shoutbox?

[incadude]

what about adding a shoutbox? Or is it too much work?

[ZiNgA BuRgA]

I'm not sure if a shoutbox, for such a low traffic site will have much use...

Anyone think different?

[goindex]

Why do I have a shoutbox in a forum ?
I don't need it...
It's not useful... for a forum

[blueparukia]

Nah its useless  for such a small forum, though you should have a go at making an Ajax one, the spicefuse one is good, but it would be nice to have an "Edit Shout", and have more admin control, and Zinga is good at getting things like that working awesomely.

I mean, a shoutbox isn't hard to make in PHP, and the Ajax is probably just a bit more complicated, and tbh, I am not so great at Ajax - but it is just retrieving and inserting values from a database.

[rh1n0]

From what I've experienced on forums I visit that have a shoutbox is that I feel uncomfortable when people refer to others with their real name and are deep in conversation in the shoutbox. It makes me feel unwelcome and out-of-the-loop.

[ZiNgA BuRgA]

blueparukia Wrote:Nah its useless  for such a small forum, though you should have a go at making an Ajax one, the spicefuse one is good, but it would be nice to have an "Edit Shout", and have more admin control, and Zinga is good at getting things like that working awesomely.

I mean, a shoutbox isn't hard to make in PHP, and the Ajax is probably just a bit more complicated, and tbh, I am not so great at Ajax - but it is just retrieving and inserting values from a database.

I probably won't make one from scratch.  I may distribute an edited version of the Spicefuse Shoutbox - will have to ask the author though.

rh1n0 Wrote:From what I've experienced on forums I visit that have a shoutbox is that I feel uncomfortable when people refer to others with their real name and are deep in conversation in the shoutbox. It makes me feel unwelcome and out-of-the-loop.

Good point .
I think it's highly dependent on a few factors too:
1) The community, and
2) Site activity.

I somewhat see a shoutbox as a "quick IRC replacement" (some people I know like to spend their life on IRC ), so if you're community is something which people would do that, then it would work.
Also, site activity - shoutboxes are meant to be a quick way of communicating, IMO.  If your site isn't active, well, there isn't too much point as shouts won't always get quick responses.

I found it worked really well at my main forums - I get around 4000 shouts a day - my members love it.
Generally works better once users meet on the forums, as, they won't be conversing with complete strangers on the shoutbox.

[ORGAN]

goindex Wrote:Why do I have a shoutbox in a forum ?
I don't need it...
It's not useful... for a forum

A shout box is a quick way for users to communicate With Each Other, & it gives a feeling of community to a site. Making it easier to build trust & friendships in a forum.

But it can get spamed easily with drama, & that drama can slow down discussion, Like if some one needs help the Box is a good quick way to lend a hand, if the spamers allow the discussion to go on uninterrupted.

Thats all i have to say about that LOL

[incadude]

I agree Organ