Chat Modifications - Envolve Chat Integration Module

About the Envolve Chat Plugin
This module will connect your vBulletin forum to Envolve chat. Envolve is a chat toolbar similar to Facebook's chat bar that allows your users to have group and one-on-one chats with each other while browsing your forums.

This mod requires an API key from Envolve in order to function. Visit http://www.envolve.com to get one. A free version is available that provides a full feature set for up to 25 concurrent users. Higher numbers of chatters require a paid account.

This mod integrates your forum's account system with Envolve so that when users are logged into your vBulletin site it also logs them into the chat. In addition, it integrates your profile pictures / avatars and profile information. With the 2.0 release of the mod, other users can now view your profile information and get a link to your profile simply by placing their mouse over your name.

The Envolve chat system is a rich solution for community chat. Some of its features include group chat (both public and private), one-on-one chat, the ability to pop chats out into their own windows, moderation controls (boot / block / ban / timed ban), chat message translation, resizable chat windows, chat sharing, and drag-and-drop chat invitations. As a hosted solution, all chat traffic is handled by Envolve's servers and will not place any additional load on your server.

Installation:
Detailed installation instructions can be found here:
https://www.envolve.com/docs/vbulletin-chat-plugin.html. They are also provided in the Readme.txt file.
You can see and try out the chat at http://www.envolve.com.

This version of the mod will work for both vBulletin 4.x and vBulletin 3.8.x.

Screenshots:
Here the "People List" can be seen open in the lower right hand corner of the page. This shows all users who are currently viewing the forum. This site owner has chosen to only allow logged-in users to chat.


Here a public group chat has been opened, and the user has moused-over another user to see his profile information.


Here a user is creating a new group chat that will be shown to the other users on the site. He has also "popped-out" the "General" chat into its own window.

[CAG CheechDogg]

Originally Posted by MagiKelly

I enabled this again to see if it had improved. immediately slowed the site down to a snails pace. Is it really only me that gets this experiance?

I have not noticed any slowing down at all, it shouldn't slow your site down at all since it is hosted by them.

[CAG CheechDogg]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

Too bad that this is hosted only. It looks nice and I would consider it for my big board. I have around 200 chatters simultaneously. But there is no way that I would use hosted chat.

I know this is an old post, but having a hosted chat solution is much better than having the chat system hosted on your own servers.

[Domenico]

So can we only enable it for people with more than XXX posts?

[friendlymela]

Hey Friends my friend have some issue to got API key from their website. currently they are facing the following issue

This site is currently restricted to 25 concurrent users. You must upgrade to increase this limit or to remove Envolve's branding from your site.

anyone guide us about this please?

can't see ozzy here? can u help me dear?

[ozzy47]

As stated in the first post:

This mod requires an API key from Envolve in order to function. Visit http://www.envolve.com to get one. A free version is available that provides a full feature set for up to 25 concurrent users. Higher numbers of chatters require a paid account.

[S S0DEN]

Still no support for emoticons?

[del Drago]

Lately Envolve has been having a lot of technical problems. The chat will freeze for long periods of time, unexpectedly. My members have started to complain about this.

Based on what's happening (or not happening) on the Envolve website, it looks like there is little to no innovation with this project, and that the creators have largely moved on to something else.

[CAG CheechDogg]

Originally Posted by del Drago

Lately Envolve has been having a lot of technical problems. The chat will freeze for long periods of time, unexpectedly. My members have started to complain about this.

Based on what's happening (or not happening) on the Envolve website, it looks like there is little to no innovation with this project, and that the creators have largely moved on to something else.

It sucks because my site's members and I really like this chat system but it does freeze a lot and I see no updated files or anything to fix this ..

[visageiii]

just a quick note, while I love envolve chat, their webpage now says they aren't accepting new users, and their facebook page hasn't been updated since 2013.

[CAG CheechDogg]

Originally Posted by visageiii

just a quick note, while I love envolve chat, their webpage now says they aren't accepting new users, and their facebook page hasn't been updated since 2013.

Yes, very disappointing because the last few months it has really gotten bad, their servers are always going down and there is no support at all ...