Vb Shoutbox add-on?

The Scriblerian

The Scriblerian

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Hello, I know I am still new here, but I figured I could throw this up anyway.

I don't know if this has ever been discussed before, but I think a shoutbox on this forum would be a great addition to the site. A shoutbox for those that are unaware is basically a box that sits at the top of the forums page and all the registered and up users can type into and have an almost instantaneous chat box going on.

I've seen is used on many other Vb's, and it works out really well. Everyone on the forum has a good time, and it helps increasing the amount of posts on the forum as well. If you asking yourself, "How would something that allows everyone on the forum to chat help improve the amount of posts where their chatting back and forth already?" The answer is, it helps by making people be able to have more then one discussion going on at a time while getting to know their fellow forumers better, and at the same time having something to do while waiting for one of their posts to get responded too.

For the staff, the shoutbox can be edited instantly, and members can be banned from just the shoutbox and not the forum if abused. That way, they can still post but not chat.

It takes like five minutes to put onto the board, and can be found at vbulletin.org, its one of the most popular add ons for Vb, and I think it would awesome to have here.

What do you guys think?
 
well we DID use to have a shoutbox, but the thing was just hogging the bandwith and members wern't posting as much :Sad:

so while the SB was great it kinda ruined the forums for the little while it was there.
 
We've previously had a shoutbox, and it was best decided that it be removed due to bandwidth restrictions. Also, it became nigh-on impossible to converse when the regulars decided to drop by. The flooding was just... horrendous.

I do like shoutboxes, just not within large communities. Also, it diverts people from posting somewhat, so it's better to leave them out of places such as these.

EDIT: Damn you AG... you post-hogger, you. *shakes fist*
 
Really? That is sad to hear. I've never heard of it really bogging down too much, but that is possible, I would figure all the signatures would do that. ;p
 
Well - say there was another Forum raid - loads of people could flood it and use up a hell of a lot of bandwith faster than just posting.

and like Saix said when there was like 30 people online there was normally like a group dominating the SB.

*is a post whore* :P
 
Ha ha ha, yeah.. I'd like the shoutbox idea. But if we had one up a few days ago when the raid happened, we would've been fucked.
 
Ah I see. Too bad there isn't a way to limit how many times you can enter things into the sb or limit text or emote limits to keep down bandwidth usage.

Or only give the members with 200+ posts access to it.
 
Hmm.. The 200+ thing would be an intresting thing, seeing as how we dont have people flooding the RPG, due to the fact that you need 50+ posts for that.
 
Hmm ... the idea is interesting, but I'm not too sure if we can actually do that. Guess we'll just see what other staff members think of that as well and wait for *cough* Darkblade *cough* to arrive.
 
Yes, that idea is something I did see once used on a forum that was rather popular. I presume they were having the same problem as you guys have here, so their solution was to give all the members considered in "Veteran or Trusted Members" status the ability to see the SB.

Could that work here?

Lol, sucks for me since this is basically my second day, but meh anything to make the forums better.
 
Actually, the real reason why the shoutbox was removed was to end all of the drama that was going on. The staff had been discussing [lol, Aeris] the situation with members breaking the rules on the shoutbox and there not being a member of staff there to moderate at all times. After the events of Christmas, with all of the ultra-drama that was going on, it was taken off as a temporary action to let everyone cool down, but was never replaced again.

We were supposed to be getting Chat Rooms Mark II a few months ago ... but I guess that's out the window.
 
Riku said:
Actually, the real reason why the shoutbox was removed was to end all of the drama that was going on. The staff had been discussing [lol, Aeris] the situation with members breaking the rules on the shoutbox and there not being a member of staff there to moderate at all times. After the events of Christmas, with all of the ultra-drama that was going on, it was taken off as a temporary action to let everyone cool down, but was never replaced again.

We were supposed to be getting Chat Rooms Mark II a few months ago ... but I guess that's out the window.
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In my opinion, the rule to allow only trusted/vet members have access to the shoutbox would alleviate most to all problems like that.

Also, if the staff was truly really worried about not having enough staff members to constantly mod, they could even add a certain group specifically made to mod the SB.

Overall, if the staff truly wanted this, there is usually a way to work it out, and especially when you have members who are willing to help and can be trusted. :)
 
You know what? I think you're perfectly right. I'm going to bring it up with the rest of the staff after I've posted this. If they don't agree to the shoutbox, then we'll see where we can get with the chat rooms again [which, by the way, were much better].
 
I know it was a personal message, but I'll just post my reply here so that everyone can see the answer:

Hey,

just wondering how things are coming in the staff rooms concerning this matter. I know this isn't really the best way to figure out, but I thought I might ask anyway as I'm rather excited about it.

Thanks.
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As of right now, practically all of the staff approve of the idea in some shape or form. However, at the end of the day, we need Darkblade to go ahead with the idea, and he is somewhat less active in the staff forum these days; busy elsewhere, planning things. What I'll do is chase him up at some point later today, if he doesn't reply to the thread in either here or the staff lounge. He's always on MSN; I'd do it now, but I'm about to log off - quite busy today and I've just come on to do anything that needs immediate attention, to be honest.

I can assure you, though, you'll have a more definitive answer by the end of tomorrow.
 
Don't double-post, please :]

I've made the thread, and all of the staff are for it ... but Darkblade has yet to respond. In fact, I made another thread directly asking Darkblade to read said threads, but even that hasn't been replied to.

I'll let you know as I do.
 
Sorry for the double post, it did a nice two day span in between it though. :)

Anyways, probably best not to rush him. I've talked with him, and I'm sure he perfectly capable of running this place to his best.
 
Aye, he has an update :]
Darkblade said:
Nope, out of the question. How many times are we going to bring back the shoutbox and then remove it later on? I think this is our fourth time now. There is no way that we're going to have THAT shoutbox back again 'cause of bandwidth issues and server loads. I even paid $140 for a coder to do something about it and make sure that the shoutbox works just fine, but I got ripped off by him and haven't seen him for months now. So my $140 was just a waste of dough.
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So, it looks like the shoutbox isn't coming back. However, we seem to be getting use of the chat rooms again, likely through the IRC, so maybe this will make up for it.
 
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