New Option for Direct Messages - Chat

Forum Tips and Tricks
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NOTE: This feature, provided by Discourse, is still in BETA. Some functionality may be missing or buggy.

Discourse started bundling a chat plugin into their latest updates. Previously, users were only able to send private messages that were done in somewhat of an asynchronous fashion, and included restrictions of a typical forum post, such as minimum character limits. To overcome this, I have enabled the “Chat” feature which can be used to send short form direct messages to users in a live manor*. For you Reddit users out there, this is similar to the Chat functionality as opposed to sending the user a traditional message.

Currently, I’ve restricted the amount of users able to be in a chat to 5 - This is to reduce unnecessary spam groups. Limit reset to Discourse default of 20.

Users are able to leave groups if desired, chats can be muted, and users can be blocked.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility: Users who abuse the chat function are subject to moderation actions, including a complete ban from the forum.

* Requires at least Trust Level 1 to access to avoid risk of spam bots.

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I understand the spam group reason as to why only 5 people are allowed to be in a group. But the downside of it though is that you have to create multiple groups to bring a large group together. I am trying to bring all the furries on the forum into a group chat, and I had to create another GC, and I may need to make a third one.

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I’m willing to bump it up. Just important that users let us know if someone is abusing it

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I think it also would be a good idea to increase it since we can make our mini groups for members on here that have interest in various industries and fandoms. Luckilly spam doesn’t seem to be a problem at all on here.

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I set it to the default of 20 members for now. We can increase it more if needed, but at that point it seems a bit overkill for a chat.

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I’m interested in this group

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Thanks Zach! The members of The Fire Alarm Furries appreciate it!

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