Home Page Suggestion, re: Chat

I've been noticing how many new members will stumble upon the chatroom purely by accident and immediately say "Has this always been here?" or "When did we get chat?" There really isn't much information on the chatroom provided, I don't think it is even mentioned on the tour, is it?

Would it be possible to have a simple notice on the home page where the chat countdown and chat link appears when they are not in use? Such as:

Join us in the Chatroom
Tuesday 5-8 PM EST
Thursday 5-8 AM EST

And while I'm bringing it up, I wish the chat times were extended for the west coasters and beyond. They never seem to make it. And as long as I'm wishing, lol, a Saturday afternoon chat would be nice in the winter months.

mg

I second the entire above post!!

Janis

I'd like to see the Tuesday's chat time start a little later or go a little longer. It usually starts while I am still at work, and then I have a 45 minute comute home, supper, dishes, and then chat is either over or almost over, so I usually don't even go in.

Not that being at work ever stops me from checking into DG. ;)

Wholeheartedly agree with all of the above. A weekend time slot would be great, even year round, and so would a longer time window to allow more people to join in.

Stacy

I found the chat by accident and am now hooked on the Thursday morning version. It's nice to catch up with pals. I like the idea of a more prominent notification regarding chat.

*nudge nudge*

nag nag nag

*poke poke*

Wholeheartedly agree with all of the above suggestions :0))
Janett

A chat on Saturday mornings would be nice also, or just open the dang this up all weekend. LOL

MG, what a nag!
But I agree with you totally too.
Carol

Happy birthday Carol!

Thank you, maggiemoo.
Carol

How bout as a Christmas gift from Dave to us, the chat is open the whole month of December??? I'd be happy with that!!

LOl sarv - sounds good to me!!

Sarv48..........if the chat is open the whole month of December, I think Dave would get """"some""""" complaints from our kids :0)) because there would be NO time to by Christmas presents and food for the holiday. Oh and forget about having time to decorate or getting a tree rotflol
Janett

I''m new and have no idea where it's at,can someone tell me what to do,please??

Loretta...

Welcome Demstratt. The chatroom is open Tuesdays and Thursdays. and you see the chat:s countdown timer or the chat room window on your homepage in the upper right corner.you also need Java to use it
Janett

Join us in the Chatroom
Tuesday 5-8 PM EST
Thursday 5-8 AM EST

Welcome Demstratt!!

And thank you for proving my point precisely!

All month long chat?? I don't think I could handle that! But I just might try, lol!

does not seem like anyone is responding to any new chat rules or times bumer!!!!

Where do we find the new chat rules and times?? I have never chatted, but might like to. Legit

Legit - Its open Tuesday 5-8 PM EST Thursday 5-8 AM EST, unless we can convince Dave to add more time. When the chatroom is open, there is a link on the DG home page to get there. You have to have Java applets to get it to work.

It's a lot of fun !

Stacy

I thought the chat room times were 7-10 EST rather than 5-8; has that changed?

I'd definitely vote for an additional weekend chat time slot, as I rarely make it into chat during the week. :)

That's what it says in the FAQ ~ 7-10 EST.

http://davesgarden.com/faq/home/#117

wondering if anyone has noticed no response on this request??? HMMMM wonder why it is such a good reguest.

I was wondering the same thing. Unfortunate

Thank you all for thinking this is a good idea, now how do we get Dave's attention?

DAVE??? What are your thoughts here?

*Poke poke*

I've watched the thread, I suspect Dave has been, too.

I think the initial suggestion is good (adding a static message when on days other than chat days.) Whether or not Dave (and Trish) are up to changing the chat hours, extending them, or adding another chat session is up to them.

Chats have been restricted to Tuesday/Thursday for a few years and are moderated - a decision reached after we had some abuses with an always-open live chat early on (a few spoil it for everyone else, unfortunately.)

And since there are only a few admins, it's not feasible to open chat times up to 24/7 - there aren't enough of us to moderate 'round the clock. ;o)

Other than the home page message for chat newbies, which I am *THRILLED* you think is a good idea, I didn't ask for a 24/7 chat Terry, and frankly even I don't think it is a good idea either (yeah, ME!!). I would only like to see the chat days we already have extended a few more hours for the west coasters that never really have the opportunity to join in, or MAYBE add a Saturday afternoon/evening chat during the winter. I really feel that the chat times we do have are unfairly biased to the east half of the US. And how did 7-10EST end up being 5-8EST? 7-10 would be better for the west coasters, and actually after dinner for most of the rest of us too.

Maybe this could be a poll question?

What hours would be most convienient for you to chat?

1) Weekday mornings 7-10AM EST
2) Weekday afternoons 1-4 PM EST
3) Weekday evenings 5-8 PM EST
4) Weekday nights 7-10 PM EST
5) Weekend mornings 7-10AM EST
6) Weekend afternoons 1-4 PM EST
7) Weekend evenings 5-8 PM EST
8) Weekend nights 7-10 PM EST
9) Other

And then pick the top 2 or 3 and have a test period and see how things go? A compromise?

Gayle, I was addressing the whole thread and the suggestions contained, not just yours ;o)

As to a poll....that's up to Dave and Trish if they are willing to even entertain a change in the chat times, since about 99% of the chat moderating is done by them.

DG was originally headquartered in east TN, which is on Eastern Time and our servers remained in the Eastern Time zone for quite a while, which is why the times have always been used that as their reference point.

I'm not sure where 5-8 came in - are you saying chat actually starts at 5 pm (or am on Thursdays) for you in Iowa? (I'm guessing you're on Central Time, as am I - which should translate to 6-9 pm.)

I'm pretty new to DG and a big question I have is - are there any Admin. folks on the west coast? If they're all east coasters 10:00 PM is 1:00 AM for them and that may be asking them to go beyond the call of duty. That could result in folks staggering around with red eyes! LOL

KatyMac, what do you think I am doing on Wednesday :0)) after been up all night chatting away...........
For me Tuesday chat starts 1 AM since I am on the other side if the globe.
Janett

Janett, OMG! I may have done things like that when I was younger but I'm too old to remember back that far! Besides, no WWW back then. LOL

You know what Terry? I'm not sure where I came up with the 5-8 either??? I think since it is 6-9CST, I tried to translate that to EST and went the wrong direction time wise, ROFL!!! What a bonehead I am somedays. I've finally conquered spell check, now I need a fact check! Yeesh.

Should I go back and edit?

I'm willing to extend chat for an hour in each direction (opening an hour earlier, ending an hour later.) How's that?

dave

That sounds great! Thanks!

Dave, you're da man!
(and I don't even chat!)

I think that's great, Dave, I haven't yet, but I will try it soon!! Legit

Very wonderful of you, Dave. These extended hours may allow me to participate a bit more. Any possibility that you might add in a few more hours to each day, say 27/7?

Oh THANK YOU DAVE!!!

And the home page notice? Is that doable or is that pushing it? That was the main reason I started this thread, the chat time kinda took over.

Sorry I poked you so many times, rofl!

mg

Thanks Dave! I should be able to make it to chat before it's over now.

Dave,
Thanks so much,,,,this is great.
Kelly