SawMill Chat Test

[Keith Outten]

Anyone interseted in helping us test our chat board click on the link below

<a href="http://www.sawmillcreek.org/chat"target=_new">SawMill Chat</a>

When you try our chat software consider the following;



Aaron selected "Open Source" software so that we can customise the code and integrate our chat with the board
We did not select high end chat software, a very simple to use program was our goal
The chat board will be available full-time for members only, it picks up your username from the board database automatically
Special moderated sessions will be planned in the future and captured for downloading if you miss a session
New channels will be added and keyed to each forum
Our chat software is only 5K in file size, this makes it very fast for everyone even modem users


Our goal of adding features to SawMill Creek is geared toward integrating each service with the board. This approach will enhance our community not break it into sections of special interests.

[Ted Shrader]

Originally posted by Keith Outten
Anyone interseted in helping us test our chat board click on the link below

<a href="http://www.sawmillcreek.org/chat"target=_new">SawMill Chat</a>

Would like to, but Big Brother is watching. Chat is one of those excluded sites.

Ted

[Jason Roehl]

That ROCKED!!

Jason

[Dave Hammelef]

I tried it, I liked it

[Jim Young]

I'm not much for chat rooms but my five minutes in it were fun. Looks like a keeper to me.

[Howard Barlow]

Got plans for a regular chat session?

[Aaron Koehl]

Our first session went really great!
We've customized and integrated this chat system
into the board, so you'll automatically log in with
your user name (members). Hopefully, this will
encourage some of you guests to register!

The chat software is a java applet, and we chose
it because it only takes 5K to download (about
as long as the 'Post Reply' button.) :cool:

We have plans for adding more channels, as well
as having special, moderated chat sessions on
specific topics.

Come experience the dynamism of the online chat
system- the conversation goes everywhere! (and much
more quickly). It is really enjoyable to be able to
converse with all of you in real time.

Hope to see more if you in there soon,

_Aaron_

[Paul Kunkel]

I think a tutorial would be in order for some of us:rolleyes: It would improve my typing though :eek: I'm more of a reader than a talker anyways unless someone needs to know something I know something about which is subject to someone elses opinion anyways:D :D

[Tom Sweeney]

Will there be notices posted when we log on to let us know when the chats are going - or is it just that we check in anytime to see if anyone else is in the chat room?

We could have regularly scheduled chats - I know that Woodcentral does that & the one I logged onto a few weeks ago was pretty cool - if a little hard to keep up with the fast pace ;)

Once again youse guys Rock! :D

[Aaron Koehl]

Tom,

You can log in any time. I may add a feature to the forums
so you can see who's chatting without logging in- but that'll
be down the road.

<b>We're open for scheduled chats-

If anyone wants to volunteer to present a specific topic,
we'll schedule and announce a time for a moderated chat.

(Just post a reply to let us know)
</b>

I believe there's a lot people would like to share their
knowledge with the rest of us- and a chat is more conducive
to mass information flow. I think it'll be a successful experience.

_Aaron_

[Keith Outten]

When we get the scheduled chat sessions going and setup special events Aaron has a plan to capture the entire session and make them available for download. This way if you miss the session you can still benefit from the discussion.

[Robert Henderson]

Very nice feature. Hope it becomes a regular item on the forum.


Robert

[Ken Salisbury]

I had the priviledge of test driving the Chat Room with Keith and Aaron yesterday while Aaron was checking/massaging/debugging the package. I believe this feature will really catch on quick. Its great to get immediate feedback to a question. After Keiths post for people to dive in there, numerous people showed up and found how easy it really was to use.

Open 24/7 --- I am logged in there this morning and checking every liitle while to see if anyone shows up


Paul -- No tutorial needed. There is only one line to type on (at the very bottom) --- whatever you type shows up when you hit enter. Then just read-baby-read.

[Mike Cutler]

I checked into the chat last nite but was not able to participate. I could see the chat in progress but could not post to it. I use a Mac that runs OS 9.1 and OS X. There must be some incompatibility between the Mac and the chat program, but to be honest I don't keep the Mac up to date with all the latest software and drivers to support cross platform compatibilty. I hope no one was offended due to my inability to post. I wasn't being rude, I just couldn't play along. LOML had the DELL last nite, maybe I can trade with her for the next chat.

[Aaron Koehl]

Originally posted by Mike Cutler
I checked into the chat last nite but was not able to participate. I could see the chat in progress but could not post to it. I use a Mac that runs OS 9.1 and OS X. There must be some incompatibility between the Mac and the chat program, but to be honest I don't keep the Mac up to date with all the latest software and drivers to support cross platform compatibilty. I hope no one was offended due to my inability to post. I wasn't being rude, I just couldn't play along. LOML had the DELL last nite, maybe I can trade with her for the next chat.

Mike,

Don't know exactly what to tell ya- it's been tested on on IE
flavors 4+, Netscape 4+, Mozilla, and Opera on Win 2000, Win XP, Mac OS X, SunOS, and Win98.

I tweaked some features out and recompiled the Java client to
support Java 1.1 (a really old version), so nobody should need to
download the new runtime environments. I also avoided the
Java Swing (graphical UI) package to prevent having to download
that plugin as well. The client is (hooray!) only 5K, which is
about how long it takes to download the 'Post Reply' button. :D

Did you get any error messages when trying to post, or did
it freeze? Also, after clicking on the box above the 'Type here'
message, were any characters being echoed to the screen?

_Aaron_

[Phil Phelps]

Originally posted by Aaron Koehl
Mike,

Don't know exactly what to tell ya- it's been tested on on IE
flavors 4+, Netscape 4+, Mozilla, and Opera on Win 2000, Win XP, Mac OS X, SunOS, and Win98.

_Aaron_
I am on a OS 9.1. Had no trouble this morning, except my fingers wern't warmed up. Ready to go again. Great feature. Makes me really miss the ....what forum were we on last month? :p

[Mike Cutler]

Aaron. It didn't freeze or give me any error messages and there were no ghost images or echos. The dialog boxes stayed shaded gray and wouldn't respond to any keyboard commands. I could watch the chat in progress but could not participate. I don't believe the problem is on your end, in fact I know it is not. I know that I specifically have not loaded any of the current virtual java drivers, run time or active-x components that would be required. In fact the Virtual Jave CD that came with the system was not loaded intentionally. I use the Mac for a lot of design work and have a lot of images stored on it that I don't want to risk to virus invasion. Most virus programs that are developed are not targeted at Macs so I limit the amount of java script and active-x codes to mitigate the introduction of a virus. Why the little malcontents of the world think that launching viruses is a game escapes me! I also haven't found a virus program for the Mac that I think is as good as those available for PC's. In fact, I don't even use this machine for e-mail, even though it is behind a hardware firewall. I'm not a Mac Fanatic or a PC Basher. I use both platforms and like them and hate them equally. For the record, My inability to participate is due to no fault on your end, I actually would have been surprised if I could have participated. Like I stated, LOML had the DELL and that machine is totally up to date for real time chats and everything else. Thank you for getting back to me on the subject. Personally I think you guys are doing a heckuva job and would like to thank you for your hard work and dedication. I think that in the near future this site will be the model for a lot of other sites to emulate. Take care and have a good evening.

[Jerry P. Doan]

I missed Ken's chat because I did not have the java plug-in for Win XP installed. I have since done so and I believe I'm ready for the next chat.

[Tom Quick]

A thought for the visually impaired of us.
Would it be possible to make a font selection available, similar to the /BOLD. Being able to increase the font size would be very helpful.

[Aaron Koehl]

Tom:

I was on top of that one.. for all of you who have already
been to the chat, CTRL+Refresh (in IE) and it will reload
the Java applet---
For those who like the text the way I like steak (a bit bigger and bold):
type <B>/BIG</b> (in all caps). :cool:

I'm pretty sure Keith is gonna use that feature.. :)

_Aaron_

[Ken Salisbury]

The Bold feature was way cool when you did that. The BIG feature is really cool for the old old people like me and Keith --- Thanks!<IMG src="http://www.klsal.com/smiley2.gif">

[Dave Hammelef]

Originally posted by Aaron Koehl
Mike,

Don't know exactly what to tell ya- it's been tested on on IE
flavors 4+, Netscape 4+, Mozilla, and Opera on Win 2000, Win XP, Mac OS X, SunOS, and Win98.

_Aaron_

Aaron I was running Opera on Win Xp the other day when I was in and it worked fine. Along with AOL, and IE did not try Mozilla but could.

Dave

[Von Bickley]

Hey Guys,
Chat room is great but it sure would be nice if we knew if anybody was home before we went in.

[Bobby Hatfield]

I like the chat, come on in guys, stay awhile and join in, just ask a question or whatever, don't worry about walking on anyone, say it and someone will reply, it will handle lots of conversations at once. Thanks Keith, and Aaron for the BIG letters, for us old geezers, you Guys are Rockin.

[Aaron Koehl]

Von,

Consider it done.
If you look on the main page, you will see a list of
Users in Chat (under Currently Active Users).

Note: You won't show up in this list if you browse a forum
while chatting at the same time (as each request for a thread updates
your current location).

_Aaron_

[Ken Salisbury]

Originally posted by Aaron Koehl
Von,

Consider it done.
If you look on the main page, you will see a list of
Users in Chat (under Currently Active Users).

Note: You won't show up in this list if you browse a forum
while chatting at the same time (as each request for a thread updates
your current location).

_Aaron_

Aaron
It looks like the default (if that's what you call it) is to show up in the Current Active Users box. I personally think it should be the other way around. It would be obvious that a person was a "current active user" if that person was shown as in the chat room. My method to use the chat room is to use split windows so I can watch the Forum Home in one window, refreshing from time to time to see if new posts have been made, and the Chat Room in the other window. Of course (as I checked this morning) when doing that, even though I am signed in to the chat room I show up in the Current Active Users box on the Forum Home screen. Therefore I am in the Chat Room unknowingly to the other viewers. Since the Chat Room was initiated I have been using this split screen method to monitor the room most of the time that I am on-line to see who comes and goes.

This may not be feasible but the "In The Chat Room" listing would actually serve a dual purpose.

I hope this makes sense --- This early in the morning my brain doesn't function all that well.
<p align="center">
<IMG src="http://www.klsal.com/smiley1.gif">

[Aaron Koehl]

Ken,

Incidentally, you don't show up as being in the Users Online
box either-- in your User CP, you have 'Invisible' mode on.
(Invisible won't apply to 'Users in Chat', as chat is public)

For efficiency's sake, the main page queries the user database
(which contains the most recent activity), rather than making
a connection to the chat server. I'll look into another method
for this.

_Aaron_

[Ken Salisbury]

Like I said in my PM ---- Me B stupid about the the invisible thing. But I have an excuse ----- stupity comes with old age.
<p align="center">
<IMG src="http://www.klsal.com/smiley2.gif">

[Tom Sweeney]

I really like the idea of seeing if anyone is in the chat from the forum home page. But several times now it has read there were folks in the chat room but when I log onto the chat noone's there. Whassup?

[Aaron Koehl]

Tom,

This is for technical reasons: The main page is not perfectly synchronized with the chat room.

(Curious users may venture on to the technical explanation)

- Aaron

Actual technical reason:
Each page that loads for a user is logged as a 'most recent
activity', the chat page included. When a user enters chat,
everything is fine-- they show up on the main page.

Reason 1:
If they proceed to open up a forum window, the 'most recent
activity' is replaced with the forum they're browsing, effectively
erasing their in-chat status.

Reason 2:
If the user leaves SawmillCreek without using the 'Logout'
feature, their session remains active for a period of 30 minutes.
In this session information is their 'in-chat' status, thus the user
will be marked as in-chat even though they have left.
This also applies to the 'Currently Active Users'.

Solution:
The most straightforward solution to this is to have the main
page query the chat server to see who is logged in, rather than
relying on session state information. Making a connection to the
chat server is much slower than simply pulling up state info, so
I won't do that.

That said, I most likely will modify the chat server code to
periodically log user information to an independent file, which
would be plenty fast, and accurate at the same time because
there would be no latency.

_Aaron_

P.S. It will probably be a day or two.

[Tom Sweeney]

No big deal - you can put it in the roundtoit pile :D

[Aaron Koehl]

Hello All--

I've updated the Main Page to accurately reflect the
users currently in chat-- Got 'roundtoit with a quickness. :D

_Aaron_

[Ernie Kuhn]

Keith,
Tried the Chat function but....it was taking an inordinately long time to load. After more than two minutes, the bar across the bottom wasn't quite half way yet. I have a cable modem which seems to work at warp speed compared to our old dial up connection. Might be a problem at my end but....