SMF has no WORKING shoutbox/chatbox

[!RFAN]

do u agree with me??
i just want make it public that the mod authors should think about it. SMF needs a working shoutbox/chatbox..

please make one for us

[TwitchisMental]

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?action=search;basic_search=shoutbox   I am seeing about 8 shoutboxes right there .


The ajax ones I know work.


I also know simpleportal and tinyportal come with shoutbox modules that can be enabled within a few clicks .

[Arantor]

Firstly, having actually written a shoutbox myself (which, no, won't be distributed), I can say that it's not as simple as people think.

Secondly, with attitudes like that, that you seem to be under the impression that mod authors owe you something, I think you're just setting yourself up for disappointment, because mod authors owe you precisely nothing. It's not like there are many great mods coming along, in no small part due to the overlong development cycle of 2.0.

Thirdly, even though I wrote my own, for my own site, there is no way I'd write one for anyone else because there are so many 'but I want it like *this*' comments. If I'd wanted it like *this*, that's how I'd have written it, but since I wrote it like *that*, that's how I wanted it to be. It's amazing how hard this concept is for people. (This is why I stopped publishing mods here, and left it on my own site, where I was totally free to tell people where they could go get stuffed if I so chose. It's all moot now, though, the mod site is closing and I'm moving away from SMF itself. *shrug*)

[Arebias]

I would love to see this shout box that you wrote. Can we get a link? You have me curious as to what is possible.

[Wally.]

I used the simple portal shout box for a while. It worked fine for me.

[Arantor]

No you can't get a lin, it's on a private site, and even if it weren't, it was built as a plugin to SimpleDesk (which I also largely wrote) which means it works without any file edits but requires SimpleDesk.

[Arebias]

Gotcha.

That Simple Desk looks very interesting. I actually considered downloading that mod at one time but it seemed to have more features than I could use right now.

Maybe I can grow into it.

[Arantor]

Well, the 1.0 version is quite limited really (IMO), I'm running the last version I worked on prior to leaving the team, and there's been some more work recently on it but even then I'm still not giving out my code. If nothing else it has a bunch of custom commands written into it because they were funny... such as /crom which posts random lyrics from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGOQ7SsJrw

I can't prove it either way but I'd swear that the way I built plugin support for SimpleDesk encouraged an enhancement in the integration hooks in SMF.

[live627]

No you can't get a lin, it's on a private site, and even if it weren't, it was built as a plugin to SimpleDesk (which I also largely wrote) which means it works without any file edits but requires SimpleDesk.

I bet it's possible to write a shoutbox of sorts that makes precisely zero edits.

[Arantor]

It was in SimpleDesk. It should be with the hooks in RC4 since the hooks my shoutbox used are available in the new methodology in RC4. (The only one I'm not sure of, really, is the permissions one.)

[live627]

Nothing in permissions, though. Manual edit there...

[Arantor]

Oops, that's a bit of a fail seeing how that's probably the worst area after the action array for needing manual edits through edit contention. (Note, not the same as needing manual edits in themes etc)

[kat]

It's a shame that "Ultimate Shoutbox" was removed from the mod site. I have it on my site and it's pretty flawless.

Yes, you have to make edits to custom themes, but it works out of the box, other than that.

Only SMF v1.x, though, I believe.

[Arantor]

it's pretty flawless.

Except for the reason it was removed from the mod site, IIRC, which was a security issue.

[kat]

Security?

Hmmm... Never saw that one.

I don't suppose you know what that was, do you?

I've had that on my site since SMF was on v1.09, I think.

Never had any security hassles, though.

[Arantor]

I don't remember, no. No doubt the team's internal discussion thread will have details, though. You, as a team member, should be able to see the mod page and view the team discussion on it.

[kat]

Nope. Just "This is a discussion topic for Ultimate Shoutbox

This Customization was Removed from the Feature List".

[Arantor]

Oh, so it predates there being a discussion thread. What about the mod's original public topic?

[kat]

Nowt there, either, that I could see.

Maybe I ought to try and contact Grudge, ay?

[Arantor]

Well, it's possible Grudge removed it himself when he moved on, that was before my time of course. But I'm 99% sure there was a security issue which is why it was removed.

[kat]

If you don't fancy it, just say so, of course.

But, if I get the mod to you, would you fancy looking at it?

As a stand-alone shoutbox, it's the bollox.

Maybe, if I manage to get hold of Grudge, he'll OK it, if it's updated?

Only if you fancy it, obviously.

[Chrisburgin2]

Well with a bit of php knowledge and a bit of sql you can create a simple shout out box. But as the first post states that is a work shout out box or maybe integrating your your forum with a portal.

[Arantor]

@Kat: If you do get it to me, I'll take a look - but I'll only look to find vulnerabilities and fix them, nothing more.

@Chrisburgin: The first post's author is misinformed. There are multiple working shoutboxes currently available, including integrated into most of the current portals.

[!RFAN]

Only SMFPacks Shoutbox is worth using stand alone shoutbox but it is not fully working. i was talking about stand alone shoutbox. Only simpleportal has a good looking integrated shoutbox. as far as i know..

And sorry... it is a request... thats why there is a "Please" in first post...

[Arantor]

I beg to differ about whether something is worth using, I don't like SMF Packs' one, and besides I much prefer my own shoutbox which is standalone in nature - it certainly doesn't look like a SimpleDesk plugin to the average user, works seamlessly on all themes, no file edits at all... but I can't distribute it since 1) it requires SimpleDesk, 2) it's built for me and my forum (by me) and 3) it's got various special edits to work perfectly with Aeva Media 2.x.

[!RFAN]

IncognitoMuse, we are not talking about YOUR OWN SHOUTBOX if u cant distribute it
can u please make a real stand alone shoutbox for SMF ??

[Arantor]

No, I can't, because it's got some special custom code for my site like I said. Besides, I'm not writing mods for SMF, too busy working on the SMF fork these days...

And besides, I still remember the way you insulted me over a mod I wrote, made clear I wasn't supporting but you still asked, repeatedly for help with on arantor.org (the User Menu one)

[!RFAN]

you were so rude thee.. okay anyone else will work on this some day

[Arantor]

How was I rude when I set the rules of "I am not providing support, so please don't ask" and yet you still did? It was rude of you not to respect what I was saying, especially when it was on my site...

Thing is, if you like SMFPacks shoutbox, why are you here asking for another? Go ask its author to update it for you and provide support.

[!RFAN]

i dont know why u r arguing with me?? that shoutbox has no author for development...
if u dont want to work on it then u can just ignore this topic...

[Arantor]

There's no ignore button, unfortunately :/

But there are other shoutboxes out there, I just did a search and found several. Have you tried all of them?

[kat]

@Kat: If you do get it to me, I'll take a look - but I'll only look to find vulnerabilities and fix them, nothing more.

Taken as read, mate.

I'll get it to you.