Cbox location

So I prefer my cboxes accessible and rather large (I know I'm weird but what can I say, hiding the chatty place for people is pointless to me) so I've been experimenting with moving where my chatbox location is from being at the top to being one of those spiffy pop out ones. Now I've seen many different types of pop out cboxes but most of them don't stay the way that you put them.

I've already got that fixed (yay IPB) but I've been trying to decide where to put it. At first I tried the lower right corner and decided that was too tiny and other left or right positions seem silly.

Now I have it attached to the bottom with the open and close but I figured I'd ask other staff members and members alike what they think so question asked. Discuss.

I love popup chatrooms/cboxes. It keeps them where I want them, and I can even continue chatting with people on the board when I'm not actually looking at the board itself.

If it's an on-site one, I prefer either the very top, or in the sidebar on the right. I like the more important information (ex. the actual forum and its posts XD) to be on the left, because that's where most people first look.

I like them to be fixed somewhere to the side of the forum; basically, I want to be able to scroll up and down and have the cbox remain in the same place so that I can keep an eye on it. Top/bottom/left/right doesn't bother me, but I'm definitely a fan of fixed. I'm fine with fixed as well because I can open them in a separate window and I never have to scroll away from them! :D

I like them to be fixed somewhere that isn't the sidebar - I use a netbook for writing roleplaying and most boards don't take netbooks into consideration unless their admin happens to use one too. I'm either scrolling left and right (which gets so annoying I don't join sites that force me to do that now unless I can zoom out and still read the content) or struggling to read something because a pop-up or pop-out sidebar or shoutbox is floating over the content, usually going beyond my screen's bottom too.

Bottom is best for me, as it then also doesn't get in the way of navigating the site - I'm one of those people who don't like to have to scroll too much an has to purposely ignore the shoutbox to get any posts done. XD

I don't mind the whole pop-out cbox or the fixed cbox. Honestly I can tolerate a cbox being pretty much wherever you want to put it but I prefer it being in its own area. I like it big and preferably at the bottom, not fixed or moving or popping out. I don't know, I like to keep things simple if I can and I tend to forget about the cbox conversation unless it's in an obvious place.

But ultimately, your members get used to whatever positioning you end up going with so I wouldn't worry about it too much no matter what. The important thing is that you are comfortable with where the cbox is.

I prefer it on a sidebar that I can show/hide at will and that doesn't scroll as the page does (a collapseable static sidebar). That way, when I want to chat, I can see it as I browse, and if I want to type, I can hide it for a distraction-free environment.

I'm more of a fan of the side version that's fixed, but to be wholly honest, I've never seen a pop up one. Is that like Chatango or something? I am so ignorant in this regard.

But I know I'm not a fan of the bottom or the top. Top makes it seem like chatting's more important than your RP, and I hate it when anything appears more important than the RP in a RPing site (I don't even like it when OoC boards are atop the IC ones, though it's not a deal breaker). Bottom ones always end up being something I, personally, overlook, though I could see the appeal, especially in circumstances like the one @Drae mentioned (should I just hotkey her name or something? Feels like I'm tagging her every other post recently).

in the end though, it's like @Lint Roller said; it's gonna be whatever you like best. Remember: it's your playground, build the equipment in the way that's fun to you to play.

@Overlord_Fate, your last line made me smile.

All in all, I'm of the same mind of @puddipop. There are times when I won't be on the site, but will still want to chat with members (cause I'll need a homework distraction, after all, hehe). A popout chatbox/room is perfect for that. I've gone tons of different ways though. I've tried the sidebar, bottom, top, left, right, etc.

Ultimately, it's like @Lint Roller said.

@Overlord_Fate I've seen pop-ups a few times (Dreyrul before it's server-fart or whatever happened to it being one I can remember offhand), but the expandable/pop out shoutboxes seem most popular out of those two types.

Top left, because that's...

*puts on shades*

Where it's at. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-*shot* *shot repeatedly*

I'll have both. One that can be out of the site and one that is a fixed position on the site. I'm very particular on the fixed positions because I hate the sites that have them but they don't remember if they are open or closed. That honestly annoys me the most but I was looking for info on preference of location and so far I appreciate all of the feedback.

As far as what @Lint Roller said I know it's my playground but I don't mind sharing. I don't mind letting others play with my shovel.

We have found that fixed bottom center works best for us at SDA. I tried the top but people complained that it was like the C-box was trying to be the main attraction. I put it on the side but some people couldn't see it and others complained it was too narrow there. Pop out boxes just got in the way. So it seems bottom fixed is where it's going to stay.

We used to have 2 - one for OOC and one for IC - but the IC one was never used and I finally took it down.

First off, regardless of which page I'm on, I want to see the cbox. I dislike the cbox only on the front page or hidden. I don't want to search or be confided to be on a cbox.

As far as location goes...I'm flexible. I used to like it on the sidebar since it would always be there with other quick information, but I don't mind top or bottom. Cbox is not the main attraction of a site. The site and posting should be the main attraction. But if it's dead or hard to find then it's hard to get a feel for the site too. I'm more for the bottom or top nowadays since I'd like the cbox to be large rather than a skinny long box.

And I absolutely dread cboxes where I can see only four lines.

I prefer left as I'm easily confused by right sidebars. For me, top or bottom locations are not the best ones; people won't post as much because it's not always visible. The cbox should be a place where members and future members can easily interact.

I prefer it fixed on the bottom. On top they create more scrolling just to reach the forums, on the side they're a distraction while reading/writing posts and are too narrow for my OOCly incredibly wordy tastes, and I just hate having crap floating around on my screen while I'm scrolling up and down the page.

I don't necessarily care where the chatbox is but I do notice more and more as a board maker that they are being tucked away to be toggled and I used to not like that because I thought it limited social interaction and get board members to talk. But, now I find that I like it because sometimes you don't want to be in the conversation.

Hey! I know you! Anyway, I prefer the cboxes on the bottom or to the side. Somewhere not too prominent.

I put my cbox on the bottom and I prefer it there because I can't stand typing in tiny boxes. Putting it on the bottom allows me to make the cbox large and readable without forcing users to scroll past it for the board.