Plugoo vs. Wimzi
Since part of my job is tech support for end users of Moodle, I’ve become a recent fan of web page-based widgets that speak to instant messengers. That is to say, I can run my usual instant messengers (AIM, Gtalk) and embed some HTML code into various places on the web where users can just strike up a chat with me, ask questions, etc. and get realtime help – and it comes through to my instant messenger. Users seem to love it. They are used to putting in tickets that can take up to 24 hours for a response.
BUT, the problem is, I can’t seem to find THE PERFECT IM WIDGET… I’ve frequently been using Wimzi:
Wimzi IM Widget
- the AIM widget, but it has several problems:
- The Flash version doesn’t correctly show if I am “available” “away” or “offline” and
- the HTML version doesn’t seem to work at all as of late, and
- the “name” space doesn’t seem to do anything at all, which baffles users when I ask them for their name and they’ve already typed it in, and
- there’s no way to “pop out” the widget so that users can easily pop it out and chat while they continue to surf/work.
Then I stumbled onto Plugoo, which also looks promising. Like Wimzi, it allows a high level of customization (actually, quite a bit more customization for colors, messages, and sizes), as well as a “detach” icon for detaching/popping the widget out. Well, it LOOKED promising.
Plugoo IM Widget
As it turns out, it:
- takes a lot longer to load,
- doesn’t respond to changes in status (away, offline) unless the user reloads the page or clicks
- the detach icon doesn’t show up or work, at least in Firefox on a Mac.
- It’s also generally a bit slower to respond – probably because it goes through their server (which also adds more potential functionality.)
Oh well, I thought I had found the one. The detach thing isn’t a dealbreaker, either, but the non-response to changes in status absolutely is. Wimzi’s widgets change immediately when I change my availability status.
I’ll keep looking, and if anyone knows of another that meets these requirements, please let me know…
August 1st, 2008