Chat????

[IowaMama]

Is there a Mothering chat in the works? I think this would be an excellent idea! I'd love chatting instead of just messaging.

[Cynthia Mosher]

It is on our list of wants :) But we're holding out for version 3 of vBulletin in the hope that it will be built into the board software as a feature. And a spelll check too.

[Mamaste]

I wandered over this morning looking for info on chat rooms. Man, it would make Trading Post transactions just fly! :D

Has there been any progress on getting chat software added?

[Cynthia Mosher]

Version 3 of vBulletin is in the beta stage right now. But it doesn't look like there's a chat feature built in. :(

We are using an increasing amount of disk space and have had to upgrade twice over the past 6 months simply to keep things from grinding to a halt during peak members online hours. And there's still a noticeable sloness at certain hors of the day. So until we bring our fundraising revenue up to a point that we can afford to do more I can't see a chat feature being added.

I will mention it to Peggy O though when we review board issues, needs, and desires. :)

[Mamaste]

Cynthia, is it initial outlay or monthly funding or both, for the chatware? If initial outlay is the big bugaboo, I'll bet you a special fund drive would take care of it. Heck, the diapering hyenas alone would probably cover it!

LMK if I can help some way ...

[Cynthia Mosher]

Mamaste thanks for the offer of help. :love

I think we could find freeware or something rather inexpensive yet functional. But what prevents us from doing that is the ongoing expense. The demand on our server at peak times (which is a pretty broad stretch of time due to timezones) is already causing the download time for opening pages to reach crawl speed when there are lots of members on at once. Were we to add even more of a demand by placing something like a chat feature I don't think our current hosting package could provide us with enough power to satisfy both. Which would likely mean another upgrade would be necessary. Considering the expense of operating the boards I doubt we can afford yet another upgrade right now. We're working on making the boards self-supporting and that has yet to be achieved.

But I will mention it to Peggy and see what she thinks. :)

[Mamaste]

Alternately, I wonder if Peggy might be open to the idea of creating some "official" MDC chat rooms on IRC or a similar service? All we'd need to do is publicize the room name and locations here and let 'er rip ...

:D

[Cynthia Mosher]

I'll put the idea forward and see what she says. :)

[Mamaste]

You da bomb, Cynthia! :thumb

[Aster]

I think chat's a great idea.

Any more word on IRC chat?

[CTMOMOF2]

I also think Chat rooms would be Awesome... (just a vote...)

[momto l&a]

Originally posted by Cynthia Mosher
And a spelll check too.

:thumb :love

[quietserena]

This is a pretty old thread, but is there an MDC channel on an irc network atm?

[JacquelineR]

I'd like to know too. If there isn't, I may know an IRC network (or 2) that would be more than willing to host it.