I've suggested this before.

About the same time each evening, when our users start getting the itch to chat, they start to post messages on the boards such as 'streaker in the chat room' or other attention getting subjects to get rally everyone into chat.

I had suggested before, and someone added to my suggestion, that if a content island was offered, or an click option feature in the admin sort of like the 'online now' so that you could display how many people were in chat (setting could be display only after user count > x), that this would drive more users.

Also from within chat if you had an invite button that would talk to the 'online now display', and indicate that a user from within chat was inviting folks into the chat or even a way to invite at the individual user level if they were online.

Instead, today, users click in, find no one in chat, and leave. A minute later, same thing with another user, until finally someone coordinates the effort and they all go in together.

Chat is one of our most used features, but getting people into chat takes a user effort to coordinate the timing.

Hello Vhanna,

We definitely want to increase the visibility of chat rooms and participants outside of the chat rooms in the future. I think these changes will likely find their way into the 2.0 code base at some point.