Chat capability

[Chris M]

Tim, what are the chances of getting chat capability within the forum?

There's been several times that I've seen someone online and if I could chat, I could quickly drop them a note.

I know that the profiles show the different ID's for ICQ, AIM, MSNchat, etc., but I was wondering if it would be possible.

I know it brings up lots of other questions, and things to be aware of such as bots, spammers, etc., but it's just an idea.

[Tim]

I've looked into it.. the problem is that most of these cheaper web hosters don't allow any form of database-backed chat system (and 99.9% of all chat systems have to have an underlying database). The terms of service for this hosting account pretty much disallow it. I guess if the need is burning enough I could look into relocating to a chat friendly hosting service...

[BillyMack]

You can add me to your buddy list by clicking one of my IM icons...let's chat!

[Speedbag]

You can add me to your buddy list by clicking one of my IM icons...let's chat!

What does "my IM icons" mean??

A few years ago on the "old" rossboxing there was a cool chat for registered users. Just log in and type. When you hit return, it went onscreen for all to see. It was pretty fun, with two or three conversations going on at once. It was nice to communicate directly with someone and not have it last forever on the net. Forum posts and email NEVER go away. just watch the nightly news, and emails surfacing from 10 years ago.....

but I don't know if it's worth the risk of a hoster change.

[Chris M]

What does "my IM icons" mean??

A few years ago on the "old" rossboxing there was a cool chat for registered users. Just log in and type. When you hit return, it went onscreen for all to see. It was pretty fun, with two or three conversations going on at once. It was nice to communicate directly with someone and not have it last forever on the net. Forum posts and email NEVER go away. just watch the nightly news, and emails surfacing from 10 years ago.....

but I don't know if it's worth the risk of a hoster change.

The IM icons list the services you're signed up to chat on. You have to register on those same services and you can chat with someone else who is also online with that service. For instance, AOL IM is AIM, ICQ is another older service that used to be the main one but I'm not sure how prevalent it is anymore. MSN is probably the biggest one right now because all Windows machines pretty much have it as the default.

Personally, I like Google chat and MSN, but I rarely if ever use it and I'm never signed on unless I specifically want to chat to someone but it's literally been years since I've done any of it.

I was just posting the question, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to add the capability, but thanks Tim. I guess we can gauge interest to the replies.

Honestly, I could only chat while at home and I don't get online as much as I'd like at home because in addition to working out, taking care of an old house, fishing, boating, being a Dad and a husband really doesn't leave much time to veg in front of the computer unless I want to stay up late and right now (9:45 CST) is almost an hour past my bedtime because I get up around 4:30 to start my day.

[BillyMack]

What does "my IM icons" mean??


On my posts over to the right you see

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Posts: 130

Then my "IM icons"...click on one of them to automatically add me to your respective "buddy list"...

[Chris M]

It was nice to communicate directly with someone and not have it last forever on the net. Forum posts and email NEVER go away. just watch the nightly news, and emails surfacing from 10 years ago.....


I'd be very surprised if chat logs are not kept also. I also know for a fact that by default AIM keeps a log of your chats right on your computer, I think it keeps them in c:\documents and settings\user folder. I was working on someone's computer one time and I was amazed at how many chat logs on AIM there were. It gave dates, times, and the persons name you were chatting with, along with a transcript of the conversation.

Man, the stuff that people have on their computers... :eek: But that's another story and one that doesn't belong here anyway.

Privacy is difficult to maintain on a computer and the web and it's not nearly as anonymous as people think...

[SupergeZ]

use windows messenger? quick and simple to set up and if you have windows xp or vista you already have it installed and just need to make an account and add your friends