Feature Update: Chat 2.0 rollout
As you’ve probably noticed if you use the website, you now have access to the improved Chat 2.0 system via the “Try 7 Cups Chat 2.0” button on the chat page. We’ve been working hard for months to rebuild the chat system from the ground up to make it more reliable, stable and useful.
We want to thank early testers who have been using it and sharing their feedback. We’ve been catching bugs and making some UI tweaks in response to all the feedback. This has really been a community endeavour.
Now is a good time to outline the feature improvements in Chat 2.0. Change is never easy, so we appreciate that for long term users of 7 Cups some changes are difficult to adjust to. We hope you will give it a try and enjoy the benefits even if there are some aspects that are not your preference.
Key updates
- The chat inbox (left column for laptop/PC/tablet users) now orders groups by time of last message, shows a live indicator if a message was sent recently and tells you how many users are currently active in the room. The inbox is also now scrollable rather than needing to click show more.
- The central chat/messages window is narrower, has redesigned message bubbles and moved action buttons into an ellipsis (3 dots) to make the screen calmer, less chaotic and easier to read. The message bubbles have been tweaked even further thanks to user feedback so that we can fit a good amount of messages on the screen.
- Created a new right column (laptop/PC) that includes different guidelines for each group chat and will be used to display prompts and other items that help facilitate supportive conversations in the future. This is particularly aimed at newbies who report finding group chats a bit confusing.
- Chats now each get their own URL so that you can refresh each chat page and so that you can directly link to a group chat.
- And lots of updates under the hood to make chats stable and more robust.
From next week, all website users will be switched over to the Chat 2.0 system.
Everything we do is in service of you the community. As you know, products like 7 Cups are used by lots of different people with lots of different preferences. We hope that you will appreciate the effort and intent from the team to make your experience better. Please be mindful when sharing your comments and thoughts - everything shared is read and we are real people.
@Jon7Cups
Congratulations on the successful accomplishment of this large project, which beautifully revamped such a critical component of the 7 Cups platform, thanks to your skill, courage, determination and hard work. And that of your team.
This new UI is better and cleaner, making it easier to focus on what's important: the messages. Following and participating in the conversations.
We understand that any new complex software like this one will have bugs at launch. This is unavoidable. You have done a great job at fixing many bugs discovered by the first batch of users.
Must have been some very intense days.
You must take a self-care break! 😄
It's mandatory policy around here...
im loving the new update, Jon!
@Jon7Cups
I can't imagine all the time you've spent on this. A lot of it works fine, although I wish I had a longer chat list on the left.
My problem now is that whenever I click on notifications, I get what seems to be the right screen fleetingly, and it immediately switches over to this (for instance):
What can be done about it, please?
Thank you
@Jon7Cups Does anyone know how to rate a listener in Chat 2.0? I know how to do it in 1.0 but I can't get my browser to revert back to that, and don't see anyway to rate/leave a review for a listener in 2.0.
@pepsiplunge90 To leave a review in Chat 2.0, once you completed the chat, click on 3 dots and select "End Chat". When you end a chat, it opens the listener review pop-up where you can submit constructive feedback and rating for the listener based on your experience with them.
Thank you for reaching out and your question. I hope it helps but if you experience any issue related to Chat 2.0, please submit the feedback through Chat 2.0 feedback form. It is linked under 3 dots and here is the direct link as well.
@ASilentObserver you can only do it after you've ended chat?? what if you have ongoing communication with the listener ?
I do truly appreciate 7cups, and all the work put into the updates.
I normally hate to complain (since it is so much easier to critique something than it is to actually put in the work to build it.) However, despite multiple attempts, I've found chat 2.0 very difficult to use on mobile via browser (don't wish to use the app).
I used to chat frequently (sometimes daily) on my mobile with chat 1.0, but have almost stopped using the site entirely because it is just too hard maintaining conversations with others using chat 2.0 :-(
The main issues contributing to this IMO are:
Chat doesn't appear to refresh or maybe scroll frequently enough?
I'm not sure if this is a refresh or scroll issue. After sending a comment, I frequently find the chat list hasn't scrolled, and suddenly I'm lagging about 4 to 8 messages behind. Even in rooms with only 2 or 3 people.
It doesn't appear to be connectivity related as it occurs with both wifi and mobile, and there's no noticable lag on other sites
Chat history isn't visible when typing.
With the new
narrower layout, menu, banners, headers, position of the chat box, only 1 line of chat history is visible when typing on a small devices.
(Admittedly this is mostly a limitation of small mobile devices. Virtual keyboards always consumed a lot of space, but the history issue didn't seem quite this bad under chat 1.0.)
Chat 2.0 Screenshot
Being unable to view what is being said while typing, combined with the lag in messages from others, makes it even harder to connect with other people :-(
I would love to be able to use the chat feature again. Any suggestions?
Bueller? Anyone? 🤣
@Jon7Cups
I like 2.0 so far but why can't I give a review to a listener more than once? Sometimes they have been so good to me over a length of time, so it would be nice to give them another rating as encouragement and thanks?
@CocoaCassie
Hey, Cocoa, I figured out the answer to this one by trial and error.
When you're done with the chat, click on the the three little dots to the right above the chat.
Close the chat.
The listener review box will pop up!
Hope this helps!
I am not sure if this will be read or not or the suggestions be seriously considered, but I have two ideas for improvement I hope that will be considered ---
They both have to do with the chat request box where listeners see all the chat requests.
1) First, is that there are many times that the usernames or the topic information is rather inappropriate. Sometimes there are very sexualized names and requests that are sexual in nature. Almost daily I see someone with a name sexual in nature and then the category will be "Loneliness - any single girls". Perhaps there is nothing to be done about this, but I see it more and more.
2) On a similar note, and again just an idea, but the "more information" box to go a long with the tag seems like its only an option - I think a good case could be made for it to be required. It would be nice to have a little information in selecting someone. For example, if someone has chosen the tag spirituality, but says nothing about it, it could be anything from a Christian seeking help in reading the Bible to a Muslim struggling with dietary restrictions. Some things I feel comfortable listening to, others not. "Relationship stress" could be as something as a fight over who is going to cook dinner to my husband had an affair. I find it most helpful when I know a little bit of the situation, so I know that I can feel confident in taking the request. While the tags alerting the listener as to the category of the issue they are having (and even those do not seem to be required; at least they do not always show up), they are so broad that it could be one of 1000 things.
I think it would be nice for the listener to know a little more going in and make that a requirement.
Anyway...food for thought.
@OpenAndHonestGuy7
@Jon7Cups @GlenM @Heather225 @ASilentObserver @7CupsCommunity
Hi all! These are excellent suggestions and concerns which I believe should be taken into consideration on 7Cups, for the safety and convenience of listeners and to improve the quality of the support members receive. I am not sure if the admin team has seen this post, and a response regarding these suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
@OpenAndHonestGuy7
Hi there! I could not agree more about those trolls who think they can have fun with their sexual obsession at the cost of listeners wasting their time. New listeners ought to be warned about this and given some heads-up on what to do. Some do not have a particular username that flags their interest, but.. you find out only when you've taken on their request. I've got a polite blurb to close the conversation with these people, but.., they stole my time.
While it is true that it would help us listeners to have a better idea of what brings people here, it can fluctuate a lot. For instance, some users write that they are dealing with breakups, but they are actually worried about their safety or... having to move back to their parents'. Some use "grief" and you realize later on that this person has failed an important university exam rather than lost a loved one.
Let me know and thanks for a inspiring message!
@OpenAndHonestGuy7 thanks for sharing your thoughts. If we made it an essential requirement, then 00s, maybe 000s of people a day would choose not to request a chat and thus not get the support they need. An optional approach, where there is a clear incentive to provide the info (you're likely to get a better match), works well here.
@OpenAndHonestGuy7
I agree with your concern. When we choose to talk with someone, there is a huge question mark over our heads!!
There are times when I ask directly for clarification so I know if I want to take this chat on or not. Some chats do offer more challenge than others.
Yes, it would be nice to have a blurb about their issues ahead of time, but I understand why 7cups only offers categories of subject. At least, it helps us choose somewhat. But admin considers the balance of needs between us listeners and them "listenees".
When I pick someone in the waiting room, particularly someone who seems new to 7cups, I always tell them to take a look at my profile so they have an idea if I am the kind of person they would be okay to talk to.
I have not had anyone contact me about my suggestions - shame.
I will say that lately, I have been getting a personal request from a username, something along the lines of "nakedmale".
While I pride myself a non-discriminating listener, I am not going to take a request from someone by the name of naked male - with all the other restrictions on this site, why is that allowed?
@OpenAndHonestGuy7
I don't think you "have to" take a request from anyone you don't want to and in fact, if you want, I think there's a way to report a username as inappropriate.
Kindly,
Patience
@PatienceImpatiens
.......I think there's a way to report a username as inappropriate.
How is it done, do you know?
@Fradiga
@OpenAndHonestGuy7 I'm tagging @Jon7Cups to take your suggestions into consideration. Thanks for sharing them!
Patience is correct - you never have to take a request you don't wish to or would make you uncomfortable. All inappropriate names reported to the platform are removed. Here are a couple ways you can report:
You can use our helpdesk to report them https://help.7cups.com/hc/en-us/requests/new - just use the drop box and click on report listener.
If you're in a 1:1 with them, you can block them by clicking on the three dots on the right-hand side of the chat. That also generates a flag in the system to be reviewed for removal. I hope these methods help, and if you have any questions please do PM me.
@Heather225
Thank you! I sometimes see those inappropriate people as people who need help themselves. Not that I am trying to convert anyone, but some chats which started in an awkward fashion ended up being legit. It requires some patience from me and trust from them. Difficult chats are seen as a social challenge which you can accept or not, depending on your own mood or experience.
Hello all,
I decided to check back on my post again and I see a lot of responses. I wanted to take a moment to respond:
Obviously, I realize I do not have to take a request. I actually do not understand the feedback, though from Jon7Cups. He wrote: "If we made it an essential requirement, then 00s, maybe 000s of people a day would choose not to request a chat." Are you talking about requiring the listener to give the topic beforehand? Why would that deter people from seeking help? If anything, making it more clear to the listeners as to what the topic is would better equip the right listener to take the request. I am not sure how that would make people (who are really seeking help) not request a chat.
I appreciate Heather225 and her reminder that people can be reported. However there is no way to report someone in the chat box (whose request has not yet been taken) who writes something they should not (usually sexual nature). Suppose, it does not even have to be that obscene. Its just a username like "LonelyGuyforGirl" and he writes that he is looking "for single female listeners". Now, there is not anything inherently wrong with this, but 7cups is not a dating site (and of course the names and subject requests can be a bit more descriptive than that). And people are right...I can ignore these people...I can, if its necessary, report these people and I can, as I have, lived with the inconvenience of being blocked, reading inappropriate names and sexually-related requests and questions about my own life etc. But the whole purpose of my original post was simply to ask....isn't there anything that can be done to address this? At all?
I appreciate Fradiga and her comments and she is right - time is stolen from the listener. There are a lot of trolls out there (I cannot tell you the number of times I have accepted a request, only for me to be blocked, presumably because its quite clear I am a guy and not a girl). Its frustrating wanting to do good work and help people only to find those who are not on here with sincere intentions get the upperhand simply by being able to block me and then pursue another listener.
As I said before, I know this is not going to be perfect and the good outweighs the bad. But I I think a few tweeks in the right direction to address these issues will actually better help those who come on here sincerely looking for a listener and better help listeners.
Thank you for replies and your time.