Needed: Real-time Comment Display

What is needed for Dolphin to help with member interactions is real-time comment display.  Currently one has to refresh the page to see if new comments have been left on content, on blog posts, photos, profile comments, etc.  This causes members to not interact in real-time; they have to wait to receive notifications through some other means.  My members are from the defunct Multiply social network.  On Multiply comments were displayed in real-time.  A user did not have to refresh the page to see new comments.  That lead to real-time interaction as members would see the new comment without refreshing the page and could then reply or leave a new comment.  The lack of real-time comment display has been a major gripe from my members and is one of the leading cause of member inactivity on my site.

If real-time comments could be incorporated into Dolphin, either through the core or a module add-on, it would be one of the biggest improvement to Dolphin and raise it up a bar or two in the social networking class of applications.

 My biggest problem on my most popular site! Great point GG.

I did that with the wall with 7.0.9.

It's just a jquery that fires every 30 seconds or so, check the last record entered for that topic, if it changed, then update the HTML in the comment block, then update the hidden field in the comment block with the last record.

I really wish I had some time to whip that up, I have just been overwhelmed at work and life stuff.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a module that could accomplish this. Great idea, GG!

 Awww, come on.. it's for us. lol

I agree, this is a must have feature.  I do not know why on earth Boonex didnt think to make this possible by default, this will even out the playing field for all of our sites.

I saw this http://www.boonex.com/m/emmetbytes-realtime-info-blocks and asked the dev back in April to make a module to do real time comments everywhere, but he said he was busy and he will try to get around doing it.  

GG, you point out the best ideas. Usually the most obvious are overlooked due to the delving into the complexity of the project.

Thank you, I would also be interested in this improvement.

Hi everybody! I agree with GG. That functional is really needed. It will make site more 'live' and userfriendly. I'd buy such improvement, but there should be some guaranty that it will not decrease site speed.

Most likely it will put more of a load on the server; I am sure the evowall module does the same and yet it is a very popular module in the market because it aids in real-time info.  However, if interactivity is increased, it is more likely that membership will increase and perhaps revenue will increase.  In my case my site is supported by the members through membership purchases and donations.  Real-time comments would be a benefit to show members that our site is a viable alternative to the other sites that offer a full blogging system as well as file sharing.  If over time I need to increase ram or cpu cores that cost will hopefully be shared through the members; or in the case of others through increased revenues.

Thanks God GG is here to help us see the missing link... GREAT IDEA!

 It does, especially on large member sites.

If added to the core, which of course would not be until 7.2, then a switch to turn it off for those who are running under less than idea conditions. If a module, then of course if one is running under less than idea conditions they could be warned about server loads.

Is anyone working on this?

I hope so. 

Once again this was brought up by my members.  I saw where dolphin_jay did some work on 7.0 group comments.  If real-time comments could be implemented site wide, it would really push Dolphin forward as the platform to use.

Is there anyone working on this?  If so, how is the development coming?

I need this too

I'm surprised this is not implemented already in Dolphin, And I wonder if anyone cares anymore about this platform all together...Seems like it's hush hush around here lately with help, Developers getting back to you, Updating of Mods ....Just funky strange. 

Maybe it is not implemented because Boonex is still recommending shared hosting for Dolphin and real-time comments will probably overload a shared host and result in suspension of accounts.  Share hosting is OK for small sites without much of a load but a large active social site can not be operated on shared hosting; it can not be operated on a lot of the VPSes that are offered as well because I tried it on one and mySQL server kept shutting down due to the VPS provider.  Real-time comments need to be implemented but with an on-off switch for sites without the server resources.

I think more and better options for interactions (including real-time wall, comments...), and a new and better system/module of payment are two items that need to be urgently improved for Dolphin not stay far behind the other social networks.

I think the people who built EVO Wall would be the best people to talk to about this. Evo Wall's characteristics are what modern internet surfers are looking for. Real time video updating, profile updating, comments, all with an option to feature infinite scrolling. Evo Wall for comments would be a good idea. Probably wouldn't cost an extreme amount of money either. Contact the Evo Wall people and post the update in the forums. Everybody wants this. Real Time everything. We will get more members, more money, and our sites will be up to date. 

 I found a social network, not saying the name, that has a far superior video embedding system than dolphin. My jaw dropped when I saw it because all I care about in my site is video. I am a video FREAK. I tried to contact some developers about creating an ultimate boonex video module but received no answer. Whoever does the modules that our team keeps suggesting, will make a very nice profit. I can't even embed hulu videos. Hulu alone will make anyone's site look professional and plus you can get paid about $6 or so for each person that you get to sign up for their FREE trial of hulu plus. If my site is filled with hulu movies and anime, it would be so easy to convert my traffic. But for some reason nobody sees it like that. Yes we do need real time comments.

I think we may need a new separate mod for comments altogether...

The current one has more limitations than just not being real time...

Standard comments would be a killer mod IF - is was, 

real time, enables you to post photos, videos, links etc... more like facebook posts but integrated throughout the other modules.

THIS would be a killer comments module and would completely re-vitalise all the other modules site wide!

I would pay for this, even chip in a larger amount towards a developer putting it together as it would open up so many things I could do with Dolphin...

For now, I am just using facebook comments

I looked at EVO wall several times and I don't like it.  After talking with my members, I doubt if they would like it either.  What they want is simple real-time notifications and real-time comments.  For the notifications they want control over what they see.

Yeah, and FaceSucks just remove yet another privacy setting.

My members can do that now with their comments.  You just don't have all the things enabled on the toolbar.  One thing you need to do is to install advance links instead of the standard links, They can even image upload and insert into comments.  If you don't have the embed plugin for TinyMCE, get that too.  If my members want to add a YouTube video to a comment, they can.

 "My members can do that now with their comments......"

YUP- I followed GG's lead on this and tricked-out my Tiny-Comments, and feel people will appreciate it a lot more.....I certainly do anyway.

Just a comment on EVO- I like the idea that there is more integration options with this mod....But my disappointments with it are mostly related to the redundant nature of how it responds whens someone comments on or makes some kind of change to content.

No doubt- there needs to be a much bigger vision for real-time updating/tracking/whatever, if we/dolphin is gonna run with the big dogs