Chatboxes on Forums

[Jeff Fuqua]

I turn my off except for special events where refreshing a thread repeatedly would strain the server.

 

[Shelley]

My philosophy is limit the chat box to staff members, can get opinions quicker, better work flow and it keeps the regulars actually posting rather than chatting in the chat box ;p.

I agree with this because as a member on sites I find myself using it more so I can certainly understand it taking posts away from forums. As for staff communication this is exactly what I see the benefits of shoutboxes for if you need something done efficiently and quickly.

 

[Banana Pup]

I find it works well hidden to general members who only gain access as a premium member or upgraded to a MVP rank from a high contributing post reputation count. If your forum is about a niche they enjoy, people will contribute far more into your community for perks not everyone has.

 

[DBA]

I require a minimum of 10 posts before you can enable the chatbox. This prevents noobies from asking their questions in the chatbox.

 

[Luke F]

Really depends on the community - my shoutbox is full of nonsense/bant usually and for any periods where it's been disabled/broken, the content hasn't moved to forum posts.

 

[DRE]

Really depends on the community - my shoutbox is full of nonsense/bant usually and for any periods where it's been disabled/broken, the content hasn't moved to forum posts.

I think it's great that you added forum and thread updates to the Chatbox. This may actually solve the problem of my members ignoring noobs.

 

[Morgain]

Is there a control to make chatbox input very short? Like about 20 chars?
If so that would be useful.
Personally very tiny posts annoy me. They usually say very little and it's frustrating to open an alert or What's New thread only for a few words of not very much. Mobiles tend to encourage this kind of snippet post.

If my members could say hello/ how are you/ lol / oh wow/ me too/ gosh / / etc etc in a chatbox and keep such brief fun fluff off the forums I'd like that.
But would need to strictly limit length of input not to risk forum drain.

 

[Deepmartini]

Or the ability to set times when the chat room is open, like every Sunday only. That way it becomes something special.