Cometchat, Arochat, etc

[billybatz9]

Whats everyones opinion on using something like this?
Maybe only allow it for membership or something? I know with a lot of users, cometchat crashes a lot

 

[Deepmartini]

Cometchat has something called cometservice which will offload resources onto their server, so you won't crash your site.

 

[Morgain]

Prochat is looking good and Gchat is adding XF integration.

 

[Alpha1]

I am using cometchat on my site, and have been encountering many issues so far. If you plan to use their cometchat service ($9-$99 per month) then most issues are resolved.You will need this even if you only have 2 people in your chat. Displaying the bar to guests (without giving them chat functionality) will bring down your website unless you pay for their service.
There is no usergroup permissions, which is a massive issue.
Therefore there also is no special access for subscribers and also no log access to moderators.
Users can not be in more than 1 room and keep hopping from room to room.
These issues will likely be addressed in the future.

Cometchat has many more functions than Arrowchat. CC keeps releasing new stuff which is great.
Arrowchat has few functions and very little development. But Arrowchat is coded very well.

 

[Crayo]

I'm not a fan of these types of additions to forums to be honest.

 

[DRE]

My members loved arrowchat. I forgot I even had it. I couldn't get it working on my previous host so I uninstalled it.

 

[CTXMedia]

I use CometChat on CycleChat (CC on CC ) - but it is not an "open" use set-up - I have created a usergroup who can see/access Cometchat and members have to ask to be put in this group.

When I had it open to everyone it did use a lot of resources on the server because calls were made to the database with every page load for every user regardless of whether they actually used the chat facility or not - so that's when I decided to wrap the Cometchat java call in a usergroup conditional and reduced it from over 1,000 active users to just under 40 or so.

It's not something I promote and it's sort of counter-intuitive on a forum, but I wanted to offer a similar set-up when we migrated over from IP.Board (and IP.Chat) and after trying a few options such as ArrowChat and TiagraChat (hope I've got the spelling correct?) - I ended up with CometChat.

TBH It's not a patch on IP.Chat but it has kept the chat fiends of CycleChat happy so can't complain too much.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[ForestForTrees]

We use 123flashchat and are very happy with it. I like the fact that it has a well supported robust java server.

 

[SneakyDave]

I used Arrowchat for about a year and a half. My members just thought it was a little awkward to use, and would probably have the same opinion as CometChat. They prefer and use the Taiga chat add-on, although it has less features (no personal messaging, no private forums, etc.)

 

[ManagerJosh]

There's always realchat

http://realchat.com

 

[CTXMedia]

There's always realchat

http://realchat.com

Looks okay, but there doesn't currently appear to be any way to integrate with your XF userbase.

 

[ManagerJosh]

Looks okay, but there doesn't currently appear to be any way to integrate with your XF userbase.

http://www.realchat.com/doc/database-integration.html

 

[Deepmartini]

http://www.realchat.com/doc/database-integration.html

But realchat doesn't have a buddybar like cometchat or arrowchat does. It's just a chatroom and the Taiga shoutbox/chat room addon here in Xenforo can do that. Plus, it's fully integrated and uses low resources. The main benefit to the others is the buddybar.

 

[FreshFroot]

I'm not a fan of these types of additions to forums to be honest.

Same here.. these things killed my forum activity and more people spent chatting through cometchat rather than the forums. Which meant a HUGE reduction in posts.

 

[coryb2007]

My gaming community uses a chat called Envolve which isn't bad. Your first 25 users are free but anything after that does cost.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

Skysa is a good option for smaller sites. Also its a cheaper hosted solution that just works. It's look is not great though. Comet Chat has issues and also can be a gateway for hackers. I currently use comet chat but had to modify to get things to work right.

 

[coryb2007]

Skysa is a good option for smaller sites. Also its a cheaper hosted solution that just works. It's look is not great though. Comet Chat has issues and also can be a gateway for hackers. I currently use comet chat but had to modify to get things to work right.

Thinking about trying that one, is there a plugin for Xenforo or should I just use the header html?

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

I know I integrated it pretty easy with IPB. Not sure about Xenforo though.

 

[Sador]

There's always realchat

http://realchat.com

I can really really really advice against Realchat based on personal experiences. There's a HUGE load of bugs and issues, no support, no development, limited customizations (try to replace emotion shortcuts, it's an utter nightmare!) It has some decent stuff, integration is interesting and certain ideas it brings are quite good (such as kicks with a bantimer, relatively easy way to change the colors of the chat and admin-set passwords to get administrator / operator permissions...) but ultimately, Realchat is really really bad. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of money they ask for it compared to what it offers.

 

[Morgain]

Skysa looks good. I checked out Envolve but it's really basic - no filesharing etc.
Not sure I like the Skysa bar though. I'd rather have just a link.
How do you integrate Skysa with XF?