World Wide Messenger Integration

[Jafo232]

This hack will basically integrate the World Wide Messenger (http://www.worldwidecreations.com/messenger6.htm) with VBulletin. The hack is more involved with hacking the Messenger itself than hacking VB, in fact, you need not edit the VB source code at all.

For this reason, I am just going to include the link to the World Wide Messenger forum for details on this hack since it does not show any vBulletin source code. If the mods want me to post the hack here, I can. In the meantime, here is the link to the hack:

http://www.worldwidecreations.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1516#post1516

In the end, this hack will give your vBulletin users free (or paid) web based email accounts on your server while only using one POP box. I will be supporting this hack on the World Wide Creations website.

[nexialys]

sorry, this is what we call advertising... read this:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=53261

your software is not free, neither is a modification of vBulletin... please follow the rules.

btw, software looks good!

[kamu]

yea, that was pretty slick ;)

[Jafo232]

Ok, I read through this thread at the top of the forum:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/announcement.php?f=79&announcementid=18

It didn't say anything about it. I am not sure how I am supposed to post this integration which is what I thought this part of the forum was for?

Didn't mean to offend, just tell me how am I supposed to post this one?

[ImportPassion]

the hack looks free to me.

[13th_Disciple]

The hack looks free to me, as well.. I believe he is stating that you could charge your members for messenger based accounts as part of a subscription based idea.. i see no harm with what he has posted.. as far as i can tell, that is..

[nexialys]

the hack itself require that you BUY the software: The Messenger 6.0 is currently priced at $59.95. ... so it follows the rules of commercial requirements. there is no free version of that messenger, so it's not a free hack that way...

4) Addons for commercial hacks may be released here as long as:
a) A free beta or lite version of the commercial hack has been released here as per Rule (3) above.
b) The addon is fully functional
c) The addon is not time limited in any way
d) The addon is completely free
e) A link back to the full version is allowed, as long as no price or promotional language is embedded into the addon.

that's all... i'm not a moderator, but i think this is a requirement for posting hacks here... i suppose someone will comment from the head quarter.. ;)

a hack that plug a software is not the hack itself.. the software is...

[ImportPassion]

dood, ur missing the boat here. This is NOT a commercial hack. Thats what those rules state. A commercial hack is a hack that you must pay for and peoplr can make addons for commercial hacks as long as the addons are free.

This hack for a commercial product is free. There is no reason this should not be posted here.

[nexialys]

yeah, ok then... anyway.. i think the rules are not strict enough... i would prefer a specific section where to find the commercial stuff... this hack may be free, but we can't use it if we're not paying for the software.. like some others btw... (photopost thingies, digichat, etc)

[Bryan Ex]

... this hack may be free, but we can't use it if we're not paying for the software..
Yes, that is correct but you could also say that about every single hack listed on vB.org. Who here has not paid for vBulletin? I think the intentions of vb.org rules is to restrict the resale of the hack itself and not what it may or may not be trying to integrate with. I've purchased several commercial scripts (including vBulletin) based on my needs at the time and what I wanted to do with them. Any free modifications available from any of their respective communities is a very helpful bonus and not the reason for the purchase in the first place. By ruling out hacks to integrate popular (but commercial) scripts like PhotoPost, SigmaChat, or even World Wide Messenger only serves to limit what we can do with our VB database. just my opinion of course... ;)

[Jafo232]

Well now that I read what you guys are saying it makes sense. I am not charging for the hack itself. As far as not being able to use the hack unless you pay for the software, that is the case with all of the VB hacks, you cannot use them unless you purchase VB right?

[nexialys]

that was not the question, i think i was misplaced... and i misplaced myself btw...

ok, let me explain my point... it's not regarding the use of the hack, but the use of its source...

the software is not free... and you offer a hack to link to a non free software, so the hack is useless until you purchase the WWC...

point is not the free thing, but the source... your software is not free... WWC is sold at a price... no demo... and the only software for what we have the full right to release hacks with this limit is Photopost, like stated here:
4) Addons for commercial hacks may be released here as long as:
a) A free beta or lite version of the commercial hack has been released here as per Rule (3) above.
b) The addon is fully functional
c) The addon is not time limited in any way
d) The addon is completely free
e) A link back to the full version is allowed, as long as no price or promotional language is embedded into the addon.

5) Addons for the following commercial software are exempted from Rule (4) - ie. members can release hacks for these. Any commercial software not listed below will be subject to Rule (4):
a) Photopost

the hack you offer, the integration you say so... is not a hack but a connection to the software you sell... and i i'm right, the #5 statement provide the proper info... your software is not in the list of softwares we are free to offer plugins for...

and don't bring me the kiddy comment about "VB is not free either so..." ... hey, this is a support forum for buyers of VB... you don't have access if you didn't buy it... it's not a share for all forum, it's a vB forum...

one of the other softwares i see an integration for here is DigiChat... but they offer a free version for us to link to... so they follow the 4th statement...

problem with the rules here: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=53261 is that the word HACK is used instead of Hack/Software ... that's why i complain a little... maybe Erwin would have to update the test so we all understand properly...


isn't it ?!

[Jafo232]

Im not sure I understand the problem here:

4) Addons for commercial hacks may be released here as long as:
a) A free beta or lite version of the commercial hack has been released here as per Rule (3) above. - The hack is free, nobody disputes that.

b) The addon is fully functional - I am not posting that the WWM is an addon, I am posting an integration hack.

c) The addon is not time limited in any way - I am not posting that the WWM is an addon, I am posting an integration hack.

d) The addon is completely free - I am not posting that the WWM is an addon, I am posting an integration hack.

Anyway, whatever the mods do is fine by me. I find customers like it when two separate pieces of software can work together, and I also find it benefits both organizations in promoting their product.

The WWM is a stand alone product and has been for several years, I have just received numerous requests for an integration of the databases and figured it was time to do so.

[nexialys]

Photopost also is an independant software, and is named as a hack, and is the only one to suite the statements, that's what i tell you... and remember i'm not against your release, i'm discussing the text of the announcement...

[Jafo232]

Photopost also is an independant software, and is named as a hack, and is the only one to suite the statements, that's what i tell you... and remember i'm not against your release, i'm discussing the text of the announcement...

Yes, the Messenger is not named as a hack, that is my point. The Messenger is not a hack, it is stand alone software.

[nexialys]

thanks for the move... this situation have to be fixed.. the post from Erwin is not clear on the status of "What is a commercial Hack", because it is relating to the word HACK... a conversion or a port or integration for a non listed software is for me a direct link to this commercial hack it is stated, but not in the proper terms...

[Logician]

This thread has been reported for "clarification of rules" and here it is:

This rule applies for this thread:

5) Addons for the following commercial software are exempted from Rule (4) - ie. members can release hacks for these. Any commercial software not listed below will be subject to Rule (4):
a) Photopost

4) Addons for commercial hacks may be released here as long as:
a) A free beta or lite version of the commercial hack has been released here as per Rule (3) above.
b) The addon is fully functional
c) The addon is not time limited in any way
d) The addon is completely free
e) A link back to the full version is allowed, as long as no price or promotional language is embedded into the addon.
(Original Rule thread (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=53261))


Because the application (The World Wide Messenger) is a commercial software so this hack's status fits rule 5 above and since it is not in the exempt list its hacks can not be released here unless it has a version that fits to rule 4. So I removed the hack from the release section.

However the discussion among you about status of such hacks are very inspiring and useful so I've moved this thread to this forum so that we can get other useful suggestions and opinions from our members about the rule. We can revise the rule according to our members tendency. As a matter of fact we were already discussing this issue among staff nowadays so the timing of this thread is perfect. :)

So please feel free to let us know what do you think about the rules in this thread:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=53261

IMO it would be much useful and readable if everybody tries to post a single POST to this thread recapping all his ideas in this single post, instead of discussing the issue back and forth with multiple posts.

Thank you in advance for your valuable contribution!

[NuclioN]

O you can make a rule about commercial software but then you have to be consistent in this. If you let for example photopost or that pop3 mail for members (don't remember the name) pass trough these rules then you will have threads like this. Or they all are equal but they can't be more equal then the other(s). The golden rule is simple. Or you allow hacks that work together with commercial software or you don't. :)

[nexialys]

Logician required to have it in a single post... so here is mine.. :
(btw, maybe change the thread title)

My opinion may be straight, i think that we need a seperate forum for "Third-Party softwares", even the free ones.

nobody can really control what we can have from third-party softwares, even vB guys would have to visit each site each day to see what is inside, tests, verify the security, etc... this can become a real pain...

example: i am a code developper, created a tool for communities, let's say a Events Manager... one of my client require to have an integration to his vB... i create the integration, and think i can bring my tool to all vB owners... but how ?! i can't actually advertise elsewhere than hotscripts.com... but not every site owner visit that site, and most site owner never visit coders forums, because they own without coding...

if i can release my integration to vB.org, users from vB will be interested to my tool, adding features to their site... but... also, will bring more contacts from my own clients because they will be interested to buy vB if it works well with the integration... because most sites that advertise Events will need a good Forum that integrate with my tool... isn't it ?!

that's why a Third Party section of the site is needed. The WWM question is a good way to see the same thing... they have a eMail system, we need one for vB... i would be more interested to buy vB if i know that i can also have a complete webmail system integrated to it... and more if i can compare with others like Hive or Socket.. actually i have to base my knowledge on the sources i know...

btw... vB.org is not the site where we can bargain with advertising this or that product... exclusivity is not possible, because vB.org is not the direct owner of the product... so closing this or that product to be advertised is not correct...

let's get back to my own example "product"... i would be very interested to be a reseller of vB if in return i can be advertised somewhere at vB... so i can push my clients to buy vB itself, even offer a special bundle... for now, i can't, because my client would never find a single link on any vB website...

i know that advertising external/third-party softwares may bring some trafic, even bring clients... and i think it's the point here...

the level of released content can be ruled, even the way it's advertised... but i really think it would just bring positive echoes if we do so... we can even have a directory - vbadvanced.com just released one that represent what we can have best on that part of the system... really professional link system.

i'm not interested to discuss profits and paying for advertising, because it's a 50/50 thing... both parts will win clients. having some fees to advertising would bring debates on "i paid more than you so i take more place" ...

and as vB.org was created to answer all coders needs, i think this need to be part of it.

we just have to state on what words are to be used on the definition... i'm not good in english, so i will give the place to others.

[Bryan Ex]

Well... okay then. I don't normally venture into these types of debates or discussions so I will try to make my point as best I can but I will clarify before I even start that I am in no way involved with World Wide Messenger, don't use it, don't know if it's any good, and in fact have never heard of it before today.

It seems to me that the intentions of the vb.org rules are to both prevent spamming of other software and/or to prevent "hacks" from being sold thereby keeping the community a free and self-supporting resource for current vB owners (a good thing). Somewhere a long the lines "all commercial scripts" were ruled out from being allowed to post various integrations (a not so good thing). Perhaps that was due to abuse or maybe it was during a time when message boards were mostly used as a stand alone script but today integration is key and normally done with the forum as the corner stone. Just look at the popularity of some of the portal type hacks and their efforts at blending content or a site like my own running 5 different scripts all running off the vB database. Let's face it, vBulletin is not a gallery, chat applet, classifieds section, email server, instant messenger, or whatever and isn't intended to be but there are other scripts out there that each of those may be their speciality. By being able to blend these different programs it only further expands the community aspect and "sticky content" we all desire to create around the main message board.

Somewhere along the lines PhotoPost was exempt from this ruling. I don't know if it was from user demand, if they were the first to address the issue, or perhaps it's because of their use of vB as their own support forms... I don't know but to have an exemption list for commercial scripts with only one script listed hardly makes it a "list". It is a very fine line that must be travelled here to garner the best result for all owners otherwise vb.org will either turn into a hotscripts.com repost site for software vendors OR limit itself so much that it holds us back on what we can do with our forums. I agree that some sort of check and balance system is needed, perhaps a software company could collect proxies or user votes (kind of like an election) to prove they have enough vb owners already interested in their plugins or add-ons to permit them to post them here and to prove they aren't just looking to hawk software?

I fully agree that companies should not be allowed to post things like "buy my software because you can use it with vBulletin" but I do want companies to have the ability to say "if you use my software and want it to work with vBulletin... here's what you need to do..." Another example would be web cam support. I am currently searching for a way to add the use of web cams to my community and it will most likely be a commercial script because of what is involved. I also want that web cam system running off of my vBulletin database which means I will need a hack to tie the two together but if that hack were blocked from being posted it only serves to reduce the usefulness of vBulletin as a forum to me. I just checked the list of allowed commercial scripts but it seems PhotoPost does not do web cams at the moment. ;) I think you have the right idea here but as it is now it kinda smells like a backroom deal at the expense of other very good scripts and us, the vBulletin license holders.

[13th_Disciple]

aren't there integration hacks for chat programs or something released here that are also commercial pieces of software? The chat programs I mean, and not the hack itself.. If the hack is free, then I personally feel it should be allowed, regardless of whether it integrates with a commercial piece of software or not.

just my opinion.

[nexialys]

this point was overcome, as we're now discussing about what to do regarding commercial tools.

but as you comment about the chat softwares, i have to tell that all the chats software that integrate with vB are offering a free version as a demo, situation that answer the point #4 of the rules.

[13th_Disciple]

we're now discussing about what to do regarding commercial tools.

I think I discussed that, as well..

If the hack is free, then I personally feel it should be allowed, regardless of whether it integrates with a commercial piece of software or not.

[Bryan Ex]

but as you comment about the chat softwares, i have to tell that all the chats software that integrate with vB are offering a free version as a demo, situation that answer the point #4 of the rules.
That raises a good point actually. I'm not familiar with the other chat applets but Sigmachat (the one I currently use) has an integration hack posted here. This is permitted because they have a free or "Lite" version available however, the integration script is for the upgraded paid versions because the features needed for it are only available in those versions. They meet "the rules" by having a free version but the hack is only good for the paid version... whoops!

I paid for their upgraded version just as I have paid for PhotoPost, aMember Pro, ReviewPost, Classifieds, Stats Log, Guest Book, ... will be purchasing Auto Rank Pro and something for web cam support in the near future. I for one would like to have various integration hacks available here for my vB boards.

[Merjawy]

If you allow a hack for DigiChat, PhotoPost and many others then you should allow this hack.. thats as simple as it can be

the hack is free for thoes who have WWM just like hacks for Photopost, and as far as I can remember theres no trial/lite version of photopost.

[Brad]

I think not allowing will stiple the community if not the number of vBulletin's sold. Intergration with other software is a must, more often then not a would-be-vBer is browsing this site to see if vB can intergrate with a script they are currently using or want to use along side of a vBulletin.

I agree with having a section just for these hacks however, I think that will allow us to find them more quickly.

No one said these hacks always come from the creater of said software, alot of times you find intergration instructions that someone just threw togther over the weekend for their own site and are willing to share. I don't think it is fare to these people to tell them they are not allowed to share their coding here, you could lose a new member or two that way imo.

[Bryan Ex]

Intergration with other software is a must, more often then not a would-be-vBer is browsing this site to see if vB can intergrate with a script they are currently using or want to use along side of a vBulletin.
That's exactly the process I went through when I switched from phpBB2 and what finally sold me on vB3... the integration of other scripts either by hackers here or from the script authors themselves.

[Jafo232]

That's exactly the process I went through when I switched from phpBB2 and what finally sold me on vB3... the integration of other scripts either by hackers here or from the script authors themselves.

That was why I integrated the Messenger with VB. I had many of my customers asking me if it was possible so they could share the same logins, etc. After a while I figured I would finally just do it.

I didn't mean to stir up such a hornets nest with it, but as a VB owner myself, I think that a separate section for hacks for commercial integrations would be worthwhile and probably a good selling point for VB (and other products) as well.

[Bryan Ex]

I didn't mean to stir up such a hornets nest with it, but as a VB owner myself, I think that a separate section for hacks for commercial integrations would be worthwhile and probably a good selling point for VB (and other products) as well.
I don't think you stirred up a hornet's nest... I think you brought a situation that needs to be addressed to the attention of others which is a good thing IMO given the favourable exception that PhotoPost seems to have acquired along the way and the apparent interest from others here looking for integration possibilities.

[nexialys]

So, when will we have some changes in this situation ?!

i'd like to know if one day i will be able to advertise my own non-free tools here... i read a lot of service requests and hacks requests that can be answered by my tools, but i can't talk about them on the site, it's not fair... many users would benefit to see i have them online...

these tools are not even external commercial tools, they are complete mods for vBulletin only... we're not all doing these for free, remember, even vB is not free, so we need to know if our work is recognised or forgotten because of a blank politic...

[Velocd]

The moderators have been discussing the issues brought up here for some time. I imagine in due time a resolution will be brought forward. For now, keep on discussing, interesting thoughts here.

[nexialys]

but i think that discussions are done, now, because most visions were drawn, and it may be time for the administration to bring a result now...

the internet is a thing that go fast forward... if everybody wait for a result, it may come to an end with no result because time would have passed... it's not a thing that we can say "ok, today i will take my 2 minutes per week to debate the question" ... we need something done, seriously, because we loose opportunities to bring new stuff to the community, and i don't think that a silent debate in private would bring anything...

last week, i received about 25 or 26 demands via PM or on my official site, asking to release the tools i build... example, my banner/sponsor system, that is requested by many commercial vBulletin boards... i can't even tell it's existing, due to the rules here...

give us a place to advertise if you don't want us to have a specific forum, at least, but damn, do something...

[Logician]

give us a place to advertise if you don't want us to have a specific forum, at least, but damn, do something...
There are advantages and disadvantages of making a rule change about this. I see and agree with your reasoning regarding the advantages but we must also consider about the disadvantages which are mentioned by people who think otherwise. Some examples:
a) Vb.org has always been a free hack resource and many members are against having commercial scripts here as they think all hackers start asking money for all the hacks when such a chance is given.
b) Jelsoft owns this place and they may not like some people advertise their business here by using their resources for free.
c) When commercial hacks are welcomed here, there will be many issues and clashes between sellers and buyers of these hacks and this wouldn't be something we would like to get involved. (Eg. User A advertise his commercial hack here, user B buys it, it fails to work ok in his board but user A refuses to return payment. etc.)

You may agree or disagree with these reservations but there are some members (and staff) who strongly thinks so. So it is not a rush, nor easy decision to make. I personally think it would be best if directly Jelsoft decides about it either. But as Velocd mentioned this discussion is really useful and inspiring for all parties so I welcome all thoughts here.

[Hialls]

There are advantages and disadvantages of making a rule change about this. I see and agree with your reasoning regarding the advantages but we must also consider about the disadvantages which are mentioned by people who think otherwise. Some examples:
a) Vb.org has always been a free hack resource and many members are against having commercial scripts here as they think all hackers start asking money for all the hacks when such a chance is given.
b) Jelsoft owns this place and they may not like some people advertise their business here by using their resources for free.
c) When commercial hacks are welcomed here, there will be many issues and clashes between sellers and buyers of these hacks and this wouldn't be something we would like to get involved. (Eg. User A advertise his commercial hack here, user B buys it, it fails to work ok in his board but user A refuses to return payment. etc.)

You may agree or disagree with these reservations but there are some members (and staff) who strongly thinks so. So it is not a rush, nor easy decision to make. I personally think it would be best if directly Jelsoft decides about it either. But as Velocd mentioned this discussion is really useful and inspiring for all parties so I welcome all thoughts here.



Thats all well and good discussing, but i've read posts and threads about this situation for months and still no final descion has been made... Will this say ever come?

[Bryan Ex]

Logician...

I understand your reservation when it comes to "hacks for sale" and tend to agree that VB.org needs to tread carefully in that area but with regards to the free hacks designed to integrate other commercial scripts... THAT'S what needs to be opened up right away. As it stands now, PhotoPost has a complete monopoly on outside commercial script integration at the exclusion of other excellent companies... many of which are already in use by current vB owners with others finding "grey areas"or loop holes (ie: Sigmachat).

[Logician]

Thats all well and good discussing, but i've read posts and threads about this situation for months and still no final descion has been made... Will this say ever come?
I don't think there is no final decision on this at the moment because we already have a rule. The discussion is about whether or not the rule should change so unless it is changed, you can take it as it stands (= decision). :)

We are discussing it here to see if we have grounds and member tendency to change it or not.

I understand your reservation when it comes to "hacks for sale" and tend to agree that VB.org needs to tread carefully in that area but with regards to the free hacks designed to integrate other commercial scripts...
Yes I understand your point very well. But the reservation at the point is that when you allow free integration hacks to commercial scripts, some people tend to use it as a promotional tool to advertise their commercial script via the thread which is cloaked as a free integration hack.

But I personally agree that it does not sound fair to give an exemption only to photopost in this regard. My personal opinion on this would be all free vbulletin-third party commercial script integrations should be allowed here but these commercial scripts should be stand alone software (ie NOT vb hacks) so that some vb hackers won't use this rule to promote their commercial vb hacks.

I'm not stating this opinion as an "administrator", nor as a rule change but it is just my personal opinion.

[nexialys]

then i will suggest something:

ASK Jelsoft... this is not a user level to let or not let others build external softwares for vBulletin, it's the owners that decide this in their license...

i don't see why you discuss this here if you have no right to decide... if Jelsoft have things to decide, why don't they ?!... i think the debate here have to be moved to vBulletin.com for a real debate with the clients, if they have a power to decide.

anyway, i don't see any restriction for advertising services here... there may be a little scent of paranoia about coders with bad manners...

i've read many times that even the clients asking for the Service Requests had bad experiences with coders that stealed their cash or trashed their boards... we can find them even with a restricted forum... because stupidity is everywhere...

problem here is that you want to protect the clients when these same clients are able to do it themselves... per example, add the "Trader Rating", so users can comment on the job done by any coder... users will have their own way to rate the coders, instead of letting you decide what and what not to give access to here.

instead of closing the doors, why not give the users some tools to protect themselves ?!

[Dean C]

We can't be kidding ourselves here, there's little we can do as a site to protect people from rogue traders. It's the user's responsibility to make sure the person they are employing is legitimate. That entails getting all their personal details and exchanging contracts.

[Logician]

i don't see why you discuss this here if you have no right to decide... if Jelsoft have things to decide, why don't they ?!... i think the debate here have to be moved to vBulletin.com for a real debate with the clients, if they have a power to decide.

I didn't say we have no right to decide. I said I personally like them to decide on it. Vb.org administration can decide on this until (and if) Jelsoft wants to override. As a matter of fact we already decided on this before since we have an existing rule about it already. But if you like to discuss this over vb.com, please feel free to do so.

My intention to encourage the discussion here is to see members tendancy and see if we have grounds to change the rule or keep it as it is. The rule is IMO directly related to the characteristic of vbulletin hacking community so we are not inclined to play with it in a rush manner. This does not mean the rule will stay, nor means it will change. We are giving our members a chance to express their opinions about the rule which helps us about the decision about it.

[nexialys]

i think that the only members that will be interested to interact in this specific question will be the one that are selling things, and their clients... but as it's not an official debate, only the one reading the thread will interact, the one that already stated what they think, because there is not much to say...

what i would think is best is a seperate website that deal with these commercial releases, sites that have no link with Jelsoft, and where rules are more tending to be commercial-like, like for freelancers sites, or reverse-auctions for contracts and jobs... there is actually nothing that force vB.org to have that kind of service, and i think that there is a lot of these websites already...

[Bryan Ex]

Yes I understand your point very well. But the reservation at the point is that when you allow free integration hacks to commercial scripts, some people tend to use it as a promotional tool to advertise their commercial script via the thread which is cloaked as a free integration hack.
Would this not be easily prevented by having a simple nomination process in place? For example, five registered vB owners must request, vote, or click on a link for a script or company be added to the commercial "exclusion list" along side PhotoPost (which is not a "list" with only one option to choose from btw). Basically what I'm saying is let's set up a way that those scripts and/or integrations that are in demand are serviced fairly for all involved.

[Jafo232]

I guess I can understand the point on not selling hacks. I just think integrations that are free should be considered separate. I think a piece of software that is stand alone, puts out a mod to integrate with VB, then it should not be considered a commercial hack as long as the integration hack itself is free, and the software in question is indeed stand alone.

It would seem to me, that it would be in Jelsoft's best interest to encourage developers to integrate their software with VB. It creates a fine selling point for both while at the same time adding to the flexibility of VB.

[Jafo232]

Yeah, I would like to know too.

[T3MEDIA]

Well now that I read what you guys are saying it makes sense. I am not charging for the hack itself. As far as not being able to use the hack unless you pay for the software, that is the case with all of the VB hacks, you cannot use them unless you purchase VB right?
I actually Jumped up and clapped my hands when I read this.
Sometimes people are just lonely I guess.
awsome response.

[websissy]

I bought World Wide's Messenger for use with vBulletin a couple of years ago while 3.0 was still in early beta. Back then the difference between the two products was quite stunning. World Wide's Messenger was limited and fairly inflexible and not very user friendly. Meanwhile, vB was extremely flexible and friendly and very configurable, and very impressive. More importantly, when I asked WW about vbulletin integration and encouraged them to consider it, they basically blew me off and I was told they had no interest in supporting vBulletin or integrating with it. The truth is they were pretty arrogant about the whole thing at the time and I remember feeling pretty insulted by their attitude.

Later, I discovered Hivemail and for my money it was (and is) a vastly better email product. Its vB integration is very complete and it's a much nicer and more elegant overall job than what I saw with World Wide's Messenger back then. So I dumped WW's solution and installed Hivemail instead. Frankly, I haven't regretted that decision for a second and wouldn't dump Hivemail and go back to World Wide Messenger on a bet today.

I find it interesting now that WW has "seen the light". Furthermore, I admit I WAS pretty impressed with their Instant Messenger product even then. So, IMO, integrating their Instant Messenger product might well be worth considering. Perhaps I'll drop by their site and take another look.

Welcome to the vBulletin community, Jafo... I'm glad to know you've become a believer! My only wish is that you guys had listened two years ago when I tried to tell you vB 3 was gonna be a 2,000 pound gorilla very soon instead of treating me like the red-haired cousin! ;)

Yes, I'll drop by and take a look at your World Wide Messenger hack ESPECIALLY if it also applies to your Instant Messenger. But if I need to replace Hivemail with your email in order to get your Instant Messenger product integrated too, I'm afraid I'm not going to be very interested...

Just Sign Me...
The Red-Haired Oracle! :disappointed:

Follow-up...

I did visit the World Wide Creations site (www.worldwidecreations.com) to check whether their Instant Messenger product integrates with vBulletin. According to a post there by the author of their Instant Messenger, that product does is not integrated with vBulletin because they're unable to replicate the MD5 encryption that vB uses for its passwords. :(

Bottom line: Their World Wide Messenger email utility integrates. Their Instant Messenger does not.

Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I suppose. It was worth a visit.

[Gio~Logist]

Is this not the same link i posted in The Lounge about a week ago?

Also, let me get this straight.... THIS HACK DOES NOT INCLUDE THE MESSENGER ITSELF?

[websissy]

Is this not the same link i posted in The Lounge about a week ago?

Also, let me get this straight.... THIS HACK DOES NOT INCLUDE THE MESSENGER ITSELF?
I don't know about what you posted in the lounge and cannot comment about that per se. I did look through five pages of your 'recent' posts but could not find the one you referred to.

But yes, according to the starter of this thread -- and the author of World Wide Messenger, the hack does NOT include the Messenger product. The retail price of World Wide Messenger is around $60 (about 1/3 the retail price of Hivemail); but the price does vary based on their current sales and at times you can buy their entire suite of products, classifieds, Instant Messenger, World Wide Messenger and several others for less than $200 in a sale bundle.

Their products are certainly complete and they definitely do work. But I was clearly premature 2 years ago in my suggestion to them that they integrate their Messenger product with vB and offer it to this community. They obviously did it a year later... but by that point I had given up on them and was already up and running using Hivemail.