WiscChat and the flu
I came across this quick post on pandemic planning at Penn State which talks about their plans to deploy their Jabber chat solution. Made me wonder if we're thinking much about using WiscChat here. Also of note - in the comments they point out that Jabber clients can talk to each other (so google talk users can chat with WiscChatters). Good to know.
Identi.ca
A possible easier on-ramp for WiscChat users is the Identi.ca service. It's kind of a mix of twitter and chat, but offers Jabber/WiscChat integration as documented here:
http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=7183
While it's an off-campus service, the OpenID/Facebook Connect integration makes authentication smoother for a large number of users.
good tip John
We looked into that a while back when we set up a test instance of Laconica (now Status.net) an open source micro-blogging platform. It didn't work at the time, but I'm sure the bugs have been worked out by now.
If only there were a bit more time to look into this - WiscChat+Google Chat+Facebook+class level twitter? Sounds pretty cool. Maybe for a future semester?
Thought it looked familiar
Thought it looked familiar :)
Personally, I'm hoping that all status-y apps get an open standard behind them. We shouldn't have to rely on the twittergoogbook servers.
Of course, now that I look at this more closely (and WiscChat came online so that I could verify the account), it doesn't really have anything to do with chat.
wiscchat
Wiscchat is quite full-featured and very easy to use. Instructors can create public and private groups that are accessible via URL. Students can log in automatically, or more rigid membership lists are available. You can install a client for more control, or use the wiscchat web client to configure your page.
I've recommended wiscchat to several of our moodle users, as they make their pandemic plans.
client? Psi?
Sounds great. Do you always recommend the Psi client recommended at the kb? Or are there other clients that you prefer?
chat
For non-LSS staff that are using Wiscchat I would recommend Psi because of the good support at DoIT. For academic courses, I would recommend using a private chatroom, accessible via URL in most instances. I have several Wiscchat examples and documentation of instructions in a course on our Moodle server in response to the many questions that I've received from our instructors using Moodle. The course is called Chat and Voice Communications, if you want to look at it.
Web Client
I knew I heard about it somewhere...
To launch the web version of WiscChat (for either a room or regular IM), go to the MyUW portal, and "My Page." Add content to add WiscChat.