satstation shoutbox ?

[robbieb43]

I think no as the value of the forum is also in the old posts. There could be valuable bits of knowledge that get lost by people posting it on the shoutbox.

R

[villager1971]

Well the shoutbox system is OK for a quick hello but it should not be used for support that should be kept on the forum in threads as shoutbox messages would be mingles with other messages and it gets confusing.I would certainly not provide support via a shoutbox. I see a lot of shoutboxes used in a way that breaks forums rules and can create more work for Mods and Admin.

I voted no by the way

I've been on forums too whereby the Shoutbox can be an advantage and a dis-advantage. I'm going to vote yes on this occasion. I have never used one or been part of a conversation within one as my online time is limited with a young family.

At the end of the day, this can be added and removed if it is abused.

[Peter 2]

If its 'yes' it'll be a good way to lose forum members. Why not join a forum that already has a silly shoutbox if you want one.
Nothing so childish exists in any other human endeavour. Moronbox better describes it.

[YODA]

Don't pull any punches hey Peter I had hoped the idea of a poll on this would be the best way to decide on this one, afraid it's not quite worked out like that though it's more or less 50/50 sooo I've not really achieved a great deal at the moment.... Still it's only been up a day or so so we'll see what happens yet....

[Peter 2]

OK I'll say what I think next time mate. Not really important in life is it, either way. i remember you aren't too keen.
'All good fun bring the kids' as we used to say, us older miserable bu*****, that is.

[jjp2701]

If its 'yes' it'll be a good way to lose forum members. Why not join a forum that already has a silly shoutbox if you want one.
Nothing so childish exists in any other human endeavour. Moronbox better describes it.

why is it a way of losing members ?

if u know about sat stuff, then u would know that all the big satelite forums have them , and have thousands of members on there forum, its good to communicate m8,

[AlanDogg]

I think it should be left to the discretion of the user and only viewable to registered members . If you want to help someone out by using the feature then do so, If not then dont use it and simply ignore it. A good idea would be to use it for quick replies that dont go into to much detail.

Example
Q What sat box out these 2 is the best? box1 or box2

If they want a more in depth answer then you could direct them to a relevant post in the forum or section where to post their query.

[villager1971]

Fair point there Alan. Plus admin / mods will be online advising those that are asking in-depth questions to post in the relevant part of the forum ensuring their query is dealt with effectively. Posts can be removed if need be, and if abused just remove it completely.

It's not a bad way to keep the community alive. With Facebook, Twitter etc, forums are a dying breed apart from asking questions and a specific forum for satellite for example will always be needed as I'm sure that people on Facebook will be unable to help you, so if it brings the community closer together, I'm for it.

[YODA]

I've been having a think about this shoutbox or chatbox and the vote idea was obviously so close that it didn't help a great deal one way or another, but everyones comments have been interesting and I've decided it's only fair that we give it a go and see how it goes, at the end of the day the worst that can happen is we're not happy with it and turn it off again!

I've been digging around a few different shoutbox type modifications for vBulletin and think I've come up with the one that looks best so I'm going to get this fully installed and setup over the course of the next few days and we'll go live with it sometime this weekend as soon as I get chance. Thanks to all those who voted and contributed to the thread.