Mahz

Not getting Notifications

Interesting. Maybe it's related to OP's issue. I didn't see an issue when I glanced into the system since my previous post. I'll have to dig into it deeper this weekend.

Mahz's Dev Journal

I also noted that if you scroll up through the chat, it retains it's position while the chat scrolls on. (Can't remember if it stays there even if you post a message)
Could we make it so when you post it'll jump down to your latest message? I don't believe it should scroll down for every message that appears as it makes it a nightmare to read previous lines.

@NuttsnBolts

<Snipped quote>Eh. I sometimes like going through conversations and occasionally reply something in between.

<Snipped quote> This. So much this. I've been quite annoyed at active IM conversations which don't just want to let me read the backlog...

@Shienvien

Yeah, I also hate it when chats don't let you read the history. It's actually enraging.

The current chat will only auto-scroll if a new message comes in while you're within 100px from the bottom (i.e. you're within a few messages from the bottom). If you're scrolled up more than 100px, then it assumes you're reading history and leaves you alone.

One improvement would be to add an indication when new messages have been posted while you're scrolled up.

Mahz's Dev Journal

P.S I was actually surprised that no one requested some kind of ordering of the subscriptions. There are a few I joined ages ago and which are no longer alive that I'd just love to archive or something so that my subscriptions are not so cluttered, but so that I can easily access those dead RPs if the needs arises. Is that something on the list? Would be nice to see in the future :)

@Kho

Good idea. That's a good use-case.

Man, I can't wait to see the chat system fully implemented, I do a lot of 1x1 RPs and after a while the numerous PMs that are just used for communication get pretty ridiculous at times. Being able to comfortably chat with my partner would be great, and maybe the ability to save the conversation in someway, though that might be me dreaming too much.

Anyway Mahz thanks a bunch for starting to work on this, I been waiting for something like it for sure.

@Damiann47

I save the chat log to the database, so I'll continue to do so with future versions of chat, like group chats and 1-on-1 chats.

Something I noticed about the Chatbox to look into. Whenever someone types a long message the new line reverts back to the left past the time stamp. Probably look nicer and a bit easier to read if it was indented for additional lines of text.

@NuttsnBolts

Agreed. Good idea. Thanks for mocking it up for clarity.

not a bad idea. There's space enough in the chat.
One could even consider having the : after each name line up vertically, but that might require a slight sideways extension of the chat window or lines can get very short.

We have another suggestion, @Mahz...

Right now, the chat lists who are online and who are muted. How about dividing it a little more?
Who are online.
Who are lurking (not actively using the chat for 10 minutes).
Who have been muted.

In addition, some functionality that would make the chat more practical. We know several of these are probably on your list, but it doesn't hurt to make sure.

• automated Join/quit messages
• /me function
• A letter + tab key - scrolls through online names starting with that letter
• Ability to ping and be pinged through name mentions while not focused on the chat tab
• link to the master log file
• ability to control width of the chat window

We could probably think of more, but these are a start.

@Ellri

Good ideas. Another idea: Pressing up-/down-arrow when inside the input box will cycle through your latest messages. As in, load them into the box. Used to that feature on IRC, like if I typo'd a URL in my previous message and want to re-post it with the correction.

Not getting Notifications

@Cuccoruler Looking into it right now.

Mahz's Dev Journal

The chat I'm working on now saves the chat log to the database:

- Chat: roleplayerguild.com/chat
- Logs: roleplayerguild.com/chatlog...

Mahz's Dev Journal

@Mahz To be fair, I'm sure a lot of people want it to be that way, and will be unhappy if suddenly they aren't quite as invisible as they were before.

@TheMaster99

I'd love to hear from someone that desires this behavior since it surprises me.

But being able to act like you're never online is not a very reasonable feature on an online forum community, at a glance. I can't even fathom the use-case. The guild is about collaborating with other people.

Mahz's Dev Journal

@Mahz
I'd also like to mention that the reason I use invisible mode is so people don't think I haven't actually been online in days. This is my account for official business, and I only log on to post something officially, but I'm always lurking with my others. I don't want anyone to think "Oh, Legend hasn't been on in days."

@LegendBegins

I hope you understand that that's not really a use-case I will go out of my way to support. My proposed improvement to the invisibility system above would eliminate this use-case. :(

The purpose of invisibility-mode is to give people privacy over the exact moment they're online. That invisibility happens to hide *all* activity information was the product of a quick implementation until I could think of a better approach.

If you may be lurking on other accounts, it seems better to reassure people via status and signature. Or even user title: "Not my main account".

Mahz's Dev Journal

<Snipped quote by Ellri>

I'd much rather not. In many cases, I know someone will be back in X minutes. If I don't know when they were last on, I can't anticipate when they will return.

@LegendBegins

Says the guy that's invisible!

But @Ellri gave me a simpler idea: what if invisibility-mode simply obscures your activity within the last 24 hours?

When visible		When invisible

Seen 3 days ago		Seen 3 days ago
Seen 2 days ago		Seen 2 days ago
Seen 1 day ago		Seen 1 day ago
Seen 12 hours ago	Seen today
Seen 3 hours ago	Seen today
Online			Seen today

Mahz's Dev Journal

Maybe even rename the "invible mode" to "lurker mode"? That would be another way the guild is unique.

@Ellri

Lurker Mode

We'll throw in a small question here, @Mahz... The posthumously awarded trophies (or whatever you choose to call it)... What do they "look" like? Where do they appear?

@Ellri

If you can excuse the hacked together, unfinished UI, you can at least browse some trophies here: roleplayerguild.com/trophy-g..

It makes more sense when viewing a user's trophy box on their profile.

For example, roleplayerguild.com/users/ro.. has a couple trophies including a trophy with a special effect:



Since it's their active trophy, you can see the special effect in their postbit:



I just really need to put in the hour or two to finish the trophy pages and flesh out the trophy descriptions. When I do that, I can at least link to the trophy list somewhere on the homepage and create a feed of awarded trophies or something to actually expose the system.

Until then, the feature is more of an easter egg.

@Mahz, I like how you added the chat system. What you need now is the ability to set up private chatrooms in the Guild- for when you want to communicate in real time with a particular user/group rather than the whole Guild. And then, eventually, we could have that collaborative post Piratepad-type feature.

@BBeast

Yeah, that's the spirit. Though my baby step for the weekend is to get the chat lobby good enough for people to use.

I'm glad I held off on the EtherPad integration. Way too much complexity for the guild to stomach so early.

Mahz's Dev Journal

What about a system for sorting PMs into something like folders or something? I know deleting pms has been noted as complicated code, hence something that will likely take a while but until then could a system like that be implied? It would make locating and seeking out pms much easy until an deleting option can be discovered? I know some guilds, including the old one, had a function like that which was very useful.

*braces for reaction*

@Fallenreaper

I tallied up the most popular requests from my feedback form:

roleplayerguild.com/posts/28..

PM organization was pretty popular with 6 votes. It's definitely something I want to do.