Chatroom Irritation

[DuchessCaramel_ll]

This is absurd! Last year found myself unable to access chat with my original membership as DuchessCaramel, re-registered as DuchessCaramel_ll, all well for a while, now it's the same old nonsense. Sometimes I see the preview, other times it's a whiteout; sometimes I'm allowed into the room, others all I get is a blank pop-up with the chatroom border (most maddeningly this generally happens when the preview is there to see - my friends happily chewing the fat within and daft old me lurking outside with gritted teeth). Can anyone tell me what's going on? Pleeeeeease don't say I must register AGAIN; the thought of making yet another profile page and re-directing interested parties to my old site is enough to drive a woman to drink. Posting blogs & forum comments, sending PMs to friends, accessing other areas of the site, all run smooth as ever, but this chatroom business needs sorting. Is it me at fault (I'm a self-confessed technological disaster zone so it may well be the case), or does the explanation lie elsewhere? Indecisive, Billc393 or FourInchHeels, help me if you can!

[Wist]

Though I haven't been completely shut out of chat like Duchess, the chatroom has revolted occasionally against even my ubergeekness. I have recently and repeatedly found myself in an alternate reality room - watching several people chatting in preview while I am in some different room, either all alone or with an entirely different set of chatters.

I take it as a reminder that that "finished" and "software" don't exist in the same sentence. Hopefully indy and crew can get Userplane to excise this glitch.

No international conspiracy, Duchess ... if there were we would cheerfully squash it so you could join us in chat again.

[Indecisive]

I know the chat room software sucks, and I apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced.

I'm planning to replace the chat software in it's entirety with a new product called Parachat. I use it on my pay sites and want to give it a shot here. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else, but it seems like a logical one to try first.

It's also ad-free, so no more annoying advertisements to clutter up the screen.

My schedule is packed today and tomorrow, so I would ask you all to please bear with me until Wednesday, when I should be able to make the switch.

[Wist]

Thanks, Indy, for working on our behalf - we know it's all a labor of love ...

[DuchessCaramel_ll]

Thanks for the kind words, Wist. Missed seeing you around these last few weeks... And Indecisive, I can only echo Wist's remark - it is indeed a thankless task running a FREE site with so much on offer; the bitching must far outweigh the compliments. My 2 years here have been the happiest times I've spent online....occasional chatroom freeze-outs seem small beer compared to the friends made, experiences & tastes exchanged....my thanks to you & all other admin for that.

[Indecisive]

I wanted to let everyone know that I spent the morning today looking in to chat room software, and I think what I'm going to do is install a new program.

The software that is running now, Userplane, is a free system that is supported by third-party (and userplane controlled) advertising. The licencing fee for a new chat platform isn't too bad, and will have the immediate benefit of there being no ads. From the demos, both packages I'm looking at have much cleaner interfaces and would appear to offer more features.

I have questions in with each company re their ability to integrate with phpFox, the software that this site runs on. Once I get that answer back, we'll move ahead with one of them and get it installed for a trial run. If it works well, we'll disable the old chat software and make the new one permanent.

[Indecisive]

Here are the two leading contenders:

123FlashChat:

http://www.123flashchat.com/demo.html

V3 Chat

http://v3chat.com/chatroom.php#

With the V3 chat demo, enter this info:

username: Yabba
p/w: dabba


Please post here if you have a preference. I can't promise you that the most popular one will win, as the ability to integrate the software and maintain it will play a role in the decision, but where possible I'll choose the one that people here like the best.

[Indecisive]

Since there have been no votes one way or the other, guess that means I get to make the decision. I'll try to have the new chat software installed in the next 72 hours. It might well be installed without any notice, so please be forewarned!!!

[Four_Inch_Heels1]

The second one kept saying the Username was already taken and that I needed a different password.

I hope whatever one you get, it allows the use of mics and cams again.

[Wist]

Sorry I missed the try-out period - that was a most busy couple of weeks for me in real life. Anyway, I trust Indy to make a good decision for us all.

I couldn't get into regular chat today for more than few seconds before being booted out, and the preview wasn't working either, so I will wait patiently until the dust settles ...

Thanks for working so hard to get it right for us.

Wist

[Indecisive]

Is everyone having trouble with the chatroom now? Please let me know immediately if you are....

[DuchessCaramel_ll]

I just swam in there Indecisive, smooth as silk....thank you so much. My apologies for not choosing a format as you kindly suggested but, like Wist, have been rather tied up lately with work. My gratitude again for sorting things.

[DuchessCaramel_ll]

Ho-hum........seems I've made rather a fool of myself. Now I see a 'new chat' option, not yet available & obviously still being installed in the Community section. Whatever, the old room is now working fine and will do very nicely for the moment!

[Wist]

The preview seems to be functioning now, and I've been able to get into the regular chat two nights in a row, so whatever fine-tuning you did, Indy, must have worked. The only problem I spot now is the echo in there ... :) ... I apparently haven't been around when anyone else is. A periodic problem that usually sorts itself out in time ...

thanks,
Wist

[Indecisive]

The new chat server is working now, thanks to the tech support guys at my hosting company. Hopefully the chat client will get installed tonight. The company I bought the software from is doing the install, so hopefully they get it set up properly the first time.

[Four_Inch_Heels1]

Cool :)