What *should* AIM / chat programs be able to do?

[GoSharks]

<< I want to be able to leave messages for people who are offline that they will recieve when they come online. That's good for people who don't check their e-mail. >>



icq has it... but bring that darned feature to aim!!

 

[KevinMU1]

Legendary--I usually use <sarcasm>insert sarcasm here</sarcasm> to get my point across

GOSHARKS--thanks for the feedback.

The ultimate point of this is for us to be able to build the killer chat service that'll pull people off of AIM. Ambitious but what good is living without a little ambition. Hey, at least we have the offline messaging all taken care of alread.

 

[geno]

<< genocide--Custum smilies is interesting, but it would require sending the image files to your buddies. It's a neat idea though. >>


Well we have custom buddy icons, right? If AIM restricts the emoticons to the standard size (whatever the size of the smilies are), then bandwidth won't be an issue and they can be transferred in a fraction of a second since they're so small

 

[KevinMU1]

Good point, and if they weren't cached past the current conversation I guess it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[jpsj82]

offline messaging
profiles with no limit on size (and support things like php and javascript)
full html and javascript in aim/chat windows

 

[IcePhoenix]

<< offline messaging
profiles with no limit on size (and support things like php and javascript)
full html and javascript in aim/chat windows >>



All these, plus plenty of emoicons, logging feature, ability to check profiles of AOL, and cross platform functionality. Basically, I would take the best features of ICQ, AIM, MSN, and ICQ and that would be my program. I gave up on Trillian, it got annoying.

 

[KevinMU1]

jpsj82 - profiles with no limit could get really unwieldy, especially for modem users--would you want to download a 100k profile on a 56k modem?? Javascript in chat windows sounds like a fun security risk--besides, what javascript things would you really want/need to do in chat window?

IcePhoenix - What got annoying about Trillian? Cross platform is definitely something to work on, I can see that as being a killer feature, especially if a program were CONSISTENT on all supported platforms.

 

[CStroman]

Make sure you give the program good support for multiple monitors. The reason I didn't use trillian was because it didn't work on my secondary monitor.

 

[KevinMU1]

It didn't work on your 2nd display? That's odd... what kind of video card you have. I have a Matrox G400 and it works fine!

 

[CStroman]

My 2nd card is a Voodoo3 2000.

 

[KevinMU1]

Just out of curiosity, what does Trillian do on your second monitor?

 

[yllus]

1. Definitely what Rallispec said there. People on your contact list should be able to write a tag like IMG=http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/sully/holocaust.jpg and have the image itself, auto-sized, load in the message window. I suppose there might be bandwidth considerations for why this isn't allowed yet.

2. Offline messaging that's queued and sent to a user once they connect to a server.

3. Message history - absolute must. By the way Skoorb - get the MSN Messenger Plus! extension and that will allow you to hide the banner ads in Messenger, as well as enable message logging in a plain text format. Absolutely rocks.

4. ICQ-style flexibility for multi-user chat sessions. I don't like MSN's hangup for only getting, what, 4 users at once in? Unlimited would be far preferable.

5. An option to have your messenger check your POP3 e-mail server every X (user-input) minutes and notify you if you have e-mail. This way you don't have to leave your e-mail client open all day, or remember to check your mail once in a while.

6. An option to switch between how MSN handles user conversations (all in one screen) and the classic ICQ style (one message at a time) would be fantastic. But if I had to choose one, I'd go with MSN's method - it's so much easier to let conversations flow in it.

7. A choice between simple and advanced messenger startup modes. Simple would simply prompt for your password at computer startup or not even that, automatically logging you in (check-box option). Advanced would let you input your password and choose a status to come online in, in case you wish to log in as Invisible/Appears Offline mode to just see who's around without being seen. I want that in MSN!

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

<< Sorta like your women? j/k >>

You're a bastard, you know that? "My woman" does what she wants.

nik

 

[KevinMU1]

0sully, thanks for all your feedback! Pretty nifty, we'll work on adding some of those things to BW in order to help give AIM a run for its money.

1) the img tag would be a liability for people on slow connections, if I put in a 1 meg image in a tag to someone on a 56k modem, they won't be happy. Some sort of stop button would be required, but overall that is a great idea and should be doable.

2) we already have offline messaging.

3) we already have plaintext message logging too.

4) multi-user chat not implemented at all, but planned, and in an unlimited capacity.

5) email checking is useful, I agree, although that hasn't been on the slate, but there's no reason it couldn't be.

6) I found the one message at a time style of ICQ very irritating, and not all that useful, so for the overhead I think I respectfully disagree.

7) I love the idea of logging in as invisible, we could easily add that too.

Sure, we're reinventing the wheel, but if it's a better wheel people will use it.

Thanks for your excellent suggestions.

 

[Valhalla1]

ICQ is far and away a better program than Aim or MSN I believe.. but no one wants to use it anymore, they are too dumb to figure it out I guess.

AIM and MSN would be better if they had more features that icq has, like -

Offline messages
Complete searchable logging of messages

 

[CStroman]

<< Just out of curiosity, what does Trillian do on your second monitor? >>



It doesn't dock.

 

[KevinMU1]

How about the ability to easily login and message from your cellphone to your account? Would that be useful for anyone? I mean, it's kinda a cool idea, but would it be useful?

 

[Supermercado]

I'd like AIM to be able to save not only youir Buddy List, but also your saved Away Messages. Also, I'd like the option of closing message windows and having the AIM icon blink in the system tray, like you can do with ICQ.

Edit: spelling

 

[nihil]

<< I'd like AIM to be able to save not only youir Buddy List, but also your saved Away Messages. Also, I'd like the option of closing message windows and having the AIM icon blink in the system tray, like you can do with ICQ.

Edit: spelling >>



all of that sounds good. and one more thing....they should kill off the warn feature. and they should add a block by IP function so you can genuinely avoid those ppl that constantly harass you.

 

[Xenon14]

How about delegating different away messages to different people. Better video/audio implemenation. History of msg'ing (AIM+ has that). Tabbing different windows. Skins. Offline Messaging. Spell check. IM Forwarding (no more copying/pasting). Toggling other users Idling/Away MSGs. Window Transparency. Always on top IMs. Remote desktop control. Builtin FTP.

 

[nihil]

<< How about delegating different away messages to different people. Better video/audio implemenation. History of msg'ing (AIM+ has that). Tabbing different windows. Skins. Offline Messaging. Spell check. IM Forwarding (no more copying/pasting). Toggling other users Idling/Away MSGs. Window Transparency. Always on top IMs. Remote desktop control. Builtin FTP. >>



gaim for *nix has most of what you speak of already.

 

[KevinMU1]

SuperCommando--storing of away messages on the server could get really unwieldly, imagine a max of 512 chars per away message, up to 100 away messages x how many users... that just gets unreasonable. BW I don't think would support that.

Xenon14, here's a list of your stuff and our planned BW implementation if any:

1) How about delegating different away messages to different people: already in the works for BW, on the list to be implemented very soon.
2) Better video/audio implemenation: still a ways off
3) History of msg'ing (AIM+ has that): already implemented in BW
4) Tabbing different windows: explain what you mean
5) Skins: possible, will come eventually
6) Offline Messaging: BW already has
7) Spell check: tall order for a lightweight chat client
8) IM Forwarding (no more copying/pasting): possible, good idea, will put on to-do list for BW
9) Toggling other users Idling/Away MSGs: you mean whether or not you see them?
10) Window Transparency: possible, but not a priority
11) Always on top IMs: also possible, good suggestion
12) Remote desktop control: I would be concerned of security leaks
13) Builtin FTP: very interesting idea, another one to write down, it's on the todo list

IP blocking doesn't work for people on dialups... a per-name blocking would be better methinks.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone... remember, I'm not working for AIM or adding these to AIM, I'm gathering info on how to make the better client. Since my original message with the URL is way up at the top and probably overlooked, I'll put it here again: http://www.bitwisechat.com. Features are being steadily pumped in and many other users' suggestions have already found their way in to our client!

 

[Xenon14]

KevinMU1,

By tabbing different windows I mean having one window with tabs of different users. So in other words, one window with an X amount of tabs instead of x amount of windows.

By Toggling other userse Away/Idle msg, I meant logging their messages even if you're not on the computer to check them yourself.

 

[nihil]

<< SuperCommando--storing of away messages on the server could get really unwieldly, imagine a max of 512 chars per away message, up to 100 away messages x how many users... that just gets unreasonable. BW I don't think would support that.

Xenon14, here's a list of your stuff and our planned BW implementation if any:

1) How about delegating different away messages to different people: already in the works for BW, on the list to be implemented very soon.
2) Better video/audio implemenation: still a ways off
3) History of msg'ing (AIM+ has that): already implemented in BW
4) Tabbing different windows: explain what you mean
5) Skins: possible, will come eventually
6) Offline Messaging: BW already has
7) Spell check: tall order for a lightweight chat client
8) IM Forwarding (no more copying/pasting): possible, good idea, will put on to-do list for BW
9) Toggling other users Idling/Away MSGs: you mean whether or not you see them?
10) Window Transparency: possible, but not a priority
11) Always on top IMs: also possible, good suggestion
12) Remote desktop control: I would be concerned of security leaks
13) Builtin FTP: very interesting idea, another one to write down, it's on the todo list

IP blocking doesn't work for people on dialups... a per-name blocking would be better methinks.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone... remember, I'm not working for AIM or adding these to AIM, I'm gathering info on how to make the better client. Since my original message with the URL is way up at the top and probably overlooked, I'll put it here again: http://www.bitwisechat.com . Features are being steadily pumped in and many other users' suggestions have already found their way in to our client! >>



no, i want ip blocking. i would right off the bat ban anything at aol.com and a bunch of other dial up isp's too. t

 

[nihil]

<< KevinMU1,

By tabbing different windows I mean having one window with tabs of different users. So in other words, one window with an X amount of tabs instead of x amount of windows.

By Toggling other userse Away/Idle msg, I meant logging their messages even if you're not on the computer to check them yourself. >>



gaim lets you tab chat windows. it's pretty sweet, saves lots of desktop if you can't have multiple workspaces.