Chat Box

[Jack]

Really surprised this hasn't come up already, heck it probably has.

But wouldn't a little chat box, or shoutbox, implemented be really cool? Sometimes I want to talk to a certain member but a PM seems a little to formal or long winded for what I want to say. Also, it would be nice to say hi to everybody who is online.

It doesn't have to be implemented into the forum and constantly be there at the side or anything, but it could be like a drop down box on the Community tab and people can choose to be in the chat or not.

A little pop sound when a message comes through, maybe even private chats with other members. Ah, I can see it now. :')

[MotherGraham~]

Well, from my experience, shoutboxes (sometimes referred to as chatboxes) tend to decrease activity in forum posting a lot. And some times, at a larger scale, issues may arise between members themselves (which doesn't happen here, fortunately).

And as for messaging other users: a PM isn't really needed as there's always the possibility of using the visitor messaging system. ;)

Anyway, there's my opinion on this matter.

[Jack]

Well, from my experience, shoutboxes (sometimes referred to as chatboxes) tend to decrease activity in forum posting a lot. And some times, at a larger scale, issues may arise between members themselves (which doesn't happen here, fortunately).

And as for messaging other users: a PM isn't really needed as there's always the possibility of using the visitor messaging system. ;)

Anyway, there's my opinion on this matter.

I have to admit I was thinking about the whole decreasing forum activity thing, but if someone makes a thread (or desires to make a thread) they probably won't reply to it in the chatbox, it would get too confusing anyway.

As for the visitor messaging system, that's a good way, but I was thinking something more instant. Maybe I'm asking too much, ignore me. ;)

[Jason]

Graeme nailed this one on the head. At our current size, a shoutbox or something would likely decrease activity. Howeeeeever, keep an eye out, as we'll be bringing in special features in for certain occasions, and shoutboxes are always popular. :)

[Jack]

Graeme nailed this one on the head. At our current size, a shoutbox or something would likely decrease activity. Howeeeeever, keep an eye out, as we'll be bringing in special features in for certain occasions, and shoutboxes are always popular. :)

That's fine, at least you've taken it on board. That said... it would also be nice for the 'Unread Posts' section to be real time. :P

Feel free to uhh... :hammer:

[Steph]

I wouldn't mind a chat box for like, small talk.

I understand your concerns for it decreasing activity on the forum though, but I still like this idea.

[dimples]

It's just a myth that a chatbox takes away activity :D It really does not. When you really think about it, why would it? It's off topic discussion that goes on in there, and isn't it better for it to happen outside the topics?

[Hyperion]

Is it OK if I shamelessly promote my article defending the shoutbox?

[MotherGraham~]

It's just a myth that a chatbox takes away activity :D It really does not. When you really think about it, why would it? It's off topic discussion that goes on in there, and isn't it better for it to happen outside the topics?
It's absolutely not a myth. In-fact, it very much happened so to my own community for about 6 months ago; people started discussing topics in the shoutbox and kept doing so. Statistics also showed that the activity has dropped down drastically. The inactivity became it's near-death, I can assure. While I personally don't think any 'fights' would occur in a community like this one, there's always the risk of getting people to discuss matters that shouldn't be discussed at all.

And as to clarify, it's my personal view on this matter.
Is it OK if I shamelessly promote my article defending the shoutbox?
IMO, as long as it's not for any other purpose, it's fine. :)

[Jason]

By all means, Hyperion. It's related to the topic at hand. :)

[Hyperion]

And some times, at a larger scale, issues may arise between members themselves (which doesn't happen here, fortunately).
I see this as a window dressing argument. Sure, issues may occur in the shoutbox, just as they may occur in forum topics, profile visitor comments, private messaging, or reputation comments (many a large community has disabled negative reputation, or reputation entirely, as a result). The shoutbox is not so insulated that you cannot touch a member no matter what he does, especially when it comes to vBulletin, which has a lot of shoutboxes/chatboxes available for it at vbulletin.org and related communities. The reason this is of consequence is because these shoutboxes come with a plethora of features. For example, here are permission features available for Cyb's shoutbox:

- Usergroups able to view ChatBox but not post messages
- Usergroups NOT able to view ChatBox (comma separated ID list)
- Users banned from ChatBox (comma separated UserID list)

Note: When user is banned via menu in ChatBox Archive this field will be automatically updated
- Users with post count less than X can not view ChatBox - Set X
- Groups able to moderate ChatBox (comma separated usergroup IDs)
- Allow users to delete their own messages
- Banned BB Tags (comma separated, example: img, code)

Additionally, for a forum of this size, it should not be a big issue to moderate member accounts using the features built into the vBulletin software, if he is to abuse his shoutbox privilege. Well, assuming you have to go so far, because most issues may be resolved by simply talking it over with the member, from my experience.

While we are talking about experience, you gave as evidence your experience as a forum administrator that shoutboxes drain activity. Well, it is my experience that no drain on activity has occurred on my forum despite a shoutbox being present for much of its life.

However, let me throw that aside for the moment. To show that activity in forum topics has drained whereas activity in the shoutbox has increased does not necessarily show that the shoutbox is at fault; indeed, there may be other factors at work, which is something that must always be considered. Along those lines, there is information that needs to be included. For example, when was the shoutbox added? Have you come across similar lulls in activity before? How long has your forum been around? Also, were you the main topic starter at your forum, and was the rate at which you were starting topics at least nearly the same when you noticed a drain in activity as when activity was fine, and when there was no shoutbox? I do not think it is so easy to point to the shoutbox whenever there is a steady decrease in forum activity.

Anyways, here is the shameless plug: "The effects of a shoutbox on a forum community."

[Jack]

"The effects of a shoutbox on a forum community (http://theinfinityprogram.com/showthread.php?t=3748)."

A good read.