Hey guys, I know that a lot of forums tend to have shoutboxes for quick, random chat that isn't enough to put into a post, so I was wondering if anyone here had thought  to make one for this forum. I think it'd be interesting. Personally, I don't know if you'd want to install it, but I recommend SimplePortal which includes a shoutbox among some other pretty useful features you may be able to put to use; if you want just a shoutbox though, this would work. Just thinking that this may be a nice addition to the forum, honestly.

If you ask me, meh. Don't we have the Facebook/G+ pages for that?

Yeah, but in this way, it'd all be on one place to go to, and that way you wouldn't have to expose your real name if you didn't want to.

Well, I certainly wouldn't say no to this. But on the other hand, I don't really feel a huge need for it.

You could just use the IRC channel (#sphere on esper). Or even post to the off-topic board, perhaps.

Who uses the IRC channel, then? I'd rather have an on-site persistent chat, in that case. My main issue with that, however, is that it usually looks bad with design; out of place, basically. It'd have to look good with the rest of the forums.

And yeah, off-topic is there for random stuff. Quick help would probably be replied on soon enough once you make a forum post; these forums aren't that busy most of the time, after all. But then again, I do chat with Xenso regarding Sphere problems on Facebook occasionally; having the chat here and public would reach more people and get him better help (since usually he asks through chat before asking on the forums).

At the moment, I use the IRC, as do some of the old timers (Vexo, Gommy, SDHawk, and sometimes Sion).

The only thing that stops more people from using the IRC is the number of people using the IRC.

And Sphere users also have a home on RM. Which also has a chat channel (#rpgmaker.net on synirc) that is better populated than Sphere on Esper.

On the other hand, we do have FB and G+ pages, which also provide chat functions (which I have used to talk to other Sphericals, and I can attest that they work fine). And I know for a fact you do NOT need to put your real name on either kind of account.

The only thing that stops more people from using the IRC is the number of people using the IRC.

I think there's more reasons.
- You need to start up a dedicated client in order to chat
- It's not persistent

Which is kind of why a shoutbox might not be a bad idea on second thought. Though the FB/G+ stuff works great for me, too.

I'm personally on the fence re adding a shoutbox. The primary concern is the fact that it's meant for more instant messaging than a normal thread but there is a high probability of low to no forum activity at any one given time. Moderation of its content is a secondary concern, but for now I consider Spherical users pretty capable of self-moderation.

Also, a (relatively) real-time shoutbox guarantees a JavaScript dependency (may or may not be mobile-friendly depending on the device) if a user turns on viewing the shoutbox. If that's the case, I'd rather make such a thing Firebase-powered so that it can also be embedded on the main page.

I'd like to finish the new forum theme, however, before addressing the decision of whether or not to add a shoutbox. Once that's done and I find out how heavy or light it runs in the field, I'll be better equipped for a shoutbox decision. In the meantime, as mentioned previously there's the IRC, Facebook, and Google+.

The only thing that stops more people from using the IRC is the number of people using the IRC.

I think there's more reasons.
- You need to start up a dedicated client in order to chat

You could use Mibbit (there are others, too) in a browser.

Basically, a shoutbox would mean you would have everything on one site so you wouldn't have to log into FB/G+ or an IRC channel, that's what I was thinking. Either way, it was simply a suggestion.

I had an idea about this.

On RMN, users can have statuses, which appear in a sidebar on the main community page. Personally, I use these statuses kind of like what you are suggesting (as do many other users). I really like that feature of RMN.

Perhaps a feature like that could be worked in? A mod or plugin or package or whatever it is called for SMF may exist for something like that?

GBATemp has something similar to this. On the profile page, there's basically a chance to directly discuss things with others. Only issues are that it's only visible on that page, and still personal (so basically like a public PM system). The system on RMN actually looks rather interesting and useful.

RMN seems to run on django, not surprising given WIP's preference for Python.

Also, I said I'll revisit the Shoutbox request after I finish the new theme, since that means I'd need to also rewrite the HTML a bit to accommodate the space for it. If someone can point me to which django module RMN uses for it, I can better find an SMF mod equivalent if/when that happens.

I asked Kentona, and he says it isn't a Django module. It's a field in the profile record apparently (I have no idea how it works, that's what I was told). It makes me wonder how the attached responses to RMN statuses work.

Could it be like a sidebar on the main forums page, with a feed like the ones on the main page (http://spheredev.org)? Maybe have a community portal like RMN does, which has the forums and a sidebar next to it?