Who's in chat on forumhome.. (No eggdrop)
 

I don't know if any of you will find this useful but its something that I've wanted for a while. For me, the problem with all of the other "who's in chat" hacks is that most of them require something crazy to work (I have no idea what an eggdrop is). Anyway, this one is php/mysql based and should be easy to install.

Description: This will add a new section to your "What's going on?" block which will display a list of users who are currently chatting or viewing the included chat.php page (see screenshot). The list of current chatters is updated every 60 seconds by an auto-refreshing (hidden) iframe in the chat page.

This hack should work with any embedded (web based) IRC chat.

Installation overview:
*Files to edit: (1) -index.php
*Files to upload: (2) -chat.php & icon_chat.gif
*Templates to edit: (1) -FORUMHOME
*Templates to add: (3) -chat_main, chat_chatters, & chat_chatbit
*Queries to run: (1) Adds the chatters table.

After that you simply add the html code to embed your chat applet in the chat_chatbit template. You can then view your chatroom by going to yoursite.com/forums/chat.php.

Note: The list of chatters is updated every 60 seconds, so usernames will still be listed in the "who's in chat" box for up to a minute after they leave the chat page.

Credits: The idea for refreshing the iframe to update the chattime came from John's "extend session" feature in his V3Arcade hack. So thanks John. :)

this is good for people who only allow web based irc users into chat. But if you have MIRC users in the channel, they wont show up on this script :-/

Excellent hack, my friend. ;)

[high]* Boofo clicks the install button repeatedly![/high]

Aside from me waiting for one of my co-administrators who happens to be more of a chat authority than I am, could someone post any necessary information we might need in order to download/install a chat that is compatible with this hack? I would be very interested then. Right now I have PHPMyChat running and we've typically used mIRC servers before.

By all means I'll click install in the meantime so I can more easily keep an eye on this thread.

Check out the chat on my site and see if maybe that will work for you. If it will, PM me and I can help you get it set up. ;)

Boofo, i checked out the chat software you installed on your site....looks good, does it tend to lag the system when a lot of users are on?

Also, i sent you a PM wondering if that sweet flashing PM box is a private hack or available here?

The chat I use there is basically the same thing they use here. ;)

The flashing pm box on my site is my own but there was one also released here by Gary W. (I think). I have no problems sharing the code for it with you if you want. ;)

I checked your chat before (and just have again). The applet won't load for me. I think it's a local computer issue... refusing to load Java or something. I'll try redownloading/installing Java.

Does the chat work for you here? I use the same thing they are using here.

No. Also reinstalling it via both automated and manual methods doesn't help. I'm thinking my operating system must hate it or something (even though it's supposed to be supported [WinME]). I have no doubt a lot of my users could probably view it.

The wife (Internet Support Technician) seems to think you might have a corrupted IE installation. If you have the WinME CD, she suggests that you re-install IE. If you want, jumnp on the site and I will have her talk to you about it.

What if it doesn't work on my other browsers either? Well no matter, we can continue this discussion at your place as I have no wish to get the hack topic sidetracked.

Yeah its only for embedded chat applets. Sorry.

Zelda,
It will work with any embedded IRC chat (and maybe even some other types). My favorite chat software is Jpilot which can be downloaded here:
http://www.jpilot.com/
Or if you just want a simple free IRC chat thats hosted by someone else you could try this one:
http://freejavachat.com/index.html
You can configure both of those so that they automatically log your users in with their vbulletin username.

Boofo,
I can't get your chat applet to load in my browser either. I've tried it at work and at home with no luck.

Can you get the chat here at vb.org to load?

Nope, it doesn't load for me either.

Strange. I'm going to check out JPilot then. ;)

Fine hack! Question, would it be possible to add a popup Window if someones enters the chat, and close it if he leaves? Someone did sometihing like that, then one has no need for refreshing...?

I've been trying out jpilot. It works fine and my fellow admins are agreed it's The Business! It's tested positively on IE6, Firefox and Opera7. Now I can finally get on with installing this hack.

Try pjirc, I do not know where you can get it any more but it is alot nicer, and not forced to have any logo's ...... and is free.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind.

Hack installed. Working fine. Anyone with the chat file NOT in the forum root directory will need to do some customising but I'm impressed at just how easy this hack is. I'm used to chat hacks being rather complicated.

Found pjirc here: http://www.pjirc.com/downloads.php

>>will need to do some customising

I think one only has to change the parameter of codebase? If there is more to do I would be glad for instructions... my applets are under the rootdirectory in "classes"

Or you could just shove everything in your forum root, delete everything else then it should all be good... or something (apart from having to update the links to the chatroom).

I tested out pjirc. It works with the hack.

What is pjirc? Have you tried jpilot yet? I just installed in on the site. You might want to see if you can get into it any better than the old one. ;)

pjirc was mentioned in this thread and I gave a link to it. I've also tried out jpilot. I like both programs and I've already said they both work for me. pjirc however, doesn't need registering. ;)

And yes I can use your chat now, Boofo. :)

Oooooh, I think I just got scolded. ;)

Just trying to help. ;)

By the way, the new beta of JPilot is worth checking out. They've added a lot of neat things to it.

Oh sorry, that wasn't supposed to sound like a scolding. Just call it "early morning syndrome". :D

What would be nice for the actual hack is text formatting for mods/admins. Have them show in bold/italics as applicable.

It seems this doesn't show people who enter the chat using a Firefox browser.

EDIT: Seems like the problem is conditional. Anyway I went in my chat on Firefox and couldn't see myself. No one could see me either so I tried IE and it then worked. I then went on another board with the chat installed so I could discuss the issue with the admin there. I went in on Firefox. Again, I didn't show. Later though I reentered on Firefox again and he said he could see me now. I hadn't really done much online in all that time (that I think would change much) so it appears temperamental... (unless it's something with my computer?).

Strange.. I just downloaded Firefox 0.8 to test it and its working fine for me. Maybe its a setting or something.. Have you changed any of the default browser settings?

Here's another possibility.. Maybe you're viewing a cached version of forumhome and thats why you don't see yourself? Did ya try ctrl + R to refresh forumhome?

No, I refreshed it with the refresh button. :D Anyway, I later went back in one of the chats on Firefox and again it didn't show me. I do think it's a local problem though, as I have seen Firefox work.

I changed like... 1-2 settings but I can't say which ones offhand (I'm on another computer right now) so later I'll revert the settings and see how I do with the default.

No one could see me though.

Ok, keep me posted. :)

I just tested something. It's early days to say for sure but this may be related to a personal online modification I did for Who's Online. Or at least I tried this once with a template reverted and then I could see myself. Does this refer to Who's Online? It's just I noticed people in the chat show in Who's Online as being in the 'Chat' but I have it so I'm untrackable.

Well, this shouldn't have any effect on whos online. vBulletin has chat.php defined by default so thats why you see them listed as in chat even though you haven't added that location.

Yeah, it turned out it's made no difference. I'm having trouble pinpointing the condition under which it works in Firefox for me or not. I think I'll get some staff/users in on helping me run further tests.

Question for you,

I first installed the vbxIrc hack and that worked fine. Now how do I go about getting that to work with this hack? When in the chat_chatbit template is says:
************* Add Chat Code Here ****************

What code do I add? I'm really confised. I think alot might be screwed up because I have vbxirc installed in /forums/chat/ where as this is supposed to go just in /forums/

Kyle

Kyle,
I wish I could help but I have no idea what it would take to integrate this hack with the other one b/c I don't use vbxirc.

************* Add Chat Code Here **************** should be replaced with the code for the chat applet (params etc). But since this hack wasn't designed to work with the other one I'm not sure what else would need to be done.

Dewayne

You can always embed your java chat applet into the forumdisplay template of a custom style, and make that style only appear for a particular forum - that way, you know how many people are viewing that forum - ie. chat - and you can even lift that information up to Who's Online of forumhome easily. :)

I actually had it set up like that when I used vb2 but removed it because it didn't work very well. Theres a few problems with doing it that way:
1) If the user remains in chat longer than the session timeout (15 min in my case) he will no longer be listed as chatting or even online b/c he is not actively browsing the site.
2) If the user who is chatting opens a new window and continues browsing your site, he is no longer shown as 'in chat'. Instead, his most recent location is shown.
3) If a user enters the chat page and then leaves the site, his name will still be listed as chatting for another 15 minutes or whatever the session timeout is.

With this hack the "whos in chat" list is updated every 60 seconds and users will be shown regardless if they're browsing other pages while chatting. :)

Hey EvilLs1,

Okay for some reason something just isn't working. When viewing the forum index even if there isn't anyone in the chat the Who's Chatting: is still supposed to display "No users are chatting." Correct?

Well not even this is showing up for me..... Can you please help me. Do I need to post some of my code for you to help me? I have gone through the instructions many times and it still isn't working.

Thank you,
Kyle

Just wanted to say thanks. Used this mini-mod and changed the permission check to allow our subscription members access to the chat room. Working great!

Loxias,
Glad you like it. :)

Kyle,
Can post the last chunk of code that you added to index.php? It acts as if that code is missing. It shoud show "No users are chatting" when nobody is chatting. Anyway, I gotta hit the sack right now but I'll help you figure it out tomorrow.