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Ask HN: Please review our online collaboration chat tool - chatterbloc.com

19 points by mootymoots 18y ago

Hi HN, We'd love to get your feedback on a new chat and web sharing application called Chatterbloc that we have launched today. It takes chat one step further allowing participants to share links and view websites, video or flash movies together, at the same time. The other part of this is the easy to create chat rooms (think of the ease of TinyChat), with features like Twitter integration, room history, live history searching, and of course the collaborative web sharing. We'd love to get your constructive feedback on the app, we hope to iterate through new feature requests and bugs as often a possible. Without further ado: http://www.chatterbloc.com Thanks Steve (http://www.reynoldsftw.com)

mikewhyley 18y ago
I've watched this through it's development and various iterations and I can say that some serious dedication and work has gone into this. It's really taking shape - good work guys ! Good Luck !
antiismist 18y ago
Works as expected, good job. It took me a while to figure out what the right window does though. Once I figured it out I had some fun with a chatterbloc inside a chatterblock inside a chatterbloc.
- mootymoots 18y ago
  Thanks for the feedback - 2 excellent points!
  - antiismist 18y ago
    Sort of a follow on ... right now the flow is: 1: click a button 2: select a user name 3: join a room You could eliminate step 2 (see, e.g. http://etherpad.com http://etherpad.com) and defer the choosing of a username until later. That would make it even easier to use. Also, there is a display bug where you try to join a room w/o picking a name first - the message (Name cannot be empty) overflows the lightbox.
    - mootymoots 18y ago
      Thanks again, will add these points
rokhayakebe 18y ago
1. What does freeze/unfreeze do? 2. What does the screen do? (I thought when I open window, participants would see it. Like if I opened Google and ran queries, they would see the same) 3. There is a bit of latency in your messaging. Maybe 1 and a half seconds. Otherwise if this application allows anyone to create throw away chat rooms and share their browsing experience with one another, then I can frankly say I love it. Great job.
- mootymoots 18y ago
  freeze/unfreeze is to allow users to stop other users auto posting links to their web view... maybe you're at work and don't trust the participants not to post porn or something... Unfortunately, You can only share links posted in the chat, once you navigate away from that page in the web view, the "shared" experience disappears... Something we're trying to work on. Thanks for your feedback.
  - mtrichardson 18y ago
    Until you have that, it seems like just an image of the page would potentially be more helpful, especially considering some people are logged in, some aren't, etc.
scott_s 18y ago
What's the benefit of this over email, IM or Skype? I already have communication channels through those mediums for everyone I want to talk to. Addendum: I just now realized you have a shared viewing feature. But I didn't realize that from looking through your app, but from your description. Shared viewing is what differentiates you from email, IM or Skype. You need to stress it.
- mootymoots 18y ago
  Thank you... good feedback. I have added some simple instructions in the web view for now to get people started...
  - scott_s 18y ago
    That does clarify things, but users still have to go through several steps before they see it. When I look at your front page, the only impression I get is "web based group chat." You should elevate shared viewing to something you mention first. edit: You do have the material for that, but it's under the "View Sites Together" tab. That information should be what I see first. Looking briefly at your blog, you understand this is your killer feature. You need to make sure your users understand that, too.
    - mootymoots 18y ago
      Thank you - Totally get what you mean - Will have a think.
DavidPP 18y ago
Got a small bug with website that do not "like" to be boxed (ex : http://hardware.fr http://hardware.fr) Since they force a reload of the page, you can't access the room anymore because you get redirected each time you try to access it.
- mootymoots 18y ago
  yeah, thanks - we have this one on our list... Unsure if it's fixable though...
RK 18y ago
It would be nice to have a back button for navigation.
mtrichardson 18y ago
This is pretty neat. The UI is pretty, but somewhat distracting. Not enough contrast, I think, and it could be more minimal. Freeze wasn't super intuitive. Having a history of what you've posted with thumbnails of previous things might be neat, but might just end up being distracting. The iframe thing, I go both sides on. I feel like sometimes I just want to show a picture of it (luckily with Skitch this is a fairly trivial process). It's really neat though, I'm enjoying it. (oh, and, as soon as you can, I would recommend not using the twitter password anti pattern and implement oauth there)
sam_in_nyc 18y ago
In no order as they come out... Title attributes or tooltips for all buttons. I don't know what they do. Fade the modal in/out faster, make hitting ESC or clicking the faded are close the modal (the X is rather small) More importantly, the whole way you manage going to URLs (and "freezing") is very unintuitive and backward. For starters, the arrow to "type in a URL ... [as far as I intially read]" points to an unfamiliar icon. I go there and see "freeze" and "unfreeze" which makes no sense to me. Freeze what? It was not clear that the main window was meant to show a URL rather than being an introduction to the service. Furthermore, I'd never expect that typing a URL in chat would control the window on the right. It's a chat box. I type in it, and what I type goes into the chat log. I greatly suggest the following: Put an address bar above the window, or in the window, and next to it a "lock" or "freeze" button which says "prevents this URL from changing". Furthermore, it'll pay dividends having this bar up there when you add more options.. like maybe "new tab" and things like that. Initially have the URL be the actual URL of your "welcome" page... (eg: http://chatterbloc.com/welcome_to_new_room.php http://chatterbloc.com/welcome_to_new_room.php) It will immediately tell me two things: "oh I can change the URL" and "I'm currently at the welcome page, lemme see what it has to say." Explain features and stuff at this welcome page.. like that I can type "goto <url>" in chat to navigate . And that I can prevent navigation by freezing by locking the URL. Make back and forward buttons. Finally, let me name the room and give me a short URL. All in all, a nice little service akin to Gabbly, Twiddla, etc. I like the iciness of it. Hope this helps.
sam_in_nyc 18y ago
More stuff: What is the point of "Reminder"? How about "share this room" instead. Reminding typically means sending me something that is time sensitive. Second, pop-up blocker comes up. Unless you're offering something extremely compelling, I'd be so annoyed as to leave. Pop-up blocker shouldn't come up for "onclick" events... you are doing something wrong in javascript. Third.. the more I think about it, the more I wish you had an address bar up there, and some sort of "help" thing near the chat window which would list out commands, like "!map" and "!<url>" and stuff like that. Best of luck.
whyleyc 18y ago
Great stuff Steve - my one big "want" would be permanent chat room names. A bit like you can claim a userid or brandname on Twitter or email e.g. http://www.chatterbloc.com/manchesterunited http://www.chatterbloc.com/manchesterunited :-)

19 points by mootymoots 18y ago

mikewhyley 18y ago

I've watched this through it's development and various iterations and I can say that some serious dedication and work has gone into this. It's really taking shape - good work guys ! Good Luck !

antiismist 18y ago

Works as expected, good job. It took me a while to figure out what the right window does though. Once I figured it out I had some fun with a chatterbloc inside a chatterblock inside a chatterbloc.

mootymoots 18y ago
Thanks for the feedback - 2 excellent points!
- antiismist 18y ago
  Sort of a follow on ... right now the flow is: 1: click a button 2: select a user name 3: join a room You could eliminate step 2 (see, e.g. http://etherpad.com http://etherpad.com) and defer the choosing of a username until later. That would make it even easier to use. Also, there is a display bug where you try to join a room w/o picking a name first - the message (Name cannot be empty) overflows the lightbox.
  - mootymoots 18y ago
    Thanks again, will add these points

rokhayakebe 18y ago

1. What does freeze/unfreeze do? 2. What does the screen do? (I thought when I open window, participants would see it. Like if I opened Google and ran queries, they would see the same) 3. There is a bit of latency in your messaging. Maybe 1 and a half seconds. Otherwise if this application allows anyone to create throw away chat rooms and share their browsing experience with one another, then I can frankly say I love it. Great job.

mootymoots 18y ago
freeze/unfreeze is to allow users to stop other users auto posting links to their web view... maybe you're at work and don't trust the participants not to post porn or something... Unfortunately, You can only share links posted in the chat, once you navigate away from that page in the web view, the "shared" experience disappears... Something we're trying to work on. Thanks for your feedback.
- mtrichardson 18y ago
  Until you have that, it seems like just an image of the page would potentially be more helpful, especially considering some people are logged in, some aren't, etc.

scott_s 18y ago

What's the benefit of this over email, IM or Skype? I already have communication channels through those mediums for everyone I want to talk to. Addendum: I just now realized you have a shared viewing feature. But I didn't realize that from looking through your app, but from your description. Shared viewing is what differentiates you from email, IM or Skype. You need to stress it.

mootymoots 18y ago
Thank you... good feedback. I have added some simple instructions in the web view for now to get people started...
- scott_s 18y ago
  That does clarify things, but users still have to go through several steps before they see it. When I look at your front page, the only impression I get is "web based group chat." You should elevate shared viewing to something you mention first. edit: You do have the material for that, but it's under the "View Sites Together" tab. That information should be what I see first. Looking briefly at your blog, you understand this is your killer feature. You need to make sure your users understand that, too.
  - mootymoots 18y ago
    Thank you - Totally get what you mean - Will have a think.

DavidPP 18y ago

Got a small bug with website that do not "like" to be boxed (ex : http://hardware.fr http://hardware.fr) Since they force a reload of the page, you can't access the room anymore because you get redirected each time you try to access it.

mootymoots 18y ago
yeah, thanks - we have this one on our list... Unsure if it's fixable though...

RK 18y ago

It would be nice to have a back button for navigation.

mtrichardson 18y ago

This is pretty neat. The UI is pretty, but somewhat distracting. Not enough contrast, I think, and it could be more minimal. Freeze wasn't super intuitive. Having a history of what you've posted with thumbnails of previous things might be neat, but might just end up being distracting. The iframe thing, I go both sides on. I feel like sometimes I just want to show a picture of it (luckily with Skitch this is a fairly trivial process). It's really neat though, I'm enjoying it. (oh, and, as soon as you can, I would recommend not using the twitter password anti pattern and implement oauth there)

sam_in_nyc 18y ago

In no order as they come out... Title attributes or tooltips for all buttons. I don't know what they do. Fade the modal in/out faster, make hitting ESC or clicking the faded are close the modal (the X is rather small) More importantly, the whole way you manage going to URLs (and "freezing") is very unintuitive and backward. For starters, the arrow to "type in a URL ... [as far as I intially read]" points to an unfamiliar icon. I go there and see "freeze" and "unfreeze" which makes no sense to me. Freeze what? It was not clear that the main window was meant to show a URL rather than being an introduction to the service. Furthermore, I'd never expect that typing a URL in chat would control the window on the right. It's a chat box. I type in it, and what I type goes into the chat log. I greatly suggest the following: Put an address bar above the window, or in the window, and next to it a "lock" or "freeze" button which says "prevents this URL from changing". Furthermore, it'll pay dividends having this bar up there when you add more options.. like maybe "new tab" and things like that. Initially have the URL be the actual URL of your "welcome" page... (eg: http://chatterbloc.com/welcome_to_new_room.php http://chatterbloc.com/welcome_to_new_room.php) It will immediately tell me two things: "oh I can change the URL" and "I'm currently at the welcome page, lemme see what it has to say." Explain features and stuff at this welcome page.. like that I can type "goto <url>" in chat to navigate . And that I can prevent navigation by freezing by locking the URL. Make back and forward buttons. Finally, let me name the room and give me a short URL. All in all, a nice little service akin to Gabbly, Twiddla, etc. I like the iciness of it. Hope this helps.

sam_in_nyc 18y ago

More stuff: What is the point of "Reminder"? How about "share this room" instead. Reminding typically means sending me something that is time sensitive. Second, pop-up blocker comes up. Unless you're offering something extremely compelling, I'd be so annoyed as to leave. Pop-up blocker shouldn't come up for "onclick" events... you are doing something wrong in javascript. Third.. the more I think about it, the more I wish you had an address bar up there, and some sort of "help" thing near the chat window which would list out commands, like "!map" and "!<url>" and stuff like that. Best of luck.

whyleyc 18y ago

Great stuff Steve - my one big "want" would be permanent chat room names. A bit like you can claim a userid or brandname on Twitter or email e.g. http://www.chatterbloc.com/manchesterunited http://www.chatterbloc.com/manchesterunited :-)