XF 2.3 New: Messenger — Real-Time Chat for Conversations | Suggestions

[JohnLogar]

If you're tired of refreshing the page to see if you got a reply? Messenger brings Facebook Messenger-style chat to your conversations — powered by a Node.js + WebSocket backend for true real-time delivery (not polling/AJAX refreshes).

Features:

• Instant delivery — messages pushed live over WebSocket the moment they're sent, no page refresh needed
• Docked chat windows — pop open conversations from a floating messenger bar, just like Facebook
• Typing indicators — see when the other person is typing, relayed live via the socket
• Online presence — know instantly if who you're chatting with is online
• ✓ Read receipts — see when your message has been seen
• Notification sound + unread badge — never miss a reply, even in another tab
• Mobile-friendly — full-screen chat experience on phones
• Theme-aware — automatically matches your forum's colors and style

Under the hood: all messages are still saved and validated by XenForo itself (permissions, flood limits, ignore lists, notifications — all unchanged); a lightweight Node.js server using Socket.IO handles only the real-time delivery layer, so replies land instantly instead of waiting on a page refresh.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Dev site URL:

XenForo

Community platform by XenForo®

coderbeams.com

users:
chattest1
chattest2
password
test

 

[Seeker-Smith]

What websocket server are you using?

 

[JohnLogar]

Socket.IO — running on a small standalone Node.js server bundled inside the add-on (node/server.js).

 

[Seeker-Smith]

Interesting. We built a chat with Centrifugo styled like iMessage.

 

[Tamer]

Looks interesting. Just curious, was there a specific reason you chose WebSocket/Socket.IO over SSE for this? For a XenForo conversation system, where XenForo still handles message writes and the realtime layer is mainly pushing message/read/typing events back to clients, SSE + Redis seems like it would cover most of the use case with fewer moving parts. Are you planning to use the bidirectional socket for more realtime features later on?

 

[Seeker-Smith]

Looks interesting. Just curious, was there a specific reason you chose WebSocket/Socket.IO over SSE for this? For a XenForo conversation system, where XenForo still handles message writes and the realtime layer is mainly pushing message/read/typing events back to clients, SSE + Redis seems like it would cover most of the use case with fewer moving parts. Are you planning to use the bidirectional socket for more realtime features later on?

We were already using [MMO] Centrifugo 2.3.6 for a multi rider route map and poker run. Extending to a chat seemed natural.