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In chat, I have several options on how to choose a setting for sound notifications: none, when mentioned, visible rooms, all my rooms.

My settings are usually set to "when mentioned", in which case I get a beep sound when I am pinged (while being present in some room). However, I am not sure what exactly is the difference between "visible room" and "all my rooms". (When I tested them a bit, my impression was that I get sound notification for every message posted in the rooms I am currently in. Is this what that setting does? Does "all my rooms" mean that it notifies me about messages in all my favorite rooms, even if I am not in the room.)

Question: What exactly is the difference between "visible room" and "all my rooms" in the settings for sound notifications in chat?

screenshot of the menu for sound notifications

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    I've always assumed "visible room" is any room currently on the foreground and "all my rooms" all rooms you're listed as recently active ('pingable').
    – Mast
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 11:46
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    According to this visible room means any room that is currently open in a browser tab (regardless of whether that is the active tab) however since it's not posted by SE dev/staff can't rely on it so posting this only as comment. Only dev/staff can say for sure.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:59

1 Answer 1

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"Visible room" is the one you see the messages of (and whose ID is in the address bar). This might be on a different tab (though your browser settings may control whether you hear anything from inactive tabs or not).

"All my rooms" are all other rooms you're 'in', i.e. the list between the avatars and the starred messages:

enter image description here

Of course, all this is limited to the chat server you're currently on (Stack Overflow and Meta Stack Exchange have a separate one).

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    So, "visible room" actually means "current/this room"?
    – Mast
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:29
  • From this description, it seems that the "visible room" would mean notifications only for message from one specific room. This contradicts some assertions from here: Adjust sound notification per chat room. The OP claims: Selecting "visible room" means that an audio notification is given for any activity in any room that is currently open in a browser tab (regardless of whether that is the active tab). Of course, the OP of that post might be simply wrong.
    – Martin
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:30
  • @Martin yeah, I can see why 'visible' is a confusing term here.
    – Glorfindel Mod
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:32
  • Ok, let me check again whether I understand this correctly. If I go, for example, into Tavern on Meta and leave it open in one tab (while doing something else), I would get sound notification both for "visible room" and "all my rooms". If I close that tab (but do not click on "leave this room") then my avatar remains there and I will still get notifications if I use "all my rooms" - but no notification if my setting is "visible room". Is that correct (or at least close)?
    – Martin
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:36
  • Yes, that's correct. I think chat automatically makes you leave a room after an x time of inactivity, but that's another topic.
    – Glorfindel Mod
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 12:38

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