CHat / Instant Message / Forum / 'Blog / Email / Exchange combination system

If only the chat system knew what prompted your post: Are you posting a question? a comment? Are you replying to someone? to a sepcific thread?

So you are in a chat room and you try to send a reply to one of the other people just as they leave and go to another room. They are still online, but they don't see your reply. Why not send that message via IM?

And why are your logging into the chat room 5 times a day hopeing to run into someone who you met and were really impressed with.. why can't you just sent them a message and have the chat server let them know it is there the next time they log in? Just like email

And why can't you switch to chat when you are having a "conversation" by email? Or switch to email when the other person has to "brb"?

I've seen chat sessions that should be saved in a forum, especially if they could be sorted into a sort of thread. It would be nice if only the best threads got saved. Of course, they could be edited...

How many times have you said something in response to one persons post only to have it assumed to be a response to another persons post? Wouldn't it be nice if the chat server could thread things like a forum?

And don't you hate it when you post a question and people don't respond because they are busy saying "Hello!" or "goodbye" to someone who just entered or left the room?

What if the chat client could be told exactly who or what you were replying to or if you were posting a question or a comment? I'm not suggesting that it make you click on a post or a person... that would slow things down to much. But if at the start of the message window, where you type your message, you could start by entering the first few letters of the name of the person you want to reply to. I quite often do that anyway just to ensure they know who I am takling to. With a little javascript, it could even help you put in the correct name. You just start typeing and it fills in the nik of the person who matches the best, with the part you haven't yet typed selected so if you continue, it will erase it and try again. You have seen that sort of thing in other places... automated type-ahead. If you want to say something to the entire room, just hit the space bar first and it will stop trying. If you want to ask a question, start with a "?" and the system will know you would really like an answer. Or put in a "!" and it will be sure to keep a copy of your post.

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