Shoutbox Project Discussion

First topic message reminder :

Hi !

If you haven't noticed already, there's a giant box you can write in on the front page. This will be one of the newest plugins to utilize the database. It'll be like any other chatbox or shoutbox, allowing you to drop in and chat at anytime, so long as you're authorized to modify the database.



Some of the basic functions have been implemented so far :

• Formatting options such as bold, color, emoticons..
  
• Automatic and manual refreshing
  
• Automatic-pruning of old messages
  

You can test this shoutbox on the index page at anytime. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them below. I cannot guarantee all suggestions will be implemented, but I will try and add those I see ideal. Currently my main focus is to get the basic functionality finished and optimize the code.

See you

would like a kick ange out of chat button added

_Twisted_Mods_ wrote:would like a kick ange out of chat button added

Soon, along with the twisted button.

I still wait for red button. I miss it. I loved it and it gone <3

Ikerepc wrote:I still wait for red button. I miss it. I loved it and it gone <3

Oh yes the red button. We need it as a plugin I think.

Ikerepc wrote:I still wait for red button. I miss it. I loved it and it gone <3

Dark-Avenger wrote:

Ikerepc wrote:I still wait for red button. I miss it. I loved it and it gone <3

Oh yes the red button. We need it as a plugin I think.

<3

Code:

      button({
        name : 'Don\'t click the red button !',
        text : 'Click me',
        style : 'background:#F66;color:#633;border-color:#C66;text-shadow:none',
        where : actions,
        advanced : function(b) {
          b.onclick = function() {
            fmd_chat.style.transform ? fmd_chat.style.transform = '' : fmd_chat.style.transform = 'rotate(180deg)';
            message.value = '[color=#ff0000][b]'+_userdata.username+' clicked the red button ![/b][/color]';
            sendMessage();
          }
        }
      });

Yey!

Given the fact some people started to create their own chat boxes on the FM platform, together with the latest update for the FM default chatbox, integrating avatars in chat, it seems like a 'Battle of the Chat Boxes' has begun.

FM upgraded their dated cb lately, giving in to some of their member's suggestions and likely protecting their product coding more as well for the users to prevent them from switching to other products. While undergoing cb maintenance by FM for over a week, telling their members this would be a bèta test (while it was not even close to that), some programmers took the chance to dive into the world of cb's, created their own websites and started to create groups of followers to support them and keep them provided with new ideas, thus inventing new scripts for chat like the one we see today on this website. Following FM closely, Avacweb just started to catch up with their work, still in lead in my opinion offering many more features like sound, multi-page overlay and and close support.

My vision tells me, one day their will be some cb's which will be very much alike. And that may arrive sooner than we all think it will.

@Samantha thanks for this. You reminded me that I need to add notification settings.

I've only scratched the surface of what we can do with "topic databases", and this shoutbox is about one of the biggest projects I took on for it. Member suggestions and feedback are what will influence most of the changes you see. Considering that it's developed using its own methods, HTML, CSS... it's fully customizable. The code, like most of my projects, is going to be open source, which means any developer will be able to contribute and help improve the project once the base source is public.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped contribute ideas, and even conversed in the shoutbox while development was going on. Without that, I wouldn't have been able to add specific features, test the stability, and fix bugs. I'll be preparing some of the final touches, and be releasing early tutorials for making custom modifications soon..

See you then.

Nice Ange, thanks for releasing this! It really is turning into a battle of the chatbox's. I will contiune to support awc (and yours ange of course) and I believe when all is said and done AWC will make a come back and give fm the run for their money, I believe Ange's will as well, but Ange the moderation aspects seem like they are pretty basic on the Shoutbox. Is there any plans to upgrade these in the future?

People will use what they prefer, I'm not going to force anyone into using it if they don't want to. It's more of a project that I wanted to do for a long time, but never had the skill or ingenuity..

As for moderation, it's something to think about. The current mod only command would be /clear, but I'll have to think of other ways to apply the moderation rights. There is a banlist which allows you to ban members from sending messages by their user ID. However, since the database is an integral part of the shoutbox, you can remove members from the database group if you wanted to truly ban them.


Update

I've made some small changes today.

• Added custom tags for formatting.
  
• Added title notification for when you're not on the page where the shoutbox is.
  

I've also published an explanation on creating buttons.
https://fmdesign.forumotion.com/t314-fmd-shoutbox-create-custom-buttons#2068

@Ange Tuteur you said there was a clear button for the shoutbox right? Or was this only for you on FM Design?

brandon_g wrote:@Ange Tuteur you said there was a clear button for the shoutbox right? Or was this only for you on FM Design?

That was in the Alpha version. In the Beta version it was removed and replaced by a command line. I consider the version released currently a "Public Beta" version, because I wanted to perform tests at a larger scale. It contains a few bugs ( some I'm currently incapable of fixing ) that will be corrected in 1.00 as well as a few features suggested which you will probably see on the shoutbox installed here..


( It can also be used to restore the database table in case of errors )

I'll be honest and say that I'm working slowly on it, because I'm taking a refresher in JavaScript. I currently have no ETA on the next version, but know that I will be working on it from time to time.

OH ok