Bulletin Board features and users

[Wise Young]

Posted by Jeff on
http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29034

Wow, Dr. Young

That is actually very generous. I'll work up some instructions for people to upload an index.html file along with all supporting files. If you give me access to the server I can create directories for everyone who wants to do this. It's really a great idea.

Not to be a party pooper, but, I really think the component that would build our community the most is an integrated chat function. Imagine if every time we came here we'd see a list of the others who were in the chat room? I know it would get loads of use. If anyone noticed YOU in the chat room then they'd automatically participate!



Jeff,

That would be great. Before you do any work on it, let's discuss the service further and see if we can get some feedback from other members.

I agree completely about the chatroom. Since last summer, I have been looking at commercial chat software and I must say that none have been particularly attractive and most run on Window servers. There are several other considerations.

1. Registration. We are currently using the OpenTopic (infopop) service to do member registrations. I would like to have an integrated system so that people don't have to register twice to get into the chat room. It should be possible to have the chat room software check the cookies set up by the infopop site so that people do not have to re-register if they come onto our chatroom but I don't have enough experience to do that. Alternatively, we can have completely open chatroom that anybody can post to but people would have to sign in every time (so that other people would know who they are).

2. The chatroom software must be as accessible as possible for people who have limited or typing ability. I recently did an analysis of our membership. About 72% of the registered members have spinal cord injury, 5% have MS or other disabilities, 12% are caregivers, and the remainder are professionals (some members have both spinal cord injury and are professionals in the field as well). Of the people with spinal cord injury, about 65% have had cervical spinal cord injury. So, about half of our registered members may have limited typing abilities. Thus, we should try to find chatroom software that requires a minimum of mouse clicks and can accomodate voice command software.

Wise.

[Jeff]

All I can say is that you're at least nineteen steps ahead of me.

I've chatted many times with mouth-stick users. My only reaction, thus far, is that those bad boys and girls can truly hold their own. I never got a sense of any burden of keyboard input for them, but I'm sure they were the more seasoned stick users.

I don't know how adaptable or modifiable this forum is but I think external components could easily be linked in. Chat software is becoming a commodity item and shouldn't be too expensive. I think the benefits completely outweigh any setup required.

Thanks for all you do.

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif ~

[Wise Young]

Jeff, thanks. Cost is not a serious obstacle. For example, I would be willing to spend a few thousand dollars on good chatroom software if it meets our needs.

You are right about the amazing things that many people can do. On the other hand, I know hundreds of people with spinal cord injury who do not come onto this forum because they cannot type, don't have the patience or access to voice software, don't use a head mouse. It is that population that I am most worried about.

Regarding the cookies for registration, Infopop uses the least invasive approach. When a person logs on, the site deposits a single cooky on the browser. When the person quits the program, that cooky is erased. If the person indicates that he/she wants to log on automatically, that cooky is kept by the browser across sessions.

So, as I understand it, the chat software program should be set up to recognize the cooky set up by the infopop site. So, it is a matter of configuring the chat software to be able to recognize the infopop cookie. I don't know how to do that.

Also, I would very much like to know your opinion concerning how to allow people to set up their own web pages. I know that many people can brew their own and FTP an html file to the server. This can be easily arranged. However, there are many people who have never put together a web page.

Finally, the next version of OpenTopic (Infopop) being released right now (probably will hit our site within a week) will offer the following new features:
• Wordlet tool: this will allow automatic translation or modification of any word posted. For example, we can define certain acronyms for expansion, i.e. drug names, conditions, etc. For example, if somebody uses the acronym "ADL", the site can automatically put in "ADL (Activities of Daily Living)".
• Private topics: this will allow members to post topics that only certain designated members can participate in. The site already has the capability of private forums accessible only to certain security groups. Security groups can be any collection of members defined by an administrator.
• Online Now. This adds an icon that shows whether a user is online.
• Admin web space. This puts space on the server for adminstrators to add static html pages (i.e. member pages that can be linked to member profiles).
• User controllable features. Users can disable, for example, the topic message display in long listings. There is a new topic printing tool that allows members to print out all the messages in a given topic. Users can designate their own time zones for the time display, etc.

Wise.

[Jeff]

While C1 - C3 injuries might be a minority of the SCI Community, their needs are no less important. Maybe if CR could hang with us on his own he would love to come here! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Finding chatroom server software for a Mac is a small limiting factor. Not today, but soon, it will all be built on a web services standard like J2EE. Cross-platform compatibility is an important feature for the future of any growing web site. It can mean quadrupling server capacity for a relatively small investment in hardware.

Anyway, I agree. Let's see what our members think!

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif ~

[offthahook]

I was wondering the same things, and, BAYUM y'all are on the case. Are you guys speaking of a PM type format or a chat "room" with many peeps in there at once?? It is hard to chat with 20 peeps at once, but IM or PM is easy enough. Your concerns with real time chatting and quads with limited/no finger dexterity is on the money.
It would be http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif to look at the top of the forum and see who's on at that time. Then, peeps would be like "Mang, that newb offthahook is in here, I'm ghost." http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

http://carecure.rutgers.edu/spinewire/pictures/halle250-.jpg

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[Ben Rolfe]

Originally posted by Wise Young:

• Wordlet tool: this will allow automatic translation or modification of any word posted. For example, we can define certain acronyms for expansion, i.e. drug names, conditions, etc. For example, if somebody uses the acronym "ADL", the site can automatically put in "ADL (Activities of Daily Living)".

Could a program like this be expanded and adapted for chat? A person could then type a single keystroke and an entire phrase would pop up. This would simplify keyboard use for those with limited ability.

[Wise Young]

Ben, it is a good idea. But I don't know of any chat software that provides this facility. Word replacement of course has long existed in individual programs. For example, Microsoft word offers this feature. There are many programs that actually attempt to guess what you are typing, using a dictionary that you can add words to, so that you really have to type only the first few letters of a word. Most people who have typing programs should get one of these programs. They are really very effective.

Wise.

[marmalady]

There's a TBI chatroom that I believe has voice options set up on it if you want to check it out; www.tbichat.org (http://www.tbichat.org)

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