Live Forums
I was thinking it might be a good idea to have a live forum on this site as there does seem to be so many people that are members to this site and also so many people that are visitors to this site. It would be very exciting for people new to this industry to be able to talk to someone who has experience in real time.
Re: Live Forums
Some retail sites use this chat with live person function, and I think it's quite helpful
sometimes, especially when people can't "Find the answer" they seek after 10, 20, 30
minutes of searching a site.
However, I'm not sure I would want the chat text to be in an archive.
Re: Live Forums
There's different kind of chats. Not all kinds of chats benefit from a (public) archive.
The type of chat you are talking about typically involves either a person on standby, or a 'callcenter'. We can't afford either.
PS: do you actually spend 10,20,30 minutes searching on single sites? I don't think I'ld last more than 5 minutes ;-)
Re: Live Forums
I think when you are looking for something specific you can easily spend more than 30 min on a site, which is why i think a live chat forum would be a good idea as there are so many members of this site that a vast amount of knowledge that can be a help to so many others that are finding difficulties
Re: Live Forums
It's on the todo list... Now that we are on a new server, it's one step close to being the top item, but there's quite a lot more to do :-|
I do think a chat function on the site is important. Not just for 'everyday' 'hey,nice-to-see-you-online' visitor to visitor chat, but also for larger groups chats, such as members chat or board of directors chat. Ideally, the chats would instantly result in searchable, archivable minutes.