Last weekend I posted on the "Web Site and Forum Help & Announcements" forum concerning the removal of the link for the AAVSO IRC Chat under the "Community" pull down from on the main AAVSO.ORG web page. I'm guessing that the "website forum" was the wrong forum for the following question so I'm posting here.
It appears that the AAVSO "chat" page was removed on purpose. I'd like to let you know that people still use this "chat" to keep in touch with other AAVSO members 365 days a year, help other members and occasionally help people interested in the AAVSO. May I ask why it was removed? Can it please be added back and maybe consider starting something like the "thursday night speaker" programs that were so successful in the past so we can build the "chats" usage back up and give members another way to talk "live" with other AAVSO members and staff.
Thank you for your time.
Frank Schorr (SFRA)
Hello Frank,
We were notified that the chat tool was displaying inappropriate advertisement that it highly objectionable and disrespectful. The tool is a free online application offered by a third party, so we have no control over the advertisement it displays and the products it promotes. Therefore we decided to remove it from our list of suggested AAVSO pieces of software. Until we find another way of chat communication, compatible with our web page structure which will have the necessary settings that controls advertisement, we will not use a tool that includes offensive content.
Please note that the chat tool is still available. It is not through our web pages.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best wishes – clear skies,
Stella.
Stella,
I understand the problem and now understand why the link to the AAVSO Chat page was temporarily removed. I tested the embedded IRC Chat link on the AAVSO Chat page with different browsers (Safari, FireFox, Chrome and IE) on two OSs, macos and Windows 7 using the "we recommend using this link" link and didn't see any ads at all but I found references on some other forums concerning this specific IRC client displaying "inappropiate content". I suspect this occurs with the free IRC chat if downloaded from the vendor's website. I don't think there is any reason to consider using this specific IRC client. However, I didn't test this specific IRC client, I only tested with the embedded link on the AAVSO Chat page and then only for short tests. Of course there is no problem with the AAVSO IRC server itself.
I've used the ChatZilla plugin for the Firefox browser for 10 years with the AAVSO Chat. It never displays any ads and works great with the AAVSO IRC server but it's only available for the Firefox browser. I see no way it can be embedded on a webpage. However it is availble and works great. I have not tested the 2 other IRC clients mentioned on the bottom of the AAVSO Chat page yet besides ChatZilla.
I found references to IRC client extensions to Chrome, Safari and IE but I haven't investigated these yet and I don't know if they can be embedded. I have no way to look at or test the Windows 10 Edge browser.
There are also some "open source" IRC Chat clients that look promising particularly to be embedded but will take some work to sort out.
I would be very happy to help find IRC Client software that can be embedded on the AAVSO Chat page that can be used on all browsers without any ad problems or inappropriate content. I have 44 years of industry experience working with hardware and software including years of experience with HTML. I already work with the AAVSO staff on the LPV Section. :)
Thank you for your time and consideration!!
Frank (SFRA)
PS: I counted 15 unique people on the AAVSO Chat over the last three days without a link to the AAVSO chat page! 2 of these were new members. There are normally 4 or 5 of us on the chat 18+ hours a day that love to talk about VS but if you ask a question please be patient as we might be AFK doing other things (normally working on VS and/or the AAVSO)
Current CHAT Access:
I currently access the following URL via the Chatzilla plugin for Firefox:
Irc://irc.aavso.org/AAVSO
There are other specific irc clients available for windows access and described herein as well as an access link:
https://www.aavso.org/chat
At the moment (of posting) there are just five members signed in to the CHAT and folks are always welcome to drop in.
HINT: Some talk that use of Mibbit brings ugly ads with it... the preventive here would be to simply install adblocker.
Tim Crawford, CTX
It is too bad that we had to remove the link publically, but it was necessary. There have been some good suggestions here. In the meantime it appears that we can spread the link by word of mouth and continue the conversation there until such a time as we find a solution. I too had dropped into the Thursday chats and others from time to time and some people really do like using the chat room.
Kristine,
I understand why the link was removed but I think a solution might be fairly easy to find. Please see my comment in response to Stella's post earlier in this post string https://www.aavso.org/comment/52616#comment-52616 where I offer some background concerning the "problem" and offer to help find a solution.
For an organization like the AAVSO, any way that we can bring people into a closer community the better. Over the years the AAVSO Chat has allowed AAVSO members to have "real time" conversations with other AAVSO members concerning variable stars, AAVSO programs and events and astronomy in general. Many new AAVSO members has been helped with questions and research by the experienced members on the AAVSO Chat including me. The big difference between a "real time chat" and something like a "forum" is that is it conversational and disussions can quickly cover a lot of ground just like face to face conversations can.
As an example last week we had 16 people on the AAVSO Chat including 3 people that were brand new members. They had looked over documentation on the AAVSO website and viewed the AAVSO Forum but still had many questions that "chat" participants were able to answer. All of this without a link to the AAVSO Chat on the aavso.org website!!
Another point about the AAVSO Chat is that it's an outreach for the AAVSO without taking up any AAVSO staff resources or time. It's all AAVSO members!
Thank you all for your time!
Frank Schorr (SFRA)
I popped into the chat the other day to see if anyone was around but alas I picked a bad time. Thanks for making suggestions. If you want to poke around some more and recommend a particular client that would be great. In the short term perhaps we can pass the word and encourage people to stop by as they can using the direct link. What time (including time zone) were people in the Thrusday night chat?
There really isn't any Tursday night chat any more. It is too bad because it was very popular. We also had Thursday chat sessions that featured guests that were well received. You or Stella could be a guest for example.
Generally there are several people that are on the chat site pretty much every day/evening and others that drop in when they are so moved. Arne is around on most days and early evening (eastern time). He is usually busy with some thing so you just have to speak up and wait.
When people join, just give a shout and be patient. Most people have chat on in the back ground and it may take a bit for someone to notice. We do get quite a few people that drop by looking for information or just looking to chat with someone.
Chat is handy. I have gotten extensive tutoring there.
RayTRE
I will continue to pop in from time to time to see who is discussing what :D