The time has come to make this real. There are many questions to wrangle with in terms of UI and more importantly, the underlying architecture and the data storage. I want to start from scratch, but am a little concerned about backwards compatibility. So, I'd like to use this issue as a forum for your input in helping to guide this effort. I'm not sure of the best way to organize this, but my plan is to post comments that each represents a requirement statement or a question or a decision that must be made. Please feel free to express your thoughts as I will be looking for them.

OK, here we go !

CommentFileSizeAuthor
#13 facebook-style-im.JPG109.93 KBzuzu83
#11 photo.jpg74.78 KBpahariwalla

Comments

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented

Addin tag for Appbar

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented

again ...

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented
Issue tags: +Appbar

huh ??? how come i can't update the tag ... hmmmm

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

In my eyes there is no backwards compatibility required to the current 6.x-1.x-dev version because this module is officially still under active development and I think it should be clear that massive changes can happen during development which might break the site... so there shouldn't be use of this module on production sites at all at the moment.

Or do you mean backwards compatibility to 4.7.x-1.x-dev? I think this is not needed because this version also never had an official release.

If rewriting this module from scratch is the way for a future-proofed solution then we should go this way, of course. This is my opinion and I'm looking forward to read other opinions.

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented
Issue tags: +pop-up

Your are right @design.er - maybe I'm mostly hesitant because i know it will be a long project, and i'm afraid that i won't have the time to make *anything* happen for weeks or months. I think that at this point I need to outline the requirements and then i'll have a better feel for deciding where i should stand on the re-write vs. modify spectrum.

Thanks for all your ideas and support.

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented

The following lists the various posts that contain ideas that relate to this effort. Please comment to add others or new ones. I'll be creating a couple Documentation pages - as soon as I figure out how to do it - that will contain our Roadmap (general plan) as well as the "official" specific requirements for this effort.

  1. The original request: #483146: Pop-Up layer
  2. Nudge concept: #461364: Tiny nudge block
  3. Collapsible console: #486172: collapsible console
  4. Messes up panels: #495734: Totally Messes Up Panels
jpshayes’s picture

jpshayes commented

This is going to be cool. I am patiently awaiting a dev version to test for the community

Thank you for all your hard work.

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented

it's cool...

adam_c’s picture

adam_c commented

subscribing

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented

where is the progress of work. Give us some news. If you need a designer I can help you.

pahariwalla’s picture

pahariwalla commented
StatusFileSize
new photo.jpg74.78 KB

well ... thanks for your patience everybody ... no real work done to date, the usual excuses ... @charlie836 thanks for your offer. I don't see a lot of "designing" needed, but, you (and others) could really help me get going by drawing up the "specifications". Although I know that the essential element is simply providing multiple pop-up windows, I keep getting hung up on the nitty gritty details. Stuff like:

1) define the entire flow, i.e.
a) someone sends me a message
b) a little rectangle appears at the bottom of the screen, and maybe blinks, or is a certain color (preferences required?) how wide is that rectangle? is there a limit to the number of conversations open at once? what happens when there are so many that they need more real-estate
c) I click on the rectangle and it pops open to a certain height and I see the message
d) I can then minimize (back to the rectangle) or pop open by clicking on the "title bar"
e) does it stay there until i close it (like clicking on a "x" in the corner ?
f) what happens to the messages after i close it? so they just disappear and are not retrievable ?
g) what happens, after i close the popup, when the same user sends me another message? do i see the old messages?
2) do these "op-ups" always live on the bottom on the screen? (vs bottom of a page)
3) what should the options be in terms of keeping messages ( currently not ideal and needs work, but first i need specs ;-0 )
4) what, if anything, becomes different with the friend picker.

I'm sure there were a lot of other niggly questions I've come up with, but can't remember as I write ... what would be really really groovy would be for someone to take a shot at defining the detail requirements, and then we could all pitch in and a good spec will emerge.

On top of all this, I've been considering a number of internal architectural changes required to make this work ... these mostly involve performance, but also include a desire to "clean up" the architecture (expose API's, re-factor code) as well as a desire to consider other open issues as I re-write major chunks of code.

All this, and the lovely madness of having loads of family/friends over the holidays (3 weeks of up to 10 people in my house!) have really slowed me down, but now it's snowing outside, the fire is crackling, and it's perfect for a mad rush of coding ...

looking forward to any input .. everyone please feel free to take any of these questions and make an issue out of it for discussion. i still haven't figured out the proper way to start "documentation" or "roadmap" pages in drupal.org, so any help on that would also be appreciated.

thanks for hanging in there

Raj

p.s. attached file is what i see when i look up from my keyboard ...

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

The view out of your window is amazing! :) We should start a private codesprint in your house to progress the work... :D ...don't worry, I'm kiddin'. :)
On Friday I will finish a big project... then I will take time to go through the points above and maybe find time to create a I design/wireframe with measures we could start with. But I think the first point is more important to get a direction as you said Raj.

Thank you very much for all your work on this project! :)

Stefan

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented
Issue tags: +bowob
StatusFileSize
new facebook-style-im.JPG109.93 KB

I am anxious that this module becomes a real alternative to bowob external module or widget.

For features with everything you said. The facebook style is very interesting because it allows you navigate throughout the site while you chat with on hand

I realized at this time integration with Mini-Panel and a Jquery script "slider effect" a Facebook-style chat.

I think this is a temporary solution, and an integrated solution will look much better in this module. "Maybe the integration with Download the Appbar?!" It seems that this is possible but I can not.

I also wonder how far people can use the online module, example: 10,000 users logged on drupal ???!!! "server resources"

I am not a great PHP developer but if I can help is with pleasure and I am ready to have a financial contribution to progress.

The snow is beautiful.

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented

the project is dead??? :)

jpshayes’s picture

jpshayes commented

Why do you say that Charlie?

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented

I would like to know if this feature is under development? This module is interesting and I am ready to make a donation if it meets my needs! But before building my site with this module I want to make sure it meets my needs?

This module has great future and it is great for Drupal.

The module is also Bowop but does not protect the confidentiality because it is a third party server. If this module can be like the Facebook chat will be great.

In the community of drupal it really lacks this module type style Facebook chat.

I very much Pahariwalla for this module because it is great developer but it lacks this feature.

The Facebook-style chat has very successfully.

Soon

Pahariwalla thank you for your work.

greenbeans’s picture

greenbeans commented

subscribing.

zuzu83’s picture

zuzu83 commented

is that the work is in progress?

:)

H3x’s picture

H3x commented

+1

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

mark #774612: Integration with (Rules / Application Bar) as a duplicate.

Even if it's not that originally, IMO it would be the best to create a chat very similar to the Facebook one. The guys from Facebook receive a lot of feedback end have improved it over the years so we have a great template of what is the best usability and how to use limited space efficient.
I don't say our module should look exactly the same but their work answers a lot of questions from comment #11 -> when and how to close or disappear a pop-up window; how to act if there are more conversions open then space available etc. I think this is a great and proved source for inspirations which shows us the general way. All the small things (like button design etc.) can always be changed... it's trivial and shouldn't slowdown the current process.

I'm sorry to get back so late. I had a lot of work and couldn't find time to read through all this sooner.
Please let me know if I can help you with any decisions, tests, conceptual questions etc.

Cheers :)
Stefan

greenbeans’s picture

greenbeans commented

re #20:

There are a lot of great things about the Facebook chat, but I think it would be nice for the chat console and friends list to be able to be placed anywhere on screen without too much trouble -- i.e. not wedded to a particular interface convention. There are already chat plugins for Drupal that mimic Facebook that literally. I'm currently developing a site that needs the chat embedded in the middle of a page... don't know what I'd do if this module didn't make that super-easy to accomplish.

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

Ok, I think it's nice that we are talking about all that stuff - it's what Raj wanted to get a direction.

Maybe it is possible to create a pluggable system with optional requirements.
This means that if a user has Appbar installed the IM console automatically will be shown in the Appbar.
If Appbar isn't installed then as usual block.

I think this would be a powerful solution. Since the "usual" block behavior works already a big step is done yet.

Raj, what do you think, is it all realistic/possible/clever?

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

Hi Raj,

did you have time to do any works on the Appbar-integration already?
Please let me know if I can help you with any ideas or decisions.

Have a great week! :)
Stefan

design.er’s picture

design.er commented

I've found a new chat module with a similar interface and would like to keep you up-to-date: http://drupal.org/project/qtc

timos’s picture

timos commented

Hi all,
Thanks to Raj for this great module.
Just to know if the popup feature is in progress ?

@design.er I try qtc but it just provides me a online user block... i mind it's a very beginning for this module...

BetaTheta’s picture

BetaTheta commented

timos, click on any of the users in the online user block, it will display a chat popup