OK, so I have reviewed the information available for the Chat Program Joey has found.
This program is not part of SMF. It is independent software integrated into the website.
This is from Condologic (
http://codologic.com/page/)
This program is a BASIC raw boned software intended to keep things simple, use LOW bandwith & minimize
Server impact & memory consumption.
The program we have been testing is a Free Version so it does not have all the bells and whistles. However,
even the versions you purchase don't seem to offer a whole lot more. So, what you see right now is basically it.
There are many Pros and Cons we could discuss but I am not certain now is the time. I am intrigued by the idea
of having Chat available as this is something we have not had before BUT from what we have seen so far, there
are some restrictions and program preferences that we would like to see before we implement this system.
The BIGGEST concern I see with this program is that the program does not filter users in any manner and it is
completely open to any registered/logged in user. So, on the CURRENT site we have just under 2100 Members
...imagine trying to use chat and searching for the Member you want to chat with among a list of hundreds
of "online" users. This seems to be a common concern with other websites using this software as seen on
Condologic's website forum.
HERE'S the kicker...this is actually pretty good software. They have made this to be only a skeleton program
intended for the Website Developers to customize it to THEIR needs rather than just forcing a "cookie cutter"
program on everyone that uses it. The Source Code is NOT encrypted so you can make changes to meet your
needs.
SOOooo, someone with more time and know-how than I '
COULD' make this program work for us.
IT IS MY OPINION THAT WE FOREGO THE CHAT SYSTEM AT THIS POINT. I feel the first priority, after testing &
working out the bugs of this new Forum Software, is to merge/transport the current site into the new.
We can always re-visit a chat system later. We still have the PM system which has served us well thus far IMO.
With that said, If we do have someone that has the time & know-how to work with the coding of this software
to make it work for us, then certainly the best opportunity to do so is while we are still in BETA.
There is of course always the idea of searching for a DIFFERENT chat system program.
So, my vote right now is NO-GO. It
might be worth while to keep it up for a little while as we continue site testing cause
for the few of us that are here we can talk to each other if we need to. One plus side of this program is it works with
mobile so Joey is able to respond if he is not at a terminal.
Those are MY thoughts...What are yours?
Travis