HawaiiThreads Chat?

[zztype]

Re: Chat Feature at HawaiiThreads?

Yeah, I was futting around with one at walaau.org, but I never actually was able to enter the room and chat when another person was there. The room was littered with "Hello? Anybody here?" messages from lone stragglers that would wander in.

It got nuked recently and I haven't put it back. I just don't think that anyone found it useful.

If you want to chat, send me a PM and I'll come up in iChat on AIM or Gmail chat for you.

Blaine

[OahuGirl]

Live chat

Hi!

I was just wondering if this site ever had a live chat room? I saw that there are private message options but, I just thought chatting would be nice to have.

[Lei Liko]

Re: Chat Feature at HawaiiThreads?

It'd be easier to set up a chat room on AOL or Yahoo messenger if people really wanted it.

I've been on several vBulletin message boards that had the chat feature, and honestly? They sucked. The look, the features (and lack thereof), etc. it was just boring. A know of admins who disable the feature completely because it's a PITA.

I think HT is just fine without one.

[OahuGirl]

Re: Chat Feature at HawaiiThreads?

Thanks.

I am on military ones and it is so nice because that is how we get info on prospective duty stations. Thanks anyhow.

[admin]

Re: HawaiiThreads Chat?

File this one under geeking out... and please ignore if it's not your cup of tea.

There are some chat options that can focus on a website's community but exist independent of it. A few were discussed before, including Gabbly, which creates a chat pop-up with a simple link.

So, I'm experimenting with one now that uses an overlay rather than a pop-up or sidebar. Uses Flash and AJAX for a pretty slick presentation, but still only exists for those who invoke it. It's invisible, otherwise. It seemed... different enough that it didn't feel like yet another chatroom, but I concede that "different" doesn't always mean better.

In any case, if you want to play with it, you need to be logged in, and click the "Firefly Chat" link under the "Quick Links" menu. You'll see why it's called "Firefly" pretty quickly, if you in fact happen to have it activated at the same time as someone else. If not? Have fun talking to yourself.

I still don't think HT needs or even lends itself well to live chat, mind you. The HawaiiStories room is gone and no one missed it; the chat options that have come and gone since this thread started haven't been compelling, either. But the geek in me just had to try it. So, this is a limited test, subject (as is anything here!) to my fickle whims. If it's gone in a few days... or even a few hours, my apologies in advance for the ridiculousness.

UPDATE: Well, already discovered a basic problem. Firefly links the chat layer to the page URL that invokes it. So, there's a chat layer for this thread, for every thread, the homepage, search results, etc. I was hoping for a site-wide chat layer. I'll get in touch with the developers, but this is not quite ready for prime time. Will leave it in place for the curious, though!