Support/Live Chat/Node.js: Difference between revisions

== What? ==

This page outlines the work being done to implement a server that will work with an AJAX-based Live Chat frontend. The goal is to eventually replace the existing Java-based Live Chat system.  

== Repository ==

The project has been codenamed "Inko" (Parakeet in Japanese). The repository for the new code is hosted on GitHub, at [http://github.com/endtwist/inko].  

== Roadmap ==

*June 10: Authentication  

**'''^[√]''' Find existing Django session ID in cookie  

**'''^[√]'''Extract Django session data from database  

**'''^[√]'''Create new "chat session" ID cookie  

***Use modified Session library from Express to store data (in memory?)  

**'''^[√]'''Retrieve chat permissions from database  

**'''^[√]'''Add authentication check (against stored session) to each page load  

**'''^[√]'''Automatically authenticate user upon first load of chat system, if logged in. Otherwise, redirect them to the login.

*June 17: Basic Messaging  

**'''^[√]'''Build "Message" object that will contain all of the important message data and serialize it into a json object  

**'''^[√]'''Create a "Room" object that will allow both 1-on-1 and multi-user conversations to be initialized.  

**'''^[√]'''Guests should only be allowed in one room at a time?  

**'''^[√]'''How to hash room names/keep them private?  

**'''^[√]'''/message -> allow users to create new Message objects with data  

*'''^[√]'''*Add filtering for messages that will strip any potentially-harmful data (<tags>, etc.)  

**'''^[√]'''Add CSRF verification.  

**'''^[√]'''/listen -> add listener for new Message objects using long polling

*June 24: Watchers  

**'''^[√]'''Allow authorized users (check perms) to join 1-on-1 rooms  

**'''^[√]'''Messages in rooms should be broadcast to all users  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Watchers should not be allowed to speak in rooms  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Add ability to pass conversations to other users  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Agent interface as reference implementation

*July 1: Group Chat & Guest Interface  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Guest interface as reference implementation  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Multiuser rooms should have their own set of user permissions? (Op/H-Op?)  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Add ability to kick users from chatrooms. Ban?

*July 6: Non-Authenticated Guests  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Allow guests that are ''not'' authenticated to join the support queue.  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Setting and updating a user's status  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Agent-Agent private chat

*July 6 - 10: Summit 2010!

*July 15: Logging  

**'''^{[ ]}'''Message/conversation data needs to be logged somewhere

=== Notes: ===

*Agents must be approved before they can pick questions from the chat queue.  This is currently the "Live Chat helpers" group on sumo

 

 

=== Chat queue features ===

 

*Ability for up to 50 people to be waiting in queues at once  

*Fair dispatching of requests to available helpers, based on specific criteria  

*Ability of helpers to set their chat limit  

*Access levels to determine who can receive questions from the queue  

*"Room monitoring" ability that allows privileged users to join or monitor any chat in progress  

*Metadata associated with each room entered by the user being helped, including question/OS/version/useragent/plugins/etc (AAQ)  

*Tag data associated with each room, either entered by helpers or automatically detected  

*Integration with CSAT surveys to track which chats are successful  

*Integration with support forum for users who need to follow up  

*Ability for a monitoring helper to take over a conversation  

*Ability for privileged users to open/close the chat queue  

*Automatic chat queue status based on number of people signed in and the number of people waiting. (Must automatically close when the queue is "full")  

*Give people waiting in queue updates on their current queue position