Even more worthless than the old chat. In both cases I get a window with no text whatsoever, in *this* case if I type in it my system freezes up for half a minute.
I liked the *old* chat before the “fix” you did on it a month or so ago.
Seriously, I hope it works well for the rest of you, but it’s a boatanchor for me.
I am now having the problems as well, but I’d suggest it is am database error, not a chat error. I got an SQL error message, so I suggest the problem is in the database, not the chat software itself. It could also be a server error though for all I know. But either way it doesn’t seem like a chat error.
Here is a quote of the error message:
Query failed: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''At point 1 ‘)’ at line 1
^Me too.
That was strange last night when chat wigged out on us. Wonder why. It did seem like it was related to Greg turning autoscroll off, but it’s just a coincidence, I’m sure. 
I still really like this new chat, and if whatever happened can be fixed, I’d still like it to be the permanent chat.
How dare you, Greg! How dare you!
Query failed: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''At point 1 ‘)’ at line 1
Query failed: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''At point 1 ‘)’ at line 1
SoftwareNerd must be working on some new functionality, but I fixed that particular error.
Thanks for fixing that GC.
1. Last night’s lag: I’m not sure what last night’s lag was about. My guess is it had more to do with other things happening on the server than with that “don’t scroll” button; but, time will tell.
2. Dial-up: It sounds like it is unbearably slow for those on dial-ups, but the old chat was too. Chat (this one and the old one) checks the server every couple of seconds to see if there’s a new message. This seems to overwhelm those connected on dial-up. At one point, with the old chat, I set it to check less frequently, but then everyone on regular connections has a more “laggy” experience.
3. Known Bug: There is one known problem that needs to be fixed: when a solitary user (i.e. only user in chat) closes the chat tab (as opposed to closing the browser or logging out), chat continues to list them as being in chat, until someone new logs in. So, if you see a single person in chat, who appears to quickly log out when you log in… it’s not that they’re trying to avoid you! If we stick with this chat, I’ll figure out a way to fix that issue.
SoftwareNerd must be working on some new functionality, but I fixed that particular error.
Thanks a lot for that, it works now.
It’s still not coming up for me, but sNerd I might have to restart my computer like I did for the old chat.
I just enabled gzip compression. Let’s see if it helps people with slow connections.
FWIW–chat was fine four weeks ago or so–then apparently some slight upgrade was made and that trashed it for me. All I ever saw was a blank chat screen (the rest of the window looked fine, I just couldn’t see anything anyone was saying or even their names over on the right side). Same now, except I can’t type in the typing area now either.
It’s working for me again, because I rebooted my computer.
Also, a good thing about this chat is that if I but the color on black and listen to all the funky noises it makes I feel like I’m playing Earthbound.
I just enabled gzip compression. Let’s see if it helps people with slow connections.
How is it uncompressed? Not all people necessarily have software to uncompress gzip compression.
How is it uncompressed? Not all people necessarily have software to uncompress gzip compression.
See HTTP compression.
See HTTP compression.
Wouldn’t that just slow things down at the browser end because it would have to spend time and resources decompressing it?
Wouldn’t that just slow things down at the browser end because it would have to spend time and resources decompressing it?
You’d think, but the browser can decompress that stuff faster than your internet connection can download it. The load imposed on the browser for decompressing is practically negligible. Compression, overall, is a good thing with text (not so with images). It’s actually one of the 14 rules in the book High Performance Web Sites, which is all about making the client-side experience faster for the user.
To quote that book in particular:
There is a cost to gzipping: it takes additional CPU cycles on the server to carry out and the client to decompress the gzipped file
…
Generally, it’s worth gzipping any file greater than 1 or 2K
…
Gzipping generally reduced the response size by about 70%
I don’t know what the HTTP responses look like with the new chat program, but it may very well not make a difference. If the responses are only of the nature “Chops: Yeah, I know, Atlas Shrugged is amazing, eh?”, then there would be minimal benefit, or maybe even a performance hit.
If the responses are more substantial than that, then there should be a minimal improvement.
At the very least, the forum and the blogs here would GREATLY benefit from gzip.
It’s actually one of the 14 rules in the book High Performance Web Sites, which is all about making the client-side experience faster for the user.
Thanks, I’ve added this to my reading list!
Okay, I guess no one has any idea why all I see is an empty chat screen and an empty list of online users?
Even though six people are in chat right now?
(And like I said this started happening after the *last* set of patches… this is not new to this latest upgrade.)
I like the new interface a lot better, and it seems to be working great. However, I really wish I could connect with IRC.
(For those who are not familiar, this basically allows you to connect to a chat room through your regular instant messaging client, perhaps the one you use to connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, etc.)
I always have my instant messaging client open, so being able to connect with that (through IRC) would allow me to be in the chat, or at least take note of it, any time on my computer. It would make it really convenient to join in on chats or just ignore them. I imagine there are a few other tech savvy people who share my sentiments.
I know I talked to softwareNerd about this once, but I don’t remember what came of that conversation.
I’m fairly sure there are AJAX front ends for IRC channels out there.
I can setup an IRC front-end if someone volunteers to run the IRC channel for me.
I just created #osmonline on irc.freenode.net. It belongs to my IRC screen name. Let me know if this is/is not helpful, and if I can help in any other way.