Well, for me it takes to long for the Java to load: sometimes anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. It is getting better now since I visit more often, but it is still annoying to wait for it "boot up" before I can start to logon.
as you notice, i dont visit too often now a days ...
i came in the beginning, because i love IRC ... but then i remembered why i left my life and high status in so many channels on undernet ... i just cant work while i'm in IRC ! ... i'm a scriptor, a host, and have clients to support, and as long as i'm on IRC, i sit and chat or help people, and cant get work done in an efficient timespan ..
hehe, thats one reason i dont come... now, i dont know how you can improve that..
That's an excellent point: posting is easier...you do so at your own convienence and can leave in the middle of typing and come back to it later if need be, but with a chat room, just 2 or 3 minutes away and you can become totally oblivious to the discussion at hand.
The only "changeable" thing I might recommend is to add some smilies or something...it's a tad dull right now. If I'm not mistaken there's some sort of add-on for that somewhere...but I really cann't recall anything else.
------------------ Chris Bowyer – chris@mycoding.com MyCoding.com: Visit for Launch Notification! DomainMailings.com: Who Says All The Good Ones Are Taken? MovieForums.com: Talk About Your Favorite Flicks!
It takes too much time up. Keeping up with the conversations is hard, and keeps me from getting work done. However, I use ICQ, AIM, and MSN IM software all the time because it doesn't take away from my time.
It's hard to keep up with a chatroom full of people. Posting in the Forums is more for me because it is fun and I can do it when I want.
I am starting to have my doubts about a community chat. Unless chats start to be scheduled on a specific topic, I probably won't be appearing much.
Chris:
You'd have to get an add-on for your IRC client because IRC is a general no-frills protocol and it doesn't add things like smileys and avatars like AIM does.
I for one think that if we could get ONE scheduled chat, where we shared tips and tricks, then it would do a lot of good. Maybe have someone be the queue moderator and then when you have a tip you type "!" and then you're added to the queue. Then you tell the tips and comment on them. This is how they do it on BryceTalk, a chat app included with Bryce 4 and it works well.
[This message has been edited by d3v (edited July 22, 2000).]
I suspect that if you posted times where a specific topic would be covered. Something like, "Tonight at 8:00 on Sitepoint Chat: Cool New Stuff". Then at least people would come en masse at that time.
Personally, though, I really enjoy the informal nature of the chat as it is now. I think its great to just talk about whatever with other Sitepoint members. It certainly seems to serve the function of building a more closely knit community. It helps people to identify more closely with Sitepoint, and assure that they will continue coming back in future.
And of course a link on the site would surely bring people in. Now its just the forum junkies... (like me)
[This message has been edited by adam_shep (edited July 22, 2000).]
Basically, I go in there heaps (I think I've got something like 16,000 words written as of now) and I enjoy it! You can say all you like about how it's inconvenient and whatever, but basically, there will ALWAYS be people that prefer one method of community to another. I prefer the chat, though I post quite a bit in the forums as well, and Commish and Aidan prefer the forums, that's fine. What HAS to be done to get people into the chat is to post a link on the SP menubar. There is no way around that. Without it, the only people that go in there are the poeple that regularly read the general/sitepoint forums, and frankly, there aren't THAT many of them online at one time. Also, it needs to be made clear the the Java applet is NOT the only option for connecting to IRC. goto Mirc.com or download *****x for linux.
Just my thoughts, but until someone actually gives the chat a decent chance by actually linking to it, the chat will remain relatively small.
in the immortal words of someone or other: "build it and they will come just don't work on the internet"
Adam
[This message has been edited by adam (edited July 23, 2000).]
I'll give you one reason. Not sure if its me being blind but I didn't even know there was a cat feature !!! I don't see a link on the forumsa, perhaps it is on the main page, however I normally bypass that.
I would probably use it if I knew about it.. Also th scheduled chat topics is an excellent idea/....
I dont come in often because of the lack of time. i can't chat at work and when I get home there a lot of things I need to take care of. But I love to chat...
It seems when I go in the chat, I can't get anything done as many others have said... So I try to visit as often as possible, but sometimes that's not too often.
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