Here is a screenshot of a system i’m actually coding for vbE… which will be great for any website having a support system or online chat…
There is not much involved in this system, but as my plan is to re-edit the vbPager engine from Mo, the plan will be to have the first Staff/Online Support with this. (think of merging an online chat with this engine!)
In the next hours i’ll be finishing the setup of this engine, which is not complicated, because there is just some If/Then statements…
Why i post this right now is to let members make suggestions and requests before i release the version… 🙂
note: screeny deleted, see below!
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what are the settings for the Office Indicator:
and what are the actual Indicator’s location:
it’s easy to add more locations, but i thought more logical to just add the ones in the header… you can always add a tag called in your templates if you prefer not using the default location.
awesome 😀 i so want this
i suppose it will be set today, i don’t know if i will add any feature right now, just the indicators are simple, just need some calculations and some default icons…
ok, i thought i was close to completion with this addon when i posted this last comment, but as it seems, i’m a lazy bitch…
so i’ll take the next hours of work to complete it. will be an independant paid script, as it is a lot more than just a 10 lines of code… and it will be possible to join it to any ticket system, or a chat, or something you want to be plugged-in. the cost means you have support so i can code a bridge with an existing engine i did not bridge yet.
as example, it can actually be activated by the mods or super-mods or admins presence, it can also activate a « support forum » for offline periods, and it can have a popup to talk with the online mods when active. like « live support ».. but with less gadgets in the backend… any admin can use it; no complicated configurations, no live-stream, etc…
Here is the screenshot of the newer version, coded today.
Based on some calculations made inside the « v3arcade Is Open » product today, i’ve been able to decifer some questionings i had about requests and capabilities.
As this new release is to be a paid product due to the complexity of the addons added to it, i’m doing more in the configurations right away, even if some are not needed, so the future will be easier on who is coding the addons to this engine — because everything here is accessible to coders!
Right now, i’m fixing the engine to have a display of a « Office Open » indicator, as well as a « Staff Online » indicator that will show if someone from the staff is online. As you see in the screenshot, it is not related to someone’s usergroup but the addition of these persons in the list — the logic is that not all staff from a group is abilited to answer as main staff, and it’s way faster on server-side if we do it that way… i’m on for performances, not gadgets.
Ok, here is a small screenshot of what you get by default on a default vBulletin style:
on THIS site, you see the same indicator/icon in a different location, because i switched the ad_location from right to left, and it is kinda strange to look at…
With that said, if you hover the indicator, you can click it to be redirected to the « Help Me Please! » forum… that’s the « Office Forums » setting.. the first forumid in the list become the default support forum, the others are there for indication only, so when you visit these, there is an icon to show that they are part of the support engine.
by default, i generated these two images:
to display the status of the office… you can replace them as you wish… it is suggested to use .png images so they are transparent in any situation… you have to edit the template » nex_office_is_open_ad_location » if you change the file name, the type or size or location inside the style tag…
screenshot in post #6 was updated with the latest… new option that give flexibility to staff… if they are switching to invisible, they are considered as unavailable, so they are not counted in the « Staff Online » system…
Also, this new feature make it so the list of online staff is updated each time the cron is run, making no query on pageload, AND a virtual list of all the staff online, useful when integrating to a live-support engine.
screenshot in post #8 changed too, as if you see below the navbar, a new block displaying the list of Staff members who are online and available… This setting is new too, and is settable in the Options, where you can activate this feature and display it where you wish… this one is good when you have a community where the mods have to be known and contacted personally.
Adding the office indicator in a custom location is quite simple and flexible. You can see it on this site right now, as i decided to move it to an appropriate place, in the Help forum which is actually our support forum.
How did i do that?
On this screenshot, the example is really clear. the image on front is the setting to set the indicator’s location, selected to be a *Custom Location, and as you see in the note on the left, you have to insert the tag at the right place…
In the second image above, you see where i added the tag, at the start of the forum description i wanted the indicator to show… and in the bottom of the image, the result.
though it’s quite simple to do, it have to be located in a place where html can be parsed, like the forum description or a template.
and to make it look like you need, depending on the style you use, you have to edit the template named « nex_oio_icon_custom », and change the CSS style to what you need. on this specific situation, i dropped the entire style but the float:right, because i wanted it to float on the right side…
that’s it… if you use the default hooks locations, you usually do not have to modify its location, but you can have a need to edit the template « nex_oio_icon ».
The Office is Open / or not…
First release of this useful engine that can be in good company within a website that provides support and service at the same pace as a real office.
Besides the fact that it is always complicated to have a real indicator of live support, it is also complicated to have a solution for vBulletin that is purely integrated with the software itself. This product is all that, coded with the vBulletin protocol, providing efficient scheduled indicator, cached resources and server-maintenance free.
This engine is more than a scheduled « Open/Closed » indicator, it’s also a list of features giving access to a support forum when the office is closed, contact form when the staff is offline, and it also can provide a list of available staff for different situations.
Staff does not have to login/logout of a specific engine to be inserted in the system. If they are logged on vBulletin, they are part of it. They can even choose to be unavailable by switching to invisible.
You, as an admin, have access to all the configurations possible, with all the useful switches that could enable/disable the usage of specific features. If it is useful, we have it. If it does not exists yet, you can request a customization that will lead to an answer of your needs.
note: 08/25/09, file updated with a bugfix for the settings… no need to change version, but will correct all the options bugs in the vBulletin admincp.
… new screenshots will be available at the end of the day.
it is suggested to wait for the end of this week to purchase this product, as we will provide a first addon for it, the « Live Support » chat which gives you access to the live chat with staff on specific situations. Each chat log is saved and both the client and the staff receive a copy of it in a private message, for history.
also, there will be some addons to this system that are paid, but we have no plan right now, as we try to provide key solutions in the original bundle first.
Love it, I was just coming in here to find out if you offered this, and low and behold, you do! THANKS! Just purchased!
Got it and love it 2!
Two suggestions if it is allowed:
1. Could you configure this mod that it will work with the « addonchat » modification, alternately to use another url to link to the chat?
2. Is it possible to include vb project and not only an office forum id? That means, we need to include a project id.
Greetings
Klaus
suggestion #1 would be a little bit complicated for me right now as i do not know addonchat enough, but i suppose it is possible.
#2 is easier, change of url is possible… i will take a look when i can.
@nexia 23258 wrote:
I think we need only the future to add another url that links to the chat.
@nexia 23258 wrote:
Great! Thanks!
When is the live chat going to be added to this. ?
it will not right now, if you read the announcements, i’m far from being able to code right now, and even if the chat code exists, i’m not in the beat to code, so it will take a moment. i suppose i will be available by january…
how can i get a different banner that says open live support click me???
come in were open just looks like a welcome, and no indication of a live support feed
thats just my thoughts though
it’s up to you to find the right image on the web or ask your designer to make it so… i provide these images as default, because i’m not really into designing icons… 😉
ok thanks 😉
where abouts do i put it to change the old one
same path at the original file you had to upload… 🙂
i uploaded this image, but it dont show 🙁
i suppose others could use this too, so dive in 😉
anyone help with this???