No, marguerite, I was trying to give mobile users and desktop users the same experience. Our old site was actually two different ones- a desktop site and a crappy mobile site. We built up the features available to mobile users by giving them the full desktop site all the time and we also integrated a super awesome chat with more features. However, the basic chat is all kinds of crazy on mobile devices- it's not responsive, so that is the one area of the site that is different for mobile/desktop users. This is why mobile users get the bubble at the top and desktop users get the bar at the bottom of the screen. Mobile users get a responsive chat that is optimized for tiny screens.
We didn't have a special chat widget developed for the home page because it wouldn't have worked across all platforms and members already have easy ways of accessing the chat.
If you are on a desktop system and don't like having it docked, you can use the arrow in the corner of the box to make it pop out and be larger.
I hope this helps clarify.
This post was edited by Just Asking at November 10, 2016 11:45 AM MST
@JA -- Alas, the Law of Unintended Consequences bit you on the butt.
While I understand all of your reasons for formatting the chat feature as you did, the simple fact is by not having it somewhat prominently featured on the main page, you essentially "killed" it.
Perhaps a new group of AM users with different expectations for the chat will revive it and make it worth seeking out, but I think most of the major participants from the existing user base treat it as "out of sight, out of mind."
It's docked to the bottom of the page- group chat is on the left. Edit: Mobile users get a chat bubble by the main menu at the top.
This post was edited by Just Asking at November 10, 2016 11:29 AM MST
Marguerite, the Beloved 