Embedded chat

[wot-Mike]

This "hack" will allow you to run a semi-integrated (free or paid) chat room "inside" your forum:

+ It's quite generic and should work with several chat providers (made a seperate template, just for the applet code)
+ The chat room will be displayed within your forum's structure,
+ The chat applet will be sized according to the user's screen resolution (could get scary at 1600x1200 :eek:)
+ People will be logged into the chat room using their forum usernames (if the chat supports auto-login)
+ Invalid characters in usernames will be replaced before logging in to the chat, plus too lengty names will be shortened
+ Easy installation :)

- At this time there's no feedback from the chat room to the forum. A "chat monitor" is planned though (version 2)

The install docs and template examples are mainly focussed on the chat provider we use (http://www.raidersoft.com), but it shouldn't be a problem adjusting one or two things to get this thing to work with your own chat provider.

The sizes of the chat applet haven't been tested out fully. I have no clue how bigger resolutions work out. All the rest seems to work fine.

Hope you like it...

[update 1.4]Sizes can now be set more easily, just by editing the chatredirect template, nothing else.
Added support for raidersoft's ICE, which is more flexible with usernames.

[ExcErr]

any screens?

[Floris]

I wish to use this, but I do not know which 'free' chat I can use, and one that allows me to connect to a given server, instead of only localhost! Which one do you use and which one can you advice? err. I couldn't get eIRC to work though ..

[wot-Mike]

Well, I started with the free chat from http://www.raidersoft.com, and it convinced me to go paid. The free version does have ads in them (logo sized), but there not annoying and no "register" messages inside the chat room. Simply excellent stuff :)

I don't have suitable screenshots right now, but will later today.

[mayja]

Just tried it. I like it!
One question though- what do I need to change to make the screen size just a bit smaller than the settings you have in the chatredirect template. My screensize for example, is 1024x768 and the chat screen appears as 955 wide, which blows out my content table (set to 90%). I tried changing the sizes in chatredirect and the array in chat.php but it doesn't seem to make a difference, it keeps going back to 955 width.
Thanks!

[wot-Mike]

I think you did everything right:
in chatredirect change:
chat.php?setwidth=955&setheight=330

to something like:
chat.php?setwidth=925&setheight=330

Don't know if the size is right, it takes some experimenting.

(Do NOT use percentages! The whole reason for this setsize construction is because IE6 has a bug in it's java support, which effectively kills a chat room re-load (the first load is fine, and reload fails). Chris from raidersoft support found this out for me :) )

chat.php the array should contain the same values as the set"size" from the javascript bit.

Now you've all done that, meaning that the chat is cached somewhere. I ran into the same problem.
Either empty your browsers cache,
or (in my case):
PHP Accelerator had cached chat.php, but failed to see any subsequent minor changes. I had to stop apache, clear out the PHP Accelerator cache, end start apache again

Hope that helps

[wot-Mike]

The size array isn't necessary, but I put it there to filter out any weird input, and to "force" a valid layout. The layout thing is still not foolproof though :)

[mayja]

Hey thanks! I cleared the cache and that did the trick. Looks great!

[wot-Mike]

Cool!

Could you share your settings with us?
I mean forumwidth%, versus the setwidth settings in chatredirect

Such settings might help others with different widths settings on their forums. The basic settings in the install are based on full width

[wot-Mike]

Ok, here's a screenshot.

It's based on a 800x600 resolution to keep the size down a bit :)

This is raidersoft's paid chat, but the free version looks about the same (except for the logo, hehe)

[tweak]

thanx i will test this out

[ladyfyre]

ok...i have a somewhat silly question here:

The chat system I am now using uses a java applet, but one which is imbeded into a php file, with php code interspersed throughout it.

Won't putting the php into the template bomb it? Or will the template process the php?

[wot-Mike]

it's the other way round: php processes the templates, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean, ladyfyre ???

You want to use your own chat php file with these templates or such? Can you be a bit more specific about what you want exactly?

[Smoothie]

hey, i've been on a chat install mission all week. First i installed jakemans IRC chat hack, which worked fine. But this is way cool. Nice job!!

[wot-Mike]

*blushes*

Thanks! :classic:

[Smoothie]

I'm using the free version for now, but I just upgraded to the pro.

A couple of questions. How long does it take them to upgrade you to the pro version? And are there any changes I need to make once I upgrade? Or is it all done on their end?

[Smoothie]

another question? In the Preventing Identity Spoofing you have some confusion. It says find this:You can do that by changing this line in your chatbit template: <applet codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient.zip" code="Client.class" width=$setwidth height=$setheight> It should become: <applet codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient4.zip" code="Client.class" width=$setwidth height=$setheight> But they look the same to me??

[Smoothie]

Never mind. I changed the code to what you said above. Works! No more logout button.

I was a little confused by the way it was phrased.

[RapCheck]

I've been in need of a chat hack for my board for awhile now but didn't want anything on my own server, and wanted something simple.

Just happened to see this today and got it all goin in about 10 minutes.

I just went with the raidersoft.com chat. Its a good chat, and this is nice.

thanks

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by Smoothie
Never mind. I changed the code to what you said above. Works! No more logout button.

I was a little confused by the way it was phrased. Well, my english could have been better...

The difference between those lines is this:
<archive="scclient.zip"> versus <archive="scclient4.zip">

I'm not sure if that's the same for the free version though? In case of doubt, log in to your account and click faq or support. It shows the possibilities somewhere.

As for the upgrade to the Pro version, after I ordered it, it was all done within minutes. Dunno if it's like that every time.


And thanks for the nice comments RapCheck :)

[Smoothie]

yea, you are 100% correct. i missed that 4. anyway, works like a charm. One of the best additions to our forums.

[Smoothie]

BTW, they upgraded me in a matter of minutes as well. $49 well spent.

[datatec]

Thanks for your hard work and sharing with all.

Okay, being totally dumb here lol

My server provides chat room options, Is this the same thing?

I mean, does this incorporate the chat room facilities on my server. rotohost.

Thanks in advance

[jjj0923]

I installed this hack and bought the upgraded chat room, but all of my users are getting "invalid login name" when attempting to access the chat room. I am passing the $username variable in the chatbit template...

ps: I've told people to delete their browser cache and that does not work either.

any ideas?

[wot-Mike]

jjj0923,

Did it work with the free version?

If so:
on raidersoft's admin page, on the General page, did you turn on "require validation", or what's that setting called?

Did you change the files in any way?

If no on everything, pm me your chatbit, and your General settings at raidersoft. An url and test account might help too :)

=================

Datatec,

What kind of chat rooms does your server provide? This hack should work with a lot of java based chats. All that's needed is to dump the code to call the chat into the chatbit template (with a few minor adjustments, I think). Do you have an example of such code?
Otherwise simply try it out. All that's really needed to get this thing going is the creation of three templates, and uploading the chat.php file. No modification of any vBulletin file or database setting is necessary. If it's never going to work (or you don't like it) undoing the install is easily done.

[wot-Mike]

jjj0923,

I meant: did you turn on the "Verify Handle" setting on your general page, not "require validation". Don't know where I got that from :)

[jjj0923]

thanks I figured that on out. yes, that was one of my problems. The other one was that I allow my forum members to use names up to 20 characters. The java chat client only allows 15 and will not let someone in with a $username greater than 15 characters long. I modifed chat.php to truncate $usernames longer than 15 and now they can get logged in automatically.

thanks!

- jeff

[jjj0923]

wot-mike...

would you please email me, I have some question for you.
webmaster@fastboats.info

thanks

- jeff

[wot-Mike]

Hmm, I never even thought about that. I have our forum set to usernames up to 15 characters. A reminiscent from an older one, where long usernames really messed up the layout. Guess more "stuff" out there has problems with 15+ characters in usernames...

Anyway, the accepted usernames for raidersoft chat are 2 to 15 characters, alfa-numerical only and no other characters but an underscore. The chat.php deals with that at least, but not the lenght.

So, what change did you make to deal with longer names? Time to put up version 1.4, I think, hehe.

[jjj0923]

I truncated them:

$username1=ereg_replace("[^A-Za-z0-9]", "_", $bbuserinfo['username']);

$myLength = strlen( $username1 );

if ($myLength > 15) {
$username = substr( $username1, 0, 15 );
} else {
$username = $username1;
}

[Axel Foley]

The hack is perfectly working...:)

Two questions:

1) In the security txt you say:


Go to: http://freechat.raidersoft.com and log in.
On the "General" page, scroll down a bit, and there's what we want:
* Disable /nick Command
Put a mark behind this one to activate it and save your changes :)


On the General Tab at raidersoft.com I couldn't find that settings. Could you verify? Don't know how to disable it.


2) Is it possible to hack index.php so to have a Who's on chat bar, like the Who's Online one? How could I do that?


Thanks for sharing this hack...it's great. :D

[wot-Mike]

Are you using the free chat? This setting is not available on the free chat. Most of the txt I wrote is based on the paid version. It doesn't matter for the installation instructions, but it does for the extra's :(

And a "who's chatting" add-on is planned, but I wonder if it's better to wait for vB3 before spending too much time on someting that might need to be completely rewritten then.
On the other hand, having sort of a base ready by then might help.

I'm playing with such a thing though, but I don't want to change tables and such. If it's going to be made, then it should use whatever vBulletin has to offer already :)

(Do I ever sleep? Hmm, just about every time I close my eyes for more then a few seconds, I drop off :sleep: )

[Smoothie]

yea, upgrade to the pro version. You'll have more settings than you'll know what to do with. I upgraded and it rocks. And that's correct, the setting for disabling nicks is not in the free version.

[ladyfyre]

ok....i got everything merged and working (will soon post the chatbit template info for anyone wanting to use Jpilot and WTfrontend with this)...

however, i have one question: a few people wanted to know if there was a way to get rid of the sizing thing, as they were previously able to resize their chat windows, and now cannot.....

shouldn't there be a way to put in a link above the applet which would let you resize your chat window?

[wot-Mike]

Well, you can call the chat.php with "prefixed" settings, like
http://blah.com/chat.php?setwidth=720&setheight=320

Adding such links to your template(s) will allow people to click them and choose the applet size of their choice.

To explain about how the chat.php works:
1- It first checks for a valid username (if not then the login window appears)
2 - Then it checks for setwidth and setheight variables (if not it calls chatredirect to get those)
3 - If valid variables are found, then the username is "modified" (if necessary) and then the chatbit and chat templates are called, et voila...

By putting setheight and setwitdh directly into the url, you'll bypass the chatredirect...

Maybe the next version should look at the browser window size instead of the screen resolution? But I think that's more, umm, sensitive to weirdness. Well, let's try and see...

I'm curious about your chatbit template, by the way :)

[ladyfyre]

No problem....i am going through them now to take out a few site proprietary things, and will post a zip when done.....

[ladyfyre]

Ok....so in order to avoid user confusion, I created a zip file of the jpilot embed add-on pack I did...but please note:

THE AUTHOR OF THIS HACK STILL DESERVES ALL THE CREDIT.

All I am doing is sharing some of the modifications to it that I made in order to make it work prettily with jpilot.

I also found a free IRC server and put in the connection info for it.

Realistically, if you unzip the file, and upload all contents in the "forumsroot" directory into your forum root, and add the three templates, it will run as is, without any modifications needed.

However: You DO want to at least go ahead and change the channel names....as I doubt you want to call your chat room "#test", or share it with every other person downloading this hack who doesn't edit the channels list ;)

I edited the install file, to make it all make sense.....and renamed the original install file.

The free server which is listed in the parameters does not support Nickserv/Chanserv/Botserv/Memoserv, so you can either use a different server, or simply use the contents of the "without_serv_options" version of the chatbit template.

There are three versions of the chatbit template included:
one with all options, one with op controls, but without *serv options, and one with no options, just the applet.

There are also two colors of graphics: blue and green. the green is the main one, as that is what i use for our forums, and the blue is in a subfolder, but you can easily copy them over the others.

Hope it helps :)

Since the file is too big (due to the graphics) to attach here....the file can be downloaded here (http://www.aspd.net/jpilotchatembed.zip)

[ladyfyre]

Ok....last thing....but here is a screenshot for those interested in seeing how it works.

Mind you, this is just with my color scheme, but yours will adapt according to the theme of your board.

[Axel Foley]

Ladyfyre, first of all I wanted to tell you that it works fine, but I had to make some modifications:

1. In controls.js you have:


if (document.images) {
away_1 = new Image
away_2 = new Image
away_1.src = 'gfx/setaway.gif'
away_2.src = 'gfx/setback.gif'
}


You have to change to:


if (document.images) {
away_1 = new Image
away_2 = new Image
away_1.src = 'chatgfx/setaway.gif'
away_2.src = 'chatgfx/setback.gif'
}


2. In the chatbit template you capture the user clicks on actions in this way:


<a href="javascript:void(-1);" onClick="javascript:jpilot('ping');"><img src="chatgfx/ping.gif" width="70" height="20" vspace="2" hspace="1" name="ping" border="0" alt="ping selected user" align="absmiddle"></a>&nbsp;


The problem with this is that the browser opens a new empty window everytime you click on an action button. I had to change it in this way:


<a href="javascript:void(-1);" target="_self" onClick="javascript:jpilot('ping');"><img src="chatgfx/ping.gif" width="70" height="20" vspace="2" hspace="1" name="ping" border="0" alt="ping selected user" align="absmiddle"></a>&nbsp;


In practice I just added the target="_self" attribute to tell the browser to render the link in the current frame and not open a new one.

I attach the chatbit modified template for anyone who's trying this hack.

Anyway thanks for sharing this one...;)

[ladyfyre]

good calls there Axel :)

mine is edited differently from the version I posted, so I appreciate you pointing things out!

The target issue is actually one that I created myself....mainly because the applet had one big downfall: links clicked on in chat opened in the same window, thus kicking the user out of the chat. So I added the page default for opening in a new window. I think I changed most of the links to self...but obviously looks like I missed a couple!!!

Thanks for the revisions :)

[Axel Foley]

I also changed these 2 lines of code in the chatbit template:


<param name="FilterKeys" value="&gt;:) ;) :~( &sect;:o) :) :( :D :P lol LOL LoL">
<param name="FilterVals" value="gfx/evil.gif gfx/winkface.gif gfx/cry.gif gfx/clown.gif gfx/smile.gif gfx/frown.gif gfx/biggrin.gif gfx/tongue1.gif gfx/lol.gif gfx/lol.gif gfx/lol.gif">


To:


<param name="FilterKeys" value=":) ;) :( :~( :D :P >:) ?:o) lol LOL LoL">
<param name="FilterVals" value="chatgfx/smile.gif chatgfx/winkface.gif chatgfx/frown.gif chatgfx/cry.gif chatgfx/biggrin.gif chatgfx/tongue1.gif chatgfx/evil.gif chatgfx/clown.gif chatgfx/lol.gif chatgfx/lol.gif chatgfx/lol.gif">


The smilies didn't work...;)

You can also remove popup.js from the zip file, it isn't needed.

Lady, a question, there are OP functions for the BAN, but I don't see an unban action, does jPilot support it?

[VolSports]

for some reason my name stayed logged in..so when i eva i try to log in it says my name has already been taken...how do i log my name out now?

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by VolSports
for some reason my name stayed logged in..so when i eva i try to log in it says my name has already been taken...how do i log my name out now?
Depends on what chat you are using. Which one did you install?

[Lucky]

Great work my friend

[atrl]

How would i go about adding on my Main forum pages Users in Chat:

[wot-Mike]

(Hmm, sent a reply by email, but it's not showing up here???)

I'm working on such a thing, but there are some things to consider:
This is not an easy thing to make, and it will have a fair bit of impact on the vBulletin system. That is something I want to minimize at all cost. I think it's possible to do this without changes to the database, so at least we have that :)

Other things to consider: the time out. People in chat are no longer active under "vB terms" (as they are no longer browsing the forum, or whatever), which means their session will time out within 15 minutes or so. Any hack to display users in chat will have to deal with this stuff, which makes it much harder, especially since I want to minimize "hacking" at all costs.

Something else to consider: any such code might become totally useless with vB3, so is it worth the time or effort right now to create a hack that will surely NOT work under vB3?!

That doesn't mean I'm not looking into it though, hehe

Oh, those who peeked at our forums and noticed the one lined "users in chat" up and running there, the code for that can not and will not be made public :(

Oh, and version 1.4 of this hack is about ready, very much the same, but without that checking array, so setting particular sizes should be easier.

[MarkB]

Works fine! I'm using the same applet that vb.org uses on two vBs I admin for, and both work flawlessly (after setting them up on the same server as the IRC box) -- top work!! Thanks! :)

[Tech_Koss]

will this program affect bandwidth ??

[wot-Mike]

Depends on the chat you install, but if you use the raidersoft or similar service, then it won't cost bandwidth at all other then loading the chat page.
The applet gets loaded from raidersoft's server, and all communications is done between their server and the client pc's.

And thanks for the compliment, MarkB :)

[Tech_Koss]

Originally posted by wot-Mike
Depends on the chat you install, but if you use the raidersoft or similar service, then it won't cost bandwidth at all other then loading the chat page.
The applet gets loaded from raidersoft's server, and all communications is done between their server and the client pc's.

And thanks for the compliment, MarkB :)
thats wonderful news!
thanks for the hack buddy! :classic:

[tweak]

IS it {ossible to make the CHAT appear Under your forum???? so when users log into the forum the chat would be below it???

[beemer]

This may sound simple to most, but how do you add a link in my site to the chat.php file? Where do you do this and how do I add a button to my page? Sorry guys but I am somewhat new to this.

[tweak]

Originally posted by beemer
This may sound simple to most, but how do you add a link in my site to the chat.php file? Where do you do this and how do I add a button to my page? Sorry guys but I am somewhat new to this.

<a href="chat.php?s=$session[sessionhash]"><img src="{imagesfolder}/top_chat.gif" alt="Chatroom" border="0"></a>

you can add it anywhere u want in the header or where ever your buttons are located.

[beemer]

Thanks, that works but I am now getting a connection error. I can connect if I just use the link from my browser, but when integrated into my site, I get this error:

Unable to Connect
Server is teporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

As I said, this works fine in a browser but not from the site. I am using the professional version of Raidersoft.

Here is my chatbit template:

<applet codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient4.zip" code="Client.class" width=$setwidth height=$setheight
<param name="port" value="45007">
<param name="room" value="my code is here">
<param name="canvaslength" value="1000">
<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">
</applet>

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by tweak
IS it {ossible to make the CHAT appear Under your forum???? so when users log into the forum the chat would be below it??? I think you mean under the forum on the main index page. Yes, it's possible, but people have a habit of passing by the index page a lot of times when visiting your forums. Meaning that they would log in and out each time they visit and leave the index. Believe me, that wouldn't make it much fun for those who are chatting. You can work with frames maybe.


And beemer, are you behind a firewall or proxy? If so then TCP ports 80 and 45007 need to be open on the firewall/proxy. Do you have an url to your forum? PM the url (and a test account) if you don't wish to go public with that info.

[wot-Mike]

Oh, and when adding a button, I don't think it would be nice to link to the one at vbulletin.org (bandwidth stealing)
Create your own button on your own site and use that one :)

[beemer]

Wot-Mike, the hack does work when using my browser, it just doesn't work when I use the link I created in my site. I am not using a firewall or proxy. I will create test account so you can see what I am doing.

[wot-Mike]

Just send you a reply PM :)

*crosses fingers*

[wot-Mike]

Oh, currently this mod checks for a valid vBulletin username.

Guests will be redirected to a login page when trying to enter chat, but any valid member will be given access. There's no support for seperate usergroups (yet?)

[tweak]

WEll On the Main index page Couldnt you make the CHAT POP UP??? is that possible? So they wouyld have a BOX opened and be free to surf the net.

[wot-Mike]

Here's something that you may be looking for:
http://vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43174
look at the last post

[dgessler]

Originally posted by tweak
WEll On the Main index page Couldnt you make the CHAT POP UP??? is that possible? So they wouyld have a BOX opened and be free to surf the net.

Well on my site I just use the target=_blank feature in my link to let it popup in a new window, works fine.. :bunny:

ps. THANKS FOR THE HACK!! :)

It is working great on my forum, especially since the AfterNic Forums/Chat got taken down 2 days ago, we are trying to get old AN'ers to my board, I also got the pro version of the chat, it's awesome :)

[wot-Mike]

I'm using the blank thing as well. I showed that link, cause it's a beautiful way of linking to chat as well.

And thanks for the kind words :)

[dprice]

Installed this hack without any problems and was up and running in about 20 minutes!

Excellent work Mike!

Guess I have to get the ole credit card out and upgrade! Thanks again for the great work.

[dprice]

I have upgraded to the professional account and have went into the settings to give my moderators online administrator privledges.

I entered in the Forum name, left the password field blank, and checked online administrator.

BUT, when they log on, they dont have /ban /kick etc features. Is there a way around this?

[wot-Mike]

The auto-login feature doesn't really care about user accounts, so you can't login that way with any admin privileges. If you have admins set up without passwords, then please do assign passwords to their accounts to avoid mis-use.
auto-login works seperate from any user accounts.

There's an url to an admin thingy however. If you log in to your raidersoft account, then on the right you'll see the link. Just pass that link on to your fellow admins. They can login that admin thing using their account credentials and do whatever's necessary.

There's also an url their to the chat room via raidersoft's website. If you start it up from there, then you can login the "regular" way, with account credentials and such, but it's away from the forum.

[dprice]

Thanks for the update

Again, great hack!

[wot-Mike]

Small update:

This extra bit of code will allow Admins and SuperModerators to login to chat via their chat account credentials, and thus giving them admin control while in chat. You must ofcourse have accounts to log into (like the Professional chat in the case Raidersoft).

Every other forum member will still be logged in via auto-login. When an admin or supermoderator logs in, they get an invalid username warning, and can then log in manually.

Now, in chat.php find:
eval("\$forumchat = \"".gettemplate("chatbit")."\";");
And before that, add this bit of code:
if ($bbuserinfo['usergroupid'] != 5 AND $bbuserinfo['usergroupid'] != 6) {
$username = '';
}
There's a better way, but this is the easiest one to do :)

[-=dm=-]

Hi wot-mike
This is cool hack :)
I have little problem, when I login the chat it say user name takken :( (Im the admin)

and also on bottum of the page I get errors (sometimes)
something like this:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 02:07:12 GMT Server: Apache/1.3.23 (Unix) mod_gzip/1.3.19.1a mod_bwlimited/1.0 PHP/4.1.2 mod_log_bytes/0.3 FrontPage/5.0.2.2510 mod_ssl/2.8.7 OpenSSL/0.9.6b X-Powered-By: PHP/4.1.2 Content-Encoding: gzip Content-Length: 1960 Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99 Connection: Keep-Alive Content-Type: text/html (and much more:()

I have the sigma free chat but Im going to get the pro version :)

[FWC]

Originally posted by wot-Mike
Every other forum member will still be logged in via auto-login. When an admin or supermoderator logs in, they get an invalid username warning, and can then log in manually.Thanks for the idea wot-Mike. I did it a little differently. Only two of us are chat moderators, so I took:if ($myLength > 15) {
$username = substr( $username1, 0, 15 );
} else {
$username = $username1;
}and changed it to:if ($bbuserinfo['userid'] == X or $bbuserinfo['userid'] == Y) {
$username = '';
} elseif ($myLength > 15) {
$username = substr( $username1, 0, 15 );
} else {
$username = $username1;
}I just substituted our userids for X and Y and it works great. :)

[wot-Mike]

-=DM=-,
Sometimes when you get disconnected, your name stays logged in. Which is a bugger in the free chat, cause you can't do anything about it.
But you can still log in using a different name :)

The errors you have, I had those as well. In my case they were the result of having gzip turned on the server as well as in vBulletin.
If gzip is already active on your website, then you don't need to set the options for it in vBulletin, so turn it off in the vB admin panel.


And that's another cool of doing it FWC. Thanks for sharing that :)

[tkeil69575]

Hi Mike,
I just installed your hack and its working great. Thanks for the great work. Im quite happy with the chat from raidersoft and updated to pro now.

The only think thats really bugging me (cause my users are asking for it constantly) is the "Who is in Chat" on the index.php.
I know you said your not making your Solution public, so may I be bold and ask if you'd make it "un-public" like via mail?

regards
Tina

Originally posted by wot-Mike
Oh, those who peeked at our forums and noticed the one lined "users in chat" up and running there, the code for that can not and will not be made public :(

Oh, and version 1.4 of this hack is about ready, very much the same, but without that checking array, so setting particular sizes should be easier. [/B]

[wot-Mike]

There's nothing bold about asking, Tina :)

It's not about public or not. It's a promise to keep some information from going public to anyone but ourselves.

I haven't done any work for a "Who's Chatting" yet. I've not been well for a couple of weeks, and didn't feel like doing anything. Guess it's about time I started working on this, but it will be a big change, and it will contain changes to the vB database, which sucks in my opinion, but there's no other way.

[tkeil69575]

Hi Mike,
ok, I understand and sorry to hear you haven't been well. Hope you get better soon.

Yes, Ive been searching here for some solution, but as you say it involves Database changes. And I don't like that idea either. One thought came to me today though. What about reading the logfile supplied by raidersoft. I guess though you'd need permission from them and the version supplied has stuff in it which would have to be filtered out.

Mmh guess I'll have to wait till you get your version out ...

Tina :)

[-=dm=-]

Hi Wot-Mike
ok everything working fine now :)
I have now purchased the pro version hehe cool mate.
the message color inside the chat how do I change that?I couldnt find it anywhere in the templates:( I know I can change all other colors in the admin section for the chatroom.

thanx :)

[mtalcott]

Hello... I so want a chat on my forums, however I am afraid I will really mess it up... Is there anyone willing to install this hack and a chat program for me? I can work out something in trade... gift certificate from amazon? name a fee?

thanks
please pm me, i want to add this asap!

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by mtalcott
Hello... I so want a chat on my forums, however I am afraid I will really mess it up... Is there anyone willing to install this hack and a chat program for me? I can work out something in trade... gift certificate from amazon? name a fee?

thanks
please pm me, i want to add this asap!
Hey, if you follow the simplest way, then there's no way you can mess up. The simplest way of installing this hack is:

* Sign up for a (free) chatroom
* Just upload the chat.php to your forums directory
* Edit the chatbit template to link to the correct chatroomnumber
* Link to the chat.php from your forums

That's really it. Nothing more is needed to integrate this hack. There's still a small hack for cosmetic reasons, but it's not required. Download the zip for better instructions.

Just remember that if you edit files .php files, then use a good text editor and NOT something like Wordpad. I use Editpad Lite (http://www.editpadlite.com/editpadlite.html), but more good tools are mentioned in the hacking tips forum I believe.
If you still need help, then PM me :)

And Tina, thanks! You're really a nice person :)
Using the logfiles is not really an option. They can grow pretty big (mine are well over 200 KB at some point), and you'ld have to download them over and over again. The extra bandwidth consumption for RaiderSoft would go through the roof. It wouldn't be fair, or affordable, for anyone.
I'll start working on the Who's Chatting thingy now :)

[-=dm=-]

Originally posted by wot-Mike

I'll start working on the Who's Chatting thingy now :)

sounds great :)

[malken00]

wotmike:

Which chat provider are you using? I would prefer to stay away from banners, and don't mind paying a fee.

[wot-Mike]

Check the very first post in this thread for a link to the one we use ;)

[ThoughtDiver]

I've got the chat integrated... I have a menu choice that when I click it, it opens a new window (using target=_blank) but I'd like for the new window that pops open with the embedded chat NOT to have the left column.

I've tried to incorporate the following:
http://www.phpportals.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2064&highlight=no+left+column

But I can't seem to get the left column to disappear by adding the lines into chat.php. I tried, as a test to make sure it works, editing download.php and it removed the left menu without problem. No matter what I do, though, I can't remove the left menu for when my users go to "Chat".

I'd like to pop open the new window with chat and just the site's header and footer and no menu options to confuse the user - so they can chat and surf and not be tempted to hit a menu choice on the open chat window.

-Scott

[wot-Mike]

It must be a vB Portal thing, because I honestly don't have a clue what you are talking about :(

And that link won't allow me...

Originally posted by ThoughtDiver
I've got the chat integrated... I have a menu choice that when I click it, it opens a new window (using target=_blank) but I'd like for the new window that pops open with the embedded chat NOT to have the left column.

I've tried to incorporate the following:
http://www.phpportals.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2064&highlight=no+left+column

But I can't seem to get the left column to disappear by adding the lines into chat.php. I tried, as a test to make sure it works, editing download.php and it removed the left menu without problem. No matter what I do, though, I can't remove the left menu for when my users go to "Chat".

I'd like to pop open the new window with chat and just the site's header and footer and no menu options to confuse the user - so they can chat and surf and not be tempted to hit a menu choice on the open chat window.

-Scott

[ThoughtDiver]

Yeah, it's a vbportal thing. Sorry for the confusion. To me, vbportal and vbulletin are integrally tied together. :ermm:

Was hoping someone else here had run into the same issue, but should have put more details in my post. :nervous:

-Scott

[wot-Mike]

I know nothing about vbportal, so I can't help you. Maybe the people there can help out with this. The chat script is pretty simple, so that shouldn't be a bother.

If you get some solution for this, then please let me know (in details ;) )

[tkeil69575]

Hi ThoughtDiver,

im using vBportal too but I dont have your problem because I dont use the side menu in the forum.

The problem is, that your complete forum is using the themeheader from vbportal, so you'd want to create a different header (maybe manually in chat.php) or allocate a different themeheader for the chat.php

regards Tina

[ThoughtDiver]

Okay... I got what I needed to work. I'll try and spell it out in case it is useful for someone else.

I fun vbportal integrated with vbulletin. I added the javachat integration with the pro version of sigmachat from raidersoft.com.

I have a link to chat off my main page. This takes me to the integrated chat in my site and I have it pop up in a new window by using target=_blank in the link.

Since I do have the left column menu operational in my forums area and since the chat is integrated into the forums section, my goal was to get rid of the left column menu ONLY for the chat window.

Why? Because users would click on the visible menu options in the left colum and go to another page on the site, taking them away from the chat session and dropping them from chat. What I wanted was my vbportal/vbintegration site in one browser window, and the chat session in a different browser window with all the menu options not visible to the user so the chat windows was essentially a floating chat window from the moment the user chose to click on the chat link. Okay... way too long of an explanation... but didn't know how to say it otherwise. :confused:

What I did - and this may require some familiarity with vbportal. This effectively removes the left column completely from whatever script you edit in part (1).

(1)
At the top of my /forums/chat.php file, I added the following lines:
----------------------------
global $leftcolumnoff;
$leftcolumnoff=1;

(2)
Within the vbp_includes.php file in my root directory, I added an if conditional statement as follows:
----------------------------
// mod - putting below original code in an if statement
global $leftcolumnoff;
if (!$leftcolumnoff) {
// mod

// original code follows
if ($Allow_Forum_Leftcolumn==1) {
if (($bbuserinfo['userid']!=0 and $bbshowleftcolumn)or ($bbuserinfo['userid']==0 and

$Forum_Default_Leftcolumn==1)){
include($nukepath . "/language/lang-$language.php");
require($nukepath . "/includes/forumblocks.php");
forumblocks(left);
if ($action==newreply or $action==newthread or $threadid !=0){
$themeleftcolumn ="";
$closeleftcolumn ="";
}else{
eval("\$themeleftcolumn = \"".gettemplate('P_ForumLeftColumn')."\";");
$closeleftcolumn = "<br></td></tr></table>";
}
$switchdisplay="| <a

href=\"$nukeurl/user.php?s=$session[sessionhash]&action=switchdisplay\"><b>Hide

Leftcolumn</b></a>";
}else{
if ($bbuserinfo['userid']!=0){
$switchdisplay="| <a

href=\"$nukeurl/user.php?s=$session[sessionhash]&action=switchdisplay\"><b>Show

Leftcolumn</b></a>";
}else{
$switchdisplay="";
}
}
}else{
$switchdisplay="";
$showleftcolumn =0;
}
// end original code

// mod
}
// mod - putting above original code in an if statement

Happy Happy.
Now Sleep.
:tired:

[ThoughtDiver]

When the chat is working, it works GREAT... but a fair percentage of the time, when you click on the link to open the new window with the chat integrated into it, you get the "Welcome" audio clip but the only thing that loads up is a blank rectangle with the custom background color of the chat app. Closing down and reclicking the link or pressing F5 to refresh the window will normally fix it, but sometimes you have to do this multiple times.

Any ideas? I'm using raidersoft's pro sigmachat.

Thanks,
Scott :ermm:

[wot-Mike]

This is the first time I hear of this.
Does this only happen to you, or all your users?
And what kind of OS are you using? Microsoft is not good in supporting java. What you could try (if you haven't already) is get java support from the source, and maybe that will help.
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/index.html

[dawl]

any updates on the who's in chat portion ?? My users are driving me crazy with this !!

[ThoughtDiver]

Wot-Mike - Just launching the site so not a lot of users, but we've gotten it on several test boxes pretty consistently. I tried putting the pop up window brining up just a normal HTML page sized to what I want and THEN a link to chat from that Window. I was trying to seperate the chat from the javascript to pop open the new window to see if it made a difference. Nope. Right-clicking and choosing refresh seems to be the best way to make it work. I'm working with Chris at raidersoft to try and figure out what the deal is... they are REALLY helpful there supporting their product.

[Odil]

Originally posted by wot-Mike
This "hack" will allow you to run a semi-integrated (free or paid) chat room "inside" your forum:

+ It's quite generic and should work with several chat providers (made a seperate template, just for the applet code)
+ The chat room will be displayed within your forum's structure,
+ The chat applet will be sized according to the user's screen resolution (could get scary at 1600x1200 :eek:)
+ People will be logged into the chat room using their forum usernames (if the chat supports auto-login)
+ Invalid characters in usernames will be replaced before logging in to the chat, plus too lengty names will be shortened
+ Easy installation :)

- At this time there's no feedback from the chat room to the forum. A "chat monitor" is planned though (version 2)

The install docs and template examples are mainly focussed on the chat provider we use (http://www.raidersoft.com), but it shouldn't be a problem adjusting one or two things to get this thing to work with your own chat provider.

The sizes of the chat applet haven't been tested out fully. I have no clue how bigger resolutions work out. All the rest seems to work fine.

Hope you like it...

[update 1.4]Sizes can now be set more easily, just by editing the chatredirect template, nothing else.
Added support for raidersoft's ICE, which is more flexible with usernames.

Excellent chat, I have it working with no problems on my board. I just have no clue how to force the chat to login people using their VB names. It prompts people to enter a nick. I have my chat setup so people just click on "chat" and it calls up the chat.php.

What do I need to add to set the login names automatically? Chat uses Raidersoft.

Thanks!

Kim :cool:

[FWC]

Originally posted by Odil
What do I need to add to set the login names automatically? Chat uses Raidersoft.If you have Verify Handle set to off in the chat room this happens automatically in chat.php. I'm not sure what the problem could be.

[dprice]

Just noticed that this hack disables the RIGHT-CLICK menu? How would users adjust their font size now?

Is there a "/" command for fonts since right-click no longer works?

[tkeil69575]

hi dprice,
I dont think the hack has anything to do with the fact that the right-click no longer works. I think that a raidersoft problem. Its the same with me.

If you change

<applet codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient4.zip" code="Client.class">

to

<applet codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient.zip" code="Client.class">

then the fonts will work with right click, but it will also allow the users to logout and then they would be able to login again using a different name.

grettings tina

[ThoughtDiver]

I talked with Chris at raidersoft and that is true. The scclient4 does not allow the right-click for font change.

They are also planning on coming out with some updates in a month or so from what I gathered.

[dprice]

Thanks for the info guys.

I did not want the logout buttonfor security reasons. Dont want other members using screen names not belonging to them, therefore I use the autologin feature.

My fix for the small fonts was to login to Raidersoft.coms control panel and under General options, you can make the font 16 standard for all users. Alot bigger than the default.

Where the problem now lies is if a user opens up a new window while in the chat room, the auto-login process will fail due to user already being logged in on other window.

The system will now ask them to enter a name/handle. They can now type whatever they want. What I have done is went into Raidersofts control panel and created account names that I wanted protected (IE. admins/moderators). If a user tries to use one of these names, they will be forced to enter a password.

Is there a way around this? Would like for it to keep looping and force them to close the second chat window. Is there an option or a script that I missed inserting?

Thanks in advance

[|-Last-Spirit-|]

Ok, I got quite some problems here, could someone just write 1 hack instead of letting people mix 2 versions ?

I have a registered irc channel so I don't need one like raiden thingie. So I used jpilot...

Now I installed the "embedded hack" the original thread this was about. That till the point is asks refers to the other hack "jpilotchatembed.zip" for the last template. Then I ignored the start of that hack (as they ask to upload the same stuff I already uploaded from the first hack) and edited my "template_chatbit_without_serv_options.txt" file and used it in the redirect template.

The chat.php included in the second hack screws everything up so I kept using the chat.php from the first hack. The window loads, all the buttons and stuff, but the chat area stays gray and when I choose a room it doesn't do anything, also my browser says it loaded the page but with errors.... and it says something like "class not found" so cound someone plz make 1 installation instructions to set up a embedded chatroom with jpilot with all files you need included (so don't refer to other hacks)

TNX A LOT !!!

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by dprice
...Is there a way around this? Would like for it to keep looping and force them to close the second chat window. Is there an option or a script that I missed inserting?...
In short, unless you set up user accounts within chat, and require valid usernames, then no, there's nothing you can do to stop people from logging in a second time with a different username. I think I stressed a couple of times that the least anyone should do is to set up password protected accounts for admins and mods.
I was thinking about a solution for this, but with my chatroom, very occasionally people get disconnected while they remain logged in in the chat. By entering a different name they can always come back in. Any disconnected usernames will be released after 15 minutes I believe.

I also haven't had time yet to work on the "who's in chat". I'm really bothered by that, but I cant help it :(
Think that when it will be there, it will contain an option to keep people from firing up the thing twice.


And I can't help with the jpilot thing. I know nothing about it :(
The simplest tip I can give is:
suppose you build a html page within the forum structure to hold the chat room, then all the chat specific code that you normally put in the html page, can be placed within the chatbit template. Maybe with a little work, but all output by the forum is just html anyway. The chatbit template is inserted between <TD> tags :)

[BrAinZ]

Thanks for this GREAT hack.. really appreciate it !!

One question I have though, is that I want to open the Chat in a resizeable window WITHOUT my normal HEADER stuff showing at the top.. BUT with my users auto logging in.

Any ideas on how this can be done?

[wot-Mike]

Edit the chat template. That defines what the page looks like. People will still be auto-logged in :)

And you can resize the window anyway, but you can't resize the chat applet itself without logging out and in again. If people want a different sized applet, then all they have to do is play with the "setheight=" and "setwidth=" settings in the url, and hit enter. This will reload the applet with the sizes they've specified

[Nam]

Hi wot-Mike, seems to everybody this is great hack, however I'm wondering if it's display how many users in the chatroom, something like:

There are 5 member browsing the forum
There are 2 member in the chatroom.

Thanks,

[dawl]

Is there any update on the "who's in chat" portion of this ?

[wot-Mike]

Darn! I really thought I'd replied, but it's not here :(

Anyway, I'm running a new version, which shows who's chatting, and it works for most part. But it's still very raw, and there's some stuff I want to add. Give me another week to finish this, or at least finish the main thing. More features could be added later on.

This won't be a simple hack like the current 1.4 or 1.5 version (whichever, I forgot :D ). vBulletin files will need to be edited, and the database will need to be altered slightly.

Anyway, the core of it is similar to the digichat hack with the semi-live who's online. I even wonder if it would be an idea to combine efforts and make one awesome hack for chat purposes. Well, I'm working on it at least.

[BrAinZ]

Been using this hack for a month or so now.. Excellent.. THANKS!

The "Who's Chatting" feature would be a real help though.. Can't wait for one of you Boffs to work it out ;)

[Gazer]

Could someone please tell me where this file goes now i have added the room No : Look at the "template_chatbit_sigmachat.txt" for an example (replace XXXXX with your room number)
I have done that but were does it go now ???
As when i click onto the chat button all i have is a blank screen.
Any ideas thanks
Gazer.

[joergh]

I talked with Chris at raidersoft and that is true. The scclient4 does not allow the right-click for font change.

They are also planning on coming out with some updates in a month or so from what I gathered.


Hi,

is there a german client, that also does not allow the right click? At the moment i have scclient6_de. There you can "logout". I tried scclient1-6_de but no success....

Thanks for your time in advance

joergh

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by Gazer
Could someone please tell me where this file goes now i have added the room No : Look at the "template_chatbit_sigmachat.txt" for an example (replace XXXXX with your room number)
I have done that but were does it go now ???
As when i click onto the chat button all i have is a blank screen.
Any ideas thanks
Gazer.
Gazer, RaiderSoft has updated their chatclient to a newer version, and it uses different settings. The "old" chatbit examples don't work anymore. Best thing to do is to log in at RaiderSoft and click Link Instructions.
But here's an example anyway:
<applet code="Client.class" codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient6_en.zip" width=$setwidth height=$setheight>
<param name="port" value="9002">
<param name="room" value="XXXXX">
<param name="canvaslength" value="2000">
<param name="lang" value="en">
<param name="layout" value="std">
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+">
<param name="urllist" value="true">
<param name="subroom" value="true">
<param name="username" value="$username">
<param name="exitURL" value="http://yoursite.com">
</applet>
Two things to change here:
XXXXX = your roomnumber
http://yoursite.com


Joergh, what exactly are you looking for? A client without a logout button and where you can change fonts?

[joergh]

@wot-mike.

I am looking for a german chat client like english scclient4 which does not allow right-click/to logout.

I tried t o switch to scclient4 but there are (of course) english buttons and so on. Same thing in german layout :)

best regards

joergh

[wot-Mike]

Think something like this hould be used in the chatbit then:
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+l-">

l- removes the logout button, I guess

What's also a possibilty in sigmachat 6 is this:
<param name="exitURL" value="javascript: window.close()">

That would make the logout button close the chat window

[joergh]

Thank you! I removed the logout button. It works :)

joergh

[BrAinZ]

Hmm.. Your right the new version doesn't work :(

You still seem to be able to use the older version though.. Looks exactly the same, I wonder what the difference is?

[wot-Mike]

Hey, the above chatbit example is based on the Professional Chat. I don't know if there are different settings for the free version. The best way to get the right settings is to simply check the Link Instructions in your RaiderSoft account. Main thing to check is the port value I think.
Try it with the exact RaiderSoft Link Instructions at first. And if that works, then replace some of the contents of chatbit with the variables $setwidth, $setheight and $username.

If everything checks out, and it still doesn't work, then I think you should contact RaiderSoft about this.

[TheWulff]

wot-Mike, installed this and works great ! Only problem is it doesnt show up who's in chat, any ideas ?

[wot-Mike]

One idea:

wait on the version that actually has a Who's in chat ;)
It's ready enough now, so very soon...

[TheWulff]

OH!!! ;o) Sorry I assumed this one had it, looking forward to it. Thanks for this is a great addition to our board.

[Ghostsuit]

Originally posted by wot-Mike
One idea:

wait on the version that actually has a Who's in chat ;)
It's ready enough now, so very soon... Oh you tease I've been waiting for this for ages the sooner the better. :D I love this hack so much and sounds like it's just going to get better.

[jbear6]

Thanks man, this is a great hack. Easy to install, and works like a charm. Thanks again!

Jbear6

[dawl]

sooon ?? <G> Can ya tell i'm impatient ? LOL

[Gazer]

(wot-Mike) But here's an example anyway:

Thanks for the help m8
i will have a look into it now ;)

Regards Gazer.

[Gazer]

(wot-Mike) But here's an example anyway:

Thanks for the help m8
i will have a look into it now ;)

Regards Gazer.

[indiamike]

Originally posted by FWC
If you have Verify Handle set to off in the chat room this happens automatically in chat.php. I'm not sure what the problem could be.

I am having this problem also. To get to the chat page you have to be registered, but when the chat loads you have the option of changing your handle and nickname. I have seen a few others that force the name in automatically, but mine doesn't :( .

I am using the paid version of Raidersoft chat and am embedding it into my vbportal page with vbulletin 2.2.5 which I don't think would make a difference.

In my Raidersoft account I have Verify Handle set to off, and disable/ nick command set to on.

I have followed the instructions to the letter and my chatbit template looks like this (parts are edited)

<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">

<applet code="Client.class" codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient6_en.zip" width=500 height=350>
<param name="port" value="9001">
<param name="room" value="xxxxx">
<param name="canvaslength" value="1000">
<param name="lang" value="en">
<param name="layout" value="std">
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+l+">
<param name="urllist" value="true">
<param name="subroom" value="true">
</applet>

Can anyone help or give some tips.

Thanx
Mike

[wot-Mike]

Well, the username line should be within the applet code, not outside as you posted, so this should work:

<applet code="Client.class" codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient6_en.zip" width=$setwidth height=$setheight>
<param name="port" value="9001">
<param name="room" value="xxxxx">
<param name="canvaslength" value="1000">
<param name="lang" value="en">
<param name="layout" value="std">
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+l+">
<param name="urllist" value="true">
<param name="subroom" value="true">
<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">
</applet>


Hope that helps ;)

[indiamike]

DOH!!!!!

Thanks for the easy fix. Haven't used applets in about three years and just got "brain freezed" working with it.

COOL...Thanks for noticing my error and thanks again for this hack.

Mike

[Ghostsuit]

Any closer to a release on the who's in chat feature?

[Prince]

Originally posted by Ghostsuit
Any closer to a release on the who's in chat feature?

earlier in this thread he said he would not make that public.

[Yalko]

Thanks for a great hack :).

Do you know how to embed the chat so it will be displayed as one of the regular forums and not a seperate chat room?

[Ghostsuit]

Originally posted by Prince


earlier in this thread he said he would not make that public.

You might have missed him saying this

"One idea:

wait on the version that actually has a Who's in chat
It's ready enough now, so very soon..."

or maybe I've missed a different post.

Anyway fingers crossed he will release it.

[Prince]

Is this a bug?

Sometimes when I go into the chat my forum logo shows as a red x, if I hit refresh it displays.

[kerpen]

Originally posted by ladyfyre

There are also two colors of graphics: blue and green. the green is the main one, as that is what i use for our forums, and the blue is in a subfolder, but you can easily copy them over the others.

Hope it helps :)

Since the file is too big (due to the graphics) to attach here....the file can be downloaded here (http://www.aspd.net/jpilotchatembed.zip)

Blue graphics set not in the zip. Would appreciate it.

Thanks much.

[trilOByte]

Originally posted by Yalko
Thanks for a great hack :).

Do you know how to embed the chat so it will be displayed as one of the regular forums and not a seperate chat room?

Create a new forum. Fot the title call it...

<a href="/forums/chat.php">chat room</a>

Thats it!

Or you can add a sessinhash I think, like:


<a href="/forums/chat.php?s=$session[sessionhash]">Chatroom</a>

I'm pretty sure you define forum permissions as per any other forum you might create.

[trilOByte]

Great hack, I added it to my BB and am very happy, thanks. I had to redefine the fixed width tables, as I use portal and it forced the page to scroll because of the leftcolum. But figured it out easily enough. Well done. :)

Clicking on install for this hack.

One question, does anyone know how to show a list of "who's viewing that page" I need the code to stick in forumhome? I don't mind the 15min cookie timeout, anything is better than nothing, so very basic code will be fine until something better gets released..

[indiamike]

Originally posted by Ghostsuit
You might have missed him saying this
"One idea:
wait on the version that actually has a Who's in chat
It's ready enough now, so very soon..."

or maybe I've missed a different post.

Anyway fingers crossed he will release it.

I sort of have an idea about this "who's online" bit. Logically couldn't you just take your online.php and delete most of it out except for the "case 'chat':" parts (if you added them), change the permissions so everyone could see, rename the online.php to something else and make an include statement somewhere on your page showing who is on the page you have for your chat program.

Does that make sense?

Mike

[Prince]

Originally posted by indiamike


I sort of have an idea about this "who's online" bit. Logically couldn't you just take your online.php and delete most of it out except for the "case 'chat':" parts (if you added them), change the permissions so everyone could see, rename the online.php to something else and make an include statement somewhere on your page showing who is on the page you have for your chat program.

Does that make sense?

Mike

I see what you're saying but I do not think it would be very accurate. I have opened a new window on my forum while I am in chat and it then displays that I am in "who's online" even though I am also in the chat, and it does this with others as well.

[rharbison]

I notice that the chatroom here has a "Who's in chat" listing. Are they using a different hack or something? I really need that feature, and would be willing to switch to a different chat to get it.

[-=dm=-]

Hi WotMike
Im getting this error. (I have Gzip set to of)

Ho do I fix this?


HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 11:31:53 GMT Server: Apache/1.3.23 (Unix) mod_bwlimited/1.0 PHP/4.1.2 mod_log_bytes/0.3 FrontPage/5.0.2.2510 mod_ssl/2.8.7 OpenSSL/0.9.6b X-Powered-By: PHP/4.1.2 Content-Length: 6091 Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99 Connection: Keep-Alive Content-Type: text/html


it worked fine for me in the start.

thanx in advance

dm

if I copy the url to chat.php and past it in my browser, it works perfect, just not from the button:(

[wot-Mike]

Hi dm,

Umm, I really don't have a clue. Something like this happened to me ages ago, not just with chat.php but also with vB's showthread.php. And the cause was having gzip turned on in both php.ini and vB. It never showed up until after I upgraded Apache.
This doesn't apply here, since you say gzip is turned off in vB.

Ok, if it worked before, then what has changed since then?

[-=dm=-]

Hi wot-Mike
only what I did was changes the size 400x315 to 400x600 and changed it back again.
I did nothing else :(
maybe I should reinstall the hack.

[wot-Mike]

Hmm, the silly thing is that there's not much to (re-)install. But I vaguely remember me having probs with something that dissappeared when I replaced a template with the original one.

Let me know how things go.

[Ghostsuit]

Wot Mike any news on the who's in chat showing up on anther page?

[wot-Mike]

The original one I worked on a while ago, umm, didn't work. I've looked at other things since then, and then wrote one of my own from the ground up. But it's rather similar to GeorgeofCS' DigiChat Hack (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34423). Mainly because I used the same database changes, hehe.
I've been running that version for a while now and it works fairly well. Some extra funcionality was planned from the start, like a login counter to control the number (and the way) of logins people have. That's why I used GeorgeofCS's db structure. I saw good use for the "inchat" field then.

But based on the experience from the last weeks there are some other things I like to incorporate as well. One of the things I want is to get rid of the autosizing javascript. It's a good thing, but there are nicer ways ;)

If you're really handy I can give you the 2.0 version I have currently. But there's hardly an instruction manual for installing 2.0, so you'll have to know your way around to get it working, including changing your templates to get the Who's in Chat to display. Well, unless you like the Who's in Chat we have, embedded in the Welcome Panel.
And the coming version won't be compatible with this one, so you shouldn't be afraid of messing with your database too ;)

[Ghostsuit]

That would be great I shouldn't have too much trouble if you send me the details don't think I'll need instructions.

[NexDog]

What's the eta on the new version?

I hate mysql. :D

[trilOByte]

Hey wot-mike, could you send that version to me too? Cheers.

[Courage]

I was using EIRC, but now i'm using a much smaller Java Cleint to connect to IRC :)
See http://irc.softnews.ro for a demo

The irc client can be found at http://glaz.rasko.ru

[-=dm=-]

Originally posted by wot-Mike
Hmm, the silly thing is that there's not much to (re-)install. But I vaguely remember me having probs with something that dissappeared when I replaced a template with the original one.

Let me know how things go.

Hi wot-Mike

its strange I still cant get it to work :(

[NexDog]

/clicks install cos it rocks. :)

[esawdust]

bump :)

[DTC]

Anyone know if this puppy will work the same with the new Sigma Chat 7.0 about to be released??

On November 1st, 2002, RaiderSoft will begin the SigmaChat v7.0 upgrade process. All accounts will be upgraded, including those running older, SigmaChat v5.x clients. Some downtime is to be expected as all servers will be upgraded, and new port assignments will be given. At the very least, any users online during the upgrade will have to reload the chat applet to continue use.

In SigmaChat v7.0, all settings to your chat room will be made directly from the new control panel. In SigmaChat v6.0 however, some settings were sent directly to the applet via your link instructions. Therefore, some account holders may need to adjust chat room settings from the new SigmaChat v7.0 control panel once it is installed.

[wot-Mike]

I'm working on a version that supports SigmaChat 7 all the way. It should have done by now... but isn't.

First things first:
the current Embedded Chat version will work with SC7. You will need to alter the applet code inside the chatbit template. It will look like this, so remember this post:

<applet ... check Raidersofts instructions for the exact line and change width=$setwidth height=$setheight>
<param name="room" value="YOUR ROOM NUMBER">
<param name="username" value="$username">
<param name="autologin" value="yes">
</applet>
Just in case: this is for SC7, so don't change anything now!

Ok, the next version of Embedded Chat is coming (version 3), but there isn't much yet. I've had extremely little time to work on it, or even play with the new features of SC7 :mad:

Ok, what will version 3 have?
It's own table inside the vB database to store usernames and passwords and preferences. Preferences meaning height and width settings, and umm, language.
If people enter chat the first time, they will go through a setup screen, that will ask for these preferences and a password for chat. Their username and password will be automatically registered with your chat room. Saves you the trouble of doing it manually. This is one of the things I really wanted to have done and tested by now, but well *sigh*
Oh, yeah, and there will be a Who's Chatting thingie. Stupid thing is, I'm not really sure how that will work. I'm not too happy about the one there is now (yes, we're running the missing version 2 on our site)

Anyway, the current Embedded Chat will work with RaiderSoft's SigmaChat 7, no problem.

[DTC]

Great news wot-Mike!

Thanks you for all your efforts! This is a great hack and Raidersoft is a good chat!

Not sure of your idea about making folks go through that reg/preferences at login though. Now anyone in the registerered user group already has access and the auto login works great! We prevent anyone from changing there handle...good for security and spam. Perhaps just a button to enter/save user prefs is enough. Just some thoughts! :)

That Who's Chatting" feature would be great to have for sure!!! Allot of users are requesting it!

I'm no hacker but when we view "Who's Online", it does indicate a user "entered chat"...can't we just use that somehow to indicate who's (# of) chatting.....

Again, thanks and keep up the good work!!!

[wot-Mike]

Hmm, yeah. One thing I've noticed in our chat is that sometimes people start multiple instances of chat and login using various names. Not a big issue. I've made it pretty clear upfront that impersonating someone else is NOT funny. That's why the autoregister thingie can be nice. If only registered people can enter, then no more spoofing. And any subsequent login will (or can be set to) kick the previous login.
And one thing not in the applet code I posted is a password parameter. Autologin will stay, just with passwords now.

Maybe a register thing, maybe a Safe Settings button. Plus SC7 does provide more options for registration.
I'm still working on the basics now though, so who knows what the end result will be, hehe
Any suggestions are welcome though ;)

[BrAinZ]

Just keep up the great work on this hack!

As long as it works, auto logs users on with their vbb username, and has a "Who's in chat" feature... it will be GREAT!!

[trainer]

just noticed with the new sigma version 7 the autologin doesn't work. i guess we need an update... any suggestions?

[jbear6]

I got it to work by using the chatbit code from wot-Mike above:

<applet
codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip"
width=625 height=315>
<param name="room" value="roomnumber">
<param name="username" value="$username">
<param name="autologin" value="yes">
</applet>

[LearningMan]

Has anybody been able to figure out how to properly pass the OTHER parameters to v.7? I'm talking about URL logging off, sub room creation off and stuff like that. These parameters don't seem to pass properly anymore either. :(

Autologin (the fix above) has been working correctly for me all day. Thanks!

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by LearningMan
Has anybody been able to figure out how to properly pass the OTHER parameters to v.7? I'm talking about URL logging off, sub room creation off and stuff like that. These parameters don't seem to pass properly anymore either. :(

Autologin (the fix above) has been working correctly for me all day. Thanks! All settings are now done through the SigmaChat control panel. The only params that work are the ones in the post above, plus a password param, which will be used in the next chat script.

[tanster]

Took five minutes to update the chatbit code per your instructions. SigmaChat 7 now works beautifully with VB 2.2.6.

Thank you wot-Mike! :)

[wot-Mike]

Awwwww :)

And thank you!

[DTC]

I used to have it like the following:

- Users were auto logged in (all the way)
- They could not change it
- When they hit logout, it logged them all the way out and brought them to the main forum page

My previous chatbit was:

<applet code="Client.class" codebase="http://freechat.raidersoft.com" archive="scclient6_en.zip" width=760 height=500>
<param name="port" value="9000">
<param name="room" value="ROOMNUMBER">
<param name="canvaslength" value="1000">
<param name="lang" value="en">
<param name="layout" value="std">
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+l+">
<param name="urllist" value="false">
<param name="subroom" value="false">
<param name="exitURL" value="http://www.MYFORUM.com/forums/">
<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">
</applet>

I applied the new chatbit like in the thread and it does work, but it does not auto log in the user, and if I do log on manually, hitting the Logout brings me back to the login screen....not good because users can then login as someone else.

Thanks for all your time!!!

[wot-Mike]

Well, most settings are done through the control panel now. I'm having troubles finding various things too, but it's just a matter of playing with it, and learning the new layout.

Ok, where to find various options in the SigmaChat control panel:
* Log in here - http://www.sigmachat.com/login.html

* Click on User Accounts, and then on Options
/nick Command -> disabled
Disable Automatic User Registration System for now
Allow Guest Access = Yes (also for now)
Ghost Users - If IP matches
This will kick any previous login by the same username coming from the same IP address. This will unfortunately leave the old window open in the SigmaChat login screen. Choosing "Always Deny" will leave the new window open with the loginscreen. But the "if IP matches" option will at least stop your users from kicking other users by logging in as them (ok, there's still users coming from behind the same proxy server. Let's hope no one of them will discover this funny option....)

* Click on Websites, and then on Settings
Exit URL -> http://whatever you want
or Exit Url -> javascript:window.close();

This will either redirect the user away from the logout screen, or
the last one will try to close the window, but only after prompting the user first (just the first time though)

As for chatbit, this really should do the trick:<applet codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/" code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip" width=$setwidth height=$setheight>
<param name="room" value="YOUR ROOM NUMBER">
<param name="username" value="$username">
<param name="autologin" value="yes">
</applet>
I've been having some issues with people logging in multpiple times. The above settings will help a bit, but there's enough holes left (Ghost Users). Right now I can think of a few solutions, but the best bet is the new script. That will register users and log them in using their name and password. You can then disable Guest access, which will effectively kill the possibility to login multiple times using multiple names.
Since loginnames and passwords will be stored inside the vB database, installing the new script won't be as simple as the current version.

Hope this helps.

[wot-Mike]

I've been blabbering a bit. Any automatic user registration feature comes with RaiderSoft's Platinum services. Not with the Professional service.
A slight change in plan then to overcome such a thing.

[amity]

hi! i am trying to read the last page of this thread, but when i click on last or the arrows, i get this message.

Bad Request

Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.

The request line contained invalid characters following the protocol string.

i need to update this script since raidersoft updated their chat script and i no longer have auto login. :)

amity

[wot-Mike]

I've sent you a pm, amity

For the rest that used this:
==========
* Click on My Account
Allow Chat Room to be used from this website only:
http://www.yoursite.com/path/to/chat.php
==========

Well, don't do that. This setting in combination with chat.php can (and fairly regularly will) cause your users to get a message that chat cannot be accessed from that page. The reason for that is that chat.php uses variables in the url to call chat.

[DTC]

Hi Mike!

OK, finally did some updating and got the logout to close the window and get them back to my forum.

Still though, when you first logon it brings up the username and password box (not auto login). A user then can overwrite the username thats autofilled in, use any password they want and presto...there in.

I don't have a problem with upgrading to Platinum service if it will auto login the user as before (go directly to chat with no login screen whatsoever)....

Is that cabability in that service??

Thanks!!!

[wot-Mike]

Auto-login is available in the professional service. It should work.

Maybe you have a link to your forums for me? And a test account :)

[DTC]

Whoooooo! It works!!! :D

You know what, it just stops at the login screen for me, Admin.

All other registered users it goes right to chat!!! :D I don't know how or why, but it works just as it did before!!!

I'm a happy camper...no need for platinum services ;)

Mike, just noticed your other post...if you need my account login to check out my settings, just PM me!

[wot-Mike]

Well, if it works then things are ok :)

And I'm guessing your Admin account for chat has a password? Otherwise there's no reason for it to stop there.

[DTC]

Right! Admin is the only user listed with sigma chat, so it won't auto-login that user.....

All other users get right in and they can't change it because when they hit logout, brings them back to the forum....Its a wonderful thing :)

Actually, this is a good thing...at least I get the option of logging in as someone different ;)

Again, thanks for all you hard work with this hack...IT IS GREAT!

[BrAinZ]

I'm using the FREE option of the chat. It all works fine, but I'm trying to work out how to stop people changing their usernames.

The system logs them in OK using their VBB username, but they can then simply use /nick or /n to change it.

I've found that if you add "nick" to the banned words list then they can no longer use /nick to change their nicknames.
Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work for a single "n" as it then bans ANY word with an "n" in it :)

Any ideas on how to get this working ?

[Ghostsuit]

Not sure if it's in the free option but if you go to user account then select options there is a drop down for Disabling /nick command

[wot-Mike]

Well, as Ghostsuit said. There's no other way to deal with this then through the SigmaChat Control Panel, but that's limited for the free service, and I don't know what is and isn't possible.

[telc]

Anyone with the SigmaChat Professional Running on thier site? Post your URL, or PM it to me I would like to see a working chat and see what you guys did with it, before i purchase. Thanks.

[Curtis M]

OK, I cant get it to work PERIOD. Al I get when I try to use the chat is a blank screen. I have sigmachat professional, latest version of vb, and a WHOLE lot of stress right now. I have read throught this entire thread, I have tried EVERY single possibility to make it work and I still get the blank screen.

Any help will be appreciated

[wot-Mike]

Originally posted by Curtis M
OK, I cant get it to work PERIOD. Al I get when I try to use the chat is a blank screen. I have sigmachat professional, latest version of vb, and a WHOLE lot of stress right now. I have read throught this entire thread, I have tried EVERY single possibility to make it work and I still get the blank screen.

Any help will be appreciated Well, I registered at your board and tried chat. Something is messed up. Did you modify the chat.php file in anyway? You might also want to check your php error log for any clues.

Quick possible fix: upload a fresh chat.php to your server (make sure it's uploaded in ascii mode). If you edit anything, use a text editor like Notepad, and definitely not someting fancy like Word.

Hope the quick fix is enough

[ricoche]

Well I just installed the hack and everything to get chat running on my site and it seems to be working very well.

I'm running SigmaChat Pro from Raidersoft.com
This hack which is fabulous
Vbulletin 2.2.8 and vbportal 3.0

Everything is working great.

Is it the chat template I edit in order to get addional info on the chat page? I'd like to add a couple of HTML tables at the bottom with lists of commands to remind users. I think that would be useful. I'll take a look at that.

Plus I know it's been said a hundred times, but we need to pull our heads together and find a way to inform users about who's in the chat area. Although it would be nice to have a who's online deal, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.

For me I run two computers, so with one I try to stay in the chatroom as much as possible. That way I can be there in case people pop in. I'm also interested in modifying the areas around the chat page with info, links, or perhaps other stats or site info to entice users to at least click chat and take a peek. If they see people in there, then they just might join. Personally I think if a chatroom is active and popular on a site, then a who's online ( although great to have I know ), might not be so necessary.

I'm also allowing users to request subrooms to be added too, but it remains to be seen if any of this will take off. I'm determined though so I'll see. For now, they're just ideas at best.

<LOL> Just my 2cents. Thanks for listening.

Ricoche

Great hack though and no regrets definitely. Lot's to work with here. Thanks.

[ricoche]

Any updates on a who's online for this addon? Hmmm.

Thanks,

Ricoche

[94supratt]

Not working :(

I keep getting the following error...

Parse error: parse error, expecting `T_STRING' or `T_VARIABLE' or `T_NUM_STRING' in /home/niggapino/www/forums/chat.php(45) : eval()'d code on line 12

Someone please help.

[jamoss]

I have implemented Sigma (paid for pro) and it seems to be working very well.

Just an FYI: your redirect script adds variables (height and width) to the chat.php script. If a site (like ours) has SIGMA restricted to launch from one page ONLY, (i.e. http://www.babynames.com/boards/chat.php ) it will fail if it is launched from chat.php?width=750&height=400. So I had to disable the redirect portion (screen options).

Here is a screenshot of our working SIGMA PRO chat:

http://www.babynames.com/boards/chat_screenshot.jpg

Thank you!!!

[Capt PPRuNe]

Hi, I have upgraded to SigmaChat Platinum and added the chat.php script to the forums directory and added the templates but still having terrible problems getting it to work.

One thing that happens on my Mac is that when the chat.php script is called it downloads it!!! If I add the ? and screen parameters in then it functions OK until the next point...

The chat loads within my vB environment but stops at the log-in page for the chat with a message that the Username or password is incorrect. I have made sure that the Username is not in the SigmaChat database and there is no password box. Also, I have checked that the settings are Ok in the SigmaChat control panel for User Options: Automatic user Registration is Disabled and Standard User List, Allow Guest is set to NO.

Auto log In parameter is set in the chatbit template.

URL for the chat is at http://www.pprune.org/forums/chat.php

You will of course have to register a username for the BB to get past the vB log-in and after that you should automatically be logged in to the SigmaChat but.... no luck!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[wot-Mike]

Capt PPRuNe, the current hack need guest access to be enabled. It just forwards names into the applet, and that autologs people in. No accounts are used. Access to chat.php is limited to registered members.

The Mac problem is weird, and I'm afraid you're on your own on that one. I don't have any knowledge in that area at all, and no one else has reported anything similar. I hope you can solve it, and if so, please post it here. I'm interested in the why of this thing.

94supratt, a late answer, but did you change the code? Uploading a fresh copy of chat.php will probable solve your problem. Or check the code you altered.

jamoss, that looks just great. You should send that pic to Raidersoft, and maybe they'll put it up on their screenshots page. It certainly looks way better then the pics that are there ;)
And yes, I was aware of the variables in the url, and I think I posted about it before. Ok, to be honest, I never realized it until Chris from raidersoft told me :D


As for news about the new script with the Who's Chatting, I've got the core ready for the Platinum and Enterprise version. That script uses vBulletin authentication (username and password), so no more guest access in chat :)
Unfortunately I'm in a bit of a bad situation. Maybe losing my job and all that kind of fun. I don't know when I can get myself to finish it.
Once it's finished though, it will be easy enough to alter it for use with the Pro (and free?) version of chat.

Right now the Who's Chatting is based on a "switch", set inside the database: inchat or not. But it relies on people logging out the correct way. If they don't, they'll show up in the Who's Chatting "forever". I'm not sure if that's the way to go

[jamoss]

Thanks, Mike, for the kudos. Sorry to hear about the job :( - the market is so volatile for us techie people.

I tried doing a "whos in chat" using the db, but the problem was that they liked to surf the boards in another window, which would assume the member was elsewhere or had logged out. They also didn't use the logout button, so alas. According to Raidersoft, they will be adding this in their next release (due out around March) in addition to indicating which member is in which subroom. They said this would most likely cost extra, since it will add to their server load/traffic.

They are very open to suggestions, though-- seems like a good company with good support. Thanks again!

[Destee]

wot-Mike ... thank you for sharing this hack.

*clicks installed*

Destee

[RZ500]

Tanks for this info, but i have a problem, I all ready did everithyng you said and sometiems I do not get the username to be registered at the chat and I have to tipeit by myself, any sugetion.

[94supratt]

Originally posted by wot-Mike

94supratt, a late answer, but did you change the code? Uploading a fresh copy of chat.php will probable solve your problem. Or check the code you altered.



I've had it working for a while now. However, I now get a class not found error. When it tries to load. Did they change the applet?

[wot-Mike]

A "class not found" error is a caching thing with your browser. Clearing the cache should work.

The correct way to do that is clear the cache, close all browser windows you have open, and then reload the chat. You might run into the same thing then. Hitting refresh (maybe a couple of times) should help then.

We've had this problem when Raidersoft upgraded a while ago. I've had it myself, and it was quite a sticky problem. I solved it back then by upgrading my java thingie from Sun. That definitely reinitiates the cache, hehe.


And RZ500, seems like you have a unique problem there. I think I need more info, but I wouldn't know what kind of info. Things work, or things dont work. When things work sometimes it gets really difficult. :confused:

[Kathy]

I have upgraded my raidersoftware chatroom to platinum and am curious if I need to take off the "log-in" button as described earlier.

Auto-login is working because of the parameters I'm using.

I'm not sure I need all these with the auto log in.. :D

<applet
codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient6_en.zip"
width=700 height=$setheight>
<param name="port" value="9002">
<param name="room" value="XXXXX">
<param name="cabbase" value="scclient_en.cab">
<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">
<param name="autologin" value="yes">
<param name="exitURL" value="javascript: window.close()">
</applet>

I have no clue what "PORT" value to provide. I'm behind a firewall at work and at a loss since I can't see my chatroom to work on it at the moment.

ANother question about "mods"

I have a group of mods on my message boards and a separate group of chat team mods. (We've been using an AIM chatroom)

I'd rather this group of 40+ chat mods not have admin status.

Could I just designate them to show up as a mod in the chatroom (bold name or something) and if they need someone banned, could they send the name to a message board mod to "ban" them? This "chat team mod" is a different usergroup on my message boards: UsergroupID=41

I guess I'm confused. I'm assuming that this embedding doesn't check the username/password of the vb, but rather passes the cookie/username into the chatroom automatically.

So, I'm assuming if we ban a username, they can't access the message boards and thus, can not log in.

Is this why I need to remove the log-in button from the log-in page? Or are my parameters (from above) for the chatbit okay?

Thanks for your help. I'm very happy with this hack!

[jamoss]

Yes, it only passes the username through, it does not check your authentication tokens (unless you add each user as a chat user through your chat admin, but that is a nightmare if you have a large userbase like we do).

SO, this is why you must remove the [LOGOUT] button-- or else they can logout and then choose their own username for chat.

Because we have paid subscribers, I also put in an authentication check at the beginning of the chat php file, just to make sure the user is subscribed and their account is not expired.

Jennifer.

[Kathy]

Originally posted by jamoss
Yes, it only passes the username through, it does not check your authentication tokens (unless you add each user as a chat user through your chat admin, but that is a nightmare if you have a large userbase like we do).

SO, this is why you must remove the chat button-- or else they can choose their own username for chat.

Because we have paid subscribers, I also put in an authentication check at the beginning of the chat php file, just to make sure the user is subscribed and their account is not expired.

Jennifer.

I must remove the "chat" button or the "Log in" button? Now that I have "auto login" set in my parameters, I don't see a "log in" page anylonger. It bypasses the log-in screen. WIll this work? Do I have the correct version of the scclient_en.cab set in my parameters to remove the "log-in" button?

ALso, how did you set the authentication check at the beginning of your chat.php file? DOes it check for a specific usergroup?

Another question...how do mods/admin show up in the room? I don't see any distinction for an admin in the chatrrom. Are they designated with a * or bold?

I just don't get the "admin console" at all. WHen I log in there, I'm not in the chatroom and only have a small little console. How does this chatroom check for admins?

Did I miss a bit of the hack for the log-in to check for admin?

Thanks for your help. :D

[aldamon]

I'm crying right now. We've had SigmaChat Pro for months now and I knew nothing about this hack. Kudos to the author(s)!

Anyway, Raidersoft just started a new support forum and they're asking for a link to this hack, and others like it:

http://support.raidersoft.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=24&hl=vbulletin

I'll leave it up to the hack author to respond. Obviously, they'll have to register a copy of vB to read these forums, so someone might want to upload the hack to RaiderSoft's servers.

[jamoss]

Kathy -- oops! I meant: you have to remove the LOGOUT button, which is configurable in your chat settings on the Raidersoft site.

Cheers,
Jennifer.

[bryan kazdan]

I took a different approach to popping up a chat window for my users. And it seems to actually work quite well.
So here is what I did:

1) Disabled Log Off Button:
SigmaChat Control Panel - Look & Feel - Options - Logout Button

2) Disabled Float Dock Button
SigmaChat Control Panel - Look & Feel ? Options - Float/Dock Button

3) Use ?Minimal? Display Option
SigmaChat Control Panel - Look & Feel ? Layout - Minimal Layout

4) Disabled "/NICK" command


5) Used the following ?applet code?

<applet codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip" width=550 height=350>
<param name="room" value="XXXXX">
<param name="cabbase" value="scclient_en.cab">
<param name="USERNAME" value="$username">
<param name="AUTOLOGIN" value="yes">
<param name="lopt" value="s+t+a+c+h+d+l-">
<param name="urllist" value="false">
<param name="subroom" value="false">
</applet>


6) Since I wanted a separate chat page to welcome my users to the chat, I then duplicated "Chat.php" and made a "Chat2.php" file

7) I set the "Chat2.php" file to call 2 new templates "chat2" and "chatbit2"

8) I set "chat2" to be a basic HTML file that would NOT call my header and footer

9) I set "chatbit2" to have my applet code in it

10) I then set up a javascript in "chatbit" to call the "chat2.php" into a named window


<script language="javascript">
function ANYNAME_open(){
window.open("chat2.php","WINDOW_NAME","height=400,width=600,left=80,top=80");
}
</script>

<a href="javascript:ANYNAME_open()">Click Here to Start Chatting!</a>

--------------------------------


Why it works for me:

a) The new window is named, therefore all calls to my chat room will always open it in the same window, so the user can log in and out of the chat room ONLY in that window so when they reclick to open the window, it will just autolog them back into that window. ("_BLANK" should create a new window, which would cause a security problem)

b) Users can browse the forum while chatting at the same time (since they are in different windows)


--------------------------------

Faults:
* Pressing "Ctrl+N" will still open the window and will log off one user.
* Using a second browser (such as Netscape while using IE) will have the same effect (2 windows open at same time).
* A user technically could just type in "Chat2.php" and load the page 2 times in 2 windows (if they knew to do this)

--------------------------------

Why I am posting this. Because it is slightly different than what I have read and I thought maybe it would add to the creativity of new versions of this hack.

[retinax]

Originally posted by ThoughtDiver
When the chat is working, it works GREAT... but a fair percentage of the time, when you click on the link to open the new window with the chat integrated into it, you get the "Welcome" audio clip but the only thing that loads up is a blank rectangle with the custom background color of the chat app. Closing down and reclicking the link or pressing F5 to refresh the window will normally fix it, but sometimes you have to do this multiple times.

Any ideas? I'm using raidersoft's pro sigmachat.

Thanks,
Scott :ermm:

I am having this same problem- but it also has a bunch of jumbled code under the vbulletin footer... It looks like my sigmachat applet is crashing.. Wot-Mike or anyone is there any sort of fix for that? Will going to the registered version of SigmaChat make it any better? It doesn't do it that often but maybe one out of 15 times it does this for anyone using the chat.. The board is www.cuttingedgemuscle.com/Forum Thanks for the help.

Great hack by the way!
James

[bryan kazdan]

Originally posted by retinax


I am having this same problem- but it also has a bunch of jumbled code under the vbulletin footer... It looks like my sigmachat applet is crashing.. Wot-Mike or anyone is there any sort of fix for that? Will going to the registered version of SigmaChat make it any better? It doesn't do it that often but maybe one out of 15 times it does this for anyone using the chat.. The board is www.cuttingedgemuscle.com/Forum Thanks for the help.

Great hack by the way!
James

I found that placing the chat on another page (chat2.php) would STILL leave that jumbled code (1 out of every 10 times or so) on the bottom of my chat.php output. After playing with the code for some time I found that it has to do with 2 things.

1) GZIP
2) PAGE DIMENSIONS

I am not sure what the actual fix is for this, but I did notice that when I use the second page (chat2.php) the problem did NOT occur except for in the original chat.php which no longer had the applet on it (that means that the problem has NOTHING to do with RAIDERSOFT).

Also, it does not seem to occur for me when GZIP is not turned on.

I also found that hard coding the chat size in the redirect page and in the applet reduced the number of occurrences of the problem.


I however am having a new problem. For some users (and it is very rare) they get the chat window, and they can see what is being said, but they can't send any messages. Very odd.. I wrote to raiderSoft and am curious to hear what could cause this.

[wot-Mike]

Th garbled code is rather a difficult problem. GZIP, yes, it has something to with it. There's three ways of compressing pages: through vBulletin's admin panel, through httpd.conf (mod_gzip) and through php.ini (obzhandler or something, I'm not familiar with this). Whichever method you're using, one rule applies: use only one of these methods.
I've had the garble show up when I used both vBulletin's option and mod_gzip, ages ago. It's never been a problem until I upgraded apache to some newer version. Turning off vBulletin's gzip did the trick for me. But apparently that doesn't help everyone :(

Hard coding the applet size, not sure if that works. The applet code is parsed by php, and the variables in there are replaced with hard coded sizes before it's send off to the browser. Ofcourse it's no foolproof method. The sizes depend on whatever the javascript in the redirect page returns.

It doesn't matter whether you use a free chat version or a Pro or whatever version. I think it's something on server level.

In trying to understand this, maybe it would be nice to know what people are running, which browser, but also what's running on the server (which apache version, which php version, which php.ini settings and so on). And even then, I'm no expert *sigh*


And yes, I've heared of people who logged into chat and could hear sounds, but do nothing. But it's indeed very rare though.

[bryan kazdan]

Taken from CPANEL 6 XSKIN:

Server Information:
Operating System Linux
Kernel Version 2.2.19-6.2.1ensim.smp-3.1.3-5
Last Reboot 6days, 30minmin
Apache Version 1.3.27 (Unix)
Perl Version 5.006001
Perl Path /usr/bin/perl
Sendmail Path /usr/sbin/sendmail
PHP Version 4.2.3
MySQL Version 3.23.54
cPanel Version 6.0.0-RELEASE
cPanel Build 80
cPanel Theme cPanel X v1.4
---------------------------------------------------

Occurrences have been seen on newest versions of IE, and Netscape as well as some random older versions (I am thinking that browser version has nothing to do with it)

Operating systems used have been Windows 98SE, ME, 2K & XP (pro and home)

[Zombie-F]

Hey thanks for the awesome hack! Install was flawless, the chat host you suggested is awesome, and my users love it since they've been hankering for a chat (and I wouldn't install one unless it used the vb database). This totally rocks.

If all goes well for the next few days, I'll throw some $$ at Raidersoft and go pro. It's so inexpensive, how can I not? It's even less expensive than the elderly version of Volano Chat my web host provides for $10 a month!

[SRozhon]

Excellant! Thank you so Much!

[Harley D]

I'm a beginner, But I managed to get this to work properly by moddding it using the suggestions in several posts.

2 things I would like to ask.

1) I'm using jpilot, and I notice when a person logs in their IP is shown. How do I disable this?

2)My sounds don't work, Where are the commands located?
Its possible that just the address to the AU file is incorrect.

Love the Hack, Thanks :)

[wot-Mike]

I'm not using jPilot myself, so I wouldn't really know how to deal with the things you've asked :(


As for the garbled code, I really don't know why it happens. I found some stuff about turning of HTTP 1.1 stuff in browsers (in IE it's one of the many things under Tools/ Internet Options/Advanced). That would disable the usage of gzip between the server and clients. But older browsers don't support zipped pages at all, and if those have the same problems, then using http1 instead of 1.1 isn't going to help.
Simply put, I've no idea, and since it only affects a small number of people, I'm thinking it's some server thing instead of clientside.

[leitel]

After having read all these threads AND successfully installing this hack along with registering with Raidersoft PRO, I find that for this to be truely useful, there needs to be a way to see who's in chat from the vb page.

PLUS: A way to INVITE an online member to chat. For this I came across this hack: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48990&perpage=15&highlight=chat&display=&pagenumber=1
Has anyone installed this?

Thanks for all the helpful tips to install my first chat. Check it out at: www.noblood.org

[dethfire]

the only bad thing about raidersoft is that you have to pay to beable to administer the chat room. I can't kick anyone! $75/yr is waaaaaaaaay too much

[Zelda-King]

I imagine this hack isn't compatible with a mIRC chat?

[wot-Mike]

I'm totally mIRC ignorant :(

[BrAinZ]

I have been using this chat very successfully on one board that I run, but have just started another one and am having a slight problem :(

Basically the chat page opens in a new window (via target="_blank"), but the chat section seems to load TWICE on the same page.

Loads the header etc for the page, then the chatroom app, then the header again, and the chatroom again, then the footer.

The odd thing is, if you press F5 (or refresh) then the page loads normally.

Any ideas on what's causing this??

[wot-Mike]

Well, that's pretty odd.
You might want to check on your templates. I cant think of anything else that would cause this. Is it possible you made a custom template and added "$forumchat" twice? Or something in that direction...
Might also be interesting to see the source code of the page, before it loads header and chat the second time.

[ImportPassion]

wot-Mike: IS there a status update on the who's online? I just got PLatinum and this would be a great add on.

Derek

[wot-Mike]

It's taking ages huh :(

Well, simply put, I had a who's online thingie of my own, but it was so similar to the one GeorgeofCS (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=162) wrote that I've sort of adopted his version to avoid confusion and such. With his permission, so no worries about that. And with the exception of invisible users. When you're in chat you're visible, so why bother to keep invisibility settings into account ;)

I had another type of Who's Online as well, based on a "switch" inside the database, but there are too many if's with that one.

Ok, the new chat thingie I have right now isn't finished. I've got it up and running on some site though, and it's working like it should. BUT, it's for Raidersoft's Platinum chat (user authentication). And umm, it's really for a future version of Platinum chat (newer then 7.1), if I'm anticipating things right I mean ...

I can dig around and see if I've still got a modified 1.4 version around, with the Who's Online in it. Unfortunately I'm a sloppy person, and I think I need to adjust template names. I seem to use diferent ones for each chat hack I make. Also, I may need a Profesional chat test board to get it installed and see if it's working like it should. I really haven't looked at it for quite a while, and what I have now is picked up from left overs left and right.
It DOES require some changes to your database.

[thuffner]

GREAT hack. My users are raving! The Who's Chatting will be nice, but take your time...

[yxboom]

<~~ Ready to start begging.

[Grim77]

wot-Mike,

I just wanted to say Thank you on behalf of us here at RaiderSoft. Your script is great!! Please e-mail us the next version so we can put it on on our site as well if you wouldn't mind.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that we've just completed a script that will allow you to authenticate access to your chat room via your vBulletin database. You'll need the Platinum level service, and this script:

http://www.sigmachat.com/panel/extras/auth_vb230.zip

Once you have it installed, users who belong to groups with posting privileges will be allowed in the chat, and users who belong to groups with moderating privileges will be admin's within the chat room.

We've also developed a real-time Who's Online module that could be incorporated into vBulletin with a little work. The module is still fairly expensive (1/10th of a cent per hit) but should ease up soon.

[Trevor Hannant]

Have installed this hack for SigmaChat but don't have the 'chat' link on our Forum Home Page.

- Edited chat.php and uploaded it into the root directory
- Added the templates into the Default set (which is currently still in use!) :disappointed:

Any common mistakes/misunderstandings over the instructions that I could have made?

[Toogy]

ok, I bought the platinum addition and I can't get the auto login feature to work.
Please help me out, where do I set that?
Here is what I am calling from the chatbit template

<applet
codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip"
width=700 height=400 MAYSCRIPT>
<param name="room" value="xxxxxx">
<param name="cabbase" value="scclient_en.cab">
<param name="username" value="$USERNAME">
<param name="password" value="$PASSWORD">
<param name="autologin" value="yes"
</applet>

And it always says invalid username & password, even though I am logged into my board.

Anybody have any ideas?

[Toogy]

05-15-03 at 03:38 PM Trevster said this in Post #211 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=395528#post395528)
Have installed this hack for SigmaChat but don't have the 'chat' link on our Forum Home Page.

- Edited chat.php and uploaded it into the root directory
- Added the templates into the Default set (which is currently still in use!) :disappointed:

Any common mistakes/misunderstandings over the instructions that I could have made?


What problems are you having? Try re-uploading chat.php in ASCII mode. I hade a problem at first and that fixed it.

[gmarik]

How much is the registered version and where is the info about it?

[Trevor Hannant]

Today at 02:10 AM Toogy said this in Post #212 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=395946#post395946)
ok, I bought the platinum addition and I can't get the auto login feature to work.
Please help me out, where do I set that?
Here is what I am calling from the chatbit template

<applet
codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip"
width=700 height=400 MAYSCRIPT>
<param name="room" value="xxxxxx">
<param name="cabbase" value="scclient_en.cab">
<param name="username" value="$USERNAME">
<param name="password" value="$PASSWORD">
<param name="autologin" value="yes"
</applet>

And it always says invalid username & password, even though I am logged into my board.

Anybody have any ideas?

I assume that you've changed the x's in this line:

<param name="room" value="xxxxxx">

to the id of your chat room?

And thanks for the tip. Will try that one out later! ;)

[matthewc]

yeah, the auto login doesn't work for me either. what happens is it displays the username of the user in the "name" field, but they can change it before they click login.

thats just wrong.

[Toogy]

Well I am using the authorization script from Raidersoft so users still have to login as themselves and can't login in as anybody else unless they have the correct information, but I would really love the autologin feature to work.

Anybody have any ideas?

[weewilly]

Absolutely fantastic!

Works like a charm :nervous:

I followed your example and got a raidersoft platinum chatroom. This is way better than phpMyChat and doesn't eat your bandwidth.

[discussfitness]

Anyone using Sigmachat beware. There is an easy way to get two usernames in the chat even when you do have auto-login enabled.

Try this and you will see...

Here it is...

1) You auto-log in to the chat room using this embedded chat script.
2) You then open a new browser window
3) The 2nd chat window auto-logs you in again and kicks the first user (as it's a duplicate)
4) The 1st user is kicked to the login page! Which just loads and sits there.
5) The 1st user then chooses another name and clicks login
6) You now have 2 users who are the same person!

To solve this:

Go to your SigmatChat control panel > URL Settings > and set an Exit URL

:)

[SternFan]

Any way to get the raidersoft ice to auto login?

[Trevor Hannant]

Does anyone else get the problem of being asked to logon again?

- log on to Forums via home page
- select Chat from list and am redirected to logon page
- chat opens and have to logon to chat

Can't be right???

[SVTBlackLight01]

Has there been any progress on finding a solution for the chat page not loading?

[SVTBlackLight01]

Is this hack dead or am I just the only one that is having this problem? :disappointed:

I would like to have all the features of the paid version, but not if the free one won't work.

Does jPilot work better?

[FlyBoy73]

SVTBL01,
I have used jPilot but I don't like all the IRC issues.. Slow load times, keeping people out of the rooms, and making sure the members know how to do things in it..

If this is still working, I definitely recommend it.

[SVTBlackLight01]

It works fine at home, but I have tried it on a few other computers, and I had issues with it loading like were mentioned eariler in the thread. I didn't see anywhere that this issue had been solved. It would be great to get it working for everyone. It would be a great chat solution for my site, especially since it doesn't eat up your bandwidth.

[ConqSoft]

Has anyone updated this to work with vBulletin v3 Gamma?

Thanks

[jamescrf]

I have been trying to get sigmachat to work with vb3 for about 2 weeks, but no luck so far. I am trying to use the vb3 authentication script but it just says invalid username & password when you try and login.

[Alidar]

Loved the hack!!!!!!

*** Clicks Install ***

Went with SigmaChat, and everything worked just fine.

Puchased Plat service for vB tie-in. However, as soon as I tried to tie into my bulletin board database everything fails. I cannot seem to get the supplied script to correctly access the db and react properly.

vBulletin Version 2.3.2
VBPortal 3.0b
www.chelicera.com/forums

scauth.php been uploaded into both www.chelicera.com/forums/admin and www.chelicera.com/forums/uploads, copied the config.php file over to /uploads, and tried setting the file path in chat admin to both URLs with no success.

Every time I tried to test the scauth.php file I get the output of "0"

CHMOD was even set for RWXRWXRWX just in case that was the problem.

Someone told me gZip can affect things, is vB configured to OFF, as far as I know my server does NOT gZip either.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot things?

[xlguy]

For those of you on VB3...

I've just posted a hack which works with VB3 and Sigma Chat. It's basic but works for me :)
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=61238

If you have any questions reply to that thread not this one!

[dwh]

ok, I bought the platinum addition and I can't get the auto login feature to work.
Please help me out, where do I set that?
Here is what I am calling from the chatbit template

<applet
codebase="http://client.sigmachat.com/current/"
code="Client.class" archive="scclient_en.zip"
width=700 height=400 MAYSCRIPT>
<param name="room" value="xxxxxx">
<param name="cabbase" value="scclient_en.cab">
<param name="username" value="$USERNAME">
<param name="password" value="$PASSWORD">
<param name="autologin" value="yes"
</applet>

And it always says invalid username & password, even though I am logged into my board.

Anybody have any ideas?

I see this is an old one but in case you didn't notice under autologin you forgot to close the bracket.

[CmputerWiz]

Wow this hack is awesome! I've tried prolly 8 other chat solutions, including one with RealChat which was $500, and this one is by far the easiest and best hack IMO. Well done!!

www.SouthFloridaRacing.com/forums and the hack can be seen at
www.SouthFloridaRacing.com/forums/chat if you login.

Thanks again!
SR

[WhiteOx2]

Brilliant hack, thankyou :)
*clicks install*

[Amzadi]

Now if someone can just integrate this chat with VBulletin.
http://www.sizefetish.com:1235/docs/index.html (http://www.sizefetish.com:1235/docs/index.html)

Once in the chat room, click EXTRA in the top menu and UPLOAD MEDIA. Upload a pic and see why this chat room is better than anything else on the market.

[jzhostpa]

What is the "Authentication URL" that I should use with SigmaChat Enterprise Level? I have vb 2.2.9

thx

[cjwinternet]

setup exactly as described.

Fatal error: Call to undefined function show_nopermission() in E:\Data\CW\airmech_vb_051005\forums\chat.php on line 49

VBulletin 3.5 on PHP5 on IIS6

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Well this is a hack for vB2, so it will 100% not work for vB3.5.

Even trying it, is risking your board.

[Rukbat]

I just upgraded from vBulleting 3.5.3 to 3.5.4.. I had sigma chat imbedded in the forum (sigma chat platinum) with the 'Chat' link in the navbar (had the drop dow to open chat room in window/float it/see who's chatting) unfortunately I did this upgrade at 2am when my brain is fuzzy but my board was clear of members. The upgrade went fine until i finished and had some templates vB asked if I wanted to revert. I accidentally (big mistake) reverted the navbar template! And my 'chat' link is gone.... also the <----!Sigma Chat----> code that was in two places that i remember in that template are gone.

any help to get it back would be appreciated.... I can't remember how I put the code nor where i got the code that was in there at this point....
my board members are supposed to have a 'scheduled chat' on 2/22 at 8pm US Eastern time...HELP!