SamePlace Instant Messenger

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

by alfs on Sept. 30, 2007 · permalink

First, I want to credit the work and effort put into creating add-ons like this for FireFox and Thunderbird -- great job!

When that's said, I want to emphasize that SamePlace seems a little unmature, lacking features that I find quite important for my own use. Here we go:

1. LOGGING IN/OUT
Logging in/out is not an option in any menu. (Is staus offline the same as logged off?)

2. LOGGING OF CONVERSATION
I have not found any logging. This is pretty annoying for me, especially combined with the fact that chat windows tend to close unintendedly (maybe it's a keyboard shortcut I use, which closes them.) I would prefer the program to reload the previous conversation with the same contact the next time I open a dialogue with him/her. Also, I would prefer a timestamp to be logged with each submission in the dialogue.

3. FIREFOX VS. THUNDERBIRD
For those of us who use both Firefox and Thunderbird; Don't install this add-on in both programs! This cause them to argue slightly, and I find it disturbing. (See also next issue, which is related.)

4. UNINSTALL IMPOSSIBLE
When I first installed SamePlace, I forgot myself and clicked "Install now" in my browser. Hence, the program was installed in Firefox. Hoever, I wanted it in Thunderbird, since I find this collaborative tool to be more related to e-mail and communication. I then installed in Thunderbird and tried to uninstall in Firefox. The latter, though, is not working. To me, it seems to be no way of uninstalling SamePlace effectively from the browser.

All in all, I will return to Trillian as my preferred chat application because it supports the main chat protocols that I need, the logging and history is very good, the usability and windows are very good and it's very stabile.

If SamePlace is improved and coming in new versions, however, I'll definitely try it again!