Live Chat

[John McClane]

Hey, I think one little thing we've been missing is a chat room. For those of us who don't use IM services it would be a neat feature. I've got one setup on my server if you all would like to test it out.

For Yoda, it's a free script known as phpFreeChat. Extermely easy to setup. Doesn't need to use a database in order to work. Just an idea. You are supposed to be able to have it automatically log people in when they join from a forum but, I have no idea how that works and I'm lucky I got this much done.

The Link - http://www.movieforums.com/chat

It ain't the greatest but, I tried. :)

EDIT: Updated URL so people don't visit my site anymore. :)

[SamsoniteDelilah]

DUDE! That's fantastic! :D
I don't need java or anything... which is great because java isn't speaking to me these days.
Good job, John.

[adidasss]

you...didn't just say....dude........did ya?

[SamsoniteDelilah]

I'm allowed. I'm in Southern California. And old.

[ash_is_the_gal]

so we should pencil in appointments...which night is the loneliest night of them all? which night do you least likely have a life? majority rules...and we'll conquer the world through our chats.

[7thson]

Looks good except for one problem, I was the only one there. I had a good conversation for about 5 mins but then it got a wee bit redundant:

7thson: Hi
7thson: Hey
7thson: How are you
7thson: Great, you?
7thson: Man you sure are a cool guy
7thson: I know
etc...

Like I said okay at first but didnt take long before that 7thson guy got to me.

[John McClane]

Yea, I was looking for a little chat for my own forum and stumbled across that and had to try it out. :) Other then those "one person" chats it's quite good. ;) If Yoda likes it it'll be left up to him to do a little bit more with it. I've taken it as far as my scripting language can allow. :)

[Godsend]

21:30:00 * McClane disconnected (timeout)
20/04/2006 21:30:07 * Godsend is connected
20/04/2006 21:30:14 ‹Godsend› hi?
20/04/2006 21:30:34 ‹Godsend› wtf
20/04/2006 21:30:36 ‹Godsend› omfg
20/04/2006 21:30:48 ‹Godsend› my arm=broke and no one be up in hewre
20/04/2006 21:30:53 ‹Godsend› up inhere up in here
20/04/2006 21:31:04 ‹Godsend› GOSD GO MAKE ME LOSE MY MIND
20/04/2006 21:31:06 ‹Godsend› UP IN HERE
20/04/2006 21:31:08 ‹Godsend› UP IN HERE

[John McClane]

Yea, I've been catching people loging out all afternoon. I'll be in the chat room until 10:30 at the latest. Join me!!

[Austruck]

Hey, we had four of us in there just now, and it was actually FUN! I won't tell you who was there -- you'll have to peek in sometime and see who's there! :)

FUN, though! :) This could get addicting. :)

[thmilin]

i totally agree we need some chat. shoutbox is just too hard to find. :P

here goes my chat ... exciting, eh?

21/04/2006 02:43:56 * allthatglitters disconnected (timeout)
21/04/2006 02:44:13 * thmilin is connected
21/04/2006 02:44:30 ‹thmilin› anyone ... ANYOOONE?
21/04/2006 02:45:30 ‹thmilin› saaave me ...
21/04/2006 02:45:33 ‹thmilin› i'm dying
21/04/2006 02:45:34 ‹thmilin› slowly.
21/04/2006 02:45:39 ‹thmilin› of poisoning.
21/04/2006 02:45:41 ‹thmilin› it was arsenic.
21/04/2006 02:45:47 ‹thmilin› there was old, white lace.
21/04/2006 02:46:01 ‹thmilin› someone said it was a long, hot summer
21/04/2006 02:46:35 ‹thmilin› but i didn't listen, i kept walking right into that streetcar, named desire?
21/04/2006 02:46:53 ‹thmilin› and got hit before the u-turn
21/04/2006 02:47:00 ‹thmilin› this old lady rescued me
21/04/2006 02:47:23 ‹thmilin› but she lived out in the country with little figuring penguines and a big rubber mallet
21/04/2006 02:47:28 ‹thmilin› she's poisoned me
21/04/2006 02:47:35 ‹thmilin› HELP MEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee

[John McClane]

Had our first real MoFo chat last night like Austruck said. It twas lots of fun.

[ash_is_the_gal]

hey it wasn't too shabby Mr McClane....au, you're too funny. (nice netflix queue, btw!)

[John McClane]

Need to find out a way to eliminate the timeout disconnection. I've changed the refresh rate to 1 second so it shouldn't lag as bad.

EDIT: But if people would really like to help out, do the following. Type /quit in the message box, hit enter, and then close your web browser.

EDIT 2: I tried the automatic log out but, any IE users would automatically be logged out when the page refreshes. We don't want that. :)

[Yoda]

Give this a try. :) http://www.movieforums.com/chat

I've read a bit about the script and have managed to adjust a few of the settings. It should automatically log you in using your forum username, and the timeout should be 60 seconds, instead of 20.

[John McClane]

Give this a try. :) http://www.movieforums.com/chat

I've read a bit about the script and have managed to adjust a few of the settings. It should automatically log you in using your forum username, and the timeout should be 60 seconds, instead of 20.Yea, it doesn't log me in with my forum name. You're using the history feature. Ew. :sick: :p

EDIT: Nevermind. I closed my web browser and opened it back up and it worked fine. Good job. :up: Wish I knew how to do that. Lol.

[thmilin]

i appear as "unregistered." i closed all windows and tried again ... still unregistered ...

[John McClane]

i appear as "unregistered." i closed all windows and tried again ... still unregistered ...The script is a little buggy. So, the exact problem is unknown.

[John McClane]

Was fiddling with the MoFo chat this morning. Some major bugs exist with the auto log-in. :)

[Yoda]

The code that looks for the user's forum cookie is incredibly straightforward/short. It's essentially one line, so I don't think it's really possible for there to be some grand flaw in it. I'm sure it's some standard little cookie quirk.

This script, for example, vBulletin, is created and tested like mad by a team of professionals, and people still have login problems with it from time to time. Cookies are client-side, and therefore by their very nature unreliable.

Anyway, I'll see what I can do.

[thmilin]

If your board has no problem with my cookies, then why does mofo chat? i'm logged in here but not there even tho i acces it from here ...

[Yoda]

Beats me; they use the exact same system to detect the user's cookie.

[allthatglitters]

i appear as "unregistered." i closed all windows and tried again ... still unregistered ...

Once you are in the chat type "/nick (desired name)"

[Tim Johnson]

This forum may have a bit too many members so don't be suprised if that chat room has 20-30 people typing at the same time and writing messages at the same time.

[John McClane]

This forum may have a bit too many members so don't be suprised if that chat room has 20-30 people typing at the same time and writing messages at the same time.Actually, there's already people in there at times. :) I'm in school during the day so I miss the better time to check the room.

[birdygyrl]

I just stumbled over this today. How cool.

[Purple_Panther]

When is the most active times

[BobbyB]

Every time I go in there (Granted, it's only been about two or three times during my entire time on this site) it's empty :(

[John McClane]

Yea, unless you make plans it's kind of hard to catch people there.

[BobbyB]

That's cool. I've decided to just every now and then go in there and drop a movie quote.

[BobbyB]

I just discovered that the chat room does not filter language

[windsoc]

It seemed to be used some time ago that the chat facility was used but is there any plan to bring the chat function back or is there any kind of IRC room or Skype for MF?

[Miss Vicky]

The chat room is only for special events. Typically it's open only on Oscar night.

[Yoda]

We've never used it apart from the live Oscar chats. We talked about doing a live group commentary once but I had to cancel it, and since then people have filled that gap with their commentary threads.

I'd incline against just having one open all the time, for a reason reasons. First, because while the site is busier than it's ever been, it would probably have to be really busy for a good number of people to be there consistently. Second, because it would virtually impossible to monitor and moderate regularly. And third, because The Shoutbox serves a pretty similar function for the most part. I'd probably enhance The Shoutbox to refresh on the fly rather than open a chat room (and actually tried to a number of years ago, when I had less experience with such things).

[windsoc]

That makes sense absolutely, I have known of another site that used a Chat facility and it was barely used so was basically a waste of money. Does anyone on here use Skype for MF?