Style Ning's New Chat Box!

[Jen]

Suggested by dreadlockssite, I played around with the look of Ning's new Chat Box via the Creators.ning.com site. I haven't installed the new Chat on my site for various reasons. I will soon. So, I have not tested this CSS on a live site yet. Anyone who tries out the CSS, we'd love to hear how it goes!

Instructions:

1. Adjust the styles below to suit your preference. All of the styles are documented.
2. Add to Advanced CSS via: My Network/Settings/Appearance/Advanced CSS

 

Classic Look:

/* Chat TitleBar Background/Title Color */
.xg_chat .xg_titleBar {background-color:#003366!important;color:#E9F8FE;}
.xg_chatWindow {
/* Main Chat Background/Border Color */
background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #ffffff!important;
border: 1px solid #B7B7B7;
/* Chat Messages/Comments and Member Names Color */
color: #003366!important;
}
/* Add Shadow/border to images - member icons */
.xg_chatWindow img {
border: solid 1px #CCC;
-moz-box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999;
-webkit-box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999;
box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999;
}
/* Hover Sender Messages */
.xg_chatWindow li.message:hover {background-color:#E9F8FE;}
/* Hover Members Online */
.xg_chatWindow ul.xg_userList li.userEntry:hover {background-color:#E9F8FE;}

 

---

With Background Image:

If you use a background image, be sure to change all of your styles above so all text is easy to read for your Site Visitors. As you can see in my example screenshot, mine needs work:

/* Alternate Chat Window Background Image, instead of color above */
.xg_chatWindow {color:#ffffff!important;
background: url("http://api.ning.com:80/files/HK8FcEqgWdSqESY0BvH7LOWG7s7Fjlk70ms4mhH-8gWdyrmn9CXRZ-E33MYgudumYkRqUgGIR9rupV8N8rZQq2uvY3XFxF1D/chat_beach_bg.jpg") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent!important;
}

 

Have fun!
Jen

You'll find a ton of Ning tips like this on JenSocial!

[Vladimir Sebastian Bach™]

Thnx ^^

[Writer Chick {Diane}]

Is there a particular size the image needs to be?   (Awesome tips, btw. I'm going to try this out on my test network!)

[Jen]

Hi Diane,

You can make it larger than needed, but I wouldn't go too large for load time. What I did? I measured the box with my browser ruler, didn't even try to see width/height in the CSS. Then I sized the beach/water image to be around 75 pixels more in both directions.

Best,

Jen

[FedMedic]

Thanks Jen! You are superfab!

[Dusty Bottoms]

Put it on my site (farm-dreams.com), looks great, works great...thanks!

[Jen]

Such a great member/avatar name. ;-)

[Jen]

Hey Bon and Kris, Thanks. Yeah, I have to say, I even notice the chat slowing down page load here on Creators. I'm waiting a while longer.

[Kris]

like the shadow once Ning as all bugs worked how I might have to give these some play

[MAXX]

Any way to change the color of the chat bar before it is clicked on?  The silver just does not stand out enough for people to find the chat.....

[Evan]

We're working on updating that color to match the color of the title bar when the panel is open.

[Jen]

For now Maxx, give this a try. First you need to remove the background image, then set the bg color:

.xg_chat.chatFooter .xg_chatBar.xg_bottomBar a.xg_info {

background-image:none!important;color:#ffffff;background-color:#cc0000!important;

}

[Shannon Klipstein]

Thanks! I actually just used this to change the colors for the time being...