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Chatting From Far Away
I've been trying to find people in the chat rooms at times but everytime I joined a room I was the only one there. Then I noticed that the rooms were area specific. Well living in Saudi Arabia really limits the number of Christian people to chat with. Is there a way to be able to choose the area where you wish to chat?
patrick 09/25/2010 14:12

Replies:
deborah 09/26/2010 10:49
Hi Patrick. I'm not sure if this helps but there is a general chat room where anyone can go and then there are private ones for the men, women, and college groups. Sometimes it's hard to catch someone in the chat room randomly. Sometimes you have to go there and just wait for someone else to see you there and join.

Your time zone might match up with others looking to chat but never finding anyone in chat. Maybe you can start a topic in The Random Forum asking if anyone wants to chat on a certain date or time. I can only imagine how difficult it is to find other Christians to talk to where you are. God bless you.
deborah 09/26/2010 10:53
Oh I forgot to say, if you want to join the men's chat, go to the men's area of the website and join that group. That will open the men's group forum to you and also their chat. It takes a day or so to take effect sometimes. I think you can do the same thing from the My Area section of the website where you can set your preferences.
Garry J 09/28/2010 12:26
I've gone in the chatroom a few times and nobody is ever usually in there, so it's not just you patrick :)
Calico 09/28/2010 13:31
Wow, just today, someone else I know, who was/is also a DAB chatroom friend, mentioned missing our meet-up times in the chatroom from earlier months this year, and I mentioned in my response to her that I should try to get back in there...

Do we have a chatroom revival underway???

:-)
John T 09/28/2010 18:18
Lol, yeah I've been to the chatrooms too and it's been empty. But I guess all of us who pop in and see nobody and leave don't help. We'd have to stay in so others see us there.
deborah 09/28/2010 19:36
What would you think of a forum dedicated to posts where people could post dates and times that they are available or would be looking to chat with others? I know a lot of chat is spontaneous, but if people from different time zones could connect on that forum it might be easier to meet in chat. Maybe it would let others passing through know when to check back. It wouldn't be a high volume forum, but I guess I'm asking, would you use it? Like - available for chat on 10- 1 from 8-9 pm central daylight time USA. We can do that.

Comments?
Calico 09/30/2010 10:53
Hey Deb, that's an AWESOME idea!

We do that sort of thing, in principle, as part of the Prayer Room don't we? At least there's a tab for it under the Windfarm area (http://www.dailyaudiobible.com/Rotas/SignupSheet.aspx?sheet_id=1000000237). Or are you instead saying that it'd be a written forum thing, like this thread, only dedicated solely to timing and dates? If so, your idea might work better! It seems it would have a greater visibility, since people look at the forums/posts a great deal.

It has been my experience with other websites that very often chats are hit-and-miss, in many ways ie. website population; website type; "popularity" among the general world "out there;" etc. I know the Ransomed Heart chatroom often shows several people logged in, BUT ABSOLUTELY NO ONE CHATS even when they are logged in (disappointing). Still, at least the chat function on that site is more useful, because there is a very helpful notification chime function for when the screen is minimized (which the DAB chat does not have, so when the window is minimized, no one can hear if someone enters or leaves text).

Past experience with the DAB chat is a bit different than the Ransomed Heart chat, in that DABbers often "drive by" and see no one logged in to any of the rooms they have set their access to (done in the My Area tab). When they see no one, they neither log-in themselves, nor do they wait around to see if anyone else does. Yet if someone DOES log-in, they might still experience frustration, since Endis's site code does not allow for a chime notification for single rooms if the window is minimized. Someone might show up while they are in there, but if they aren't notified, the second person entering the room ends up leaving because they may think the first person isn't responding (or is a "ghost" glitch).

However, there is an adhoc way around the problem. For people looking to have a DAB chat with other believers around the country and around the world:

1. - Even if no one else is there yet, LOG-IN TO THE COMMUNITY ROOM ANYWAY. Wait around. See if others come. This waiting game will likely be a days/weeks long sort of attempt, at least at first, as we make efforts to try to draw a population to the chatroom. Anecdotally, I can tell those reading this thread that there was a good crowd that was gathering in the chatroom earlier this year, throughout the winter months and early spring (did the nice weather make people leave their computers and make them go outside??? It did with me, LOL). So we might yet be able to revive the chatroom with a little bit of perseverance and patience. However, in order to make contact with someone whilst you are playing the waiting game, you will need to...

2. - ...LOG-IN TO A SECONDARY DAILY AUDIO BIBLE CHATROOM AREA to which you also have access. You will have to then LEAVE THAT SECONDARY ROOM HIGHLIGHTED (ie. Men's Only, or Women's Only, or Prayer Room, or whatever you have additional access to) as being the onscreen view. Doing this will then allow others to make themselves known when they enter the Community Room because at this point the Endis site code DOES in fact allow for a notification chime to sound when others enter the room or leave text on the page (sounds a little bizarre, I know; not sure why this is a lacking feature).

3. - As well, even if no one is there, if you have followed the above two steps, LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THE SCREEN! That way, if you have minimized your window, you can go about your other tasks, having left something to address others who will eventually enter the chatroom. Hopefully, as time goes on, other will get the gist of this too. Should they "drive-by," they will see you there (or others!) and join in.

4. - No doubt this will take time to build, as we know from the old saying about Rome ("wasn't built in a day"). It certainly will require persistence. A couple of things about it, though: firstly, it's frustrating that the Adobe Flash stuff/Endis website code (whichever it is) doesn't allow for that notification chime. Almost every other chatroom I have been in has this; why doesn't ours????? Secondly, when there are three or four people in the chatroom, it is "manageable" to have a conversation. But when seven to ten people are in there, it becomes a bit of a mess. Conversation can flow too fast to keep up with, and subject matter can be too convoluted to focus on. So, it would be nice to see the "private chats" feature become enabled in the DAB chatroom (it is currently disabled). It is my prayer that everyone would maturely and sensibly utilize this feature without compromise and within the character of Christ.

Just some thoughts, from another DAB chatterer... ;-)

Praying with you all,

Tom
John T 09/30/2010 14:48
I find the interesting thing is that I can't expand the chat window to show more text... it just makes the words bigger instead of making space for more words. Very unusual.
Craig from Illinois 09/30/2010 15:11

We're approaching the one-year anniversary of our new DAB home on 10/7/10! I would love to see some of these minor details of the chat room experience implemented now that we have worked within the minor shortcomings of the chat room over this past year. This is about the only area of our home that could use some "remodeling" IMHO.

Your ideas, Tom and Deb, are excellent. I agree, Tom, that seasonal changes have something to do with attendance in the chat area. I'm preparing my heart to for the cold winter that is coming. A nice warm cup of coffee and the DAB chat is a nice past time in the right season.
Calico 10/01/2010 12:12
Well, Craig,

John and I can pro'lly get together face to face for that "nice warm cup of coffee" and "(a) DAB chat" since we're so close. :-)

But I'll settle for a Skype witya, Craig, or jump into chatroom with you throughout the coming cool days. Illinois must be becoming quite colorful around this time of the year just as South Western Ontario is doing, and a late afternoon coming-back-indoors to sit down to DAB chat with brothers and sisters would be just the thing after a meditative walk in the colors of the woods.

Praying with you,

Tom