# Chat Window?



## tropics (Aug 31, 2018)

Is there any way to close that little box?
Richie


----------



## SmokinAl (Aug 31, 2018)

I don't think so, but I know they are still working the bugs out.
Al


----------



## bmudd14474 (Aug 31, 2018)

Richie,

Are you talking about the little box at the bottom like my picture below or are you getting a different box?


----------



## GaryHibbert (Aug 31, 2018)

That's the same box I get Richie.  But seems like I only get it on my phone.  Just got home and it doesn't appear on my laptop.
Gary


----------



## TulsaJeff (Aug 31, 2018)

GaryHibbert
, make sure you are logged in on your laptop and send me a screenshot of that if you can. Even take a picture of the screen with your phone if you need to and I will report that.

I also need to know your operating system and what browser you are using.

Thank you for letting me know about this.


----------



## KrisUpInSmoke (Aug 31, 2018)

tropics said:


> Is there any way to close that little box?
> Richie


If you mean the box that opens when you view chat, you could try clicking on a blank space somewhere on the screen with the forum threads in it.


----------



## tropics (Sep 1, 2018)

bmudd14474 said:


> Richie,
> 
> Are you talking about the little box at the bottom like my picture below or are you getting a different box?
> 
> View attachment 375079



Brian that is the same





Dell Desk top PC running windows 8
I didn't get any alert that you posted
Richie


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 1, 2018)

TulsaJeff
    I only get this box on my phone--a Samsung A5--not on my laptop.  What I need to know is how to GET RID OF IT.  Its annoying as hell and in the way.  And when typing in anything I keep tapping on it and it then ooens up the chat, which in turn covers up what I'm trying to do.
Its the same box that both Richie and Brian show in their posts here.
My phone does its best to make my life miserable and doesn't need any help from a chat box.
Can the developers come up with some way to at least toggle it off/on.
Thanks
Gary


----------



## tropics (Sep 2, 2018)

My guess is that being only 2 of us voiced a concern,they will not do any thing to make it more friendly!!
Richie


----------



## chilerelleno (Sep 2, 2018)

Another vote for it being an annoying distraction on both my phone and notebook screens.
Windows 8.1/Firefox
Android/Chrome


----------



## chopsaw (Sep 2, 2018)

chilerelleno said:


> phone and notebook screens.


I keep thinking the chat balloon is dirt , try to wipe it off opens the window , lol.


----------



## daveomak (Sep 2, 2018)

Is that the chat box you are complaining about ??  I don't find it distracting at all....


View attachment 375242



....


----------



## tropics (Sep 2, 2018)

Dave if that ? was for me yes it is annoying,maybe you like the Lowes Popup also.But that one can be closed.


----------



## daveomak (Sep 2, 2018)

What is a Lowe's pop up ???   Never seen it.....
Can you turn off pop-ups ??

Can you do a full screen save ???


----------



## TulsaJeff (Sep 2, 2018)

Well here’s the deal… All feedback is taken into consideration.

However, I have received a ton of requests for chat and this add-on, which I had to purchase, was one of the best… (I didn’t go cheap and get a free one).

You must understand that I can’t please everyone so I just have to do the best I can and try to please the most people that I can. If I can figure out a way to disable that on a per person basis then I will do that otherwise it may be here to stay.


----------



## tropics (Sep 2, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> Well here’s the deal… All feedback is taken into consideration.
> 
> However, I have received a ton of requests for chat and this add-on, which I had to purchase, was one of the best… (I didn’t go cheap and get a free one).
> 
> You must understand that I can’t please everyone so I just have to do the best I can and try to please the most people that I can. If I can figure out a way to disable that on a per person basis then I will do that otherwise it may be here to stay.



Jeff Thank you for responding I am fairly new to the site and have purchased your recipe & Premier Membership then up graded to life time before it expired. I do hope you can put the chat room back in the top like it was,my typing skills are minimum,so I understand 
Richie


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 2, 2018)

daveomak said:


> Is that the chat box you are complaining about ??  I don't find it distracting at all....
> 
> 
> View attachment 375242
> ...


Morning Dave.  That's not what it looks like on my phone.  Here's a screenshot of what I get right in the middle of what I'm trying to read.






If it were just that little thing you get on your desktop computer, it would be no big deal.  That's why I would like to be able to turn it off.
Gary


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 2, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> Well here’s the deal… All feedback is taken into consideration.
> 
> However, I have received a ton of requests for chat and this add-on, which I had to purchase, was one of the best… (I didn’t go cheap and get a free one).
> 
> You must understand that I can’t please everyone so I just have to do the best I can and try to please the most people that I can. If I can figure out a way to disable that on a per person basis then I will do that otherwise it may be here to stay.





 TulsaJeff
, I haven't seen anybody on this post bitching about the arrival of the long awaited chat room.  All I asked was, quite simply, is there a way to toggle it on/off for my phone.
Gary


----------



## TulsaJeff (Sep 3, 2018)

GaryHibbert
 I apologize if my post came across the wrong way. I  Will definitely look into this first thing tomorrow and see if anything can be done. I do know that we have the ability to turn it off for all mobile so maybe that’s a better option… I will report back once I find out more about this. Everyone have a great Labor Day


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 3, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> GaryHibbert
> I apologize if my post came across the wrong way. I  Will definitely look into this first thing tomorrow and see if anything can be done. I do know that we have the ability to turn it off for all mobile so maybe that’s a better option… I will report back once I find out more about this. Everyone have a great Labor Day



Sounds good Jeff.  Thanks.
Gary


----------



## johnmeyer (Sep 3, 2018)

This chat box gets the Jar Jar Binks award for the most annoying user interface I've seen in years. It covers things that I actually want to look at, and it cannot be closed.

Recommendations:

1. Add a preference so you can stop it from appearing in the first place.

2. Add a "dismiss" (X) option, so it can be removed, if it does happen to show its ugly face.

I have no issue whatsoever with adding the chat feature. The only issue is that the implementation is very badly done.


----------



## mosparky (Sep 3, 2018)

I know Jeff said he had a ton of request for chat and it is a nice feature *if used*. Opening night I saw quite a few people in there, but not a single one since. Nice of Jeff to go the time, trouble and expense to provide it, but it needs to get used.
 I'm generally not a big fan of chat but perhaps in time. I'm certainly not going in there to talk to myself, I do enough of that at work.


----------



## pc farmer (Sep 3, 2018)

mosparky said:


> I know Jeff said he had a ton of request for chat and it is a nice feature *if used*. Opening night I saw quite a few people in there, but not a single one since. Nice of Jeff to go the time, trouble and expense to provide it, but it needs to get used.
> I'm generally not a big fan of chat but perhaps in time. I'm certainly not going in there to talk to myself, I do enough of that at work.




There was 8 of us there tonight.  It gets active.  Years ago alot of us ised it   I have been in it.     Still am


----------



## zachd (Sep 4, 2018)

johnmeyer said:


> This chat box gets the Jar Jar Binks award for the most annoying user interface I've seen in years. It covers things that I actually want to look at, and it cannot be closed.
> 
> Recommendations:
> 
> ...


I agree it doesn't bother me on the web browser but on mobile it is a pain


----------



## TulsaJeff (Sep 4, 2018)

I have removed the chat bar from mobile for now.. however, we are still working on it and deciding how to make it work best for everyone. For now, you can go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat if you want to use chat on mobile.


----------



## HalfSmoked (Sep 4, 2018)

No problem on my PC glad to see it back. I have not been on yet just haven't had the time but I spent a lot of hours on it in the past. Met a lot of member's on there and spoke almost nightly. Brianmudd for one.

Warren


----------



## tropics (Sep 4, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> I have removed the chat bar from mobile for now.. however, we are still working on it and deciding how to make it work best for everyone. For now, you can go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat if you want to use chat on mobile.


Jeff Thank You Sorry to say I can hardly make my phone do any more then make a call,I appreciate you and your staff working on it
Richie


----------



## HalfSmoked (Sep 4, 2018)

I'm with you Richie I don't even do internet or what ever you call it on my phone. If it rings I answer it I can make a call on it and I do text. That's it for me and my phone. Old dog doesn't learn to many new tricks.

Warren


----------



## johnmeyer (Sep 4, 2018)

HalfSmoked said:


> I'm with you Richie I don't even do internet or what ever you call it on my phone. If it rings I answer it I can make a call on it and I do text. That's it for me and my phone. Old dog doesn't learn to many new tricks.


You have a cell phone? I still haven't gotten one. 

Yup, I'm a Luddite.


----------



## flatbroke (Sep 5, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> I have removed the chat bar from mobile for now.. however, we are still working on it and deciding how to make it work best for everyone. For now, you can go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat if you want to use chat on mobile.


Damn I just logged in to look at it on my phone. Had to search and found this. I liked it better before. Guess those of us that like the feature got hosed.


----------



## TulsaJeff (Sep 5, 2018)

Just a note for mobile users: We are working on putting a link at the top that says "Chat" or something similar. For now, you can just go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat to access the chat as needed.


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 8, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> I have removed the chat bar from mobile for now.. however, we are still working on it and deciding how to make it work best for everyone. For now, you can go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat if you want to use chat on mobile.



Thanks Jef. 

 TulsaJeff
 .  Sure makes it a lot easier to use my cell here.
Gary


----------



## johnmeyer (Sep 8, 2018)

I have now had half a dozen instances, using Firefox in Windows 7, where I am typing, just as I am now, and when I get to the bottom of the page, and still need to type more, the text I am typing goes underneath the chat (it just did thisright now) and I cannot see anything I am typing. 

I just tried to close the darn thing, and instead of closing, it opened up and covered the entire screen (oops, I'm under the thing again and can't see what I'm typing ...). It took me almost a minute to figure out how to get rid of the chat screen. 

How hard can it be to add a "dismiss" button or "x" in this thing? If you used a standard Windows construct, those things are built in.


----------



## bmudd14474 (Sep 8, 2018)

If you click on the chat word on the bottom right it toggles the chat window back down. Pretty simple. hope that helps.


----------



## chopsaw (Sep 8, 2018)

bmudd14474 said:


> If you click on the chat word on the bottom right it toggles the chat window back down. Pretty simple. hope that helps.


Yeah , but there is another option that I clicked on the other day by mistake and it went full screen . Had a tough time closing it out .


----------



## johnmeyer (Sep 10, 2018)

bmudd14474 said:


> If you click on the chat word on the bottom right it toggles the chat window back down. Pretty simple. hope that helps.


Yes, it toggles it so it covers almost the entire screen! 

My problem isn't with that full chat screen, but with the obnoxious permanent pop-up in the lower right hand corner. It is that item, which cannot be dismissed, that interferes with typing a reply, like I'm doing now, if that reply dialog happens to be near the bottom of the screen. At this particular point, the reply dialog is at mid-screen, so the chat pop-up does not interfere, but depending on where the screen was scrolled before I click on the "reply" button, I can end up with the typing in this dialog at the bottom of the screen, and the text disappears behind this pop-up.

I've seen lots of forums and sites with chat, and there is *always* a way to dismiss it entirely.


----------



## bmudd14474 (Sep 10, 2018)

Well I am sorry you are not happy with it but this is the way it is and prob will be. Its at the lower corner to be as minimal as possible. If you are typing a big reply and you think it will get in the way then you may have to scroll the page a little bit to give you move room to type. 

Sorry we don't have any solution for you as of now.


----------



## tropics (Sep 10, 2018)

bmudd14474 said:


> Well I am sorry you are not happy with it but this is the way it is and prob will be. Its at the lower corner to be as minimal as possible. If you are typing a big reply and you think it will get in the way then you may have to scroll the page a little bit to give you move room to type.
> 
> Sorry we don't have any solution for you as of now.


I was afraid that was going to be the answer. Take It Or Leave It.
Richie


----------



## TulsaJeff (Sep 10, 2018)

It's not so much "take it or leave it" as it is, we have to prioritize. We worked hard and delivered on the chat interface and for now, it is set so that it works best for most members. If we are able to make it even better later, then we will do that.

All complaints are taken into consideration and while we can't make it perfect for everyone, we do try.

Just like any other fixed items in the footer, you have to scroll periodically in order to continue reading, continue typing, etc.


----------



## tropics (Sep 10, 2018)

User friendly for the phone does not help me 
Leave It not worth my time! Every site going with the chat now has a n X out.
Richie


----------



## TomKnollRFV (Sep 10, 2018)

I hate to point this out but every one complaining about chat..hasn't been in it..and may not be aware but the Chat has to be programmed. I don't know if Jeff does the coding or not; but it means changing code. He might have more important bits of coding to attend to/pay some one to attend to. I'm not sure how it interrupts typing up a post though. When my posts get large enough to start taking up half a page, they just scroll up, not down?


----------



## bmudd14474 (Sep 10, 2018)

tropics
 Richie 

We try to make every member happy with the decisions we make. As Jeff stated we do take them all into consideration and will see what we can do. That being said we do have to prioritize task so it may take a while to achieve what you are looking for as maintaining the site and databases take more priority.

Hang in there we will see what we can do to help make it better if possible.

Thanks 

Brian


----------



## GaryHibbert (Sep 13, 2018)

I haven't had a chance to say so, but thanks for clearing up the problem with the chat on the mobile.  Appreciate it.
Gary


----------



## KrisUpInSmoke (Oct 30, 2018)

TulsaJeff said:


> I have removed the chat bar from mobile for now.. however, we are still working on it and deciding how to make it work best for everyone. For now, you can go to https://smokingmeatforums.com/chat if you want to use chat on mobile.



I would like to suggest adding a link to chat in the menu. I just switched phones and had to go through a few threads to find the link again. A link in menu might help somebody else on mobile in the future. Thanks.


----------



## chopsaw (Jan 13, 2019)

tropics said:


> Is there any way to close that little box?
> Richie



Maybe this has already been answered somewhere else , but The answer is yes . 
1. Lower right toggle chat window 
2. Chat window open , upper right click settings 
3. Menu drop down , under miscellaneous check disable chat .
4. same menu drop down under sounds  un-check the boxes or you will still hear sound reports even if chat is disabled . 
If you don't want to hear sounds do that step BEFORE you disable chat . 
I was in the chat room for awhile the last couple nights . I enjoyed it . Give it a try , and disable when not in use .


----------



## flatbroke (Jan 13, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Maybe this has already been answered somewhere else , but The answer is yes .
> 1. Lower right toggle chat window
> 2. Chat window open , upper right click settings
> 3. Menu drop down , under miscellaneous check disable chat .
> ...


Come on back


----------



## smokin peachey (Jan 13, 2019)

Chat is awesome. Good group hang out there often. I have seen many people pop in with questions that get quickly answered. Thank you admin for bringing back the chat room. If you haven’t checked it out try it sometime or if you have a quick question pop in for help.


----------

