ShoutBox

[jkrlvgn]

Yes, I know, it's already been proposed, and all that....but is there any way someone can just MOD an existing shoutbox?

What do you guys need to do that?  Because, I mean, the shoutboxes that are there now are -nice-, but there are some that have so much more functionality/aesthetics to them.

Anyway....is there any way someone can port a shoutbox to SMF?

[Rudolf]

I am working on a shout box myself, but I'm not sure it will please you.
If you share which functionalities you expect, you might get a chance to get them.  I myself can't think about much things.
In my view a shoutbox is a simple box where you can write short messages, not to cook your dinner.

[jkrlvgn]

...it won't cook my dinner?  Oh...well...darn it, I'll have to cook my own.

The only reason that the shoutboxes that are out now aren't the same as the others is because SMF is still fairly new, and there aren't a lot of modders for it yet and/or they're not sharing (which is unlikely on the not sharing..I mean..SMF freakin' rocks).

I know, and I understand that.  I'm -not- a coder, so I'm not saying that those shoutboxes aren't any good, because they are...a hell of a lot better than I could code...but there are some that are already coded for other boards.

I know that some people know how to "port" those other mods to fit the software that they want it to.  I didn't mean to -offend- anyone, just that I like some of the shoutboxes for the other forums.  That's all.

Like I said..I can't say much, seeing as how I can't code to save my life.

I just thought it might be something worth looking into.

[Harzem]

This is lots of text, but you don't talk about any functionality

Why do you think the other ones are better?

[jkrlvgn]

Oh!  *LOL*  OK.  I knew I forgot something.

First, let's get a view of the shoutbox.  I was in a themed skin, so yes, it's dark: Click here

Ok...so you've got a GENERAL idea on how it looks.  So what?  Well...you wanted to know about options, so...i'm going to list all the options, settings, and even some screenshots for you.  To see the pictures, just click on the links (those would be the Setting Categories).

Basic Settings:  We all know what these are, but for the sake of explaining everything, we'll start with this -

   • Shoutbox Online: Yes / No (Turns on/off the Shoutbox)
   • Shoutbox Name (So you can name your shoutbox)
   • Shouts Displayed per Page (How many 'shouts' are shown)
   • Flood Shouting Limit (Number of Shouts before restricted to wait)
   • Flooding Shout Delay (Number of Seconds to restrict flooders)
   • Word Wrapping Length (Right where you want the wordwrap to start)

   Shoutbox Settings: These are other basic settings for the shoutbox.  This is where you configure how it will be shown (basic)

      • Default Shoutbox Type (Three settings-Regular, Iframe, Popup.  This is so you can
         decide how it's going to be integrated)
      • Shout Display Side (The Default Shout color for the shoutbox.  This can be configured,
         but has the option to use the skin textcolor default)
      • Collapse/Expand Image Display Side (Choose which side has the collapse image showing)
      • Allow Shoutbox Iframe usage (Allows/Disallows members to use shotbox as Iframe)
      • Allow Shoutbox Popup Usage (Allows/Disallows members to use the shoutbox as a popup)
      • Allow Float Shoutbox Usage (To allow the shoutbox to float over the page)   

   Shoutbox Iframe Options:  So if you choose the Iframe, you can customize the look and behavior.

      • Iframe Width (Width of Iframe for shoutbox, in Percentage (%))
      • Iframe Height (Height of Iframe for shoutbox, in Pixels (px))
      • Iframe Refresh Rate (So you can choose how long you want it to wait before it
         refreshes)
      • Allow Paging? (To allow members to go back to other shouts on other pages.)


Global Shoutbox Settings:  These are settings for the Global Shoutbox

   • Display Global Shoutbox (If you want to use it globally, then yes, if not, then no)
   • Global Shoutbox Displaying (As in, WHERE all do you want it to show?  All pages?)
   • Global Shoutbox Theme (Choose which theme you want on the global shoutbox)
   • Global Shouts to display (How many shouts are shown in the global shoutbox)

   Global Button Options:  Buttons on the Shoutbox.  You saw these on the first picture.

      • Display Smilies Button (To view smilies)
      • Display BBCode Button (To display the BBCode that you can insert into the Shoutbox)
      • Display Clear Shout Button (In case you want to clear the shouts for yourself)
      • Display Refresh Button (So you can manually refresh)

   Global effect Options:  For if you want to have default effects on the board.

      • Global Shout Effect (Fading, Marquee Left/Right, Normal scroller, None, Translucent
         Scroller.  This affects ALL shouts.)
      • Fading Scroller speed (Speed to set the fading scroller at)
      • Marquee Regular Speed (Marquee Speed, normal)
      • Marquee Hover Speed (Marquee Speed when hovering the mouse over)
      • Normal Scroller Speed (Normal Scrolling speed, without the effect of the other scrollers)
      • Translucent Scroller Speed (Speed for translucent scrolling)
      • Display Marquee Speed Buttons (if you want to have the option to speed up or slow
        down the marquees)

   Global Iframe Options:  To configure the global Iframe

      • Global Iframe? (Yes/No on displaying shouts inside a global iframe)
      • Global Iframe Height (Height of Global Iframe)
      • Global Iframe Refresh Rate (Time you want it to take before the global Iframe refreshes)

   Global Shout Options:

      • Allow Shouting from Global Shoutbox (If you have the Global Shoutbox enabled, you can
         allow/disallow shouting from within it)
      • Remove Line Breaks (Just in case you don't like them)
      • Display Time of Shout (Turn the timestamp on/off)
      • Shout's Time Displaying Method (What method to display time in - Custom/Long/Short)
      • Custom Shout Time Method (If you have the Time Display as Custom, customize it here)

Shouting Settings:  Where you can configure what/how different things are allowed for the shouting itself.

   • Allow Previewing of Shouts (Allow/Disallow Shout Preview...like previewing a post)
   • Display Clickable Smilies (Show Smilies Table on Regular Shoutbox?)
   • Allow Smilies in Shouts (Allow/Disallow the use of smilies in the Shoutbox)
   • Allow BBCode in Shouts (Allow/Disallow the use of BBCode in the Shoutbox)
   • Allow HTML in Shouts (Allow/Disallow HTML in Shoutbox)
   • Allow selecting of shouts per page (Allow MEMBERS to decide how many shouts per page they
      want to see)
   • Max Smilies Allowed in Shouts (Determine how many smilies per shout)
   • Maximum shout Length (Determine how long a shout can be)

Shout Options:  More options for the shouts.

   • Display Avatars (If you want to be able to show your av in the shouts)
   • Maximum Avatar Dimensions (Because sometimes those avs are JUST too big)
   • Noavatar Image Name (Display an avatar if that person doesn't have one)
   • Display Time of Shout (Timestamp)
   • Disable Relative Time Formats (JUST THE TIME, instead of "Today @")
   • Shout Time Display Method (How you want the time displayed in the shoutbox, same as Global
      settings, but this one isn't for the global shoutbox)
   • Custom Time Format (Only if custom is selected, of course, where you put how you want the
      time to be displayed.
   • Maximum/Minimum Refreshing Time Rate (Max/Min refresh settings for the shoutbox)

ShoutBox Announcement:  If you have an announcement for the shoutbox, or to display above the shoutbox

   • Display Shoutbox Announcement (Show Announcement/Hide Announcement)
   • Shoutbox Announcement (What the announcement actually is)

Shoutbox Rules:  If you have rules to your shoutbox, then this is where you'd put in the information.

   • Display Shoutbox Rules Link (Show/Hide the link to the shoutbox Rules)
   • Shoutbox Rules (HTML Enabled block to write your shoutbox rules)

Extra settings:  Misc Settings

   • Display Current Members in the Shoutbox (Member is in Shoutbox, show that's where he is in
      location)
   • Automatically Delete Shouts (Just so you don't have to do it manually all the time)
   • Autodelete Shout Time Period (How many days to delete shouts if auto delete is enabled)
   • Number of Statistics Today (Stats for the Shoutbox)
   • Number of Statistics Overall (Stats for Shoutbox, like Post counters)

Post/Topic Settings:  If you wanted to inject the shouts into the board

   • Post Shouts as Posts/Topics (Allow/Disallow Injecting Shouts into posts/topics)
   • Forum to Create New Posts/Topics (Which forum do you want to make the shouts inject into?)
   • Shout Posts/Topics Type (How you want them to be posted, three choices)
      ○ Method One: This method will create a new topic in the forum you have selected for
                 every individual shout.
      ○ Method Two: This method will create/post each individual shout made for that day
                 under 1 topic.  That topic will hold all the shouts shouted for that day.
      ○ Method Three: This method will create/post each individual shout made a user under
                   their own topic.  That topic will only hold all of that members shouts and 
                   not anyone else.
   • Topic Effects (Pin/Close/Pin&Close - If you wanted those effects from the injection)
   • Increment Users Post Count (If Shouts will add to their post count or not...)
   • Display Member Signature in Posts (If Member has a sig, show it in the post, or not)

That's pretty much the list, since you guys asked.  -That- is what I want.  Those are the options.

And, I want it to look good too....does that explain it better?

[Harzem]

Yes, that was really more explanatory I hope someone will try to implement as much as they can.

[jkrlvgn]

...I mean...it just takes someone that knows how/wants to do it.  I -know- it'll get done, I was just hoping that this might spark some ideas/interest.

[Rudolf]

Now you're talking!
Though I get the feeling that since it cannot cook your dinner at least the morning coffe should do it. 

All the things describe are very interesting and certainly useful, but there are some that are just too much work to do it. (imo)
Some of my considerations:
Basic settings: The basic settings are a must.
Shoutbox settings:
Default shoutbox style: I have two modes for my shoutbox. One is a pluggable box that you can place anywhere on the forum, using a template_function. This will require a simple modification in the theme. Obviously there will be one default position to come with the mod.
The other is a page of its own, kind of like a maximized window. In this case it's almost like a chat window (but it's not, but you ca use it like that).
So there's a regular position and a maximized position. I don't see purpose for iframes.
Collapse/Expand Image Display Side: Whatever that means, I think should be done in the template. Not worth the coding work.
Allow different mode usage: yes this is a good idea. The setting would be to allow maximizing the window.
Global Shoutbox Settings:
Display: I'm not sure what you mean by global. As I said anyone can have full control of where it should appear modifying the themes. But some common options in the administration will be for sure.
Global Shoutbox Theme: The theme of the shoutbox is the theme used to display the forum page. You can't load a second theme just for the shoutbox. A theme is already loaded, so it will be used. Besides it could not integrate  with the rest of the page.
Button options:
Smilies are a must, I'm still thinking about BBC. I guess they are a must too.
Refresh button is there clicking itself periodically. You have the ability to adjust the time it does on the page, and to set a minimum allowed refresh time in the administration. (to avoid people setting it too low and stressing the server)
Clear button: I haven't thought about that one ... it will be useful for sure.
Global effects:
Though I know of a shoutbox that has these, and I was totally esxcited when I first saw, after the initial excitement I never used them. They can make a busy shoutbox pretty annoying, and it's not recommended by the accesibility standards. They could make it in the end, with the option to disallow them. In the end, when everything else is done.
Global Shout Options:
Allow Shouting from Global Shoutbox: I don't get it. What is the Non-Global shoutbox?
Remove Line Breaks: the input is a one line textbox, no multiple lines at all - of course shouts are properly sanitized before saving them
Display Time of Shout: Yes.
Shout's Time Displaying Method : -interesting addition. Maybe there could be a short and long format both using the user's time format.
Custom Shout Time Method: -well this would be only the "Shout Time Method" for setting the long or short format
Shouting settings
Allow Previewing of Shouts: - I don't think it worths the effort, but why not. It would be a nice perk.
Display Clickable Smilies: yes, but see below
Allow Smilies in Shouts: If no, then above setting has no effect
Allow BBCode in Shouts (Allow/Disallow the use of BBCode in the Shoutbox)
Allow HTML in Shouts: careful with this - maybe "Allow basic HTML in shouts". But I see no point if the BBC's acre active. As an alternative for BBC would be ok. It could be faster ... or no.
Allow selecting of shouts per page: yes, though they can only choose from a predefined set of values. We don't want them setting 1237643 shouts to show.
Max Smilies Allowed in Shouts: definitely
Maximum shout Length: adjustable by administrator
Shout options
Display Avatars - what?!? are you insane? it will make your shoutbox content huge
Maximum Avatar Dimensions: unless you set a reasonable size for avatar, like 16x16px or 32x32px - in which case it would be an icon not an avatar
Noavatar Image Name: Default Icon you mean
Display Time of Shout: shouldn't this be always on? Oh, well, it could be a setting, I guess
Disable Relative Time Formats: again, this should follow the forum settings
Maximum/Minimum Refreshing Time Rate: I already covered this. Actually I have some cool ideas for the refresh. (intelligent refresh)
Shoutbox Announcement - you mean like a title or description? Yeah, why not. It could be used for setting the topic of the shoutbox. Like in chats... Among othr things.
Shoutbox Rules:  - Rules rules. We can't live without them.
[Extra Settings]
Display Current Members in the Shoutbox: the shoutbox either is displayed as part of a page, or "maximized". When it's part of the window I guess it makes sense to say that those who are viewing the page are viewing the shoutbox too. So no need for another online list. In the maximized mode the people who shouted just a couple of seconds old are probably still there. If the oldest shout it's older then a couple of minutes then it's more likely that there's no one watching it either. If you're looking maximized other people would still see while browsing the forum. I'm not sure how to get my point across. Fact is, I find it quite useless, look at the online list if you want to know who's online.
Automatically Delete Shouts: I planned an automatic "Archive" function, which would write it out in log files. TXT or XML.
Autodelete Shout Time Period: naturally
Number of Statistics Today - Stats are cool
Number of Statistics Overall - Overall Stats are awsome
Post/Topic Settings: - You mean you want to be able to post from the shout box? That's a joke right? Use the quick reply or the normal post form.
Post Shouts as Posts/Topics: why would one inject a shout in a topic beats me. But wait, you want something similar to quote? Copy and paste the shout you want to inject in your post. Shouts are just that shouts, they fade away in time.
Forum to Create New Posts/Topics (Which forum do you want to make the shouts inject into?) - ok here I stop because I have no idea what's this section about.

That's pretty much what I could come up now. Thank you for the whole bunch of interesting additions and ideas. Some will definitely make it in my project.
I hope I'll finish it soon, but a coupe of months it could take. I code 8 hours per day at work... 

[jkrlvgn]

*LOL*

I know, some of the options are excessive....but....they weren't my original idea, just ones from a previous IPB shoutbox.  And yes...yes...some of them are a bit much....so...no worries on that.  I agree with everything that you said above...

Automatically Delete Shouts: I planned an automatic "Archive" function, which would write it out in log files. TXT or XML.

That's a good idea, and I think that's what the person who made the injecting into the forums might have meant by it.  I doubt it'd be used on the forum, though...it'd be a little better on a text file...just thought I'd list it becaues it was there.

And, just so you understand it (because it was kinda confusing), lemme quote and explain:

Post/Topic Settings: - You mean you want to be able to post from the shout box? That's a joke right? Use the quick reply or the normal post form.

It was an option that I'm sure some people would want, but do I need it?  No.  Just for archival purposes.

Forum to Create New Posts/Topics (Which forum do you want to make the shouts inject into?) - ok here I stop because I have no idea what's this section about.

THAT is for like....which section you want...kind of like the trash, etc.

Anyway...like I said...you picked out all the junk, and with that out, it'll not only be easier to code, it'll be quicker on the load....ha....

Anyway...I'm looking forward to your shoutbox...lemme know when it's done....