modules/phpfreechat/README.txt

// $Id:

phpFreeChat module

What does the phpFreeChat module do?

	This module adds free, simple, fast and customizable chat to your Drupal site, using the open source phpFreeChat
	New in this module: cleaner settings page, better help text, improved channel configuration and access control
	New in phpFreeChat: new commands /join (multiple channels in the same chat), /kick, /ban moderation
	
	Features:
	
		* Fully integrated with Drupal
		* Any content type can be chat enabled
		* Chat can be enabled/disabled on a per-node basis
		* Chat channels:
			* Each node can be it's own chat channel (the default)
			* The whole site can have a single channel (so users can chat in a single 'space' whatever page they are on)
			* Channels can be set on a content-type level, so - for example - all users looking at blogs can participate in a single chat
			* Channels can be overriden at the node level, so the admin can group several nodes into a single chat space by giving them the same channel name
		* Chat titles can be derived from the node title, set globally, or at the content-type or node level
		* Control over every phpFreeChat configuration parameter
		* Speed (an important issue for a refresh based chat script)
			* Passes control to a separate script to handle AJAX refresh requests. This avoids the overhead of the Drupal bootstrap process.
			* The AJAX refresh process involves no database access whatsoever. All chat data is stored either on the file system, or directly in RAM.
		* Theming
			* Clean XHTML output which is easily styled using css stylesheets
			* phpFreeChat is easily themable, using an almost identical system to phptemplate
			
	Todo:
		* Add chat blocks
		* Fix debug setting (which currently breaks the chat)
		* Look at integrating theming (map Drupal theme onto phpFreeChat theme)
		
	If you have any questions please contact me using http://drupal.org/user/19668/contact
	- Grugnog

Overview of phpFreeChat?

	php Free Chat is a free, simple to install, fast, customizable and multi languages chat that uses a simple filesystem for message and nickname storage. It uses AJAX to smoothly refresh (no flicker) and display the chat zone and the nickname zone. It supports multi-rooms (/join), private messages, moderation (/kick, /ban), customized themes based on CSS and plugins systems that allows you to write your own storage routines (ex: Mysql, IRC backends ...), and you own chat commands !

    Simple
         No problems with firewalls, this script is based on HTTP so you only
         need a web browser and an internet connection. (everyone can easily
         chat!)
         No problems with none-latin characteres! Are you Russian, Japanese,
         Turk, Chinese, or Arabic? Whatever language you speak, phpFreeChat
         will nicely display your characters because it uses XML with UTF8 to
         encode characters.
    Fast
         AJAX technology is used to smoothly refresh (no flicker) and display
         the chat and nickname zone.
         Messages and nicknames are stored into a simple filesystem, so that
         server resources are saved as much as possible.
         Bandwidth is preserved because the server never transmits the same
         data twice, only new messages are transmitted.
    Customizable
         You can write your own customized CSS stylesheets, to completely
         change the appearance[22] of your chat.
         All chat functionalities are customizable. For example, you can
         change the messages refresh time, you can ban users for changing
         their usernames, etc.
         The plugin system[23] allows you to write your own storage routines.
         For example, you can write a plugin to store the conversations into
         your database.
    Opensource
         phpFreeChat is an opensource (LGPL) program, so that you can freely
         use it and modify it.
         I just ask, by gratitude, to keep the linkback logo  on the pages of
         your chat.
1	// $Id:
2
3	phpFreeChat module
4
5	What does the phpFreeChat module do?
6
7	This module adds free, simple, fast and customizable chat to your Drupal site, using the open source phpFreeChat
8	New in this module: cleaner settings page, better help text, improved channel configuration and access control
9	New in phpFreeChat: new commands /join (multiple channels in the same chat), /kick, /ban moderation
10
11	Features:
12
13	* Fully integrated with Drupal
14	* Any content type can be chat enabled
15	* Chat can be enabled/disabled on a per-node basis
16	* Chat channels:
17	* Each node can be it's own chat channel (the default)
18	* The whole site can have a single channel (so users can chat in a single 'space' whatever page they are on)
19	* Channels can be set on a content-type level, so - for example - all users looking at blogs can participate in a single chat
20	* Channels can be overriden at the node level, so the admin can group several nodes into a single chat space by giving them the same channel name
21	* Chat titles can be derived from the node title, set globally, or at the content-type or node level
22	* Control over every phpFreeChat configuration parameter
23	* Speed (an important issue for a refresh based chat script)
24	* Passes control to a separate script to handle AJAX refresh requests. This avoids the overhead of the Drupal bootstrap process.
25	* The AJAX refresh process involves no database access whatsoever. All chat data is stored either on the file system, or directly in RAM.
26	* Theming
27	* Clean XHTML output which is easily styled using css stylesheets
28	* phpFreeChat is easily themable, using an almost identical system to phptemplate
29
30	Todo:
31	* Add chat blocks
32	* Fix debug setting (which currently breaks the chat)
33	* Look at integrating theming (map Drupal theme onto phpFreeChat theme)
34
35	If you have any questions please contact me using http://drupal.org/user/19668/contact
36	- Grugnog
37
38	Overview of phpFreeChat?
39
40	php Free Chat is a free, simple to install, fast, customizable and multi languages chat that uses a simple filesystem for message and nickname storage. It uses AJAX to smoothly refresh (no flicker) and display the chat zone and the nickname zone. It supports multi-rooms (/join), private messages, moderation (/kick, /ban), customized themes based on CSS and plugins systems that allows you to write your own storage routines (ex: Mysql, IRC backends ...), and you own chat commands !
41
42	Simple
43	No problems with firewalls, this script is based on HTTP so you only
44	need a web browser and an internet connection. (everyone can easily
45	chat!)
46	No problems with none-latin characteres! Are you Russian, Japanese,
47	Turk, Chinese, or Arabic? Whatever language you speak, phpFreeChat
48	will nicely display your characters because it uses XML with UTF8 to
49	encode characters.
50	Fast
51	AJAX technology is used to smoothly refresh (no flicker) and display
52	the chat and nickname zone.
53	Messages and nicknames are stored into a simple filesystem, so that
54	server resources are saved as much as possible.
55	Bandwidth is preserved because the server never transmits the same
56	data twice, only new messages are transmitted.
57	Customizable
58	You can write your own customized CSS stylesheets, to completely
59	change the appearance[22] of your chat.
60	All chat functionalities are customizable. For example, you can
61	change the messages refresh time, you can ban users for changing
62	their usernames, etc.
63	The plugin system[23] allows you to write your own storage routines.
64	For example, you can write a plugin to store the conversations into
65	your database.
66	Opensource
67	phpFreeChat is an opensource (LGPL) program, so that you can freely
68	use it and modify it.
69	I just ask, by gratitude, to keep the linkback logo on the pages of
70	your chat.