Is it a good idea to log the chatterbox

[kudra]

I'm not certain that the chatterbox ought to be logged. Of course someone can always log it for her or himself, but that doesn't mean it should be an included feature. It seems to me that a lot of what happens on chatterbox is unimportant or only important at the time.

Logged chattering could lose context. Context is not just a factor of date/time, which can easily be logged (although which time zone would be used?), but also can relate to activity on the site (recent postings, who is logged in at the time) or events outside of the site.

For example, if someone made a post and failed to use code tags, I might mention that on chatterbox (without using msg if that person were the only person logged on). The person doesn't reply but fixes the post. This is a boring example. Who cares about some missing code tags?

Next the person writes something insulting me for even bringing the code tags up (or a poem talking about how wonderful I am for mentioning it, depending on what view of human nature you prefer in examples). I'm tired, so I say more than I might have otherwise--"You are so rude. I wish someone would rm you." (alternate: "Please remove that, it's embarassing!"). Point having been made, the person changes the text of the node so that it says "Oops, sorry for the blank message, please remove this." Three hours later, it gets removed. Seven hours later someone looks at the log and wonders what I'm on and whom I was talking to.

I know, these are silly examples because nobody really cares what I was saying to the unknown person at 2 in the morning. Which is exactly my point: if it's important, it belongs in a node; if it's in the chatterbox, it's probably disposable (and if it isn't, someone should write it up in a node so it will be saved).

[nuance]

You make some good points about the transitory nature of the chatterbox, I can't argue with the examples you cite.

Perhaps what I really want is not a permanent logging of the comments for posterity, but a larger window into the discussion. I guarantee that I am not the only person who has logged on and caught the end of what looked like an interesting discussion. A lot of times, I would like to see what has been said already without everybody repeating themselves. Or perhaps someone has asked a question and all you have seen are the replys, again a larger window into the discussion would be useful.

A one hour cache would suit my purposes much better than a permenant record. A one hour cache would also allay most of the concerns about losing context. So if we had a page that showed the previous hour's discussion, would this be a better solution acceptable to all/most?

update Ok I realise very few people have actually read this post since I wrote it, but this seemed worth adding.

There is a separate discussion going on about chat scripts logging in while they poll for messages. ZZamboni has mentioned that (in order to ensure he does not miss anything) he leaves his script running while he is not there. If there was a "previous hours chat" page, you could amend the polling frequency of your chat scripts to once every 55 - 58 minutes or so, when you were leaving them unattended. This would greatly reduce the load on the server.

Thanks for reading

Nuance

Baldrick, you wouldn't see a subtle plan if it painted itself purple and danced naked on top of a harpsichord, singing "Subtle plans are here again!"