February 24, 2007
Figure 1 In order to draw more attention to the chats, I’ve dedicated a little more real estate to the link.
Figure 2 SimpleLog offers the ability to include a subject line with comments, and it seemed to be worth trying out.
Comments Evolved
Comments are back, and I've also made some changes to how I use Campfire. Going forward, depending on the context, some articles will have a time-boxed live chat, some will have comments, and some will have both.Figure 1 In order to draw more attention to the chats, I’ve dedicated a little more real estate to the link.
There’s always room for improvement, and my experiments with Campfire as a replacement for comments was no exception. I’ve already addressed the advantages and disadvantages, so I’ll keep this brief and focus on my solution. I’ve still got several more ideas that involve getting my hands dirty with API’s, but I’m not in a hurry to take it that far just yet.
The first aspect that was killing everyone was the lack of focus in the chat rooms. So now, I’ll be using Campfire sparingly. Some posts will have it and some won’t. When it is available, it’s getting some additional visual prominence. (Figure 1) When it is present, every post will have a dedicated room and those rooms will only be available for 24 hours after it’s initially published. The links and other aspects promoting the room will obviously not appear after the room shuts down.
Ideally, this will make the chats a bit more focused and worthwhile. I’m not sure if 24 hours is the best time frame, but it makes sense as a good starting point. This all still leaves one of the largest drawbacks of Campfire, and that’s the fact that the archives aren’t public. My solution for this is to cherry-pick parts of the discussion and add them to the article as an update. This won’t notify everyone, but it will create an accessible record of the information for anyone who’s interested.
Figure 2 SimpleLog offers the ability to include a subject line with comments, and it seemed to be worth trying out.
Finally, since a chat room doesn’t always make the most sense, the site is now ready to have comments enabled on selected posts. (Figure 2) There’s not much to say about comments other than the fact they’re here, so I’ll leave it alone. These solutions compliment each other pretty well, and I think it should address most of the concerns in the simplest way. I know the Campfire room hasn’t always been exciting thus far, but I think these changes are a good step in the right direction. I’ve enabled Campfire and comments on this post as a test run, so have at it and we’ll see how it goes.
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Hi. I’m Garrett Dimon, a freelance designer/developer in Dallas, TX. This is my site about people, design, and technology. I also write a column about web design and development for Digital Web Magazine. Still have questions? Feel free to .
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Great design
February 24, 2007 at 07:57 PM by MarkNow that I can leave a stamp on the site, easily, I just wanted to say: I’m a huge fan of the new typographic design. I don’t bother reading it in RSS (a rare exception); I click through each time to see how you’ve laid things out.
Interesting experiment, but...
February 25, 2007 at 02:18 AM by Michael MoncurInteresting experiment, but I don’t think it could replace comments.
It’s important to realize that there’s a different social context between chats and comments. I comment on articles all the time, but I’m unlikely to participate in a real-time chat. It’s just a social commitment I’m not willing to make just for a weblog post. (There are others who would be unlikely to post a comment but would enjoy a chat. The more contexts the better.)
Also, the ideal chat system for this would have a visible archive - I just clicked on the Chat link with 16 hours left, and while i’m sure some people have chatted, I can’t read the previous chat, and there’s nobody there now.
Maybe a better option (along with traditional comments) would be a scheduled chat for each (or selected) posts, either at a set daily time or a few hours after the post. I’m more likely to drop in for a planned real-time chat when I know everyone will arrive at about the same time and some interesting discussion is likely. Then I can get some real value out of the chat in just a few minutes.
With sites like Slashdot, this wouldn’t be an issue. The chat would begin the instant the post appeared, and would probably continue for 12 hours or so. (Getting something useful out of a chat with that particular audience is left as an exercise for the reader.) With a smaller site, short, focused chats would be better.
P. S. The design is indeed awesome.
Props
February 26, 2007 at 06:09 PM by Scott MackenzieStopped by to say…
Cool idea, but it might break the flow.
March 01, 2007 at 12:42 PM by Erik SagenGarrett, I commend you for your comment experimentation because it shows you really hold value for those who add to the conversation.
I’ve often sat down and tried to figure out better ways to handle conversation, making it more intuitive and things like that and have even considered third party services to handle comments.
In the long run, I just kept coming back to the notion that keeping comments within your site makes the conversation flow better.
That’s really one of the only disadvantages that I can think of when using Campfire (or another third party service) to handle comments/chat.
Of course, some might praise the real-time aspects, where others, as Michael addresses above might see little activity after a certain amount of time.
For now though you’re offering it as an alternative and I see nothing wrong with that. Having options is always a plus.