Actually, I don't agree... "live" chat and discussion forums are quite different. In the case of chat, the interaction is spontaneous and the participation and sharing of the knowledge is limited to those who happen to be present at the moment. With discussion forums, the information is there for all to appreciate at their convenience.
One of the sites we run is a blues music portal with a modified 6.x UBB and several of our members have voiced their opinion in favour of a chat service. The dilemna is twofold; 1) finding a suitable chat application that integrates well with the UBB user base - such as this hack and 2) finding a way to organize chats with client base that is truly global.
The other important concern is that our clients will miss out on the information being shared by people who happen to be in the room.
The beauty of a UBB is that the topics are there on demand - space considerations notwithstanding, a visitor can benefit froma discussion days or weeks after the original posting...
This chat hack looks promising, and we will most likely integrate it once it is closer to final.
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This chat hack looks promising, and we will most likely integrate it once it is closer to final.
