an idea!

[dkuk]

i dont know how difficult it is or expense, but i thought it would be nice to have some sort of shout box at the top of the forum or gallery where we could chat or send instant messages!! i think it would get everyone talking more than the forum as i think that gets alittle slow!

[RockHard]

dkuk, I have thought of this as well. I have wondered why there is no chat room here. Sending PM's get's old after awhile. It would be nice too chat with someone that's surfing this site, at the same time you are. I guess only deusex can answer this.

[dkuk]

i guess its easy for us to cum up with ideas we dont have to put into practise or finance! but i do think its a good one!!
by the way i understand your name much more ROCKHARD now ive looked at ur gallery!! ;)

[deusex]

Thanks for the suggestions.

There is an old poll/request about chat which I can't find anymore but just to quickly restate - chat is expensive, it takes a lot of users online at the same time to make chat work, and they are prone to abuse if not constantly moderated. The last chat room I had set up on Bedfellow.com ended up becoming a haven for predators looking to hookup with underage guys and spam bots.

The shoutbox might work, but the one's I've seen are usually vertical in format, so I'm not sure how to fit that in either here of the galleries layouts. I'm not about to give up the sidebar on the galleries where the sponsor ads are - that's the bread and butter of the site and without them this site wouldn't be here.

I also haven't seen a shoutbox that wasn't filled with silliness like..

...hi
...i like fuck
...wanna hook up?
...where are you?
...here?
...never mind....
...guess what I'm wearing...
...i eat fuck rim suck
...bush sucks
...you're retarded

Anyway -I'm not saying I won't consider it, but I don't have time to think about a redesign or addded expense to the site right now, I'm in the middle of doing street fairs with Jockstrap Central, packing my house and moving all my belongings into storage while I wait for our new house to be built. Even my work and programming for Jockstrap Central which is my "real" job has been put on hold until I get settled.

I also want to say that, yes the forums are slow, but they are also archived and more conducive to getting to know people from other time zones. If the site became more chat oriented, I'd miss out on my good Aussie friends Sweaty Aussie and Bondsman's insight and fantastic sense of humour.

[deusex]

...Just to add...

I mentioned it before, but as soon as things settle with my life there's a pretty major upgrade available for the forum software that included better social networking, profiles, integrated galleries and other upgrades. I really think our members will love some of the new features and will breath new life into the forums.

My only concern is the member galleries may not be able to be upgraded and there's a chance they'll have to be ditched or restarted if the forum software implementation of galleries isn't good enough, but that may not be a bad thing. It'll solve some of the bandwidth issues, get rid of stale photos and get people working on new ones.

[SweatyAussie]

DeusEx is right about the chat room. I'm sure it's all been said here before.

You probably expect to log on to chat. find the man you consider really hot there and start a steamy conversation. What more often happens is this:

You log in and say Hi. No one answers. That's because they have done the same as you, and have given up waiting and are browsing elsewhere or just "away from PC" as they say in the classics.
This is what happens on Gaydar. Dozens or even over a hundred people "in the room" at any one time, and you are lucky if anyone is chatting at all, as opposed to posting "Anyone in Manchester?" "Anyone in Bristol?" etc. I have almost given up on real time chat. I am talking about a site with hundreds of thousands of members. I would be astonished if a site like ours could support a chat room.

I also have issues with this comment about PMs being "too slow". What's with this need for an instant response? I like the fact that I can take the time to compose my messages here, do it when I want, without rushing it because I want to stop someone else interrupting what I am trying to say. If someone wants to say something to me, well I'm sorry but I am not on the site night and day, and probably not when you are, but I do log on nearly every day. If it's worth saying, it will keep for 24 or 48 hours, during which time I'm sure that you, like me, have plenty of other things you need to do with your life.

If you find someone online that you really get along well with, then you can trade phone numbers or do ICQ chat or meet physically even. I'm afraid I see a chat room becoming a place where guys log on and whinge about how they can't meet anyone near them who shares their likes and fetishes... or, which is just as bad, log on and say "I'm bored" and leave.

[dkuk]

i dont think a chat room would work on here thats why i suggested just a shout box, as that doesnt need quite as much traffic to keep it moving.
but yeah totally understand the time and money aspect, its alot easier this end cumming up with ideas than it is for u to put into practice!! especially if it didnt work!! :hump

[SweatyAussie]

Yes I think a shoutbox would be nice, though I can live without it. I'd probably use it from time to time.

I'd have it near the top so it gets noticed - of course I understand the ads need to be there, but the box could be just after those.

I don't know how those normally work, but I imagine "shouts" would automatically disappear after X number of days - if you want to post a more permanent message you would simply put it in the forum proper.

It would also have to be limited to a maximum number of characters, and it would have to be moderated to stop repeated postings of "I'm in <city X>, anyone who wants to hook up, give me a call."

[manhunter69]

its not related to this topic but just how many active members are there,as it seems to be the same 5/6 that answers every topic.

[deusex]

There are a number of members that hang out here daily and participate in almost every discussion. Then there are lots who visit at various degrees of regularity and even those that visit once a year. There are many who never make it to the forums and only participate in the galleries - whether it be posting or commenting.

As for actual numbers, who knows really. The member count on the forum home is really high as most people just register to see the x-rated photos in the galleries and never participate. It's just the nature of a site like this.