# Share your feedback on CometChat



## Drew

*CometChat Trial*

Social Anxiety Support is visited by over a million people a month now.

More people are already using chat/messenger now that we've implemented CometChat.

That said, I've just gone through and read through everyone's feedback twice. I have a general feeling of what people lie and don't like...of the people who are comfortable posting their opinion publicly, which we all should know not everyone is.

I waited to respond, because I wanted to let the feedback come in and then setup a poll where we can get an idea of what people would like most. Please take a minute and vote here:

https://www.voteit.com/v/fyMa4Ud9qJpbUmp

I apologize that you have to register, but this polling service let's us:
1) Narrow down the most important features to you guys want
2) Let's you guys add new options to the poll
3) Allows for commenting on individual poll options, as well as general comments on the poll as a whole
4) Yes, Kitty Avatars is one of the default options, but again, no promises about when this feature will be implemented, it will take a significant amount of work

You can also provide your constructive feedback on CometChat in this thread.

If you don't like it, please be specific as to why you don't like it!

We are *not* going to be staying with 123FlashChat, so if you don't like CometChat, please suggest alternatives you'd prefer.

I know ArrowChat is a very similar chat to CometChat that might be an option.

Thanks!
Drew


----------



## Deviantg

I like the old chat better. In the old chat you were able to keep track even in a crowded room. Plus the old chat had avatars to choose from which we related to the person. I hope the chat room community stays intact. A lot of us dont like it:blank


----------



## Deviantg

I like the format of the 123 chat better because it was easy to track conversation with lots of people taking part in it. Also the avatars users choose 
made the chat more personal. AFter awhile I was able to identify people by their avatars


----------



## meepie

I like the friendslist feature because I can privately message someone quicker on my friendslist without the need for VMs or PMs. I've always liked the cometchat and hope we can switch to it but it seems to be unpopular with a majority of people due to its simple interface. I think people would prefer if they had avatars and other user customizations. The current chat however is very laggy for me. This one is much quicker.


----------



## tea111red

Didn't you do this back in January?

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f41/help-test-cometchat-160400/

Why did you decide to bring it back and what has improved since January? I think it still sucks, and here is why:

-It's confusing and hard to follow
-It slows down my computer/browser
-The chat font is too small
-There is an annoying sound
-The PM window is hard to use and past msgs disappear from the window at times.
-The chat window clutters up my browser (especially when minimizing the chat to look at the forums)
-The scroll button is hard to use (the chat pulls back down when trying to scroll up, making it almost impossible to read past msgs unless you have a strong hold on your mouse or something - hard to describe this)
-It's hard to follow certain users because of a lack of "individuality" (no avatars or different font types).
-Banned users are allowed back in.

I'll post more if I think of more reasons.


----------



## Just Lurking

Note: There are also a few posts with feedback in the (now-closed) Feedback Forum thread:

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f53/new-chat-comet-chat-206999/


----------



## Deviantg

Drew said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I apologize for not making this post sooner. I thought I had posted it, but it was brought to my attention by a mod that I had not made an announcement.
> 
> Please provide your constructive feedback on CometChat in this thread.
> 
> If you don't like it, please be specific as to why you don't like it!
> 
> 123FlashChat was turned off so that people do in fact *use* CometChat
> 
> We are *not* going to be staying with 123FlashChat, so if you don't like CometChat, please suggest alternatives you'd prefer.
> 
> I know ArrowChat is a very similar chat to CometChat that might be an option.
> 
> Thanks!
> Drew


Oh man I hope this doesnt destroy our little community we have in the chat


----------



## JakeBoston1000

the way the chat was before was perfect in every way.This one is much worse. So impersonal and that noise that you can't turn off. plus no avatars. i just thought the other one was perfect compared to this new one.


----------



## Brad

its gud


----------



## rdrr

Here is my feedback:

-basic, simple looking interface is not user friendly
-no avatars
-small text and lines not spaced out
-text hard to follow with fast chatting
-no user customization
-cannot pm users in the chat
-cannot ignore or block users


----------



## FreshPerspective

Just awful. I feel like the community we had in the chat is gone. It's difficult to follow conversations. This chat seems very impersonal. I miss the old chat.


----------



## shyvr6

I'm not a fan of it. Some of the detailed aspects have already been mentioned, so I'll just do a basic list.

The positives:

- You can see if the people on your friends list are online

- You can create your own room. (Although, creating your own room can create more isolation and segregated groups of people instead of having just a few rooms where everyone can get to know one another.)

The Negatives:

- You're always connected to it.

- The layout seems plain and not welcoming.

- The font is small and the users are too close together in the chat box. (This makes singling out an individual and what they are saying harder if the chat is moving at a quicker pace).

There is also a glitch where if I leave the chat for awhile and then click the chat rooms option, it will automatically take me to the first step chat room instead of the main lobby. Also, if I hit the popout button from the main lobby it will take me to the first step chat room.


----------



## foe

Don't make the chat feature mandatory when users log on.....please!


----------



## Owl-99

The new online chat is very good, thumbs up.


----------



## TrcyMcgrdy1

I liked the old one better, but i never used it much. I appreciate you give us a chat at all. Thank you very much. i would suggest a few more customization options in terms of avatars and profile stuff if it wouldnt be a burden on you! Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Ventura

shyvr6 said:


> I'm not a fan of it. Some of the detailed aspects have already been mentioned, so I'll just do a basic list.
> 
> The positives:
> 
> - You can see if the people on your friends list are online
> 
> - You can create your own room. (Although, creating your own room can create more isolation and segregated groups of people instead of having just a few rooms where everyone can get to know one another.)
> 
> The Negatives:
> 
> - You're always connected to it.
> 
> - The layout seems plain and not welcoming.
> 
> - The font is small and the users are too close together in the chat box. (This makes singling out an individual and what they are saying harder if the chat is moving at a quicker pace).
> 
> There is also a glitch where if I leave the chat for awhile and then click the chat rooms option, it will automatically take me to the first step chat room instead of the main lobby. Also, if I hit the popout button from the main lobby it will take me to the first step chat room.


Just wanted to point out you can go 'offline' with it, or even invisible, if you like.


----------



## MrSoloDolo123

tea111red said:


> I think it still sucks, and here is why:
> 
> -It's confusing and hard to follow
> -It slows down my computer/browser
> -The chat font is too small
> -There is an annoying sound
> -The PM window is hard to use and past msgs disappear from the window at times.
> -The chat window clutters up my browser (especially when minimizing the chat to look at the forums)
> -The scroll button is hard to use (the chat pulls back down when trying to scroll up, making it almost impossible to read past msgs unless you have a strong hold on your mouse or something - hard to describe this)
> -It's hard to follow certain users because of a lack of "individuality" (no avatars or different font types).
> -Banned users are allowed back in.


This, basically.

Also the chat is slow. When you type a reply it takes a few seconds to register and send it.


----------



## komorikun

Do people gossip about other users in chat?


----------



## AussiePea

Oh yes, it's quite the little gossip community!


----------



## komorikun

AussiePea said:


> Oh yes, it's quite the little gossip community!


Anything good?


----------



## Ventura

komorikun said:


> Do people gossip about other users in chat?


They aren't meant to, and if they do, it gets dealt with. Reporting something like that to a Moderator makes it get taken care of asap, as we can see logs, ect.  .


----------



## komorikun

Would the mods be able to see chat between friends online? I know they supposedly can't see private messages.


----------



## Ventura

I don't think we'd be able to see those unless reported? Honestly not sure, we are still testing out the controls, too.


----------



## Drew

Keep the feedback coming.

CometChat has improved a lot since we last tested it out 1.5 years ago.

123FlashChat is not coming back. The technical problems with it were ongoing and the customer support from 123FlashChat was awful at best.

I understand that there's a community that's developed around the 123FlashChat-based chat, but there were a lot of people who were offended and hurt from the behavior in the chat. 

We want to build a chat that can serve the needs of both the regular user and the person who works up all their courage to enter the chat for the first time. To enable that, we need a chat that we can modify ourselves. We need a chat where we can add better reporting functionality. We need a chat that we can customize to fit SAS' unique needs. 

Yes, CometChat is barebones, but it's PHP. In the future, we could add features like avatars to to the chat because the chat's source code is PHP and open to modification. We know PHP. We can modify it. We can add to it.

Try to think about it from that perspective.

But by all means be critical. We want to know what you don't like about it. We want to know about alternatives, like ArrowChat. Just keep in mind that we won't be going back to a flash based chat when you do share your feedback.

Thanks!
Drew


----------



## tea111red

I hate that you can't see when someone is typing something, too.


----------



## i just want luv

to be able to log off this site and still be logged into the chat. I will miss old blue if true.

A variety of pictures would be good and help sort out one person from another- with a good selection of animals.


----------



## Frunktubulus

Yeah, a touch bittersweet. Being able to have the chat on the bar at the bottom is nice, the friends list thing is handy, as is the ability to create rooms and whatnot but the lack of avatars or font customisation will make it darn hard to follow conversations if there's alot of talking and the not being able to ignore people will be irritating.


----------



## Zerix

This is very depressing dude.... not gonna even lie.... but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do lol... maybe this will motivate some people somehow :b


----------



## Neutrino

.


----------



## Nada

Comet and arrow are good chat systems, it's a step in the right direction and will allow better integration into the site. However, I'm not much of a chatter so it's one of those features that'll be closed all time for me.


----------



## James_Russell

I can barely read anything. It's tiny and you can't increase the size. If you could at very least add avatars that would make it easier.

As it is I find it borderline unusable. You have to squint to be able to make out what people have said. If 123 is gone forever that is a lot of people I'm not going to be able to talk too much anymore. 


Goodbye friends. It was nice while it lasted.


One of the main issues with the old one was people saying 'It's hard to follow' or ' I feel ignored' Well this new chat seems like it will increase those issues rather than seeming friendlier. I cannot follow this new one at all. And I imagine it would be very easy to go ignored in there with the whole Wall Of Text setout.


----------



## fingertips

please don't disable user-created rooms. :3


----------



## Irvine

Oh please keep the old 123 chat. The new one sucks. Just keep the old chat even though its a little buggy.


----------



## tea111red

I hope that ArrowChat is a step up from CometChat. The msgs disappearing in PMs is really annoying.


----------



## Double Indemnity

I really like the ability to chat with other users one on one. This is the only chat program I've used on SAS so can't compare to others just glad to see it.


----------



## James_Russell




----------



## MadeinLithuania

_It's awful. _


----------



## avoidobot3000

I'm scared. :afr


----------



## Drew

Wow, The Doors The End? A little dramatic :lol

We can work together on a chat solution that fits the needs of a very and increasingly diverse SAS or you can give feedback that's just not useful. It's up to you.

For those of you that have taken the time to voice specific complaints, I appreciate it. I agree that there are a lot of things that are bad about CometChat right now (e.g. the skin/theme/font sizes), there are things that are OK, but could be improved and there are features that don't exist, but we can add (e.g. kitty avatars, which I know is the #1 feature that people have requested ).

Let's work together on this. Thanks!


----------



## James_Russell

Avatars and an enlargable popout is the main one atm. I think if those 2 were implemented it'd be pretty good.


----------



## MrSoloDolo123

Being able to be in more than one chatroom at once would also be nice.


----------



## tea111red

Can there be a character limit on chat msgs or something? Too many people post big walls of text that push newer chat msgs up (like I said before, scrolling back up to read what was said is difficult when the chat is moving fast) now.


----------



## AussiePea

Biggest killer for me is how there is lag between pressing enter and text appearing, it's clumsy. Anyway i don't use it enough to really care lol.


----------



## ayako

i miss my weaving turtle 

actually there is nothing good in the new chat at all

- the text is to small to read
- you can bearly distinguish ppl, aswell cuz no nice avatar
- the font is boring
- idk how to pm and couldnt create a new room, but that should be my own stupidity
- it is hard to read and bad to look at.. not inviteing...

just generally it doesnt look nice and its difficult and tiring to chat in now.


----------



## suddentwist

Drew said:


> Keep the feedback coming.
> 
> CometChat has improved a lot since we last tested it out 1.5 years ago.
> 
> 123FlashChat is not coming back. The technical problems with it were ongoing and the customer support from 123FlashChat was awful at best.
> 
> I understand that there's a community that's developed around the 123FlashChat-based chat, but there were a lot of people who were offended and hurt from the behavior in the chat.
> 
> We want to build a chat that can serve the needs of both the regular user and the person who works up all their courage to enter the chat for the first time. To enable that, we need a chat that we can modify ourselves. We need a chat where we can add better reporting functionality. We need a chat that we can customize to fit SAS' unique needs.
> 
> Yes, CometChat is barebones, but it's PHP. In the future, we could add features like avatars to to the chat because the chat's source code is PHP and open to modification. We know PHP. We can modify it. We can add to it.
> 
> Try to think about it from that perspective.
> 
> But by all means be critical. We want to know what you don't like about it. We want to know about alternatives, like ArrowChat. Just keep in mind that we won't be going back to a flash based chat when you do share your feedback.
> 
> Thanks!
> Drew


Well, if you will make use of the fact that you can customize it, then by all means, keep something that works better. However, please do customize it... at the moment the chat is really quite horrible. It's somewhat fine if there are not a lot of people in there... but when it gets busy, I just sit back and scratch my head. It's impossible to read everything and keep track of the conversations going on. I think a lot of things can be improved on in time, but some things need to be addressed as soon as possible...

- a character limit needs to be set, you can copy/paste some really long messages, which takes up the entire chat box. 
- also, you can repeat the messages to your hearts content... now, imagine someone who's on there to troll, realizing this... yeah, not pleasant. 
- it needs avatars (oh, how I miss my pinwheel) and better font customization options. The old chat was so easy to read because people's fonts were not the same, it was easy to tell who was writing just from the font they were using. 
- also, I've noticed that people who normally browse on invisible can now be seen online in the 'Who's Online' (friend list), even if they're not in chat. Kind of defeats the purpose of the 'invisible' mode.

I'm one to embrace change, however, at the moment this really feels more like a loss than a change. I hope you can help restore the sense of community that regular chat goers had in the old chat. You mention that you'd like chat to be more welcoming to new users... however as someone else mentioned on here - there is no way that being faced with a wall of text as soon as you enter a chat room will make someone already nervous about entering, feel welcome. I know if I would have entered this chat a year ago, I would have left within seconds, and I would have missed out on getting to know quite a few lovely people.

- one more thing... from time to time, all the text changes to yellow. And messages lag...


----------



## googleamiable

very bad


----------



## Ozil

Drew why change from the other chat layout where there was nothing wrong with it and worked perfectly fine? Its like a chatroom from the 90s its so bland and disgusting.

The text is horrible and too small. Its so cold and uninviting. Everything is bad, just go back to the old one seriously


----------



## SkipToTheEnd

I think pretty much every negative has been mentioned, but just to sum it up in my own words:

- the format is terribly bland and impersonal
- I miss the avatars and fonts, they made chat easier to follow and made it more inviting and friendly
- being unable to see whether or not someone is typing is a little annoying. I can see how some people might consider it a benefit, but to me personally, it just makes it difficult to judge whether or not chat is lagging
- speaking of lag... LAG. I get bombarded with a wall of text, and I can't keep up. And it takes forever to send a message, so by the time it does show up, it isn't even relevant anymore
*ETA: *This has mostly been resolved, at least for me.
- you can spam 
- the emoticons suck
- the toolbar at the bottom of the screen is extremely annoying, showing up every time I log on. Also, it's ugly...
- unable to see the gender, age or location of people in chat. In the other one, you at least had the option to reveal that information
- the fact that anyone on my friend list can PM me. Going offline on chat doesn't really change the fact that you can still see I'm on the forum. I don't want people thinking I'm ignoring them, but I also don't enjoy private messaging and would be unlikely to use this function
- also, the fact that ONLY people on my friend list can PM me. What if I want to PM someone or they want to PM me, but for whatever reason, we aren't officially SAS friends. Here's a scenario that is actually quite common on chat: a new person comes in and feels intimidated by the big chatroom. They feel more comfortable talking one on one. However, they won't be able to talk to anyone privately because they won't be friends with anyone yet. They're probably more likely to leave and never return after entering the hell hole chat has become (no offense).
*ETA: *Figured out how to PM people who aren't on friends list (thank you, Matt), but you can only do it when it's minimized in the toolbar. When you use the popout chat, it doesn't allow you to pm anyone in the room. 
- lack of ignore function. Very useful for when people are being bullied or behaving inappropriately in chat
- can't flag people
- I don't really like the fact that you can create your own rooms. I know a lot of people found chat too cliquey and that prevented them from using it. This function has the potential to contribute to this issue, I think. 
- Not being able to be in more than one room at a time. You might miss certain people, because they'll be in a different room.  Or there will be too many people in the one room, making chat even more difficult to follow
- I JUST HATE IT ALL SO MUCH. If the problems above persist, I'll probably stop using chat. And since chat is really my main incentive for logging on to SAS, I'll probably stop visiting this site altogether. I suspect many of the chat regulars feel the same way.


----------



## T-Bone

*I like it. I know a lot of people are complaining about it though (mainly regulars). If there's a chance of getting some new faces in the chatrooms instead of the same ol' cliques, i'm down for it. I like the create your own room feature which allows people to create rooms that might actually be constructive. It allows to separate the people who want to talk serious from the random nonsense BS talk that has plagued the room for so long. I like the instant message feature and buddy list as well.

Complaints: Slow, small window.

That's about it. Avatars and all of that are not needed in chatrooms. Can't see when others are typing? WHO CARES?*


----------



## WanderingSoul

Drew said:


> Wow, The Doors The End? A little dramatic :lol


I don't think it's dramatic at all. It's very fitting for those who chat was a part of our daily lives.

Mods and admins wouldn't understand that I guess.


----------



## googleamiable

SomebodyWakeME said:


> *I like it. I know a lot of people are crying about it though (mainly regulars). If there's a chance of getting some new faces in the chatrooms instead of the same ol' cliques, i'm down for it. I like the create your own room feature which allows people to create rooms that might actually be constructive. It allows to separate the people who want to talk serious from the random nonsense BS talk that has plagued the room for so long. I like the instant message feature and buddy list as well.
> 
> Complaints: Slow, small window.
> 
> That's about it. Avatars and all of that are not needed in chatrooms. Can't see when others are typing? WHO CARES?*


but new people did come, and stay all the time. there will have been a minority of times where a new person came and got trolled, but that is a symptom of HUMAN NATURE, not the chat layout. in other words making the chat much worse does nothing to that issue, it just...makes the chat worse


----------



## Irvine




----------



## Tania I

So far..
- like the buddy list;
- It exposes me to be more spontaneous than vm/pm/post (it makes me a bit more anxious though);
- If i open multiple tabs, to see posts, chat history from my end was missing;
- I can't see smileys i typed, but i see other's;
- It slows my connection a bit, but it's easier to get into than flash chat, which i can't access many times previously.
- I wish the new messages won't make the chat box opened (different color and sound is enough). If i have several different people sending me im to me at the same time, i'll be distracted from reading post, if i close it and not answer straightaway i could forgot to text back. It could be disastrous.

I'll edit this post as i go and find more things.


----------



## basuraeuropea

i like the facebook-style buddy/friend list a lot! the chatroom itself needs some work. but don't get rid of the individual facebook-style friend list, please!


----------



## suddentwist

SkipToTheEnd said:


> - I don't really like the fact that you can create your own rooms. I know a lot of people found chat too cliquey and that prevented them from using it. This function has the potential to contribute to this issue, I think.
> 
> - I JUST HATE IT ALL SO MUCH. If the problems above persist, I'll probably stop using chat. And since chat is really my main incentive for logging on to SAS, I'll probably stop visiting this site altogether. I suspect many of the chat regulars feel the same way.


Yes and yes.


----------



## Joe

Friend quick chat at bottom is nice but rest isn't, doesn't feel as personal as the old one.


Edit: At least in large groups its not personal, but one on one it is and again its nice scrolling through the forums while chatting.


----------



## Canucklehead

The other chat was headache inducing, this one is much nicer.

I love the instant messenger options also. Good work.


----------



## Fanta can

I like this one better. The other one was way too cluttered and it moved too fast. I like that you can see all of the messages at once now. My only complaint is that annoying sound it keeps making.


----------



## Nada

I agree text size is a tad small and should be changed to at least match the rest of the site, but this can simply be remedy with using browser zoom at the mean time.


----------



## pastels

not a fan of it srry


----------



## Drew

I will address the specific feedback with time. Thank you everyone!

I just wanted to announce that *the chatbar is now turned on for ALL logged in users*.


----------



## Drew

pastels said:


> not a fan of it srry


Why not?


----------



## em violet

i cant even get on chat now


----------



## pastels

Drew said:


> Why not?


could there be some color and not such a plain text


----------



## Billius

shrug, well I'm off to that chat which must not be named, sorry for not saying more but it's late and I have nothing new to add. I can see this new chat has potential, just might take some getting used-to


----------



## Sam1911

chat sucks now bring back the old chat!!!!


----------



## BeNice

For the personal chat at the corner of the page, I am unable to click on the person's name that I am talking to in order to open the conversation. I can't even remember how I got it to open to begin with. So, I keep hearing blurps but cannot get into the conversation...


----------



## Ventura

rdrr said:


> Here is my feedback:
> 
> -basic, simple looking interface is not user friendly
> -no avatars
> -small text and lines not spaced out
> -text hard to follow with fast chatting
> -no user customization
> -cannot pm users in the chat
> -cannot ignore or block users


This is just a 'starter' point, user friendly stuff can be added on.

- You can PM users in chat, just click on their names to the right.
- you can block users on chat, go to the right and hit 'manage blocked users' -- that makes it so you dont have to keep blocking the person, over and over when they enter chat.

Pop out chat also looks better btw.


----------



## Ventura

Drew said:


> I will address the specific feedback with time. Thank you everyone!
> 
> I just wanted to announce that *the chatbar is now turned on for ALL logged in users*.


I keep getting logged out of chat, when I'm not refreshing the board, can you fix that?  I know a lot of users just use chat, so they don't want to keep being logged out, well not being active / refreshing the board.


----------



## Ventura

em violet said:


> i cant even get on chat now


Is it not showing up for you??


----------



## Ventura

hikkikomori said:


> I don't think it's dramatic at all. It's very fitting for those who chat was a part of our daily lives.
> 
> Mods and admins wouldn't understand that I guess.


I use chat daily, just about  Change is hard, but we can make the change less 'painful' and use fitting if we say what it is, explained how to make the chat work-able.


----------



## BobtheBest

I love this new CometChat so much! It's much easier and simpler to talk to friends on this. Plus, this is so much better than the old flash chat, I didn't like it at all.


----------



## Temujin

The reminder bar close option doesn't function using an Ipad. 
The ability to see if your friends are online is a good one, encouraging conversation. 
Even using the popout function, the size will not scale up to full screen. 
It's ok though, it's not as bright or nice looking, but it's a chatroom, I'm not sure how varied it can get. 
I think the room options need looking at though - but that's being dealt with in the other section I guess. 
No animated smilies? 

Also, the noise is horrible, but I like the idea of a noise, why not chime or an option of sounds? Is that feasible?


----------



## mslamr

I think its vital that you have a pm option. That' s how i got to know people on here. if i didnt already know people and i was coming to chat for the first time then i dont think i would stay very long.


----------



## Nevermind0

Well luckily i always keep a spare copy to fully express myself.

My reaction to CometChat:


----------



## em violet

Ventura said:


> Is it not showing up for you??


thats what i see


----------



## fingertips

change is painful (on the eyes)


----------



## Ventura

mslamr said:


> I think its vital that you have a pm option. That' s how i got to know people on here. if i didnt already know people and i was coming to chat for the first time then i dont think i would stay very long.


You can PM- click on the right where the user's name is. and a window should pop- out on the bar.


----------



## Ventura

em violet said:


> thats what i see


Hopefully Drew will see this and be able to give you advice how to fix it.That is odd- Have your tried clearing your cache'?


----------



## Ventura

Aphexfan said:


> Im probably the worst person to give feedback since i never frankly used the other chat :lol, but I really enjoy the feature of being able to message people without the use of vm's/pm's, really enjoyed that feature alot when it was last implemented


This is a good thing, we we are getting users who would never use chat before, on chat!


----------



## em violet

Ventura said:


> Hopefully Drew will see this and be able to give you advice how to fix it.That is odd- Have your tried clearing your cache'?


u do know who u r talkin to, so with that in mind wats cache?


----------



## fingertips

wouldn't it have been better to make vital adjustments (readability) to cometchat before making it the only option to users? as bad as 123flashchat is, i don't see the point in switching to something significantly worse.



SomebodyWakeME said:


> I like it. I know a lot of people are complaining about it though (mainly regulars). If there's a chance of getting some new faces in the chatrooms instead of the same ol' cliques, i'm down for it.


but the fact that there are regulars in chat doesn't make it cliquish. myself and a lot of other regulars try to welcome newcomers to chat. i don't want to pretend that there are never cliques, but i'm not sure how cometchat can possibly improve this.



> I like the create your own room feature which allows people to create rooms that might actually be constructive. It allows to separate the people who want to talk serious from the random nonsense BS talk that has plagued the room for so long.


well, hey, guess what? a lot people actually find having "random nonsense BS talk" at the very least _comforting_. it provides a social outlet to people who might not otherwise have much of one. i don't think it's without value, or not constructive.



> That's about it. Avatars and all of that are not needed in chatrooms. Can't see when others are typing? WHO CARES?


being able to identify someone with an avatar and a font makes conversations easier to follow. and obviously people do care about seeing when others are typing, because they brought it up.


----------



## BobtheBest

LowKey said:


> I like this one better. The other one was way too cluttered and it moved too fast. I like that you can see all of the messages at once now.


I agree



> My only complaint is that annoying sound it keeps making.


I just mute the volume on my computer, problem solved


----------



## MindOverMood

>Chat changes
>All these people I've never seen or heard of, that have been here for years, start coming out the woodwork:lol


----------



## Ventura

^ You guys can disable sound here:


----------



## Ventura

MindOverMood said:


> >Chat changes
> >All these people I've never seen or heard of, that have been here for years, start coming out the woodwork:lol


I think there are a few different groups of people here

> People who post on forums
> people who only go on chat

Having this bar integrates them.


----------



## WanderingSoul

The people saying they like it better, I have never even seen in the chat room.


----------



## Just Lurking

hikkikomori said:


> The people saying they like it better, I have never even seen in the chat room.


People who are in chat a lot will probably be the ones to have the most difficult time adjusting to the change.

CometChat can be customized. What you currently see is not the end result.


----------



## Zerix

hikkikomori said:


> The people saying they like it better, I have never even seen in the chat room.


I guess they were part of the "hidden clique" ...

Jeez, implementing cometchat WHILE IT STILL SUCKS HARDER THAN A VACUUM was not very considerate!

You just took a crap on the only social outlet some people have, and now they really won't have a life!


----------



## Frunktubulus

Ventura said:


> - you can block users on chat, go to the right and hit 'manage blocked users' -- that makes it so you dont have to keep blocking the person, over and over when they enter chat.


I had a quick test of this but the blocked person's conversation still came up as normal in the chatrooms, I wonder if it only works for pm rather than the chatrooms.

Incidentally, is the word 'suck' supposed to be censored? I'm all for polite conversation but that seems a somewhat peculiar word to disallow.


----------



## PillsHere

I have to admit I'm more inclined to use the chat now. I never had incentive to really use it, but now that it's so easy to access I may go on more.

However, some issues that do need fixed, and mentioned, are the spacing of messages, font size, and different fonts. As of now, if people didn't choose unique colors I would barely be able to notice who wrote what.


----------



## Sam1911

PillsHere said:


> but now that it's so easy to access I may go on more.


you mean clicking that button that says chat was too hard before? :teeth

bring back flash chat kthnx


----------



## James_Russell

Another issue is that users with a space in their names when they write in the chat only the first word of their name shows up.

So at the moment in chat I am 'a' that needs fixing.


----------



## James_Russell

fingertips said:


> wouldn't it have been better to make vital adjustments (readability) to cometchat before making it the only option to users? as bad as 123flashchat is, i don't see the point in switching to something significantly worse.
> 
> but the fact that there are regulars in chat doesn't make it cliquish. myself and a lot of other regulars try to welcome newcomers to chat. i don't want to pretend that there are never cliques, but i'm not sure how cometchat can possibly improve this.
> 
> well, hey, guess what? a lot people actually find having "random nonsense BS talk" at the very least _comforting_. it provides a social outlet to people who might not otherwise have much of one. i don't think it's without value, or not constructive.
> 
> being able to identify someone with an avatar and a font makes conversations easier to follow. and obviously people do care about seeing when others are typing, because they brought it up.


All of this.

I'm all for incorporating new users and making chat more accessible. But you've chosen to do it in a way that immediately alienates everybody who used the feature in the first place.


----------



## Brad

hikkikomori said:


> The people saying they like it better, I have never even seen in the chat room.


I actually didn't use the old chat regularly because I didn't like it. I've been on it plenty of times, but not regularly. I actually like the new chat and the friends list features so i'm more inclined to use it now. It seems more modern and simple to me, whereas the old one felt cheapy and the stock avatars were annoying.

There are definitely some improvements that can be made to it, but as Drew said it's modifiable and as far as we know it's just on a trial right now. I'm sure as time goes on Drew and other admins will become more familiar with it and can modify it the way they see fit.

I know my opinion is a minority, but that's just my 2 cents


----------



## em violet

Ventura said:


> ^ You guys can disable sound here:


and i dont see that either


----------



## Ventura

em violet said:


> and i dont see that either


This might help -

http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache


----------



## tea111red

Reason #957857594 new chat sucks: No ignore button in chat and spammers.


----------



## em violet

Ventura said:


> This might help -
> 
> http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache


i tried that it didnt make a difference


----------



## Ventura

^ Can you try a different browser, and see if it works?


----------



## em violet

venty, i only have google chrome


----------



## I Am Annie

I feel like the people who 'like' this don't actually use chat that much. 
(I believe) they feel it will improve their chances of being involved in the conversation.

Don't like cliques normally? Why support the opportunity to create your own room - that sounds VERY clique-y to me.

Can't follow chat normally? Why support something unreadable with no distinction between people!

Tired of the usual trolls? Why support something with no proper blocking/ignoring options.

All the complaints I have about this have already been listed, so there is no point me repeating them. I will not be using it until they're fixed (I am quite sure they will be because chat is next-to-impossible right now and I don't think 'regulars' will stay). Plus Drew knows what's up and listens to the people.

*Bring back the turtle avatar*


----------



## WanderingSoul

PillsHere said:


> I have to admit I'm more inclined to use the chat now. I never had incentive to really use it, but now that it's so easy to access I may go on more.
> 
> However, some issues that do need fixed, and mentioned,* are the spacing of messages, font size, and different fonts.* As of now, if people didn't choose unique colors I would barely be able to notice who wrote what.


Yeah, see, we already had all those things with the 123flashchat.


----------



## fingertips

i've been playing with stylish to adjust chat to something i find a bit nicer. obviously, a lot of it is just personal preference, but i think it helps readability to separate elements from each other. suddentwist mentioned the very narrow line spacing in chat earlier, and here i've expanded to 1.5em.


----------



## Yogurt

Today is my first time seeing the new chat.

This is really freakin ugly. It looks so dated and boring. The smilies are ugly, the font color options are ugly, all of the text is all scrunched together and annoying to read. There has to be something better. I'll help y'all look because... ch...


----------



## bg09

omg it says I was banned from using the chat?? not sure if glitch or what, I haven't done anything wrong


----------



## T-Bone

fingertips said:


> well, hey, guess what? a lot people actually find having "random nonsense BS talk" at the very least _comforting_. it provides a social outlet to people who might not otherwise have much of one. i don't think it's without value, or not constructive.
> 
> being able to identify someone with an avatar and a font makes conversations easier to follow. and obviously people do care about seeing when others are typing, because they brought it up.


Well some people don't find it constructive or comforting at all. That's why it's good to have different chatrooms that may be aimed towards a certain topic of discussion, to avoid being bombarded with silly nonsense talk. It's not a good idea to block people permanently in a chatroom just because they may be talking BS at that given moment when you can avoid that altogether....just in case that was going to be your followup.

There's no need to know when someone is typing. In fact, i don't want people to know when i'm typing. They may get the idea i'm ignoring them, or vice versa if they see i'm not responding? So where exactly is the positive in this?
Avatars aren't needed, just desired. People should be perfectly able to identify someone by their username, that's why we all have different ones.


----------



## bg09

bg09 said:


> omg it says I was banned from using the chat?? not sure if glitch or what, I haven't done anything wrong


so do i at least get someone to tell me why they have banned me?


----------



## Zerix

bg09 said:


> so do i at least get someone to tell me why they have banned me?


yeah seriously... cmon banning bg from chat is like giving us a new friend and then taking him away!! >=(


----------



## Ventura

bg09 said:


> so do i at least get someone to tell me why they have banned me?


This is not the right 'thread' for this, I think it's best to take to PM's. I'll send you a PM about it


----------



## DeeperUnderstanding

I like it.


----------



## Nevermind0

This chat is depressing and it has somehow sucked all the personality and funny out of everyone. I blame the tiny text, lack of awesome smileys and no avatars.


----------



## T-Bone

I keep closing out PM's and the keep popping back up, with no new messages! How long does this thing save private messages? I don't like that either.:no


----------



## tea111red

SomebodyWakeME said:


> I keep closing out PM's and the keep popping back up, with no new messages! How long does this thing save private messages? I don't like that either.:no


Yeah, the whole PMing thing is a mess. Messages will disappear from the chat log if you have multiple tabs open in your browser, too (the flashing "New Messages" in a tab is annoying as well).


----------



## Zerix

Nevermind0 said:


> This chat is depressing and it has somehow sucked all the personality and funny out of everyone. I blame the tiny text, lack of awesome smileys and no avatars.


^


----------



## Nefury

bad


----------



## Just Lurking

Secretaz said:


> Why is this new thing suddenly disappeared?


It should still be there. Maybe restart your browser?


----------



## Secretaz

Just Lurking said:


> It should still be there. Maybe restart your browser?


Oh thanks, it's back now. I thought Drew deleted it.


----------



## Zerix

fingertips said:


> i've been playing with stylish to adjust chat to something i find a bit nicer. obviously, a lot of it is just personal preference, but i think it helps readability to separate elements from each other. suddentwist mentioned the very narrow line spacing in chat earlier, and here i've expanded to 1.5em.


you did this how ?


----------



## Deviantg

The chat feels so dead now. THere are less people using the chat now. Something has to be done.


----------



## TobeyJuarez

Is the cometchat the new chat rooms or the chat bar at the bottom of the page... i like the chat bar at the bottom of the page its awsome.... but the chatrooms seem kinda plain but i dont really use the chat rooms... So id like it if you guys kept the chat bar but i dont really have an opinion on the chat rooms


----------



## Elad

illmatic1 said:


> Is the cometchat the new chat rooms or the chat bar at the bottom of the page... i like the chat bar at the bottom of the page its awsome.... but the chatrooms seem kinda plain but i dont really use the chat rooms... So id like it if you guys kept the chat bar but i dont really have an opinion on the chat rooms


Yeah the chat room box on the bar is great for reading the forums at the same time, but its not so good if you want the chat popped out.

In fact the whole thing has grown on me, its not that bad at all.. everyone is just reacting over the top due to the sudden change I think.


----------



## Alx

Why has 123 been removed? It was great! Comet is just terrible and it's eating away at the community, not to mention permabanned trolls coming back since CometChat allows everyone to log in.

I'm sorry, but whoever says that this new chatroom system is better than the avatar-filled, colourful, emotive past one is just in denial, as a coping mechanism, thinking that nothing can be done. CometChat is a confusing, hard to read and customise plague to us.


----------



## Zerix

Alx said:


> I'm sorry, but whoever says that this new chatroom system is better than the avatar-filled, colourful, emotive past one is just in denial, as a coping mechanism, thinking that nothing can be done. CometChat is a confusing, hard to read and customise plague to us.


THIS!!!! DAMN it.


----------



## Drew

hikkikomori said:


> I don't think it's dramatic at all. It's very fitting for those who chat was a part of our daily lives.
> 
> Mods and admins wouldn't understand that I guess.


I apologize for that comment and I don't meant to target you or the person who posted the brilliant song by The Doors (seriously, I think it's a great song).

Moderation of the chat was so problematic that one other option was removing the chat completely. It was very seriously considered. SAS didn't always have a chat and it doesn't necessarily always have to have a chat going forward, especially when looking at this thread/poll:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com...rom-using-the-current-chat-service-on-190842/

I don't mean to dismiss how important the chat is in many people's lives, but 123FlashChat was 1) Not possible for us to customize 2) We paid 123FlashChat A LOT of money to customize it for us 3) They failed to deliver on what they promised (to the point where I could probably sue them in small claims court if they weren't based in China) 4) Their customer support is ATROCIOUS

So as has been discussed on the forums and in the chatrooms multiple times, it is dramatic when viewed in the context of their *no longer being any chat on SAS at all*. Think Cuban Missile Crisis for how close I was to just turning the chat off completely. If you don't know what that means, review your history.

Moving on...

Social Anxiety Support is visited by over a million people a month now.

Who is posting in this thread is a small vocal minority of the people that visit SAS and a small vocal minority of the people who use chat. More people are already using chat/messenger now that we've implemented CometChat.

That said, I've just gone through and read through everyone's feedback twice. I have a general feeling of what people lie and don't like...of the people who are comfortable posting their opinion publicly, which we all should know not everyone is.

I waited to respond, because I wanted to let the feedback come in and then setup a vote where we can get an idea of what people would like most. Please take a minute and vote here:

https://www.voteit.com/v/fyMa4Ud9qJpbUmp

I apologize that you have to register, but this polling service let's us:
1) Narrow down the most important features to you guys want
2) Let's you guys add new options to the poll
3) Allows for commenting on individual poll options, as well as general comments on the poll as a whole
4) Yes, Kitty Avatars is one of the default options, but again, no promises about when this feature will be implemented, it will take a significant amount of work

Thanks,
Drew


----------



## Drew

*Vote on changes to CometChat*

Social Anxiety Support is visited by over a million people a month now.

Who is posting in the other thread is a small vocal minority of the people that visit SAS and a small vocal minority of the people who use the chat. More people are already using chat/messenger now that we've implemented CometChat.

That said, I've just gone through and read through everyone's feedback twice. I have a general feeling of what people lie and don't like...of the people who are comfortable posting their opinion publicly, which we all should know not everyone is.

I waited to respond, because I wanted to let the feedback come in and then setup a poll where we can get an idea of what people would like most. Please take a minute and vote here:

https://www.voteit.com/v/fyMa4Ud9qJpbUmp

I apologize that you have to register, but this polling service let's us:
1) Narrow down the most important features to you guys want
2) Let's you guys add new options to the poll
3) Allows for commenting on individual poll options, as well as general comments on the poll as a whole
4) Yes, Kitty Avatars is one of the default options, but again, no promises about when this feature will be implemented, it will take a significant amount of work

Thanks,
Drew


----------



## James_Russell

I disagree with it just being a vocal minority. And it was pretty obvious from the thread what the critical issues were.

Text separation, font size and avatars are vital and I won't be using the chat again till they are fixed.

As for the amount of new people using chat, that is just the obvious consequence of a new feature. If there is a new feature the majority of people are going to check it out of mere curiosity. Doesn't mean it is popular or working. Especially with something as instantly noticeable as comet chat.

But I did vote in the poll. And I hope that the obvious issues can be fixed as soon as possible.


----------



## Secretaz

I hate that sound of new messages. I like to hear a notifying voice when I get a new message, but the voice there is now is annoying.


----------



## Raphael200

i hate za current chat!The old one was sooooooooooooooo much better!


----------



## Billius

> Who is posting in this thread is a small vocal minority of the people that visit SAS and a small vocal minority of the people who use chat. More people are already using chat/messenger now that we've implemented CometChat.


20/80 rule all over. My 2 cents is thanks and keep up the good work


----------



## Zerix

Can at least PLEASE add some spacing between text or modify the look A LITTLE BIT... it really sucks to read it right now and very hard to keep up when it's moving fast...


----------



## Drew

a pers0n said:


> I disagree with it just being a vocal minority. And it was pretty obvious from the thread what the critical issues were.


Obviously you've never seen the threads where people talk about how challenging it is for them to make a post of any kind because of their anxiety, let alone a thread where people are all fired up about a change (which is fine, I understand why people are fired up).

The people are the vocal minority and I have hard data of chat usage to back that up.



a pers0n said:


> As for the amount of new people using chat, that is just the obvious consequence of a new feature.


I agree with you on the point about CometChat almost being unavoidable and yes, a new feature is going to be more popular until the buzz wears off. It's like Siri, lots of buzz, no one uses it anymore (by the numbers). We agree there and those are both good points.

But obviously you have never seen the *countless* posts from people that never knew the chat existed because it wasn't prominently featured. I did that on purpose because, while I understand an important community had developed, I felt we could barely keep it appropriate and under control at times as it was. This is evidenced in the thread about what keeps people from using the chat



a pers0n said:


> But I did vote in the poll. And I hope that the obvious issues can be fixed as soon as possible.


And I want to thank you for voting. I know it can seem like it from what I say, but I don't mean to imply I don't care about the vocal minority, I just want to make sure that everyone who is interested in using their chat has a channel to provide feedback that they're comfortable enough with that they'll actually do it.

Thanks!


----------



## Drew

Colonel Terrorist said:


> i hate za current chat!The old one was sooooooooooooooo much better!


Can you provide a reason why the old chat was better to support each one of those "o"s?


----------



## T-Bone

Bring back user created chats. If people abuse it, just block them access to chatting, clearly they're not mature enough to be speaking. How was this option abused anyways? Making the chat room titles out to be body parts with the keys? Cuss words? That's a silly reason to get rid of the feature altogether.


----------



## T-Bone

Ventura said:


> It was a bit more then that. Making rooms, in cuss words, and a bunch of rooms at once (over 30?) even though they'd disappear after x time, if a Moderator did not catch it ti remove them became detracting.
> 
> Users making pw protected rooms and only sharing them to x users, and excluding a few, is not only chat discouraging but SA provoking, and makes a less friendly environment.


Well can't you block people from creating more than one room at once? And NOT password protected? Problem solved.


----------



## girlyone1

Ventura said:


> Users making pw protected rooms and only sharing them to x users, and excluding a few, is not only chat discouraging but SA provoking, and makes a less friendly environment.


I don't really care rather we have user made rooms or not but I can see why people would make a PW protected room. There are people in the chat that find the littlest things offensive and I think the flag button gets abused so much. I think it is unfair that people have the option to flag a person because that is where favoritism comes in. I can easily flag one person for talking about the same subject another person was talking about and not flag them. But who ends up getting banned?

Since you guys seem to be so concerned about users feeling excluded and discourage and all that. Then when yall bring back the flag system and bann system can yall be a little bit more fair with that.

I have been banned so many times for the same things everyone else is talking about. It is so hard for me to sit there and talk about SA when the majority of the time that is not what people are talking about. Even when initiating a SA conversation you will get ignored most of the time. I think the chat is a place for people to come and be themselves and to be social and to have a good time because most of us don't get any social interaction in our normal offline lives. So its nice to come to chat and be able to unwind. I understand the whole friendly chat and obey the rules. BUT LETS BE REAL HERE....Ventura you come to the chat all the time. AND ITS REALLY NEVER ON SA TOPIC, people are always having the most random conversations.

But whos the one with the bann from lurking when they log on.....

So anyways I think their should be a block feature added to the chat. A block feature where if you block a member you won't be able to see their chat and they won't be able to see yours. That makes it so much easier to weed out the nonsense that you don't want to involve yourself in.


----------



## girlyone1

Ventura said:


> Hopefully it's a bit more of a easier setup for Moderators to see the logs, ect, and keep track of what you explained above. It was not due from favoritism or who we infract/ warn/ ban. Sometimes, we honestly could not find the logs from flashchat123, and nothing we could do, it had some very buggy moments.
> 
> Your right. It's something that needs to be addressed, we need to have rooms solely for SA topis and constructive, then random blah's, that happen.


Yes....maybe something like a Anything Goes Room. That way we can feel free to talk about whatever and not have to worry about possibly offending someone.

Most of the time when these new people come into the room, there is already a conversation going on between the people that were already in the chat, so sometimes the new person doesn't get acknowledged. They follow along with chat to see what is going on and they see the word butt or something and they might get offended and never want to come to chat again or they might get offended and flag that person. I don't think that is right. I definitely don't want to offend someone who has SA and is coming into the chat for the first time. But sometimes the conversations are just all over the place and random.

So we should have the option to be in more then one room at once. We can be in a SA support room and a Anything goes room at the same time. That way if people go in the support room they can get the support they are looking for without having to worry about jumping into a conversation that has nothing to do with SA and possibly getting offended.


----------



## Fanta can

I just want to say I don't think you should need a facebook to vote in the poll. That seems unfair.


----------



## Ventura

LowKey said:


> I just want to say I don't think you should need a facebook to vote in the poll. That seems unfair.


You don't need facebook to join in the poll, although you can use it if you want, you can make a normal account. :stu

Signing in through facebook is just the quick way.


----------



## Andrew4

I don't like it at all. There are no avatars, the spacing and font is bad, and there's no color. The room has no personality man!


----------



## Sam1911

we need an adult room where we can talk about anything and cuss


----------



## bg09

Sam1911 said:


> we need an adult room where we can talk about anything and *cuss*


this

still banned btw 
edit: TY VENTURA!! <3


----------



## em violet

chat is still not loading so i am still not able to get on it. its been this way since its change, and brandt said hed work on it and it still is the same!


----------



## tea111red

the minority rules on this site.


----------



## fingertips

girlyone1 said:


> Most of the time when these new people come into the room, there is already a conversation going on between the people that were already in the chat, so sometimes the new person doesn't get acknowledged.


i just wanted to say that having avatars was a good way of identifying and welcoming new people (because they wouldn't yet have one)


----------



## iAmCodeMonkey

paulallan said:


> the way the chat was before was perfect in every way.This one is much worse. So impersonal and that noise that you can't turn off. plus no avatars. i just thought the other one was perfect compared to this new one.


The only issue I could find with the old chat system was that the fonts were too small for me to read...


----------



## Emanresu

Chat?? Smells like the 90's in here.


----------



## Zerix

Emanresu said:


> Chat?? Smells like the 90's in here.


Yes with the new one IT DOES... the old 123FlashChat was theeee ****!

ANYWAYS.... all this talk about this crap being customizable yet nothing is being done to it geez!! Can we please fix text spacing at least -_____-


----------



## BeaT

i rather extremely dislike how it logs us out periodically.


fix dis ****


----------



## tea111red

Zerix said:


> ANYWAYS.... all this talk about this crap being customizable yet nothing is being done to it geez!! Can we please fix text spacing at least -_____-


Well, that is no surprise. It usually takes ages for things to take effect on here.


----------



## em violet

em violet said:


> chat is still not loading so i am still not able to get on it. its been this way since its change, and brandt said hed work on it and it still is the same!


ok my 4th time posting a comment in here bout this, but i still cant get on chat and its getting me really ticked off.


----------



## Zerix

em violet said:


> ok my 4th time posting a comment in here bout this, but i still cant get on chat and its getting me really ticked off.


Damn, no wonder you haven't been on hah


----------



## James_Russell

em violet said:


> ok my 4th time posting a comment in here bout this, but i still cant get on chat and its getting me really ticked off.


You've not been missing much


----------



## Petrovsk Mizinski

Guess I better have some input, since I've been a chat regular for a while.
10000000+ to the lag being SUPER annoying.

With 123 Flash, I disliked and liked some aspects of the spam filter.
Cool that stopped idiots from spamming, but it would also tell you to 'slow down' occasionally, which got really annoying if you were trying to discuss something in detail over a few lines and it keeps interrupting.
I'm glad that aspect is gone with this new chat.

With the greater freedom with comes more responsibility.
I'm not going to name names here, but there has been a few particular individuals I've noticed that have been seriously abusing the lack of spam filter, using one line and one letter at a time for long words/multiple words or even copying and pasting huge portions of the conversation (which is the one that's getting up my, and many other's, skin the most), both of which make it really hard to follow the conversation.
If you're one of those people that have been doing this and reading this right now (you know who you are), you're not cool and you're not funny for doing this, in fact all you're doing is pissing people off and ruining the chat for everyone.
It's the kinds crap that gives us more strict rules/less freedoms.

I'll politely ask that you stop abusing this freedom, be mature and responsible about it and just stop doing this.
This is the kind of thing that turns away new members from the chat, and even turns away some of the more senior members.
I know that aside from being generally busy, another reason why I haven't been on chat as much lately is because of people abusing the lack of spam filter. I'll pretty much go into the room, see people doing that garbage and just leave as quickly as I came in.

Let's make this chat a cool place for everyone guys.


----------



## JGreenwood

There needs to be some sort of rules for the new chat. At the moment people are allowed to say whatever they want and post pornographic images without consequence. This is not a good environment and could also be breaking the law if minors are present. Also, mods need to respond to requests for reporting instead of ignoring them.


----------



## Gamer85

*It sucks*

yea it sucks man


----------



## Elad

Is there a way to mute the sound notifications?


----------



## Joe

Messages seem to be cut off sometimes too, enter can delete my whole message sometimes and its a little annoying.


----------



## James_Russell

Ok enough polls and feedback. Lets actually do something.

The community has already pretty much died tbh. Nobody comes for long now if at all.


----------



## MrSoloDolo123

a pers0n said:


> Ok enough polls and feedback. Lets actually do something.
> 
> The community has already pretty much died tbh. Nobody comes for long now if at all.


This. Now that we pretty much know what the problems are, when will changes be made?


----------



## Sam1911

JGreenwood said:


> There needs to be some sort of rules for the new chat. At the moment people are allowed to say whatever they want and post pornographic images without consequence. This is not a good environment and could also be breaking the law if minors are present. Also, mods need to respond to requests for reporting instead of ignoring them.


yes lets censor the internet :roll


----------



## Jcgrey

Not to be too harsh but this is a huge leap backward


----------



## Canucklehead

The best thing about the new system is the private chat feature on the bottom right. If somehow the chat was more full featured like the old one, but keep it attached to the bar somehow it would be nice.

Oh and also, could you make the private chat bar bigger? It's tiny, and can't read some of the text because the bottom gets cut off.


----------



## Drew

Refresh your browser (and clear your cache if you want to be safe) and let us know if you notice an improvement in performance in the chat, both delay and dropped messages.


----------



## Drew

Canucklehead said:


> Oh and also, could you make the private chat bar bigger? It's tiny, and can't read some of the text because the bottom gets cut off.


Would you be willing to provide a screenshot of this?


----------



## Drew

We were not able to modify CometChat to be at a level that was acceptable to us in terms of speed, reliability, features, etc. Also, we're not just going to ignore the significant dissatisfaction with CometChat.

So, what I've done is a compromise:
1) Effective immediately, bring 123FlashChat back (the newest version, we were previously using an old version)
2) Keep the IM or 1 on 1 chat feature of CometChat (over 100,000 messages have already been sent through CometChat IMs)

I do not like 123FlashChat or the company that runs it, but for the price, it's the best chat option out there and we will be using it alongside CometChat's IM features for the foreseeable future.

I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate all your feedback, even continued feedback about 123FlashChat.

Drew


----------



## bg09

Drew said:


> We were not able to modify CometChat to be at a level that was acceptable to us in terms of speed, reliability, features, etc. Also, we're not just going to ignore the significant dissatisfaction with CometChat.
> 
> So, what I've done is a compromise:
> 1) Effective immediately, bring 123FlashChat back (the newest version, we were previously using an old version)
> 2) Keep the IM or 1 on 1 chat feature of CometChat (over 100,000 messages have already been sent through CometChat IMs)
> 
> I do not like 123FlashChat or the company that runs it, but for the price, it's the best chat option out there and we will be using it alongside CometChat's IM features for the foreseeable future.
> 
> I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate all your feedback, even continued feedback about 123FlashChat.
> 
> Drew


yeeeaaaasssss!!!!


----------



## tea111red

Ventura said:


> *Grumbles*... have no idea why people like this flash chat so much :stu


People probably like it because it's a lively chat.


----------



## meepie

Is it possible to allow us to use our own avatars? I understand this could pose a problem as people can be misusing it but can we just try it for a bit and if it does become a problem we can always remove it.


----------



## Deviantg

I LOVE THE 123 flash chat YAY  (from a user point of view of course)


----------



## Drew

Now you can access the SAS chat with the 123FlashChat native mobile app.

It's two steps:
1. Download the app for your device following one of the links below
2. When you load the app, enter 527 as the Chat ID Code.

iPhone and iPad download link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/123flashchat/id517139646?mt=8

Android download link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.topcmm.A123flashchat&hl=en

More details about 123FlashChat's mobile apps:
http://www.123flashchat.com/mobile-chat-app

Thanks!
Drew


----------



## Irvine

some of the usual chatter leave because of comet chat already and they ain't coming back:bat


----------



## Ventura

.


----------



## beansly

Thank you, Drew for making these changes. I am very pleased to have flashchat back and the pm feature of cometchat. I see it as the best of both worlds.


----------



## tea111red

Yeah. Thanks, Drew. It's good that you are able to compromise...


----------



## Temujin

The "instant buddy chat" really needs an option to make it bigger.


----------



## tea111red

Why aren't logs from a session available to users anymore?

Can a notification be added to let you know when something has been typed in a room you aren't in when in multiple rooms again?


----------



## shyvr6

How do I get rid of the Comet Chat bar? All it shows is the part of who's online or offline and nothing else.


----------



## SAS Admin

Until we can address the various issues with CometChat chat bar (in the lower right corner of the site) I am going to remove it:
- Can't disable it completely so it doesn't appear
- Some messages not making it through
- Wrong about is online/offline
- I think one person mentioned that the sounds are annoying 

I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but I should have done it a while ago. If these it issues can't be address, then we'll look into implementing some other options that are out there (ArrowChat, 123FlashChatBar, etc.) Each of them have their problems. The 123FlashChatBar can really slow the site down, so again, it would need the option to disable it completely for people who don't want to use it or it's too slow for them.

Thanks for your understanding! 

Drew


----------

