Chat?

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Chat?

by Neo2000 » Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:31 pm
Eric,

How about a Chat application?

A Meebo widget limits us talking to you only. I remember seeing a Free version for general chat somewhere but cannot find the link right now :(

I am not sure about the load on the server/bandwidth problems associated with this though. Meebo is limited in nature but has no bandwidth issues w.r.t. your personal hosting.

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by beatthegmat » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:05 pm
Hi Neo:

Yeah, I've been thinking about a chat application as well. Anyone else have any good recommendations for a open source chat program that Beat The GMAT could host? Something stable and user friendly...

This is a project that I'm going to investigate in more depth after April (after the big annual scholarship competition!).

Thanks for the suggestion!
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by beatthegmat » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:18 pm
One additional comment about chat:

One reason why I have had reservations about chat is that a lot of great info is shared through this medium and is immediately lost once the session is over. I love forums because the knowledge shared here is always accessible and searchable for others.

I don't want to dilute the way we archive knowledge today with a chat system. I've gotta think about this some more... :)
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by Neo2000 » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:52 am
how about weekly chat sessions a la TopMBA?? it'd be a great way to meet the rest of the people on the forum. Chance for us all to build that community feeling :)

Found the below link while googling around

https://phpopenchat.org/


https://www.parachat.com/

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by beatthegmat » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:58 am
That's a pretty cool idea--I like the idea of a weekly chat to meet others...moreso than using chat as a primary means to exchange GMAT knowledge.

Again though, I won't have bandwidth to work on this until after April! I appreciate your patience!
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by beatthegmat » Tue May 15, 2007 10:09 pm
Per Neo's suggestion, we are now experimenting with a new chat feature at Beat The GMAT.

Thanks for the Meebo tip, Neo! Check it out everyone, we should probably do some sort of monthly social hour...
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by aim-wsc » Tue May 15, 2007 10:43 pm
:( :( :cry: :cry:
MAN! I'm missing all the fun. :evil:
I dont have the PC right now:(

cant test it :(

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by aim-wsc » Tue May 15, 2007 10:49 pm
are you guys chatting right now?

i can see cooldude is online so he must be chatting...

tell me guys

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by Neo2000 » Tue May 15, 2007 10:50 pm
beatthegmat wrote:
Thanks for the Meebo tip, Neo! Check it out everyone, we should probably do some sort of monthly social hour...
No worries though I cant wait for for our social hour. And does it necessarily have to be only monthly? I wldnt mind weekly. :D

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by beatthegmat » Wed May 16, 2007 10:29 pm
Weekly might be good--anyone want to plan?

Also, does anyone have suggestions as to where we could embed this chatroom on the Beat The GMAT Forum homepage? I'm at a loss as to where to put this thing...
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by Neo2000 » Wed May 16, 2007 10:39 pm
Eric, check the room. I am in and there are plenty of options for you to make the room :)

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by aim-wsc » Thu May 17, 2007 2:50 am
beatthegmat wrote:Weekly might be good--anyone want to plan?

Also, does anyone have suggestions as to where we could embed this chatroom on the Beat The GMAT Forum homepage? I'm at a loss as to where to put this thing...
Cant we have something similar to the chat box which is installed on my blog.
If we can afford a paid service of such chat box (also sometimes known as Shout box) it'll come handy and wont give you trouble regarding bandwidth.

I just tested meebo chat room, which is full of ads & also it wont make me feel like I am on BtG Forums... it felt like I have come out of Forums.... not liked it... :(
Perhaps will like it if we installed it on homepage...

May be just below Community & Miscellaneous & above Who's online section.
I suggest embed it there... also keep dimensions as 920 X 125 or lesser.

Many bloggers instal code of google talk or similar chatting s/w (also meebo ) If it's automatically loggin as your BtG username it's better.
Currently it's asking to write a preferred name which I have have written as aim-wsc but it should automatically named me as aim-wsc...

& oh yeah by the way I am online right now... :mrgreen: with a PC so if anybody's interested in quick chat, I 'll around for next five minutes :) 8)

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by Neo2000 » Thu May 17, 2007 3:07 am
aim-wsc wrote: Cant we have something similar to the chat box which is installed on my blog.
If we can afford a paid service of such chat box (also sometimes known as Shout box) it'll come handy and wont give you trouble regarding bandwidth.
The whole purpose of Meebo is that its Free. That saves quite a few dollars for Eric both in terms of Product purchase and in saving on his bandwidth.
aim-wsc wrote: I just tested meebo chat room, which is full of ads & also it wont make me feel like I am on BtG Forums... it felt like I have come out of Forums.... not liked it... :(
Perhaps will like it if we installed it on homepage...
I dont know where you've seen ads. I've been on Meebo ever since they launched their Rooms feature and the only "ads" that i've seen are by Meebo themselves which is basically a Flash presentation of the features.
As for installing on the homepage, yup that option is there. I've already mentioned to Eric so I guess he's looking into it.
aim-wsc wrote: Many bloggers instal code of google talk or similar chatting s/w (also meebo ) If it's automatically loggin as your BtG username it's better.
Currently it's asking to write a preferred name which I have have written as aim-wsc but it should automatically named me as aim-wsc...
The problem with something like this is that someone has to remain logged into their GTalk id. The Meebo room is great in that it doesnt require Eric to remain logged in at all time. As for naming you automatically that again calls for Paid software which honestly is an unnecessary expense and can be avoided. All Eric needs to do is figure out the correct dimensions of the box and we are set :-)

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by aim-wsc » Thu May 17, 2007 3:20 am
OK

we are all set.

BINGO 8)

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by beatthegmat » Thu May 17, 2007 1:24 pm
What do you guys think about having the chat box embedded on the blog, https://beatthegmat.blocked? My concern is that adding chat will severely lag the page-load performance of this website.

How important is it to people to have the chat embedded on the forum? What's your feedback regarding the current implementation?
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