New chatroom is now in place

[Sean]

Hi All,

The new chatroom is in place. as with all software changes some will hate it, some will love it. A new version of this system is due out in 2007 which should have many more features and better integration than this one so hang in there. The main feature of the new system software is it's reputation for serving millions of chatters daily without issue. It is one of the most well known and respected Java chat servers on the market. This chatroom is more basic than the previous system we had but the previous system gave grief to many. Some could not get it to load at all, run without crashing, or show chats without long delays and lag. The new system runs directly on the apug server. You can also now look at the ministats at the very top of apug to see how many are in the chatroom. It should be fast and stable and far more accesible to our subscribers than the last room. Some tips for using the room are listed on the chatroom page. I'll be in there for a few mins if anyone wants to try it out.

Thanks!
Sean

 

[colrehogan]

It loaded a lot faster than I'm used to.

 

[André E.C.]

Neat , excellent job, Sean!

Cheers

André

 

[Markok765]

I cant go in!

 

[Jim Chinn]

Looks good, loaded fast. Had a stimulating conversation with myself until things turned to politics. Got pissed and logged off.

 

[Gay Larson]

It did load fast, now if someone will just join in???

 

[kb244]

Any chance that the chatroom is running off an IRC server, and if so would IRC information be available if people did not want to use java to hop on , but instead an actual IRC client?

 

[Aggie]

Well it takes you to the chatroom, but at no time did I see the list of who is in the chatroom. Can you please if possible reinstall that portion of the chatroom? I would like to know who is in the chatroom before I enter it.

 

[Gay Larson]

It can be confusing with all the windows that must stay open, but it works now, no sounds or emoticons. Some people will miss those sounds, I'm guessing.

 

[roteague]

I looked at it, but when it required me to download and install the Java runtime, I decided to pass. My primary desktop is a software development machine, and I've found that the Java runtime interferes with my software development tools, and other software on my system.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Good riddance to the noises!

 

[David Brown]

Well it takes you to the chatroom, but at no time did I see the list of who is in the chatroom. Can you please if possible reinstall that portion of the chatroom? I would like to know who is in the chatroom before I enter it.

That feature is still there. And you're not the only one.:rolleyes:

 

[Sean]

Addressing a few PM's this morning:

This was a big step backwards.

-it's still in beta but so far 5-6 have contacted me who could never get the old room to load and they can now use the new chat, i'd say that's better so far. One member was very pleased that it was not constantly crashing on him like the old one. One was pleased that messages he typed did not take up to one minute to appear on screen, etc. The old room was VERY buggy, it either worked or gave grief to many people. Please keep in mind there are barely any options for chats that integrate fully into vbulletin forum systems. It was either we use the previous buggy chat, a system called 'flashchat' which is just a webpage that refreshes every second, "phpmychat" which is also just a webpage that refreshes every second, possibly a hacked up IRC system but I hear integrating that into vb is worse than our previous chat, etc. Volano.com is the chat we are now using which is a high end high availability system running locally on the apug server + integrated to the user database (that's also being improved a great deal)

Three windows to be open? No way.

-a much better integration is being developed that is only one window, until then we'll just need to minimise a few windows during chatting.

No emoticons. No fun.

-I'm looking into that but hardly think it's extremely vital, I may post a graphic of text emoticons for people to reference in the header until graphic ones are back. for example =smiley

Links either not available or apearing automatically? If one has this turned on, someone could type anything as a url and it appears on your monitor.

-I have completely disabled this

This is really dissapointing.

-Not for those who had constant problems with the old chat. It will improve, a better integration is being developed and Volanochat V3 is on the horizon which is a major upgrade including dozens of new bells and whistles. My main concern is that most everyone can access the new room and it's stable..

 

[roteague]

I tried it on my laptop, and like it quite well. In fact, it is much better than the old one. I can't run it on my desktop, but that is a different issue. Thanks Sean, this is a good product.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Please, no emoticons, or at least let those of us who hate them just turn them off.

 

[PhotoBob]

time indicator

Just wondering if the time indicator will be put back at some point.

 

[roteague]

One thing I notice about the chatroom. The link up top currently says there are 3 people in the chatroom, but I'm the only one. So, we know the count isn't always accurate.

 

[Sean]

One thing I notice about the chatroom. The link up top currently says there are 3 people in the chatroom, but I'm the only one. So, we know the count isn't always accurate.

I think it must be showing 3 connections, it's possible if someone has not closed out of the rooms fully it will leave a connection showing. Will see if I can enhance that..

 

[Sean]

Just wondering if the time indicator will be put back at some point.

Sorry Bob, not sure what you mean?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I noticed the thing with the count. I think it's showing the number of people in the "lobby", including those not actually in the chatroom.

 

[roteague]

No, I think it is the number of people online, plus the number of chatrooms. There are two of us here, and two chatrooms.

 

[Sean]

No, I think it is the number of people online, plus the number of chatrooms. There are two of us here, and two chatrooms.

I think it might be people popping into the chat lobby and leaving as well. Also if someone does not close out all chat windows their session will not clear for 60seconds..

 

[colrehogan]

Sorry Bob, not sure what you mean?

Sean,
There was a way that if you pressed a clock button on the old chat software, you could see the time each post was made. I noticed this was missing from the new software too. It made it easier for me to leave the room and come back and read through whatever I'd missed before jumping back into the chat.

 

[FOTOCAT]

Downloaded and installed Java on XP-Pro, mach, works great. Nice feature of APUG membership-now just need more users!

 

[Dave Wooten]

Congrats Fotocat on your first post!