Add a chatroom ?

[genixmarketing]

Possibly?

 

[fisicx]

Why?

If you have a question post in the forum. If you want to contact a member use the messaging system.

 

[genixmarketing]

Why?

If you have a question post in the forum. If you want to contact a member use the messaging system.

Posting on the forum is usually based around a subject. So we can't really start randomly messaging people can we. We can use a chatroom to live chat.

 

[fisicx]

Must admit to being a bit lost here. What benefit would adding a chat room bring to the forum? How would it help people find answers to their problems?

Who would moderate the chat room? Everyone here is a volunteer, we don’t have time to keep an eye on what could be hundreds of chats.

 

[Ozzy]

I did give this idea some thought actually, trying to reach a wider audience. I looked at options such as Hangouts and also some form of IRC style plugin. The issue I couldn't find a solution for was the moderation aspect, and one of the values of UKBF being a forum is the audience reach that it has for the subjects.

I would like to find ways to bring community members closer together more for the informal networking purpose; remembering the key attraction for new visitors her is answers to questions so can not lose sight of that, but I couldn't find a solution for the chat room option.

 

[Paul Norman]

I did give this idea some thought actually, trying to reach a wider audience. I looked at options such as Hangouts and also some form of IRC style plugin. The issue I couldn't find a solution for was the moderation aspect, and one of the values of UKBF being a forum is the audience reach that it has for the subjects.

I would like to find ways to bring community members closer together more for the informal networking purpose; remembering the key attraction for new visitors her is answers to questions so can not lose sight of that, but I couldn't find a solution for the chat room option.

I like the idea of adding to what is essentially a question and answer format to some general getting to know each other content. I say that without adding a convenient 'and here is how it is done' suffix to the post, which is not entirely helpful! But I am interested in how that might evolve.

Without, and I agree strongly on this, needing an army of 900 moderators.

 

[Opinion87]

Great idea but I can't see it working on UKBF. A fair amount of threads end up with bickering and arguing, a chat room would be endless bickering and arguing. If we could all (myself included) act like adults then maybe... but we can't.

 

[Ozzy]

I have had a demo of some plugins for the forum that do add in Q&A type threads, and "timelines" and such which fits almost into a kind of chat functionality whilst maintaining the core forum structure.
I will say the reason I'm looking into this is so to attract a fit with the younger generation of business owners who are coming up and replacing us older "newsgroup" generation

 

[ctrlbrk]

I have had a demo of some plugins for the forum that do add in Q&A type threads, and "timelines" and such which fits almost into a kind of chat functionality whilst maintaining the core forum structure.
I will say the reason I'm looking into this is so to attract a fit with the younger generation of business owners who are coming up and replacing us older "newsgroup" generation

I think younger people today mostly use platforms such as Discord or Slack, which have effectively replaced other chat systems.

 

[Ozzy]

I think younger people today mostly use platforms such as Discord or Slack, which have effectively replaced other chat systems.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with those ones specifically for a business focus. Discord is a chat application for computer gamers and the gaming industry in general, and Slack is primarily a software developers collaborative workspace. Both are "chat" which you do state and not what I'm aiming for, for UKBF chat is a relatively important part of the community element but business Q&A's is the primary focus.

 

[japancool]

Adding a chatroom is asking for a flood of chat spam, IMO.

 

[Opinion87]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with those ones specifically for a business focus. Discord is a chat application for computer gamers and the gaming industry in general, and Slack is primarily a software developers collaborative workspace. Both are "chat" which you do state and not what I'm aiming for, for UKBF chat is a relatively important part of the community element but business Q&A's is the primary focus.

Discord isn't just for gamers. I use it for two entirely different businesses and it works incredibly well. I'm a gamer, but use it more for business than I do pleasure.

 

[ctrlbrk]

I'm not sure I entirely agree with those ones specifically for a business focus.

Yes, hence the "such as", although this kind of collaborative software always tends to have wider appeal than its original remit.

If Q&A is your primary focus, are you thinking of a system similar to Stack Exchange?

 

[fisicx]

Doesn’t the forum already provide a the Q&A function? I ask a question and members answer. Pretty much core of every forum.

Anything more just complicates things - especially moderation. Otherwise you end up with endless posts linking to member websites (because that’s what happens in chats). Unless you block all linking but then it becomes far less useable.

 

[Ozzy]

If Q&A is your primary focus, are you thinking of a system similar to Stack Exchange?

Yes, these forums has a feature where someone can ask a question then people can give answers but if someone has given the correct answer already people can vote the best answer. Very much how those sites work.

Doesn’t the forum already provide a the Q&A function?

I'd say a forum in its native format is a debating platform, well ironically the very dictionary definition of the word. Q&A isn't always a debate, such as how do I register for VAT has a very specific process/answer. The two can coexists if managed and implemented correctly, I hope!