Hello Scratch managers! This is @JnGTeam from Scratch (It's a ‘we’, the ‘J’ and the ‘G’ are two different people, but to make this easier we will write ‘I’ when addressing ourselves). On behalf of @EvieProAmazingWow and @dashgeometry_, I would like to make a suggestion on that we should have a “chat” function on out profiles, some private and some not.

I have chatted on Scratch many times, and I have had many occasions were either myself or the other person I was chatting with had to delete the whole conversation and start on a newly posted comment because
a) It was making the project lag-even thought it was a ‘chat only’ project and
b) It was too long so we had to press “see more replies” multiple times and that was really time/battery consuming.

If there are too many comments, it will lag and eventually crash the project. That leaves Scratchers with no choice but to cancel commenting, both on their projects and their profile. Then other people wouldn't be able to maybe feedback or report a glitch to the owner of the project. Scratch also has a ‘social’ part to it, and if we leave this situation like this one of Scratch's main qualities would be gone, as people would stop chatting to reduce lag in their projects. That way, Scratch's global infrastructure, as well as the social reputation would be damaged.

We think that Scratch should have a “chat function” allowing different profiles to chat between each other without lagging anything and be able to chat on and on and on… Just like any other chatting apps.

-What you can do through the chatting function
I think the chatting function should have two main properties.
1) Being able to chat on and on, without lagging anything. Also, the chats should be selectable between public, private with one or private group chats.
2) Being able to send non-shared stuff between other profiles. That means that other profiles in the chat are able to access the SCC's, sprites, sounds or code, even when the project that the SSC is in isn't shared.

Three things I thought Scratch should add in the comments function are the Scratch blocks, normal emojis and enter keys. Scratch blocks would make giving feedback on how to improve a script or questioning what that script does in their projects easier. I think, instead of than having to drag in every single block that makes the script, Scratchers should be able to copy + paste the code onto their comments as well.

Emojis would also be a great idea, as right now Scratchers are only allowed to put in Scratch emojis. Scratch can block the inappropriate ones, of course, but having a limitation of emojis is hard to express how you are feeling or what you are trying to say. There are keyboard emojis as well, such as 0-0 or ^^, but i think that more emojis would be a great way to visually improve the ‘comments’ section. Also, it would be great if emojis could be selectable, other than having to type them in (e.g. _meow_ makes a cat emoji).

Lastly there are the ‘enter’ keys. The enter keys let your comments go down a line, and that is very useful when you want to make lists. even though the enter key shows in your draft, the line doesn't go down in the actual comment. I think that adding enter keys can help the Scratchers tidy their comment and get their message to be cleaner. The amount of characters an enter key takes can be the same amount of spaces a space key takes to go down a line. Those three, aside from being added to the ‘comments function’ could be added to the ‘chat function’ as well.

Also. I think the chat function should be different to the comments function. The comments are for discussing something in the project, such as feedback, complements or questions. Instead, the chat function should should be something that would be talked in your profile, which doesn't quite relate to the other subjects Scratchers would talk about in the comments. But commenting too much in someone's profile really slows it down. Comments start to load too slowly when it reaches a certain amount, and, it can possibly lag the entire profile for them, meaning that they can't see their followers, studios or projects without suffering a protracted period of loading screens.

In conclusion, we @JnGTeam, @EvieProAmazingWow and @dashgeometry_ think that Scratch should have a ‘chat function’ that works like other chatting apps. This will greatly increase the Scratchers' satisfaction and Scratch's reputation. We hope you take note and perhaps make this a real function in Scratch.
Thank you,
@JnGTeam

Private Chatting is rejected

TOLoRS wrote:

7.1 Private messaging
Scratch currently has public messaging, meaning anyone can see the comments that you write. As a result, people are more likely to be respectful since anyone can see the comment. However, with private messaging, people know that only the intended recipient can see the message, which could lead to many more disrespectful or inappropriate comments. The Scratch Team also simply does not have the resources to moderate a private messaging system, precisely because there would be a lot of bad comments. In addition, it is a huge Internet safety concern and is not the purpose of Scratch anyway.

This suggestion extends to allowing users to post links to other private messaging websites. Many such messaging websites are not as well-moderated as Scratch is. If such links were allowed, Scratch may be held responsible if anything bad happens to someone. It also extends to voice chat capabilities on Scratch; for more information, see this post.

To @CodeComet6161

I understand that private messaging is an appropriateness issue, but Scratch can manage any disrespectful words or actions you have taken without actually reading every private text you sent to the other person/people in the chat. The chat system is needed as too much comments lag the system, causing Scratchers to turn off commenting, and people cannot give feedback or report glitches to the owner of the project. Having a chat system can change that, as people doesn't put in unnecessary comments in the projects, and put them in the public chat of the Scratcher that owns the project. Having a private chat with a person or group can be like having a studio that is not shown to other people, therefore cannot comment or join.

P.s. I like your code ^^

Please take note of this as well.
Thank you,
@JnGTeam.

Closing as this is rejected (as shown above).