Latest Upgrades to Chat: Clear Conversations + Volume Controls

[Alex]

We hope you're liking the new chat! As we mentioned in our most recent announcement about chat, your feedback around this project has been incredibly useful. Based on your requests, we've added two more things to chat. They're relatively small changes in the grand scheme of things, but we expect those of you who want them will be pretty happy to see them. 

First, we have added the ability to clear the chat of prior conversation. We asked you how you wanted to use this type of clear chat functionality, and we got a lot of different responses. So, we've made this available in two ways, which we think will cover most of the needs we heard expressed:

• The ability to "Clear chat history" in the Main Room will let Network Creators and admins zero out the public chat. Everyone participating in the public chat will start with a clean slate. Members won't see this link.
• All members will have the ability to "Clear chat history" in private conversations. This will remove all of the messages that are in their own view, while the member they are chatting with will continue to see the messages.

It's important to note that this link will appear at the top of the chat window so you will need to scroll to the top of the conversation to clear chat.

The second thing we added is a volume control for alert notifications. The default sound levels for everyone out there on the Internet can be pretty varied, so it makes sense to add this straightforward volume control. Too loud? Turn it down.

These two updates will wrap up the major work on our chat upgrade. The old Flash-based chat will stick around for a bit longer, but we will ultimately be turning off the old Flash-based chat. If you haven't tried out the new chat yet, now's a great time to get acquainted with it!

[Writer Chick {Diane}]

Okay, Alex.  Perhaps it was an unfair generalization.  I'll concede that.  *shutting mouth and leaving quietly* LOL

[Rob Young]

This was a reply I sent to Diane Lynn thought you should see it.

Hi Diane

I agree with you. I've had to go outside Ning to get my Network functioning.

The Groups doesn't have a category feature so if you have 40 groups it's a real pain to find them

try 400 groups that one guy has. He had to figure a work around. I used your work around system and it worked with a drop down menu. Unfortunately only to fifteen categories.

Blogs if you have people who write many articles it soon becomes a mess trying to keep up with what is being published and locating them. Had to use a work around that used the Tags as the Categories added several lines of custom code

Video the same problem same solution.

Chat Room I'm a member of several chat rooms many times several people want to break away from the main chat and continue in private. Can't do that with the ning chat. Can't set up a private chat with more tham one person. This is a social network and chatroom is the only real time interactive feature. yet is limited to 1 general discussion or only 1 on 1private.

The current Ning Network is set up to stay small and is not really set up to expand without creating major problems

When I first signed up for Ning Plus there was an APP available called Chatroll or Opentok Video Chat which is no longer available. So i'm having to figure an alternative. Trying to link it up to Skype.

My question why am I having to find back door solutions to the Ning Platform problems

they seem to always stop just short of what the rest of the industry is doing.

I was waiting for the New chat room to be right up there with other type chatrooms. Why do we have to have it at the bottom of every page. My members are smart enough to go to the Chat tag on the menu. Okay it's at the bottom of every page. Why can't we have it as an option.

Someone has a very fixed idea on what a social network should be and not what is needed.

Ning has an opportunity to capitalize on the migration of people from Facebook to private Networks. Ning could be ahead of the game. But It has to change its thinking from Free to Paid Service Network it has the opportunity to be an industry leader but it has to change it's business philosophy to one of expansion and success. Not limitation.

TJ over at http://www.jqueryhelp.ning.com/ is offering APPs and code writing that adapt Ning Network to what most of us need. Why can't Ning do the same. You should hire him.

If you look through Creator Network you will see the frustrations most of us are really having.

Sorry to sound so critical. You guys are real nice and try to be helpful just need to think outside the box and think of this as a real business that has great a great opportunity. You may be going in the right direction but you can still be run over by your replacement.

Rob

[soaringeagle]

its not easy to do it makes the constant data stream to the chat servereven more taxed  i mean it has to constantly poll the or=ther side and see idf a key was clicked in the past few seconds then  let your side know

so adds more lag

intop of that as i stated its buggy aws hell

every single service that i-uses it  will go into that loop where it says they are typibng but arent

for houras and hours

sdo tell me how does it make personal convi=os  any less awkward when you see

john is typing

dave : youve been typing a long time u must have alot to say

john is typing

wow you must really be pissed at me to be tyoing this much

john is typing

dave : its been 2 hours is your cat asleep in the keyboard?

john is typing

dave sorry i fell asleep you didnt say anything yet?

john is typing

john: what
? i wasnt here what were all those messages ag=bout

it makes it worse not better

trust me

its fine the way it is

[Rob Young]

Hi Diane

I agree with you. I've had to go outside Ning to get my Network functioning.

The Groups doesn't have a category feature so if you have 40 groups it's a real pain to find them

try 400 groups that one guy has. He had to figure a work around. I used your work around system and it worked with a drop down menu. Unfortunately only to fifteen categories.

Blogs if you have people who write many articles it soon becomes a mess trying to keep up with what is being published and locating them. Had to use a work around that used the Tags as the Categories added several lines of custom code

Video the same problem same solution.

Chat Room I'm a member of several chat rooms many times several people want to break away from the main chat and continue in private. Can't do that with the ning chat. Can't set up a private chat with more tham one person. This is a social network and chatroom is the only real time interactive feature. yet is limited to 1 general discussion or only 1 on 1private.

The current Ning Network is set up to stay small and is not really set up to expand without creating major problems

When I first signed up for Ning Plus there was an APP available called Chatroll or Opentok Video Chat which is no longer available. So i'm having to figure an alternative. Trying to link it up to Skype.

My question why am I having to find back door solutions to the Ning Platform problems

they seem to always stop just short of what the rest of the industry is doing.

I was waiting for the New chat room to be right up there with other type chatrooms. Why do we have to have it at the bottom of every page. My members are smart enough to go to the Chat tag on the menu. Okay it's at the bottom of every page. Why can't we have it as an option.

Someone has a very fixed idea on what a social network should be and not what is needed.

Ning has an opportunity to capitalize on the migration of people from Facebook to private Networks. Ning could be ahead of the game. But It has to change its thinking from Free to Paid Service Network it has the opportunity to be an industry leader but it has to change it's business philosophy to one of expansion and success. Not limitation.

TJ over at http://www.jqueryhelp.ning.com/ is offering APPs and code writing that adapt Ning Network to what most of us need. Why can't Ning do the same. You should hire him.

If you look through Creator Network you will see the frustrations most of us are really having.

Sorry to sound so critical. You guys are real nice and try to be helpful just need to think outside the box and think of this as a real business that has great a great opportunity. You may be going in the right direction but you can still be run over by your replacement.

Rob

[the_real_macfly]

If the new chat is based on XMPP(Jabber), then adding such an indicator might be fairly straightforward., using the presence stanzas that XMPP supports. Not that I ever tried to implement a Jabber system, though....

Edit:  just read Alex' post above, with which I generally concur.

[soaringeagle]

the volume icon does not show on main page i see it on profiles but when ui go to main i get a blank square

is this a bug or a css issue

no wait i made a brand new site today www.phillyhangout.com with no css at all and same idssue

[Eric Suesz]

It's a bug, soaringeagle. We have it in our sights and will have it working tomorrow. 

[soaringeagle]

wasnt sure if it was propegation related or a bug i peeked at the css sprite and didnt seem right  but your dioing great keeo=p it up

[Henry Cox]

I know this is off the subject, but could you point me in to the direction of a forum with that discusses the share buttons you use on the new site. 

Thanks

[Tyler Durbin]

Great job!!!

[M n M]

Awesome! Thank You very much

[Henry Cox]

Like always great job