Chat room: Progress!

[Robin Garr]

Look up at the top of the forum page: You'll see a new "Chat Room" option between "Home" and "Acp". (No icon yet, but I hope we can get one.)

Click it. You'll get a choice between Java, Flash and Mobile/HTML. Flash works on my Mac, which has no Java. Woot! Mobile still has some issues, and we're working on that; but as of now, people who don't have Java DO have Flash enabled as a workable option. This should solve 90 percent of the problem, I hope. Stand by for mobile (which will also work for those who have neither Java nor Flash, including iOS devices), and we should have this puppy back in the yard at last!

Flash works on my Windows 7 machine with Google Chrome. Thanks Robin.

[Robin Garr]

Flash works on my Windows 7 machine with Google Chrome. Thanks Robin.

I was just in with Flash on my OS X El Capital Mac with Chrome, Howie. We must have just crossed paths!

[Robin Garr]

PS: They're making progress on Mobile, which is a little more quirky, and also on matching the style of the Chat "tab" above to the rest. But we're close, finally!

[David M. Bueker]

I got in!

[Robin Garr]

I got in!

[Robin Garr]

Okay, it's about as done as it's going to get. Java and Flash are both now fully operational, and that should cover all desktop computers. Mobile is sketchy, but we're told that's a Parachat issue. They have an iOS/Android app, but I can't make it work for me. If any of you want to play with mobile and try to solve it, let us know how it goes. But the addition of a Flash option should make the chat room functional again. Enjoy, and let us know what you think! We can't tweak it just to make it look pretty, but if there are any serious bugs, report 'em and we'll see what we can do.

I got in too (using Flash and Windows 10). No problems except that the scaling of the chat window does not work properly, so everything is very small and hard to read on our high-resolution screen. I'll have to reduce the resolution if this problem cannot be fixed, but that should no be a major obstacle.

See you later today for a revived chat!
Anders

[Robin Garr]

I got in too (using Flash and Windows 10). No problems except that the scaling of the chat window does not work properly, so everything is very small and hard to read on our high-resolution screen. I'll have to reduce the resolution if this problem cannot be fixed, but that should no be a major obstacle.

See you later today for a revived chat!
Anders

Anders, can't you just zoom in on the particular window you're in with Ctrl-+ or something like that? I'm pretty sure I can do that with the Mac.

[Robin Garr]

Anders, can't you just zoom in on the particular window you're in with Ctrl-+ or something like that? I'm pretty sure I can do that with the Mac.

Okay, that doesn't work, because of Flash, I guess. But look at the menu across the top! Click Options, Format Messages, then Font Size, and you can make them a lot more readable.

YES!!!! Thank you! Thank you!! Now I hope some of our MIA chat buddies will return for some friendly repartee there!

Did I say, "thank you, Robin" THANK YOU!

JB

[Robin Garr]

YES!!!! Thank you! Thank you!! Now I hope some of our MIA chat buddies will return for some friendly repartee there!

Did I say, "thank you, Robin" THANK YOU!

Mary Jo hosted an Easter dinner today, so I missed it See you next time.

[Robin Garr]

Mary Jo hosted an Easter dinner today, so I missed it See you next time.

I don't think it was even a thing, Howie. I just assumed most folks had Easter plans, and I don't think James even posted. Maybe a big event for Wednesday night?

Well, I was there... And Julia, but she got bounced out of chat all the time, so she had to give up trying to stay inside. I hope this is something that can be fixed until next chat.

See you on Sunday!
/Anders

[Robin Garr]

Well, I was there... And Julia, but she got bounced out of chat all the time, so she had to give up trying to stay inside. I hope this is something that can be fixed until next chat.

See you on Sunday!
/Anders

Hmm ... I'm not sure what would cause a bounce out. I'm afraid it may be an individual setting in one's browser security settings. At least we're making slow progress, though!

[Robin Garr]

Well, I was there... And Julia, but she got bounced out of chat all the time, so she had to give up trying to stay inside. I hope this is something that can be fixed until next chat.

I've put out another support request to the guys at Parachat. They're usually pretty responsive, so stay tuned.

One thought ... in some old chatroom people used to get bounced if they didn't enter a keystroke within a certain period. Do you thank that might be going on here? I recall that people used to hit "." periodically to stay logged in unobtrusively. Does this ring a bell with any of you?

[James Roscoe]

I got in! Praise be to Buddha!

[Robin Garr]

I got in! Praise be to Buddha!

Did you hear the sound of one chat clapping?

Keep an eye on Julia's report of getting bounced frequently in Flash. I'm not sure if that's a bug or just a return to the old chat room that required people to hit "." every now and then so as to not get bounced for inactivity. I've got a call out to Parachat and will report.

[Robin Garr]

More info from Parachat support: The room does have a setting to bounce "idle" users, but it only comes down after 30 minutes. Otherwise ...

If the issue persists for some users, please provide their exact user name, and the time/date of their most recent disconnect, so that we may review our connection logs for information that may be relevant. The general rule of thumb with disconnects, because of the software's client-server relationship, is that all users would be impacted at the same time by a connectivity issue into our data center. Individual disconnect issues are most often caused by a local issue.

Not quite all there yet:
- the mobile version works but is pretty ugly
- the java version tries to come up but won't
- the flash version won't let me in: "Err U483. Access Denied. The user name you entered is not permitted. For more information, visit: http://parach.at/faq/307/"

Sigh. I could get the previous java version to work.

[Robin Garr]

Not quite all thee yet:
- the mobile version works but is pretty ugly
- the java version tries to come up but won't
- the flash version won't let me in: "Err U483. Access Denied. The user name you entered is not permitted. For more information, visit: http://parach.at/faq/307/"

Sigh. I could get the previous java version to work.

Hmm, I'm intuiting that the system doesn't like the "/" in your handle, or else it's too long.

As an experiment, Jeff, would you be okay with me changing your user name to just-plain "Jeff Grossman" or even "Jeff G"?

Not quite all there yet:
- the mobile version works but is pretty ugly
- the java version tries to come up but won't
- the flash version won't let me in: "Err U483. Access Denied. The user name you entered is not permitted. For more information, visit: http://parach.at/faq/307/"

Sigh. I could get the previous java version to work.

Hmm, I'm intuiting that the system doesn't like the "/" in your handle, or else it's too long.

As an experiment, Jeff, would you be okay with me changing your user name to just-plain "Jeff Grossman" or even "Jeff G"?

OK, let's try "Jeff Grossman".

[Robin Garr]

OK, let's try "Jeff Grossman".

Done!