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.

[andrew.lee]

@Pvtiste - Glad you like it! Can you email me a screenshot? http://www.envolve.com/contact.html

[SwollenCranium]

Originally Posted by MagiKelly

I have the paid version so can have up to 25 people logged in at a time. For the money is is not enough. .

Agreed. ^

Also not taking PAYPAL as a pay option is a no go as well.

Originally Posted by andrew.lee

http://www.envolve.com/contact.html

On your site the TOS returns a 404 page. ( when accessed from the sign-up page) Are you aware of this?

[andrew.lee]

Uh oh! You're right. We'll fix that link ASAP.

[SwollenCranium]

Originally Posted by andrew.lee

.....

You asked me to review the product, and I will do so now:

The Pro:

Easy installation, small footprint, private chats, chat logs.

The Con:

I installed and used the paid (basic) version for 5 days. I initially was going to test it for 30 but after 5 I had already determined my choice. I uninstalled it today because:

1. @ basic level I am charged $9.95/ month for next to NO administrator ability.

a. I am unable to set by user group ( A MAJOR requirement to most forums owners) who can use the IM.

b. The IM session time does not match my forum session time and I am given NO admin settings for session control. The is CRUCIAL as your basic plan sets me at 25 max connections. Oft time users will log out of my forum and STILL be shown as active in the IM sessions. And as far as I can tell this effects users waiting to join. I of course can not check this as there is virtually no admin back end.

c. No ability to define landing pages for the IM client (with out editing the API) . It follows the user everywhere. this is a NOGO when a user is trying to use VB pop up control windows such as 'add pictures' and others. Again .. NO ADMIN settings to change this.

Bottom line:

The PRICE is prohibitive. The Mod section of VB.org has several chat mods that store chats, sound notify, private chat .. etc. None of them charge a monthly hosting fee. A forum using a shared hosted service is likely only paying ~ 15/month for the entire host solution. Adding another monthly fee for a service that essentially mimics similar products found for free or for a one time product fee is a likely to return you a small number of customers.

The Next echelon on your pay scale is $24/month and you give no admin controls to adjust the items I outlined in A-C. (No control that I can see by your instruction on your web site)


I support the market economy and your right to charge what ever it is you decide is fair.

My recommendation to you is to reevaluate your price and/or add more usability at the basic level.

Good luck !!

[seite7]

Really nice tool, but the pricing doesn't feel right at all. What I would expect from such kind of addons:
Free - basic functionality, but with branding
Paid - basic functionality without branding and no(!) limitations for the chat users
Premium - like paid, but with additional bells and whistles

At the moment, the free version is useless for VBulletin sites. (no single sign on)
Basic and Pro are way too expensive and limited. I would pay you every month, year after year and still make advertising for you. Additionally my users would start hating this function because they couldn't use it when the simultaneous chatters limit is reached.

[andrew.lee]

Thanks for the feedback! We know there are cheaper and free options out there, such as CometChat, ArrowChat, AddOnChat, Chatroll, etc. We're aiming to provide a really high-end service aimed mainly at larger / professional sites. For these sites the hosted nature of our service is actually a big bonus, as it allows them to scale well beyond what their servers could otherwise support. We're always very interested in working with smaller sites too so we can help them grow into those big sites, so we appreciate your honesty here.

[MagiKelly]

I would have thought that the server load would be due to people actually chatting. This was why I would be willing to pay the current rate to have up to 25 members actually chatting. But as I have said what is currently happening is the chat is showing as full and no one is actually chatting. Just 25 members or more browsing the forum using my bandwidth on my server and not on yours.

I have not uninstalled this yet as I am so sure the pricing is wrong I am waiting for the upgrade, however, that wait will only be till this months subscription runs out.

A fault I have noticed is when viewing the forum on an iPad or iPhone the chat does not stay docked to the bottom of the screen but scrolls up as you scroll the page.

[andrew.lee]

The issue on iPhone / iPad is a known issue. Apple "broke" toolbars (specifically fixed positioning) with mobile versions of their browser because the pinch-to-zoom concept didn't make sense with them. We are working on a better solution here since iPad / iPhone is becoming such a big market, and we want those people to have a premium experience too.

The load from a chat application like ours is mostly from detecting the presence of users. Our chat has to load / unload every time you transition between pages. This means we have to alert you of who is on the page as well as alert everyone else about your status. The actually chat messages are a pretty small part of the load, hence us structuring the pricing this way.

[MagiKelly]

If that is the way it needs to work then it is not for me to argue. I'll cancel my subscription now and uninstall once this months cover expires.

It is simply not worth me paying this for the very few chats going on. Worse the few people who actually want to chat could well be locked out and unable to. So this is actually a step backward for the small number of members who wanted the functionality.

[MagiKelly]

Just checking before I change my account settings. I am assuming I will still get the balance of the account at the Basic setting since I have paid for it even if I downgrade to the Free level now. Is this correct or does it perform the switch straight away?