Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - minimum posts to use the shout box

Honestly, I'm not sure how possible this is. The shoutbox feature is coded by someone else entirely: all Halx basically does to implement it is plug it into the right spot on the server. So, if the ability to limit who can post in it isn't already available in the code, it may be a fair amount of work to add it. Know that the mods share your annoyance with people who mistake the shoutbox for a search box and, if we can, we'll do something about it. No promises though.

That said, this is why we have both a shoutbox and an IRC channel. The shoutbox is nice, but the IRC channel is really where actual conversation is intended to occur. The shoutbox is intended for just that: shout-outs.

Some advantages of using IRC to converse over the shoutbox:

It doesn't require you to have the TFP front page open in order to chat
In fact, it doesn't require you to have TFP open at all. You can be connected to TFP's IRC chatroom without having a single TFP page open in your browser. Furthermore, if you use a dedicated IRC application (as opposed to the java IRC feature TFP provides with the "chat" link at the top of all pages), you don't even need to have a browser open to chat.
This makes it easy to leave TFP IRC chat open throughout the day and converse with people at your convenience.
Some people, including a handful of mods, are connected to TFP IRC chat 24/7, which means it's normally easy to get a hold of us if need be.
You can view more text at once, making it much easier to read conversations, and the text is displayed in the more natural "top down" fashion.
The text doesn't disappear after 10 lines, making it easy for you to scroll up and see what you missed, if you're interested.
Most IRC applications allow you to set a word or words that will cause the application to beep or blink when said, notifying you to look in chat. Even if you don't set additional words to be notified on, most automatically notify you when your screen name is said, making it easy to know when someone is talking to you, even if you're not paying attention.
If TFP goes down, the IRC chat is still available (provided you're using a dedicated IRC application and not the java IRC feature provided by TFP). This not only allows you to converse with other TFPers while TFP is down, but it also serves as a source of information regarding why TFP is down (if we know) and how long we estimate it will be down for (again, if we know).

Right now, though, of the 21 users in TFP chat, 10 are mods/admins, 1 is a bot, and only 10 others are regular TFP users. Most of those 10 connected TFP users are among the people who stay connected 24/7 and, as such, the fact they're connected means nothing in terms of activity.

The IRC chat has been, for the most part, dead lately. It, like TFP in general, is what the users make of it. If people don't connect to it and, after connecting, use it to initiate conversation with others, then it's not a great source of community. But if enough people connect to it and enough people take the initiative, it can be an active location to connect with other TFP members in real time. So I recommend you give IRC chat a chance, and don't be discouraged if (when) you connect and see no one talking. Say hi, maybe someone else who is connected will bite and you can start a conversation. If not, stay connected! It certainly doesn't hurt, and sooner or later someone else may (probably will) connect and say hi themselves.

If you want to connect the quick and simple way, simply click the "Chat" link at the top of any TFP page. It will open a small window with a java applet that connects to IRC for you. You can leave this open just like any dedicated IRC application in order to stay connected to the channel (though I should warn you that clicking a URL in IRC while using the java chat has a tendancy to open that page in the same window, closing the java chat and disconnecting you).

Or, if you want to take advantage of one of the numerous dedicated IRC applications available, and all the advantages that come with using them, check out the TFP Chat Guide. It's written with very explicit instructions so that, hopefully anyone can set up and use any of the IRC applications with little trouble, regardless of technical inclination. If you find something confusing about it, please feel free to comment in the thread and ask! It's there to help you.

Finally, there are some cool things that you can do in TFP's IRC chat, and a few matters of courtesy that we ask of people as well. Check out this thread to read about that.

To summarize, we all share your frustration regarding people trying to use the shoutbox to find porn, and hopefully we'll find some way to fix the problem. Nonetheless, I hope to see many more of you in IRC chat. It really is a much better way of having conversations than the shoutbox, and if enough people use it and actively start conversations then it can be a great additional source of TFP community.

(Note: Some (many?) work environments do what they can to block IRC connections on the business network, so some people may run into difficulty connecting to IRC while at work. Sometimes this can be overcome with a little technical know-how, but sometimes it can't.)