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Live chat room

Pat99

Member
For those of you not aware of it we have a live chat room on this forum. The sad thing is no one ever uses it. Would anyone be interested in meeting in there at specified times just to get things started? Post your suggestions here and let's see how it works out. I'm thinking evenings and weekends would be more accessible for working folks but any time is certainly OK.

The chat room is located near the bottom of the page in the forum section. You will see 3 tabs in the recent activities area and the one on the far right is the members chat room. Just click on it to get to the room.

Hope to see you there!
 
Thanks, Pat. I remembered reading about it at one point. Then went to find it and couldn't. Now, with your help, I will try it again.
 
I am up for it, I am usually home in the evenings after 9pm pacific time, I really don't have much of a life besides hanging out at AA meetings and talking to my dog when I get boared, he sure likes to listen:D Weekend I am usally around and checking in on the forum from time to time and I have a couple of meetings I go to in the evenings. :cool: Tom
 
well, I got there but don't know how to make anything happen. I am CST, can be available at various times.
 
Pat,

Great idea! I am also on CST even though I am in Florida. I am on the other side of the river. I am around mostly in the mornings and some evenings. Some weekends I am here all the time having nothing to do. Anyone have a good idea of what time to meet and I will try to be there.
 
I was having trouble posting in the chat room this morning so made a few changes on the "back end" of the software. It should be fine now, but let me know if you guys have any problems posting in the chat room.
 
well, I got there but don't know how to make anything happen. I am CST, can be available at various times.

Once you are in the chat room you will see 2 "boxes". On my screen the boxn on the right side shows chat text. The box on the left will be blank whe you first log on. This is where you type your messages then hit enter. Once you hit enter you will see what you typed in the box on the right. When there are other people in the chat room at the same time as you are you will be able to see their names someplace in one of the boxes but I'm not exactly sure where. Depending on your browser, your screen may show things differently than what I see but it should be similar enough to find everything you need to chat.

By the way, I'm on EST but I'm awake all hours so I can pop into chat almost anytime.
 
Thanks, Pat. That's not what I saw.

Now that AB-James has taken a look at it, it is different for me now.

I see no difference between "chat room" and "shout box" but was able to post a hello.

I'm looking forward to more of this!
 
Thanks, Pat. Having no experience with chat rooms, I bow to your expertise. The post I made, I made in the Chat Room. And it does show up in the Chat Room and not in the Shout Box.
 
Well, back to the drawing board. Now, when I click on the Chat Room button, I no longer have the blank box where I can type something. Yoo Hoo, AB-James?

They say patience is a virtue. Regrettably, it is but one of many in which I am in distressingly short supply! lol Luckily, I can usually substitute determination or sheer grit (sometimes called pig-headedness) for it, with favorable results.
 
OK, Qaterra, the box you type in should be back now. I had accidentally banned all members from typing in that box. Haha, oops.
 
Right now the Chat Room is set so that only Members that are signed in can view the Chat Room. Do you guys think we should make the Chat Room available for Guests also? I've thought about it, but I have a feeling we may get a lot of Spammers in there. But maybe we'll give it a try for a little bit and see if some Guests use it. Let me know your thoughts on that..
 
Personally, I don't like the idea of non-members using the chat room. If they want to join the forum they will, in the meantime there are thousands of other chat rooms they can use.
 
I'd like them to be able to see it, but not be able to post. If they try to post, maybe a prompt to entice them to join the Forum, so then they can post.
 
I agree with Pat for several reasons. I have experienced open chat rooms before and you do get a lot of Spam and lurkers. Many of them may not have had or be considering WLS and therefore just surfing, It is better in my opinion to reserve the chat room for those who really want to chat or need to ask questions in a friendly place where everyone is of the same mind. Just MHO. Joy
 
On occasion I visit a few chat rooms and am appaled by some of the conversations taking place, even with a moderator present. I truly believe that if our chat room is made public it will turn this decent, friendly and helpful forum with a purpose into just another place to make trouble for us devoted members. The trouble makers that visit chat rooms for purposes other than to contribute good information or just have a decent general chat are called trolls and lurkers and all they do is drop in, wait for an opportunity to cause a problem then leave. Their only purpose is to stir things up to start fights. A lot of them are in prison and have nothing else better to do with their time but cause problems with their lude and often obscene commentary. I think our bariatric family has worked hard and devoted a lot of personal time into developing this forum into a decent support group and deserve a friendly and non-judgemental place to chat and you simply can't keep it that way when it's open to everyone.
 
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