I added this to the Forum menu in the main menu.

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/chat

If no one is in the room when you login, leave the window open and eventually someone will stop by. If you're in the mood to BS, but not inspired to post, it can be kind of fun. You can link images, talk smack, etc.

Just what this site needed- another temptation to draw me in

Really, Zane- thanks for the devotion to it

-DP

It's pretty cool...been chatting with zane a bit and I like the interaction...can't wait til I catch gump it there

hey, sorry, but...my two finger typing isn't fast enough to be on live chat.

patrol guy wrote:hey, sorry, but...my two finger typing isn't fast enough to be on live chat.

I guess we need video chat for you.

1SeventyZ wrote:

patrol guy wrote:hey, sorry, but...my two finger typing isn't fast enough to be on live chat.

I guess we need video chat for you.

hey........we can have some fun with that one........

What is a channel. Never chatted before.

tim

qmdv wrote:What is a channel. Never chatted before.

tim

It's akin to a "room." I set it up to only have 2 channels: Around the Campfire and Hot Air. So, you can be chatting in 1 of those 2 rooms, or switch back and forth.

You can also have private conversations with someone by "opening a channel" with them.

The help menu question. Live chat that is.

ok i can see the help subjects but how do i get the info about them to show?

RobBurson wrote:The help menu question. Live chat that is.

ok i can see the help subjects but how do i get the info about them to show?

Are you talking about the little blue "?" icon at the bottom right? That shows the shortcuts for certain functions. You can type:

Code: Select all

/invite 1SeventyZ

to invite me to a private room. I know that sounds a little gay, but in the likelihood that the chatroom had 40 people in it, and you wanted only to chat with me, that's one way of doing it.

To say something privately to me, but remain in the same room as everyone else, open a private channel:

Code: Select all

/query 1SeventyZ

All these actions are available as links if you single-click on someone's name in the Users column, but some people just like using the keyboard.

Looks cool Zane. Thanks for all of your work.

GSP

The chatroom ambassador Rob Burson has met quite a few people in there, but I notice every time I log in, the log says people log in, then log out shortly after since nobody's in the room!

It's not really that convenient, frankly. But the times I've linked up and shot the breeze with people it's been really fun. It's interesting what comes out when it's not committed to the forum for the world to read.

Perhaps the answer is to set a time, like 7pm Tuesdays or something. I know they used to do that at sc.org, and it eventually petered out, but it might be fun for a while.

Hey Zane, I was talking with Rob a bit and we were having a heck of a time with dropped messages and connections. Temporary or are you seeing an ongoing problem?

I run into most folks durning morning coffee and then after dinner. Pacific time. I am on a lot a the Fire station. Nothing better than getting paid to BS.

When you chat it is a good thing to have a page open with your pictures on it. Like BCP gallery or I use Picasa. Then you can drop a picture or two as you chat. We probably all like pictures. You know a picture is worth a thousand words.

I like to drop a link or two about my favorite spots. Here is an example.

http://www.cityofstevenson.com/cam_city.html

Catch you on the chat channel...Rob

What browser and version?
Do you have the Flash plugin? Can you view Youtube videos?
What kind of internet connection are you on?

1. Delete your cookies.
2. Clear your browser cache.
3. Update Flash
4. Use the Firefox browser...http://www.mozilla.org/firefox. Whether or not you like it at first...it's superior to IE.
5. Be patient and wait for your submitted message to appear before posting another one. The browser is communicating with the server in the background, and has a low number of maximum simultaneous connections. If you step on the one in progress it may cause problems.

The majority of the people using the chatroom are doing so without such difficulty. I have never experienced a "lost" message so it's difficult for me to diagnose. Information like running a "traceroute" command to backcountrypilot.org from your machine and pasting the result is helpful.

Still having problems like the one that jump described with typed messages not posting and then having to retype them etc. Using firefox also. Any suggestions?

Big Z what have you been doing with your time come on

I just logged in and made an entry on the chat successfully. It showed that Jump This logged on for 4 minutes and logged out'/timeout. What browser are you using?

donknee wrote:I just logged in and made an entry on the chat successfully. It showed that Jump This logged on for 4 minutes and logged out'/timeout. What browser are you using?

Hey Don, good to see ya yesterday. When that happens it is because the person has been inactive for a given amount of time and it happens automatically. There not dissn you.

I use Firefox and IE7. Fire fox is by far the best.

If you find your browser glitching to much. This helps me. In Firefox I go to Tools, options, privacy, privacy data. I then erase everything except for cookies, and passwords. Every few months I erase the cookies I don't want, some I do want so I keep them.

Rob

M,

It is a mystery to me as well why the chatroom doesn't work well for you. One thing to consider is that it is a network-heavy operation for the client machine. A web browser has a small number of concurrent network connections it can sustain, and our chatroom uses AJAX, a technology for pushing and pulling data without refreshing the webpage. One possibility is that your Verizon internet card doesn't handle the rapid fire back and forth connections that are required. I've heard of people who use the Verizon CDMA internet service having similar difficulty with Instant Messaging over Yahoo, AIM, MSN, etc.

This product (AJAX Chat) we're using is the simplest way to have chatroom identities mapped to forum and photo gallery identities. You should not have to type your credentials in when you open the Live Chat link, it should automatically log you in if you're already logged in to the forum. If that doesn't happen you have an issue with your browser security/cookie settings.

I just don't have the time to devote to making it a more robust solution, as in my opinion the live chat feature is still experimental and used by a select few, and is not the focus of this web site.

I suggest trying it again when you can get to a different broadband connection type, or perhaps a different machine. Maybe even try the Google Chrome browser if you're not already using Firefox.

Good luck.