Look here to see how to integrate java chat into VB

[Iliana]

Look I'm not trying to start anything and I'm glad he posted it here on the boards. I'm upset that I was completely ignored. If he didn't want to help, I can respect him if he would just of said so.

I'm not a guru and never claimed to be. I am a mother with not a lot of knowledge who is trying to provide a supportive site to other parents that need it. It is frustrating for me that I switched to jpilot after reading the recommendations out there , only to discover that many members can not chat because of the space issue in their username. I just wanted an answer on how to fix it and it bothered me that I couldn't get a reply from Freddie, even if it was an I'm sorry I can't help you.

[Steve Machol]

Fair enough! Peace!

[Iliana]

Thank you

[Trog]

Re: Space in username problem

Originally posted by Iliana
First I want to thank you for this hack.

I also did what you recommended to add to the username to fix the space in the username and it does not work. I put tpc in place of the "abc" you recommended and I have members having troubles logging into the chat because they have a space in their username. For example, my Site Administrator can not log in. It tells her that she is not registered because it is looking for the "underscore" that it is placing between Site Administrator and in the boards it does not have an underscore...(Hope this makes sense)

I really need to find a solution to this, as many members have spaces in their username.

Any suggestions?

I use JPilot and irc.webmaster.com and I don't have any problems with spaces in names. Are you adding the underscore as well, ie "abc_"

This just seemed to fix it for me and I even have people coming in with multiple words in their usernames. They just enter as "abc_I_am_a_member"

[DarkManX_19]

Re: Re: Re: Look here to see how to integrate java chat into VB

Originally posted by Trog


When you have set up your new forum, in the control panel, set it to use the Chat template instead of default. Do this by clicking 'Modify' under 'Forums and Moderators', then click 'Edit' for the forum you want chat to be in, and then under 'Style Options', change the 'Custom style set for this forum' to the Chat template and set 'Override users custom styles' to yes. Save changes and there you have it.

Hope this helps

ok cool, i got it all set up, but now no one can log onto it, every user tryin to access the chat gets this error

***User not enough parameters
Closing link (ping timeout)
Connection Closed



any ideas??????

thanks in advance

[Trog]

That seems like the IRC channel is not getting the usernames passed to it. Have you set them correctly? ie abc_{$bbuserinfo[username]}

[DarkManX_19]

well i have that minus the abc_ part, i didn't want that on there.......it seems to be working now...........i have no idea what could have been wrong, last nite it didn't work, now today it does.........kinda screwy........but if i need that abc_ part in there for it to work better, i'll do that

thanks for the help

[GraphicW]

I was already aware of how to do Freddie's hack. It is not that it is difficult to do, it's a matter of having the resources, preferrably a dedicated server where you can run IRCD (most hosts will boot you off a share server if you try to run IRCD).

The abc_blahblah does not fix the space in username issue. That merely prevents a username being already selected on the IRC server. If you are using your own private IRC server, there is no need to use abc_.

How do we solve the space in usernames issue?

1) Tell all users no spaces in the username, instead, have them use _. This means you would need to modify User profiles if you already have users with spaces in their names and send mail to easy user modded to let them know their name has been changed.

2) The above is too much trouble for you? There is only one way to solve. Get your own IRC server and install the mod IRCD on it. The space issue has nothing to do with Vbulletin or jIRC itself. It's the server which is involved.

Iliana, I hope you are not angry with my recommendation of jIRC, but the simple fact is that it blows PHPmyChat away. Does PHPmyChat integrate with Vbulletin better? The answer is "Yes", however, if you have the proper resources, jIRC is far better, faster and integrates just as well. My users were aggravated by PHPmyChat, the constant updating got on their nerves and it increased the load on my server.

Despite the difficulty of integrating jIRC 100% with Vbulletin, I still stand by my recommendation of jIRC.

[Iliana]

No Way Jose

I am not upset with you at all Graphic. I do like jpilot a lot and it runs a lot bettter and faster than phpchat. I just wish we could find a fix for our space problem. It is very frustrating. I appreciate all the help you have given me. You have been a sweetheart

[Flack Jacket]

Hello,
I am wanting to try this with my new board. I have it on my old ikonboard HERE using jpilot.

I believe I understand the process but cannot get past the first instruction. When I download my default style and try to import or upload it I keep getting "invalid style type"

Is it possible to do it the way it is done with a cgi script? I believe it used forums.cgi in ikonboard modified with the jpilot applet. In other words.....take a php script and do the same thing so I can just put a link in the header?

any ideas/help?

Thanks in advance....drives

[latinO]

Re: Look here to see how to integrate java chat into VB

Originally posted by Trog
I have seen lots of requests for hacks on this and people going about things using scripts, when all it really needs is a new set of templates. I can't believe no-one else has done this (or have they?!)

First of all, download your default style, then import it in as a new style and rename it to Chat. You also need some chat html code, and there are plenty of free ones out there, but you really need one that starts automatically. There is a free one at www.conferenceroom.com, but I have just bought jPilot which is great and so configurable. Find it at www.jpilot.com

Go along to either site and scoop the html. Then, in your chat template, you need to edit forumdisplay. What you do is basically scoop out the middle and insert the chat html.

Get rid of:

$forumdisplay[forumslist]
$forumdisplay[threadslist]
and also the <icon key> and <forum rules> bits and generally dress it up how you want. Then it simply a matter of pasting in the code. You need other stuff from jpilot to be uploaded to your site. You also need to register ($50) if you don't want "Unregistered Copy" coming up every time you send a line. Mine looks a bit like this:

<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%" align="center">
<tr>
<td align="center" valign="top">
<applet name="jchat" codebase="../jIRC" archive="http://www.yourdomain/jirc_nss.zip" code="Chat.class"
width=700 height=400>

<param name="CABBASE" value="http://www.yourdomain/jirc_mss.cab">

<param name="ServerPort" value="6667">
<param name="ServerName1" value="irc.webmaster.com">

<param name="Channel1" value="ChitterChatter">

<param name="AllowURL" value="true">
<param name="AllowIdentd" value="true">

<param name="WelcomeMessage" value="Welcome to chat">
<param name="RealName" value="">
<param name="NickName" value="abc_{$bbuserinfo[username]}">
<param name="UserName" value="">
<param name="isLimitedServers" value="true">
<param name="isLimitedChannels" value="true">

<param name="IgnoreMOTD" value="true">

<param name="DisplayConfigNick" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigNickPass" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigChannel" value="true">
<param name="DisplayChannelPass" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigRealName" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigServer" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigPort" value="false">
<param name="DisplayConfigMisc" value="false">


<param name="BackgroundColor" value="99,132,181">
<param name="TextColor" value="black">
<param name="TextScreenColor" value="white">
<param name="ListTextColor" value="blue">

<param name="TextFontName" value="Arial">
<param name="TextFontSize" value="12">

<param name="LogoBgColor" value="white">
<param name="BorderVsp" value="5">
<param name="DirectStart" value="true">

<param name="FGColor" value="black">

<param name="InputTextColor" value="black">
<param name="InputScreenColor" value="white">
<param name="TitleBackgroundColor" value="black">
<param name="TitleForegroundColor" value="white">

<param name="IgnoreServerMsg" value="true">
<param name="IgnoreModeMsg" value="true">
<param name="AcceptCommands" value="false">

<param name="FieldNameChannel" value="Choose a room:">
<param name="FieldNameConnectNow" value="Connect">
<param name="FieldNameTitleTopic" value="">
<param name="FieldNameConfig" value="Change room">
</applet>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

And that's it! You can choose any irc server and just make sure the channel you use is unique (or tap into your favourite one). The highlighted bits are important. To make sure your users log on with a unique name, I added abc_, and they will automatically log in as their board name, so I would go in as abc_Trog. Using this method seem to solve the problem of spaces, so Joe Bloggs would be abc_Joe_Bloggs.

Once thats done, you need to set up a new forum and simply set it to use the Chat style and there you have it. I have mine set as a locked forum so that that none of the posting buttons appear but you could always edit the other templates in Chat. I have also set the permissions so anyone not registered or they are logged out cannot see the Chat Forum. I have also removed the Log Out button in the header so they can't log out once they are in the forum.

JPilot is so flexible, you can have it set up so your users have as much or as little control as you want. You do have to pay, but $50 is worth it. I cannot show a demo because my board is private, but believe me, it works a treat.

Have fun

Does it also work for version 2.0.3?

And do you have to own a channel...? With a bot or something... Or isn't this needed?

Thanks,

latinO

[Flack Jacket]

Well.....it hit me like a brick and I was finally able to do it and it worked perfectly. There is ony one thing I am wondering if it can be done.

Can this be made to require login before getting to the page? I undeerstand that if I set my forum to require login before allowing anyone in that would acomplish that but I only want the chat page to be that way to ensure that only registered member can access it. The forum ...I want guests to be able to view but not the chat.

Is this an easy fix?

[Crooner]

Reading this thread yesterday got me excited so I downloaded jpilot and installed it on my site. I seem to be connecting to the server OK and everything is working but when I log out strange things are happening to my computers.

Both at home & at work the computers crash about 40% of the time when closing the chat window. Could this be a configuration problem or is the jpilot code not quite stable yet?

Thanks,
Dean

[Pyro]

Where to put the images?

I know, this is not a JPilot but a vBulletin support forum - but maybe some of you have experienced the same problem...

I did include JPilot like Trog (thank you Trog!) recommended it:

<applet name="jchat" codebase="../jIRC" archive="http://www.mydomain.com/chat/jirc_nss.zip" code="Chat.class" width=700 height=400> 
<param name="CABBASE" value="http://www.mydomain.com/chat/jirc_mss.jar"> 

...


<param name="FilterKeys" value=":) :( :D ;)">
<param name="FilterVals" value="smile.gif mad.gif biggrin.gif wink.gif"> 

The problem is, that the images won't show up when typing in or klicking the ...
Since the "" is missing in the chat window after typing it the filter itsself is working - but it does not find the images?! The images are included in the same mydomain.com/chat/ directory as the applet.

Any idea?
Thank you,
Markus

[Pyro]

Ok, got it!

<applet name="jchat" codebase="/chat" archive="/chat/jirc_nss.zip" code="Chat.class" width=700 height=400> 
<param name="CABBASE" value="/chat/jirc_mss.jar"> 

The above works for any domain, if "chat" is a subdirectory of your registered vB Domain (e.g. www.yourvbulletin.com/chat)

But there is another thing with the
<param name="NickName" value="abc_{$bbuserinfo[username]}">

No, the "spaces in username thing" works perfectly (they are converted into _), but on my server

• only 9 chars are allowed in IRC nicknames - abc_ are 4 chars already, so I make only "_" - this is enough in most cases
• Names with German special characters (in HTML &auml; &ouml; &uuml; -> ÄÖÜ (AE, OE, UE) are cut off at the special character (_J&uuml;rgen gets _J only)

My questions:

Are there any international IRC Servers which allow more than 9 chars in the nickname?

Does anyone know if there is any European or International Server where e.g. German or French special Characters are possible?

Thanks you in advance,
Markus