Chat coming, and we want your feedback

[Evan]

Update: Please provide feedback on how popping out chat should work, asked here.

If you've looked at the Ning product roadmap recently, you've noticed that some Chat improvements are on the way. We've started to work on Chat, and wanted to share what we have in mind and get Network Creators an early chance to share their feedback.

The biggest changes we have planned are:

• Redesigning Chat in HTML and Javascript, instead of today's Flash-based chat. It will work on iPad, can be customized via CSS and will be translated in the language editor.
• Redesigning Chat into separate "panes," whereas today's chat a single "pane". New private conversations appear as tabs within the Chat pane, instead of appearing as new panes.

Here is today's Flash-based chat:

And here's what Chat might look like (click on the image to see it bigger):

So, unlike today's chat, this new Chat format would mean that:

• When someone starts a 1:1 conversation, the chat would instantly pop up (and pop open), so it would be very hard to miss.
• You can talk in 1:1 conversations and in the main chat room at the same time (not possible without changing tabs today)

There's a lot to process in looking at this new design, and there have been a ton of discussions on Creators about Chat. We want your feedback, though, about the overall design and functionality.

A few of big questions have come up that we want to pose to you:

• Do you think this new overall design works better than today's tabbed chat?
• Would you be disappointed if this redesigned chat just existed in your network's footer, not in a module or full page as it does today?
• Are you satisfied with the general size of the main chat window? Do you think you'd still need to pop it out in case the discussion becomes so active you need more screen real estate?
• How important is being able to pop out the main chat room, or 1:1 conversations?
• How do you feel about the sounds in chat? So long as users can turn sounds off, should a sound be played every time a new message is posted? Even when chat is minimized?

We'd love your feedback on these issues, as we start to develop chat. Down the road, we'll get into more specific feature additions, but for now, I'd like to keep this discussion focused on the big design/behavior issues I've raised above.

Thanks!

[Apostle Solael]

Ning does have one on one chat

[Mike]

• Do you think this new overall design works better than today's tabbed chat?
• Would you be disappointed if this redesigned chat just existed in your network's footer, not in a module or full page as it does today?
• Are you satisfied with the general size of the main chat window? Do you think you'd still need to pop it out in case the discussion becomes so active you need more screen real estate?
• How important is being able to pop out the main chat room, or 1:1 conversations?
• How do you feel about the sounds in chat? So long as users can turn sounds off, should a sound be played every time a new message is posted? Even when chat is minimized?

I love the new design over the single pane current design.  I do insist that the "pop-out" functionality remain intact.  Chat is hands down our most heavily used feature and so it can get busy and being able to pop-out chat so as to stretch the length is very helpful.  I don't know if we need a dedicated page, but if the Chat tab could popup chat when clicked instead of going to a page, that would be fine.  Hard to gauge the size, but it looks alright so long as it can still be popped-out.  I think only the main chat room would need the pop-out ability, though some may appreciate being able to pop-out private chats.  Those who use chat most have grown to like the "chirp" that plays every time a response is posted, as it alerts them even if they are away from the PC that a discussion is going on.  I would still like the option to have it off by default, but have the last known on/off setting stored per user so they don't have to turn the sound on again next visit.  It would also be imperative that when navigating the site with multiple chat panes active, that they remain active and store the discussions.  I've noted that sometimes private chat tabs and discussions disappear in the current chat room.  Also, another feature I hope is being considered is the option for users to BLOCK or IGNORE private chat requests from other individual users who may be annoying etc.  That's about all I can think for feedback at this time.

[sho allan]

nice!!! we want to any language chat!!!

[Janettee McCrary]

I would HAVE to have the ability to pop the chat out. I frequently use 5-20 tabs and when I'm in chat, that's always one of them. I tend to accidentally close the main site when all I'm doing is chatting, so having the ability to pop it out helps.

[Tyler Durbin]

That looks great!

The sounds get a lot of complaints.  I put up a tutorial on how to turn them off on my site.  The problem is that people have to keep the sound on because the notification is easily missed. 

The 1:1 popup should have a way to disable it and an ignore feature. 

A full page chat would be optimal because people keep that page up during the day and pop in and out.

 

Either way, I am sure it will be awesome!

 

 

 

[Phil Sim]

Firstly, a big well done guys in terms of communicating this early at the prototype page. As you might remember, this is something I asked for and I think its fantastic.

My feedback. I think this is great for 1:1 chat. 1:1 chat in the current system is useless and this fixes that.

For network chat I'm not so sure. My first worry is, as you would know, users freak out when things change. Network chat on my network is reasonably popular and I personally think the current network chat works well. I like being able to embed it onto the front page, and I like it being able to exist on its own page.

I think it's a little hard to know without seeing how your designing the footer. Right now, the chat is pretty invisible in the footer, and I'd hate to image that you see a large pop-up every time someone makes a new network chat post but on the flipside you need to improve the ability to inform the user network chat is taking place.  With the new design, how you do the notifier for the network chat would be absolutely critical in my view.

If it were me, I'd break it down in two parts. I'd re-write the current network chat system largely as is but break out the private chats into new panes.

My rationale is, there has to be a significant benefit to justify forcing people to learn something new (and for you guys this applies to both your users - us - and our users). I see it in 1:1 chat, I don't see it with network chat.

[Eric Suesz]

Superb feedback, Phil. Thank you. 

[Robert Philip Dean]

LOVE it... I think the POP for Chat is a great idea and more functional for people wanting to follow both the 1:1 and the group chat... NOW, if we can just get the 140 character limit on Latest Activity text box upped to 500/750 that would be PERFECT. So far that is the SOLE complaint of members trying to post. We haven't fully launched the site yet, but it is a somewhat lingering decision... I know you've received other suggestions about it and I hope the programmers can accomodate at least 500 char. But the chat design is great! Thanks

 

[Alok Appadurai]

This would be a massive improvement to chat! Just having the auto-pop-up when someone chats would be an enormous improvement! Thank you!

[Patricia NYC]

It all sounds great.. But adding  Live Video / Audio to the Chat would be awesome!   :)  

[Robert Philip Dean]

Patricia, not sure if you know, but you can add the TokBox Video/Voice chat to your network. While its not in the GROUP Chat, I put it on mine for members to talk/video with each other and it seems to work fine.

 

[Patricia NYC]

thanks robert.   i have the blendapps. video /voice -  was just hoping for something built in to the network.   is your site open to all? can you share it? Id love to ck it out.

thanks. Pat