is a beta version, because we can't get the release version to work. So there may be a few glitches.
Please let us know any feedback regardless.

When I click on the "My Prefs" button, it takes me to a new page where the chat box is much larger and fills the page. This view is useful for fast moving / multiple conversations.

Is there a more direct way to access it?

If there is a way to enable pm in the chat that would be great, and if there is a way to enable a choice between should box 1 through 3 or 1 through 5 or something that would probably be a good idea too.

It might be cool to have a disable button or something so the chat isn't running in all my imminst tabs.

I have to say, this could be quite revolutionary for imminst!

Like BP said, having private chat boxes in PM would also be a great idea!

that and put it at the bottom of the screen.

and having a way to disable all the supplement related chat somehow...

This post has been edited by eternaltraveler: Jun 25 2009, 07:06 PM

Now, I'm wondering if chat is such a good idea after all. seems like a lot of interesting discussions are lost instead of being part of the forum.

A twitter-like interface might be nice too.

This post has been edited by rwac: Jun 25 2009, 07:33 PM

Plus, all the forums seem to be broken. Noone has noticed yet, because the chat is so much fun.

One consideration is that the chat box moves sponsor banner ads further down the page, maybe not good for our sponsors.

Also, I noticed that when the chat box is open, it causes my browser window/page to jump/twitch at a regular rate.

If I had to suggest a spot for the shout box, it would be below the proposed new frame (to display front page links/content) on the left hand side of the screen.

Seems like it would be a very good tool for keeping people engaged, however, it might take something away from the forum postings/traffic, as was mentioned above.

Thanks for the feedback so far.
We'll leave this running till the next management meeting to get some more.
Obviously this has other implications such as how this will change the dynamics of communication at ImmInst, so members views are welcome on these broader points.

On specifics:
There is a disable button on the upper right hand side, I have made it a bit more visible.
The box could go below the forums or could only be on certain pages, but I leave it up there for now, so it doesn't get missed during the trial period.
There is (limited) remit for a more sophisticated chat feature, but that will have to wait for a few days.
The forum is not broken, it was only being modified for a minute, but I'm glad to hear that the chat is so much fun that few would notice.

That shouldn't happen with a modern screen size on a fully open browser - anyone else having this problem?

It was a screen resolution problem.

I'm getting a distracting flickering of the buttons (Firefox 3.0.11 on XP).

The four buttons there now are

* shout
* clear
* refresh
* my prefs

Every three seconds or so the refresh button vanishes for a moment and then reappears. A bit headache inducing.

I love the chat box idea, very cool, seems to slow down page loading even when minimized but perhaps my network is just running slow.

This post has been edited by edward: Jun 26 2009, 05:11 PM

I prefer that chatboxes be on the bottom of a forum, it seems to work better--less distracting for those who don't use the chat box or are here to search for specific information.

Looking at what settings you can have for the chatbox in Admin, I noticed that you can have archiving on or off, and we appear to have archiving on but I was not sure where the chat box is being archived, on another forum that has a chatbox you can go back over past days/months of chat on a separate page.

It could be useful to have a non-archived place for ImmInst members to discuss. For professional reasons many will not discuss some of the more controversial topics around here, such as their views on extreme life extension or use of nootropics.

concept absolutely great imo:
- i think it will make people know each other better in the imminst community
- and discuss/organize/be involved in important life extension projects.
- also it might lead to less posting but better posting: quality rather than quantity
[well, except for supplement threads perhaps...]

technical improvement suggestions (if not too difficult to do):
- if it is not already the case, it would be nice if the chat is active only if the page is active; that way there is no useless internet information exchange.
- also one could click on the chat to "pause/play".
- also one could click on the title to "reduce/open" the chat; this should allow to display a higher chat than currently
- improved colors/borders, less space between lines, no need for parenthesis next tot the datetime, only 8 first letters of nickname displayed

An on off option for archiving would be awesome for those reasons. If thats the case then super. It would be useful to archive some things but not others.




I think there is a reduce option there. I see a little - symbol inthe corner. That should take care of the pause play. I think the "display global" option in the preferences button makes it so the box can be dissabled for all pages if a person chooses.

This makes me wonder if a skype interface can be put in the forums in a similar fashion.

Caliban, is the chat box being archived? Can it be moved to the bottom of our forum?

I have about ten tabs of imminst open and the chat box causes them to shake like an earthquake within my browser..

firefox on my win machine.


This post has been edited by debu: Jun 27 2009, 04:21 AM

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