Chat Room?

LoveToCamp · 06-29-2016, 03:31 PM

I would rather see the arrows fly in the regular Forum threads, instead of private barbs sent back and forth!

Since we have PM capability, I don't see the benefit of "chat", as both users must be on at the same time. Then again, while I only get on, read/respond, then leave when I am caught-up, maybe others keep it open and up, so they can see almost-real-time updates.

For me, no chat necessary. Others may see benefit.

Craigrrr · 06-29-2016, 04:52 PM

No chat needed for me. PM is fine

**Kidkraz** · 06-29-2016, 05:30 PM

I perfer the forum and if I need to reach out to someone specific, I will PM a member.

**Bailey'sMom** · 06-29-2016, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveToCamp

I would rather see the arrows fly in the regular Forum threads, instead of private barbs sent back and forth!

Since we have PM capability, I don't see the benefit of "chat", as both users must be on at the same time. Then again, while I only get on, read/respond, then leave when I am caught-up, maybe others keep it open and up, so they can see almost-real-time updates.

For me, no chat necessary. Others may see benefit.

Also if issues are brought up and resolved in chat rooms, would they still be there for later documentation? I like to have access to old threads to research.

mecicon · 06-29-2016, 08:42 PM

"Chat rooms" are so 1995 or [email protected] .

LoveToCamp · 06-29-2016, 09:37 PM

""Chat rooms" are so 1995 or [email protected] . "

An example of the amusing barbs to which I referred.

**Bill** · 06-30-2016, 06:28 AM

As most of you are aware, I monitor the forum discussions closely, and do my best to keep things orderly, organized, and polite. As the Forum Moderator, that is one of my functions.

I would not monitor or take part in a chat room.

Bill

[email protected] · 06-30-2016, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mecicon

"Chat rooms" are so 1995 or [email protected] .

Hmmmm I am not so amused by your insults...If you look at the name of this blog it's called the "Trailmanor OWNERS Forum...not the Trailmanor's PREVIOUS Owners Forum!...you don't own a Trailmanor anymore so why don't you just shut up, go away and stew in your own misery. If you got an issue with me then PM me...otherwise keep your offending mouth shut!

...you really know how to ruin someones day!

Besides, chat rooms are too much trouble .... plus if there is a problem and it gets resolved there is a good chance that just the party's involved will know the outcome and there will be no way to recover that information. I personally HATE chat lines as well as texting. Why text and have to punch in a bunch of letters when one can simply have a conversation??? MUCH easier!
I'm all about easy!
Tom

BradS7535 · 06-30-2016, 12:07 PM

I see everyone's point in some knowledge possibly getting "lost" by having chat conversations instead of posting it in a thread. The same could be said for PMs, that is a private conversation between 2 people and the information would not be available to others.

As Tom said above (in a way) is that he prefers to have a conversation, and that is what seems to happen a lot in these threads; a very slow conversation (sometimes days between responses). When going back and looking for information it becomes a time consuming exercise to find the information you are looking for sometimes. There are threads 10+ pages long and you've got to read through all the posts, all the back and forth questions, answers, discussions etc to find the answer.

My thoughts and what I am going to try to do is take it upon myself to document/share information that I have learned from these "conversations". A chat room would allow me to ask questions back and forth in "real time" to get all the info I need without cluttering up or creating a 10+ page thread over several days or weeks to get an answer. For example my Solar Installation FAQ thread, I've got tons of questions and I've received lots of answers, but obviously at a much slower rate as not everyone checks the forum every day. I am planning on taking all the information I have received, both from the thread, and any private PMs and put it into a .pdf for the Technical Library.

This forum is only as helpful as we all decide to make it. If you have a PM with another member and keep that information to yourself, then yes...that is not a very good system. If we all took the time to consolidate our personal knowledge and the knowledge gained from others into a single source (like an installation manual, or FAQ) and we place that in the Tech Library, it becomes much easier to find the info you are looking for, instead of searching the boards, trying to find correct threads (from poorly name thread titles), looking through pages in each thread and all the posts...etc.

In my current job there is a big push for "Knowledge Management". There is a ton of information available on this site, and some of it is easier to find than others. A chat room is another way to share knowledge in a more "real-time" manner rather than posting a thread, or sending a PM. In the end, the system is only as useful/helpful as how you decide to use it. I for one appreciate all the knowledgeable people here and want to contribute as much as I can by consolidating information gathered from multiple sources (threads, PMs, chat) into a single source (pdf) in the Tech Library.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

P.S. I may be the youngest guy here, which may explain the differences in opinion (generational thing).

LoveToCamp · 06-30-2016, 02:11 PM

Brad, maybe a better solution would be to encourage us to use the Tags feature. Each time we start a thread, add Tags to the posting. If we offer an answer to a thread/question, if we can add a more-precise Tag, maybe that would help.

I have never used Tags on this forum, but maybe that will also help find answers. It appears the Tags follow a thread, though, and not a specific post. I could be wrong, though. I would like Tags to be post-specific, to make finding answers easier. Not sure if that is possible, though.