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pawtucket
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We have installed a new chat room that will eventually replace our current room.

Up near the top, you will note that to the right of "Gallery" there is a new button "Live Chat". Go ahead and click it and try the new room out.

One feature is that you will not have to log in. It will automatically use your forum screen name.

It is designed by the same folks that did our current one, Parachat. This new room is one version behind our old one, but will be updated in the near future.

Let me know what you think of it.

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Hi Paw:

I just tried it out under "jardinero" and it said I required a password. I put in a password and it told me it was not a valid user name, etc. and to try another name. So I tried my real name and clicked no passwork required as the window popped up and still wouldn't let me in.

What gives?

J.

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you can change the screen size it takes up by clicking on the box at the bottom with the four black arrows (next to the "sounds button".

Bold does not seem to work, unless you use the control p[anel each time and change from the default font size to large. Ithat works better for my eyes anyway, but I wonder if the default size could just be the larger font? It is a pain to select color, font and bold, all before you can start chatting.

Pretty much the room seems like the one before the current um dead chat (is that the opposite of "live chat"?) I am sure after a little tweaking, Paw will have it up to our standards soon enough

Another note, clicking the link from the main forum screen , closes the forum screen, so ya have to go open a new window to do forums AND chat. I like the other chat room because I can log into GS and then go to chat and keep the forum open all the while, without having to go make a new window.

~HAP

Edited by HAPe4me
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Paw, its cool that you can see who is in chat at the bottom of the main forum page, but if someone in the forums AND in chat, they only seem to show up as being in the forums.

i.e. right now, there are 5 in chat, but only two listed as being in chat on the forum page. the rest of us show up as being in the forums.

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I doubt there is much that can be done about that. The only way the forum knows you're in chat is because you clicked on the link to open it. The chat software is a 3rd party application to the forum software and the only thing the forum knows how to do is load it. It doesn't know how to interact with it to find who's actually logged into it.

It's the same as how it shows who's online and where. If you had two browsers open, one reading the Open forum, the other for About the Way forum, which ever browser you last clicked is where you're at.

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Live chat, Flash chat, and chat are great.

But i have a problem?

No-one is in there when i am on line :P i think it is the time difference.

The only person there when i am is powerfilled and hes my hubby,

I can talk to him at home lmao B)

please could people stay on a little later and chat to me to :redface:

:jump::jump::jump:

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hehe MaryP tell us the time difference from wherever you are, in relation to say the east coast, and we will see what we can do. Weekends people stay around till midnight sometimes, and maybe we can catch you Saturday or Sunday morning your time.

Looking forward to speaking with you from across the pond.

~HAP

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Live chat, Flash chat, and chat are great.

Yes they are, but there is a problem with having three chat places available. I expect that some of them are still under evaluation, but can we eliminate one of them yet? I do admire Paw for spending time trying to find a chat program that works for what HE needs done at GS. It is his choice to make, and obviously there are reasons he knows that other choices need to be looked at. I don't really care what the reasons are for changing chat programs. Enough said on that.

For what it is worth, I like Flashchat because it loads faster, has more avatars, stores our personal settings for when we come back, we don't need to login (if we are logged into the forums) and a few other features that the others do not have. That stored settings thing is a huge savings in the time it takes to start chatting.

It DOES need to have sounds added that can be inserted in dialogue, however.

It DOES need to be made simpler for the users to settle on background colors or themes that work to see different text colors. How about just eliminating the choices and making the background white like our previous chats have been? The most time spent so far in Flashchat so far has been in discussing "I can't see your posts in that color" as a result, people have gotten frustrated, and never gotten to see the other features that are available there.

A work around for now is to NOT check the box at Options> Effects> Background> "show background". this gets rid of the annoying swirl patterns and gradients of the themes. You can then select the color you want for the dialogue background at Options>themes> Public log background

Until we settle on a "public log background" color that works, each user can check the box at Options> Text> "use my text color for all received messages"

If you select an avatar to use next to Main chat, it will make it easier to differentiate between other chatters. Options> Effects> Avatars. It is cool that we can set an avatar next to our posts, and also in the user list. This limits the need for different text colors somewhat.

We can also leave a note that we are on the phone, away, here, or coming back, in the user list.

the big benefit of Flashchat is that it seems that everyone can get into it!!!!!!!! (even if so far they apparently get frustrated at learning how to use it)

OK, I hope someone else posts some ideas, so we can get ON with something,

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I had no problems with the new chat. It loads fast and I appreciate that. There are enough options for viewing...select your preference for yourself and we won't need a unified background.

I like the options this one has. It would be nice to have sound. I love having my preferences saved. I haven't chatted with anyone yet because nobody's been there when I have.

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HAPe4me thanks, it would be nice to chat to you,

i have a great friend in alaska and we are 9 hours apart, or should i say i am 9 hours ahead of her

so maybe you can work it out from there, dont know where the east coast is sorry lol :P geography was

never my longsuit :redface:

it was digi that told me about this site, a wonderful friend that stays awake for me to talk to her

but more than two would be great, believe to chat soon

:wave:

Edited by marypoppins
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Belle.....I ain't been able to find anyone to chat wif since tha weenie roast! I'll chat wif ya if'n ya can figur out to hook us up......nd by tha way Paw I like ya new chat room....it don't freeze meup like tha old one was doin!

Belle,,,,,perhaps I owe ya a apology,,,,I scrolled backwards and looked at tha times people was chattin,,,,,I fergot wich time zone to long in,,,am or pm!!!!!

marrypoppins,,,I like ya handle,,,,I have alwasy had problems wif Alaska time zones too,,,,if/n ya go in the wrong time of year it stays dark year round,,,,perhaps thas why they like igloos up there.

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littlehawk i dont have a problem with alaska my bestest friend lives there

and she stays up all hours just to talk to me.... God love her.

its just the time difference when i go to chat theres no-one there,

and when they start to arrive its time for me to go to bed lol....

I'm in the United Kingdom so it's the time difference really.

but maybe at weekends it will be different people stay up later :wave:

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Sushi- smilies and avatars show up in strange places? What do you mean?

I agree, a common "public log background" is better, and my preference is a light color, i.e.white or beige. Dark backgrounds with limited light colors for text is harder on my eyes. Se the instructions in the thread "Flashchat Instructions" below as to how to do this.

The problem of course is that even if WE all make it light ourselves, then future newbies are still messed up with it. They will not be able to see our darker colors fonts with their defaulted blue background.

So I wonder if Paw can just SET the default to be a white or beige background? PAW?????

PAW?????

HAP

Edited by HAPe4me
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MaryPoppins, ................... you always have me but it is great to have many to chat with and share and laugh ........... sometimes even cry ............. You are 5 hours from the east coast of the USA darling.

Sharon ......... please keep trying would really love to see you there.

HAP/PAW my question is .............. I have a white background, but, I see everyone in the same color, so how do I see each individual chatter in their own chosen color so I mark the conversations easier?

Sometimes two or three people maybe be on one subject while two or more be on another subject and when I see everyone in the same color I am in I get a little confused as who is replying to who. So if I know to specifically watch for Mary in Pink and Shellon in Black and I am in Blue it is easier to track our conversation. I know that HAP prefers teal so I will watch for him and that I believe Bliss comes in on purple etc....

I would like to see the individual colors to easier track the conversations, I have a hard time with my vision and seeing all in one color and keeping up with who is speaking to who.

I really do like Flash Chat it is awesome and state of the art and am trying to work with it, I hope you don't find my request a nuisance but just curious if there is a way for you to help me achieve this color goal.

Thanks HAP for all your help, you have been wonderful

Thanks PAW for the thought anc caring going into our new chatters box.

DIGI

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SHARON- are you logged in to the forums? You must be logged in, (you can be anonymous or visible in the forums,but you MUST be logged in)

SUSHI- I don't know how an avatar can show up in an odd place, they are only placed either before a chatline, and/or in the room user list. I have not seen a problem with smilies showing in odd places. Are you talking about flashchat or livechat?

DIGI- what you ask is simple, Options> Text> UNcheck the box that says "use my text color for all incoming..."

HOWEVER! This creates another problem. With so many people coming in and keeping the default Blue background with white text, their posts will be white text on your white background. Good luck reading that. (you can select/ highlight their posts, but that is a pain.

Perhaps someone else knows some other settings so that this is not a problem, but until the default blue w/ white text goes away, it is a problem, especially when new folks come to the room. (when that happens, I generally switch to a gray text on my end so they can read me, but gray on my white background is tough on the eyes.

When people come to the room for the first time, (or anytime, if they keep the default settings), they cannot see your blue or my teal text, in fact mainly they can read white or gray or yellow.

USING THE AVATARS to separate regular chatter's lines is one solution. Most of the regulars could be easily identified if they locked in an avatar to put next to their posts.

I understand some people like the blue background with white text, they say it is easier on their eyes, but to me it is like the old monochrome monitors, and is uncomfortable. To each their own.

Somebody was playing around with the 'transparency settings, and indicated that would help, I have not tried it, nor understand how that would help newbies to see us, since they have enough trouble finding the option button, and where to type, let alone to change settings when they come.

anyone have a solution? Maybe you just stay with the few light colors on dark background, or maybe the admins should eliminate the choices of backgrounds. For now, this is not working well, as it is hard for newbies to start with, and for those of us who have gravitated to our chosen colors, we may have to give up on that.

Good luck, chatters have a way of working things out.

~HAP

Edited by HAPe4me
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