Chat client?

[Karl Johnston]

Has this forum ever considered adopting a chat client? I think with such a huge traffic base it could do well. I'm not sure where this site is hosted or if it's privately hosted but I remember www.ezboard.com (i think was the website) having a live-chat where members of the forum could go in and chatter.

Does it sound like something that could be adopted here, or no?

[Cadwell]

One issue with a chat-room type scenario is that it needs to be moderated constantly. We have no full-time professional moderators here; we are all volunteers and most of us have other commitments such as day-jobs, families and even taking photos. Whilst there is nearly always one or more moderator around at any given time it can't be guaranteed.

[Moppie]

And don't forget one of the ideas behind a forum is they become a repository of knowledge.

All the knowledge in the posts can be searched and viewed by others, and it becomes part of the comunitity. It makes it fixed, and discussable and open to peer review for correction.

Once you start adding chat features then people start using that to gain and shore knowledge, and you lose the ablity to search it, and it becomes transient and is harder to correct when wrong.

If your looking for somewhere to just chat then there are far better, dedicated services available on the net.
If your looking to have a chat with another POTN member, then have a look at both of your joining facebook, or gmail, or MSN etc :)