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!

[Evan]

Hi all!

Thanks for your fantastic feedback thus far. It's clear that everyone is very excited for chat improvements! So are we, and so I'm asking one more question that I'd love feedback on.

Your feedback has made it clear that popping out chat into a new window is very important. We are working to figure out how popping out chat will work with this new chat design, where instead of being a single rectangular module, chat is now divided into "panes", one for the list of people in chat, one for the network chat room and a pane for every private conversation.

As a reminder, here's what I'm talking about:

So, "popping out" chat isn't quite as simple as before, because you're not just popping out the same rectangular chat feature into a new window. There are two main ways that this new pop out experience could work:

1. When you click the popout, only that pane gets popped out. If you have the main chat room popped out and then receive a new 1:1 conversation, it will open back up in the main window.
   Pros: Members can view and participate in multiple conversations at once and arrange them as they see fit.
   Cons: Closing the main browser window/tab where you originated the popout will close all open chat windows.
2. When you click the popout button, a tabbed chat "module" — similar to today's chat — appears in a new window.
   Pros: Members can keep chat open if they close the main browser window. New IMs will open in the same window they're already chatting in.
   Cons: Members won't be able to see multiple conversations at once. Similar to today's chat, you'll have to change tabs to flip between a 1:1 conversation and the main network chat.

Need some visuals to understand what I'm talking about? Here's option 1, and here's option 2.

I welcome your feedback!

/Evan

[Evan]

I should add — please keep your comments focused on the questions being posed, not other feature requests. I may start to delete those.

/Evan

[soaringeagle]

i'm not prepared to answer for all my members and i see advantages to both personaly im leaning towards option 2

but i'll post the question to my members b4 giving a responce cause at least to me what they wants more important then what i want

so let me gather opinions and get back to u in a couple days

 

[Mike]

Tough decision between those two options.  I think as long as you can stretch either window to any desired size, both options are feasible.  I think I'd prefer option 2 most though, so that you can browse away from your network or close it completely and still chat and receive private chats.  Also, I hope that either option remains HTML based and not Flash based as iPad/iPod/iPhone compatibility is very important.

[Evan]

Mike,

Worry not, this new chat is built in Javascript and HTML. Flash won't be involved!

/Evan

[Mike]

I take it that Javascript and HTML will also be a lot less resource/memory/cpu intensive correct?

[Eric Suesz]

I'll try to speak for Evan, but I think that will definitely be the case. Flash is very CPU-intensive. At least, more than Javascript. 

[OMGEDSON]

Option 2 seems to make the most sense to us. We find that our members like to have only the single chatroom window open at work, not even sitting on the network itself but still available to the community. Multiple windows may be overkill.

 

e

[soaringeagle]

ok input ive received they would prefer a hybrid

option 2 but resizable to allow mukltiple panes visable at once

in other words option 1 u have each pane in a new window

option 2 in tabs

the prefference so far woukld be a hybrid

3 or so side by side panes in the same window

as if you took the multiple panes here

and pop that out into a new window exactly as is

edit to add

what id lidke if this was implimented would be

pop up full page the members list as high as the page the chat as wide as it gets when a 1-1 pops up each split the available space so 2 wide 1 narrow (members list)

when a 3rd pops up  u have 3 wide 1 narrow 2 1-1 chats 1 network

ofcourse once your getting past like 6 or so they are getting kinda narrow

so maybe at that point you can pop out of the popoutt

by that i mean

 

from the main page the popout pops to the full pafge multipane chat

from there if desired you can pop out individual chats into seperate windows

 

[NingStar]

Hi why not just use this method where you get to open a 1:1 chat and then have an option to add members to the same chat window. I will go with option 1

[Andrew Spiering]

Glad to hear some improvements to chat are on their way.  We run a weekly chat discussion with our members and would like to request:

1. An option for a full page 'network' chat
2. A way to record and save chat transcripts

Thanks!

[Orrin Campbell]

when can we see this when i am waiting i thought it would be Sunday but i guess not , When!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!