A few tips...

[Frodo]

A couple of tips for better business:

I like your software, even though things blew op when your tech guys installed a plugin that didn’t work. Hey, we all make mistakes. But there are a few points where you can make business a lot better and some of them are quite simple.

1.- Get your forum going. People who use open source software often rely on the forums that go with it. There is nearly always someone who faces the same problem as you do. phpBB and Joomla! forums have thousands of members and a multitude of questions answered.

At TopCMM however, the person who is running the forum doesn’t have much of an idea about the software. Whenever the problem gets a little complicated, he (or she) advises to open a support ticket. This keeps your support team busy answering the same questions over and over again. Let one of them put the answers in the forum and it solves a lot of problems (and it saves your tech guys a lot of time).

2.- Build an automatic installer/upgrader for 123FlashChat. With ANY chat software I know (and I did a lot of research) it is a question of uploading, finding the right link in your browser, fill in a couple of details an the rest is automatic. I have been running several sites for years but I had to ask for your help here. No way I could figure it out.

3.- Make sure the translated versions of your software are correct. I bought 123FlashChat and wanted to use the Dutch language for the Admin Panel. But I had to switch back to the English version because of the bad translation. It looks as if someone used BabelFish or Google Translate and left it at that. Get a couple of real translators on the job - it is worth it.

4.- Limit your customer service. Even though the services provided by your techs are great, they go a little overboard. There is too much done “free of charge” when they should have been charged. A one time installation should be free but a later integration with other software (as in my case) should require a donation from your customers. It is “afterward customizing” and people expect to pay for that.

5.- Create useful extensions. The “Upload/Webcam Avatar” costs 99 Dollars but only allows a few people to actually put their own picture in the chatroom. (Not to mention the fact that it is in the list of “new features” instead of “plugins”). This plugin would have been great if ALL chatters could make use of it and then still: Most chat software has this included already - and for free...


P.S. and get some protection from spammers

[admin]

Dear Frodo,

Thanks for the valuable tips!

1) Okay I'll work with our support team to offer more professional answers to the technical questions, so that more of future users may benefit from it.

2) The language packs, well it definitely needs more efforts, and I'll contact our old customers to seek help, cause they Do know our product

3) Limit customer service, you're right, second installation or second integration should involve donation.

4) Automatic install/upgrade, "not too soon", this is the response I've got from RnD, cause the development costs are too high and it's not secure either. Sorry.

5) Create useful extensions... Well the “Upload/Webcam Avatar” is popular ever since it's released, but I understand your point, I will forward your comment to the decision maker anyway, and we will create more useful extensions as well as more new features for sure

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by admin

2) The language packs, well it definitely needs more efforts, and I'll contact our old customers to seek help, cause they Do know our product

If I could help there: I was planning to do my own (Dutch) translation anyway - front end and back end. Just let me know!


F.

[Frodo]

And a few additions:

6) People who enter a chatbox like to be a little anonymous. They do NOT want others to read their conversations by clicking the "Chat History" button. That button should be turned off or invisible with a standard installation. Secondly, keeping the logs on pages which can be viewed by anyone at all is a very bad idea. Move it to the database where only the site owner can view them if nesseccary.

7) Although it is not a standard issue with the normal installation of 123FlashChat, when you integrate it with a database system (in my case Joomla! and JomSocial) and hover your mouse over a name in the list of chatters it shows their email-address in the profile. By experience, I know that a lot of people don't visit the chat anymore because they lose their anonimity.

Regards,


F.

[admin]

Originally Posted by Frodo

If I could help there: I was planning to do my own (Dutch) translation anyway - front end and back end. Just let me know!


F.

We'll appreciate it greatly if you may help with Dutch translation!
And when you start, please drop us a note so we can mark it on this page:
Translate to Win License of 123 Flash Chat!

[admin]

Originally Posted by Frodo

And a few additions:

6) People who enter a chatbox like to be a little anonymous. They do NOT want others to read their conversations by clicking the "Chat History" button. That button should be turned off or invisible with a standard installation. Secondly, keeping the logs on pages which can be viewed by anyone at all is a very bad idea. Move it to the database where only the site owner can view them if nesseccary.

7) Although it is not a standard issue with the normal installation of 123FlashChat, when you integrate it with a database system (in my case Joomla! and JomSocial) and hover your mouse over a name in the list of chatters it shows their email-address in the profile. By experience, I know that a lot of people don't visit the chat anymore because they lose their anonimity.

Regards,


F.

Dear Frodo,
Thanks for the great suggestions.

The "chat history" button can be disabled in the admin panel,
server settings-> general, save public chat history, save private chat history,
disable them and restart chat server to make it effective.
(Then the web logs won't log new chat either from then on.)
However the history button will still be there, I will submit this request to RnD so that they may add it to the roadmap,
so that the button will be removed accordingly.

Also, I understand your point that the history needs to be disabled at the first place, instead of being disabled by admin configuration.
Some webmasters may need to keep the chat history and generate content for their webmaster,
but you've made your point that chat users prefer anonimity. Our team will discuss about it.

Meanwhile, the "cached message" can be removed in the admin panel,
server settings-> general, Max amount of cache messages.
You may configure it to 0.

As to the email in the userlist, that's a flaw in our module design,
we treated it as a cool feature but it turns out neglecting user's privacy.
Users should have the right to control to show their emails or not, and we'll fix it soon.
Thanks a lot!

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by admin

We'll appreciate it greatly if you may help with Dutch translation!
And when you start, please drop us a note so we can mark it on this page:
Translate to Win License of 123 Flash Chat!

I have a license already but I'll do it anyway

When I went to that link and to the list of translators I noticed there a few people on it for the Dutch translation already. Are those people still busy translating or did they make the translation that is available now? It would be handy to know before I start a job already done.

Secondly, here's a tip for your forum:

The Web's Largest Community Tracking Online Fraud & Abuse | Project Honey Pot

It is a free service to prevent spammers from entering your forum and works great with vBulletin.


F.

[admin]

Originally Posted by Frodo

I have a license already but I'll do it anyway

When I went to that link and to the list of translators I noticed there a few people on it for the Dutch translation already. Are those people still busy translating or did they make the translation that is available now? It would be handy to know before I start a job already done.

Secondly, here's a tip for your forum:

The Web's Largest Community Tracking Online Fraud & Abuse | Project Honey Pot

It is a free service to prevent spammers from entering your forum and works great with vBulletin.


F.

No, no translator has started the Dutch translation yet,
they only made the current version but long time ago.
If you started the project, we'll update the status to "Started" instead of "Apply Now",
so don't worry.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try to submit a few domains to prevent spammers

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by admin

No, no translator has started the Dutch translation yet,
they only made the current version but long time ago.
If you started the project, we'll update the status to "Started" instead of "Apply Now",
so don't worry.

Well, I have finished the front end translation already (except for a few errors) so count me in. Admin and Avatar sections should be finished later on today. I will mail the completed version to your sales department.

Regards,


F.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by Frodo

5.- Create useful extensions. The “Upload/Webcam Avatar” costs 99 Dollars but only allows a few people to actually put their own picture in the chatroom. (Not to mention the fact that it is in the list of “new features” instead of “plugins”). This plugin would have been great if ALL chatters could make use of it and then still: Most chat software has this included already - and for free...

Coming back onto this: It might be my mistake or the instructions for this module are a little unclear.

It says: "4). Custom avatar will show at the bottom of the "Change Avatar" panel. Altogether 8 recent custom avatars can be kept here."

Now does that mean only a total of 8 custom avatars are allowed for the whole chat or can all my chatters upload 8 avatars individually? (My chat currently has 150 members so that would mean 1200 avatars in theory -I think most of them will be happy with just one).

If the latter is the case then I'll take back remark number 5


F.