ELynah Chat

[CowbellGuy]

I know I shouldn't be reinventing the wheel, but I wonder if the activation energy to get people unfamiliar with IRC into it is too high. So as a little experiment, I've set up a simple, web-based, Flash-free, Java-free chat server. Don't need to sign up or do anything special. Just pick a username and chat.

http://chat.elynah.com

(If it doesn't work yet, the domain name change probably hasn't propagated to you yet. Give it a couple hours.)

[Beeeej]

I would add a fourth poll option - "I don't particularly care which I use, but I'll go where the majority goes because that's where the good chat will be."  Seriously, if everyone adopts this, I'll use it - if everyone stays on IRC, I'll use that.

[KeithK]

Mostly I'm with Beeeej.  On the other hand, if we switch to an eLynah based chat then we can stop the endless bumping of chat threads.

Didn't we originally chat on Kyle's server (back in the CHDF days)?

[JasonN95]

I use to participate frequently in the ICQ chats but drifted away because I got lazy about the ICQ client and chasing down what channel was going to be used. I'm more apt to get involved again if chat is available right here.

[CowbellGuy]

As an added bonus, if you're logged in here and use the Chat link in the menubar, it will automatically log you in with your ELF username.

[French Rage]

If it's right here it's more convenient than IRC so I'd go with it, though in the end it would come down to what the majority chooses as Beeej said.

[jtwcornell91]

In principle having one place to go could be convenient, but the implementation could use some work:

• The default font is difficult to read, and there's no way to change it (or switch to bold)
• It's not actually 100% flash-free, since the sound seems to be done with flash (not that that really matters)

I guess I would find it more convenient to stick with IRC because I can already customize my client there, but I'll go wherever people go.  Would standing up a dedicated irc server that people could interact with using their regular clients be too much hassle?  (I can see how it might.)

[CowbellGuy]

I doubt that would make much of a difference. What I kept hearing from people yesterday was, "I can't figure out IRC" or "I didn't want to deal with an IRC client any more." This chat isn't perfect, but it was very easy to roll out to gauge interest. I can always replace it with something more robust, but I was also looking for very simple.

I could also point out that the text is quite readable on a proper desktop OS. =P

[Trotsky]

I can't figure out IRC, and I don't want to deal with an IRC client any more.

[KeithK]

I can't figure out IRC, and I don't want to deal with an IRC client any more.

And get off his lawn.

[Rosey]

He means it!

[Roy 82]

I keep getting redirected back to the login page after logging on and seeing a brief glimpse of the chat.

[Chris '03]

I keep getting redirected back to the login page after logging on and seeing a brief glimpse of the chat.

That's happened to me a few times. Have to restart FF to make it work.

[Trotsky]

Got kicked a few times, else it ran great.

[CowbellGuy]

Saw that last night on my iPhone. I restarted the web server and database. Let me know if it persists.