I really think a shout box would be a nice addition here, with as busy as this place gets, it would give us members another way to get to know each other.
I have never really liked an shoutbox on forums but if its on an seperate page and not on forumhome like most forum puts it then i think its an good idea.
This is an interesting idea. This is going to sound repetitive, but I, too, would you like to hear more from the community regarding this idea.
So if the shoutbox were located on its own dedicated page, you'd prefer that over having it placed on the index page, correct?
I don't like the idea, not on this forum. Shoutboxes are ok for general chat forums, but for a support forum? Naw...
Well my internet was so slow the quick reply almost didn't load. Well I don't like "shout-out boxes", if I chat I use a flash chat, but either way, the point is that it might make the index look too crowded? Maybe anyways.
My only real concern is that by adding such a feature, a good portion of the activity from the actual forum will become redirected.
Same here, I like shoutboxes on "fansite" forum or on general discussion forums but really not on admin forums
Shoutboxes are nice, I had one on my site for over a year. But,,, they can cause high mysql loads. If you have the shoutbox set so everyone - including guest - can see it, the refreshing can bring a server to its knees. The shoutbox I had on my forum used more resources then anything else on my forum. I finally had to turn it off.
While we will continue to read and value your input, suggestions and feedback, the official decision is that a chatbox will not be added at this time.
Always considered shoutboxes to be a waste of bandwidth. If I want to say hello to someone, I can post on their profile or send them a private message. That is just my opinion though. If one is added, then is should be able to be turned off at the user level so not everyone has to suffer the overhead and bandwidth associated with a shoutbox.
Thanks for the input, Wayne. As the post immediately before yours says: I do appreciate your input for future reference, though.