(Only Topic) Chatbox no longer showing messages unless signed in to it.

I have noticed that you now have to be signed in to the chatbox before any messages are displayed. This never used to be the case and it may deter people joining it because they think nobody is on it.

Does anyone else have this problem?

The site is at http://wolf3d.darkbb.com/ .

Thats always like that unless you hit refresh.

No it wasn't. This just started happening a few days ago. And last night, when I hit refresh, it still didn't show the chat in progress.

Most of the activity on our board currently is in the chatbox so it is really a problem when logged in members can't see that there is a chat in progress.

There were some programming changes made to our chatbox around the time this started happening; we also noticed that the color chart for the fonts also changed.

So, is there any way to find out if the change denying logged in members seeing chats in progress can be reversed? People are very unhappy with this.

MrMario wrote:Thats always like that unless you hit refresh.

Thanks for your reply but the messages on the chatbox always used to show up once I was logged in to the forum without signing in to the chatbox. Now they don't, there's just a blank screen on the chatbox. Hitting refresh doesn't bring the messages up. I just tried it.

You now actually have to log in to the chatbox to see any messages.

This is true, I have noticed this. I thought no one was chatting, so never logged in to the chatbox. Only to finally log in and find my members had been screaming at me the last couple days to fix some errors.

melodiccolor wrote:No it wasn't. This just started happening a few days ago. And last night, when I hit refresh, it still didn't show the chat in progress.

Most of the activity on our board currently is in the chatbox so it is really a problem when logged in members can't see that there is a chat in progress.

There were some programming changes made to our chatbox around the time this started happening; we also noticed that the color chart for the fonts also changed.

So, is there any way to find out if the change denying logged in members seeing chats in progress can be reversed? People are very unhappy with this.

I should add the the post lag problem also got progressively worse after this change was made as well. We actually aborted a chat last night because it got so bad.

I second that about the post lag problem.

Me too. It happened on my forum and my friend's.

I have this problem too, members arnt using chatbox as they think there are no messages, and when logged in they have to keep clicking on refresh for the messages to appear, so it is unuseable at moment.

Am also having this problem, .

Try pressing the Refresh button before signing in the chatbox.

i thought i was going nuts
the chatbox on my forum is the most full,aside from the topics

my members keep telling me to fix it
and,just weeks before,there was a lag in the ENTIRE forum that had all the tiny buttons(smilies,bold,underline,etc)not work AT ALL

Cat561 wrote:We too are having the same problem and Members are getting discouraged ......

Yes our fourm is #3 on the charts for Forumandco.net sure would like some answer fast on this. Been a few days with nothing. Is any attention going to be giving soon? I have liked using this free forum even tho I own my V-B licenses. Used this board after my 400,000 post board was attack by hackers & just got tired of fighting it. Now closing on a 70,000 post board here and would like to stay, as I know we bring a good google visit but, I need some answers on this chat Box Problem. Check back soon.

We are having this problem also and it seems to be related to a refresh issue as well....

The chatbox is a very big part of my forum, so I hope that this gets resolved soon.

Prizm wrote:This is true, I have noticed this. I thought no one was chatting, so never logged in to the chatbox. Only to finally log in and find my members had been screaming at me the last couple days to fix some errors.

I had the same thing happen to me. I clear the messages every morning but for the last few days I just pressed refresh and no messages came up so I assumed no one was using it until I logged on and noticed there were plenty of comments.

This has been an error with mine as well
i cannot see messages on the chat until i log in

Even If you put log in auto, it still says Join te chatbox if you have joined earlier.

I am also having this problem on my forum which is not beneficial for my forum and my members. My others admins and moderators don't always want to log onto the chatbox, but we still need to keep an eye on what happens in the chatbox, which we now cannot do. It would be great if you can please fix this...

this is happening with my forums too. can u please fix it asap?

This is happening to my forum too

before,i could refresh and see the comments
now i see NOTHING unless i log directly in

this is getting real annoying...and its been happening for WEEKS!
is ANYONE gonna fix this?!

It's happen to my forum too ;A; and it also happen for week s OTL Chatbox really important for my forum, hope the admins solve it soon >_< thank you...

Actually it was meant to be like that from the start, but a bug was encountered a few months back, and it has now been fixed.

Typlo wrote:Actually it was meant to be like that from the start, but a bug was encountered a few months back, and it has now been fixed.

So are you going to leave it as it is?

At the moment, the refresh button has no effect and messages are only displayed if you are signed in to the chatbox. From the large number of posts here, seems members are used to having the chatbox messages displayed without signing in.

Whether it was meant to be like that or not, I think leaving it as it is will result in a drop in chatbox use, and also a drop in forum use. What do others think?

Typlo wrote:Actually it was meant to be like that from the start, but a bug was encountered a few months back, and it has now been fixed.

Around 12 months ago you had to physically log in to the chat room to see the messages, and around the same time as the admin panel upgrade/update it changed and you could view the chat room without logging in. I think it is better if you have to physically log in to view the chat, as it would save people 'spying'!!.

But the chat isnt auto refreshing when you are logged in at the moment and members are finding they can no longer use the chat, and they are losing interest in the forum as a whole.

I think they have fixed the bug and created another error.

what i usually do when things start going wacky with the chat box is turn it off for a day or two then turn it back on. sometimes moving it from the top to the bottom of the page will help sometimes too. but i found just turning it off for a wile works best.

either that or just get another chat box. like typlo said it has bin fixed but sometimes there are still small glitches with it?

I think this is normal since it happens to me, and all of you. If you don't like the way it is, I suggest adding an alternative chatbox, such as (and sorry for advertising, but) www.xatech.com or http://chatango.com

I have tried your suggestion of turning it off etc, and it is still not auto refreshing. The alternative chat boxes you suggest are not as good.

When members are typing in the chat box, it doesnt scroll down to reveal what other members are saying automatically, they have to type something in the box for the page to move up and then it could be that there is a page full of new messages appear. The auto refresh option doesnt work.