Time outs still occurring...

I have this problem, but the suggested fix doesn't fix it.

I can see in my browser it's a JavaScript error.

phpfreechat worked when I first installed it, and then stopped working - not sure why. I installed TinyMCE after phpfreechat, but even when I disabled TinyMCE it wouldn't work anymore. Just says "loading" and hangs.

Hi,

I found out that every time I change something in phpfreechat, it's better to delete all phpfreechat cache files. It just fixes everything…

introfini

Yes, I found the same thing. I deleted all the temporary files, uninstalled the program, reinstalled, and it loaded again.

It still doesn't load the default channels, though - haven't found an answer to that yet.

And the sound, which worked at first, no longer does. This bothers me less than the default channel problem.

I fixed all the bugs in the phpfreechat module (a few more than are listed above), updated the module version to 5.x-1.1, and posted the full package on my Web site here:

[Maintainer edit: Link removed. Advertising forks in the issue queue of forked module is rude.]

I emailed the original author of the module about creating a new download, but he never answered me. There were too many changes to track of as individual patches.

I was still having intermittant problems with the chat hanging. I could fix it by deleting the phpfreechat directory in Files, but I didn't want to have to keep doing that.

I looked at the code, and I found another bug. The code to clear the cache has a line there that it shouldn't have. Comment this out:

_phpfreechat_rm($params['data_public_path']);

This line deletes the Javascript and Theme files, which causes the hang. Works much better without it. :)

interesting... i had the same problem after installing it... worked for a bit, and then just kept saying "Loading Chat..."... figured it was something i had done wrong. Where is this line, permutations?

If you do a search for that line you'll find it. I can post the exact info when I get home from work.

I found the cause of another bug just now - why changing numerical parameters gives you a "negative number" error. After I fix this, I'll upload a new version to my Web site:

[Maintainer edit: Link removed. Advertising forks in the issue queue of forked module is rude.]

It's not "rude" - I'm being helpful to the community. If you make me the maintainer of the module, I'll move everything back to Drupal.

http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php

I'm maintaining this module separately from what's on Drupal here. The official maintainer did not incorporate all my bug fixes in rc5, and he made some sort of error in the ones he applied (evidenced by an error he got that no one else has gotten). I'm not sure where the phpFreeChat module is on Drupal anymore. He wanted to continue maintaining it, so I'm maintaining my own version for anyone who wants it.

permutations,

Forking with your own module is something no one can blame you for. The only thing you should know is that you have your own version of everything.
I have explained before that you haven't introduced patches at all, please read: http://drupal.org/patch to get a better idea of what a patch is.
I have tried my best to have most of your code incorporated but I can't do that without testing and letting the community test.

Simply I can't add 10 fixes and create a new release, IMHO, adding as few as possible will allow for better testing.
If you see that one or more of the so-called-patches you provided weren't applied correctly, it's only yourself to blame: provide something that's standard.

Also please try to understand that we're all in the same boat, I'd love to have someone taking care of the module, but you neither have a CVS account nor you know Drupal that well (according to your code).

So please show some respect to the effort of other people, this is open source, I am not employed by Drupal.org so I am free to provide support when I have time.

If you want your fixes to get into the module, please submit a patch, mark an issue as "Code needs review", then other users will comment and try it.

Thanks once again.

Thanks, Permutations! Given I could never get any of the "official" release candidates working and I basically got yours working, i'll stick with you. ;-)

I just fixed the bug that prevented you from being able to set numeric parameters - they were reported by phpFreeChat as negative. I'm too tired to package this and the other fix up tonight. Also, I want to try something else with the other fix (cache clearing error). I think it would be better to use the phpFreeChat function for clearing the cache so it's not glued to the File container. This will have to be for tomorrow because I have to be at work in the morning.

owahab - I don't think it's good for the community for me to be maintaining a fork. It was never what I intended. I said I'd get a CVS account and learn the system if you made me a maintainer.

I have to admit that I was put off by the fact that you committed a mish-mosh of my fixes - who knows which ones - and something was applied incorrectly (as evidenced by the bug that no one else has seen). It would probably take me a couple of hours to figure out what you did, undo it, and apply the changes correctly.

If you hadn't done that, I'd have already gotten a CVS account and posted proper patches. But the additional work from the partially applied patches is a little overwhelming - so much unnecessary extra work. Of course it would be much easier for me to do this than for you since they're my fixes. I wish you'd waited and let me do it.

I have some idea how CVS works - I'm not completely in the dark. I also have a very good idea of how Drupal modules work, or I couldn't be debugging this one.

So how did you go about fixing this error?

I am still getting the chat loading message with no chat ever loading in Drupal.

It works in the standalone version except this error message appears at the bottom of the chat window:

Warning: because of "isadmin" parameter, everybody is admin. Please modify this script before using it on production servers !

Is there a patch or a line of code that can be modified to remedy this?

Thanks,

Sarah

In the module phpfreechat.inc, there is a function called _phpfreechat_clear_cache(). Look for this line:

_phpfreechat_rm($params['data_public_path']);

and either delete it or comment it out by putting two slashes in front of it:

// _phpfreechat_rm($params['data_public_path']);

Note that this is not the best fix. This function assumes that phpFreeChat uses the File container. If you switch to a different container, like MySQL, the Drupal module won't work. I'm going to fix this properly, then upload a new version with this fix and the "negative parameter" fix to my Web site. There's a separate issue thread somewhere for the negative parameter fix - I'll find that and post the fix there.

I'll post when there's a new version on my Web site - or you can just check the site:

http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php

This version of the code contains numerous bug fixes.

If owahab makes me the maintainer of the module, I'll move the fixes over to Drupal. I have no desire to maintain a fork.

I hope owahab stops removing the link to the fixed version. That's not a service to the community and he should not do that.

If owahab again removes the link to the fixed version of the phpFreeChat module, just check over in the Drupal section of the phpFreeChat forum. You'll find it there, too. Or click on my username there (permutations) and you can see all my posts.

Here's a better fix for the cache problem. It uses the phpFreeCash rehash function. In the module phpfreechat.inc, look for the function _phpfreechat_clear_cache().

Replace this code:

  _phpfreechat_rm($params['data_private_path'] .'/chat');
  _phpfreechat_rm($params['data_public_path']);

with this code:

  $params = phpfreechat_prepare_params($params, $node, $user);
  require_once ('phpfreechat/src/pfcinfo.class.php');
  $info  = new pfcInfo($params['serverid'], $params['data_private_path']);
  $result = $info->rehash();

I'll upload a new version to my Web site now with this fix and the numeric parameter fix. The link to the numeric parameter fix is here:

http://drupal.org/node/255702

A new version with two additional fixes is on my Web site. If I become module maintainer, I'll integrate the changes here and stop posting them separately:

http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php

permutations, you rock! just downloaded your latest version, installed it, and (based on VERY light preliminary testing) it seems to be working just fine. This is a bit of a busy / crazy week for me, so might not get to full-blown testing for about a week, but whatever I find, I'll post here.

owahab, just to toss in my two-cents-worth (and i know my opinion is worth about that much ;-) , whilst I appreciate your perspective as the "module maintainer", and (as I've just cited myself) we all have significant time constraints in our lives that prevent us at times from devoting the time we might like to open source development, nonetheless this module has not functioned correctly from rc1 all the way through to rc4 (don't recall now if i tried anything prior to rc1, so i started there). Clearly you're not on the same page as me from your comments, but if someone came along and fixed all the issues and got my module working, I think I'd be jumping for joy and maybe even sending flowers! ;-) If i had any concerns about how they'd done it, I'd first be thanking them, and then saying, "Do you mind if we walk through your changes so I can better understand what you did?" and then collaboratively figure out in good faith and in good spirit how to come to consensus on any real variances. After all, isn't that what open-source is all about? Working collaboratively, and not chastising someone who has done some good work simply because they've not yet had the time (there's that time thing again) to figure out Drupal's specifics on putting it all together?

As a consumer, I'm grateful to permutations for making this work. I can now have a pretty darn good chat function on my website. I didn't consider it rude at all that he pointed me to a solution on his website, whilst at the same time requesting the collaboration I mentioned above (and yes, I read some frustration in his comments, but chalked that up to lack of response from you... but then again, I wasn't there... ;-)

...like I said... just my two-cents-worth. :-)

sdsheridan, I totally agree with you about:
1) If someone got it fixed then I'd be even happier than anyone else, I have put some real effort in that module and glad it works finally.
2) We are all in the same boat: we want things fixed, I shouldn't put too many constrains about someone's help.

But I disagree with:
1) I can't just take permutations' work and put it to people without having the community decide that. The patch format wasn't specified to obstacle development, instead it helps collaborative development.
2) permutations doesn't have a CVS account at all, how for God's sake can I make him a maintainer? :) Getting a CVS for someone isn't my job, there're rules to get one which permutations didn't bother reading, I guess.
3) permutations says his module working, which is again, a single person's testing. I'd love to have the community test his work, and if it's all fine, I'll commit it all. The point is: permutations insists on not helping me put his work in the module.
4) I can't just take his whole code and replace what's in CVS with. By doing this, me and the other co-maintainer will totally lose track of things, and the community as well. I was taught to introduce bug fixes one by one to facilitate testing.

owahab - I said I'm willing to get a CVS account. I'll do it this weekend. The only reason I haven't done it yet is time.

But please make me a maintainer so I can apply the changes myself. I've probably fixed a dozen or more bugs in the code, and I haven't posted all the changes. It would be very difficult for you to apply my fixes. I could do it much faster and more accurately.

That said, I do think the best approach at this point is to toss the current code base and replace it with my version. You'd lose track of the changes from rc4, but so what? Is it so important to know? None of us has endless time, and this would be vastly more efficient. Then going forward, changes can be applied as patches. In my opinion, rc4 was no where near in a condition to have been posted in the first place. When you have code this buggy, it's very cumbersome to make updates as patches.

You say I'm just one tester, but I have my version of the module installed on one of my Web sites, and my community is testing it, too. They say it works perfectly. Also, the people who have downloaded my version from my Web site and installed it say it's working fine.

sdsheridan - If you downloaded the 1.1a update from my Web site early this morning, please download it again. Two hours after I uploaded it, I uploaded it again with a small change. The fix to the timeout problem was to change the default timeout in phpFreeChat. I forgot I'd made this change in phpFreeChat itself and not in the module. I changed it so the default is set in the module.

I just uploaded a new version (http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php).

I backed out setting the default timeout to 35000 in the module. It's not working because the "negative number" error is still happening after clearing the cache (/rehash). The timeout needs to be changed to avoid disconnects, and the easiest way to do this is to change it directly in pfcglobalconfig.class.php. phpFreeChat has an integer check in there, and Drupal's form API doesn't have an integer type. I tried to identify the integer strings and change them and it worked in a test file, but not in the module.

pfcglobalconfig.class.php is in the phpFreeChat src directory (it's not a module file).

1. To change the default timeout, find this variable assignment and change the 20000 to 35000:

   var $timeout = 35000;
   

2. To get rid of the negative number error, comment out this code in pfcglobalconfig.class.php:

   /*	
       $numerical_positive_params = $this->_params_type["positivenumeric"];
       foreach( $numerical_positive_params as $npp )
       {
         if (!is_int($this->$npp) || $this->$npp < 0)
           $this->errors[] = _pfc("'%s' parameter must be a positive number", $npp);
       }
   */	
   

Thanks so much for all your help permutations.

Just wondering, where do you locate the pfcglobalconfig.class.php file?

I downloaded and installed the module from your site and it's still not working so I guess this is due to the lines not being commented out in the pfcglobalconfig.class.php file.

Thanks,

Sarah

Yes, I broke the module with that change. Sorry! I uploaded the change that raised the default timeout very quickly before leaving for work - I should have tested it more first.

You must download the module package again (get the new version that backs out this change). Just editing the phpFreeChat file is not enough. Replace the module files with the new files from my Web site:

http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php

Everything will then work except that phpFreeChat will time you out if you don't type anything for a while unless you raise the timeout parameter to 35000 (it defaults to 20000). You can't do that from the admin panel because of the numeric parameter problem - you have to edit the phpFreeChat file directly.

As long as you're editing the file, you may as well comment out that integer check. That will eliminate the negative number error and you'll be able to change numeric parameters from within Drupal.

pfcglobalconfig.class.php is one of the phpFreeChat source files (not part of the Drupal integration module). It's in the phpFreeChat src directory.

The problem was, fixing the timeout error within the Drupal module depended on the numeric parameter problem being fixed, and it wasn't fixed. I thought it was because it worked in a test program. The code does correctly identify numeric parameters in string form, convert them to integers, and save them in the params array. But somewhere along the line it gets converted back to a string. It worked at first - that's why I didn't notice it at first. Maybe at some point I'll figure it out, or maybe I should let it go and just let people change the phpFreeChat file.

to owahab - I'm filling out the CVS account application now. Were you going to make me the maintainer or a co-maintainer?

hmm tried the fix (downloading new version of module and commenting out code in phpfreechat file) and it's still not working like it should. the Chat loading... please wait message still appears.

sorry to be such a nuisance.

thanks,

sarah

When you make a change to the module, you need to completely uninstall it, then reinstall it. To do that, uncheck it in the Modules list, then click the Uninstall tab and uninstall it. That deletes all the module's data (and in particular, clears the phpFreeChat cache, which is what's causing the hang).

After it's uninstalled, click back over to the Modules list, check phpFreeChat again, and do the basic configuration. Go to the phpFreeChat site configuration page and set the default title and chatroom, make sure permissions are set correctly, configure the node types that have chatboxes (reenter the settings), and delete any previous chatboxes you've created and create new ones (so the phpfreechat table entry is created).

If you don't want to do all that, then at least delete the phpfreechat folder in your Files directory. Often this is enough. You can try this first.

Did you also change the timeout default from 20000 to 35000 in pfcglobalconfig.class.php? If not, you can change it within Drupal admin once you get it running again (since you commented out the integer check). If it's not set above 30000, you'll get disconnected whenever you don't type anything for a while.

On a related note... I'm working on an /away command for phpFreeChat. It bothers me that there isn't one. There's an API for creating custom commands.

OK, so i've downloaded the latest version, and followed the instructions re. uninstalling and re-installing, re-creating the node with the chat box (although I cheated a bit with that, and saved the node after editing it whilst changing nothing, and then re-editing it and setting up the chat box) and so far so good. But interestingly, when I open a page that has a chatbox on it, i get

Missing parameter (/privmsg {nickname})

in an orange area in the chatbox. Now, everything else seems to be workin' just fine, but wondered what that is all about... ? Got this before too. When i start typing in the message area, that orange area disappears.

...although I cheated a bit with that, and saved the node after editing it whilst changing nothing, and then re-editing it and setting up the chat box

Sorry, but that doesn't work - it's the cause of your error message. The node data is written to the table only when the node is created, not when it's edited. You're getting the error because it's unable to get the node data. You can verify this by using phpMyAdmin to look at the phpfreechat table. If this is the only node you've created with a chatbox, the table will be empty.

You have to delete the node and create it again. Then the table data will be written and the error message will disappear.

The reason you got this error message before is that rc4 had a bug that caused it to NEVER write the table data. It was the first problem I noticed with the module, and what launched me into debugging it.

...and voila, the error message appears to be gone. :-) I'll continue testing.

On a slightly different topic, if I have a list of default channels / rooms, is there any way to make the active one the first one in the list vs. the last one when the chat node first opens?

On a slightly different topic, if I have a list of default channels / rooms, is there any way to make the active one the first one in the list vs. the last one when the chat node first opens?

That code is entirely in phpFreeChat, not in the module. You could ask over in the phpFreeChat forum.

http://www.phpfreechat.net/forum/

I post over there a little bit (same name - permutations). That's how I learned the cause of the negative parameter error. The author of phpFreeChat told me where this is checked.

The easy solution, of course, is to enter the room names in reverse order. :)

I'd like to get an "/away" command working (custom command) and add it as a button (custom theme). I'm going to try that this weekend.

After few e-mails going in both directions, me and Own Barton, one of the module's co-maintainers and the original creator of the module, agreed to add permutations as a co-maintainer.

Thank you, owahab. I appreciate all the work that you and Owen have already done on the module. I'm just building on your work.

Delighted to see Permutations added as a co-maintainer. :-) Thank you all for great work!

I'm not added yet - I'm still waiting for the Drupal powers-that-be to approve my CVS account. If/when they do, I'll be added as a co-maintainer.

For now, I'm still maintaining the download area on my own Web site.

Over the weekend I added a phpFreeChat-friendly Drupal theme. I don't know if you've encountered the dreaded scrolling problem in IE7. It happens when the chat is embedded inside a table, as is done with many Drupal themes. The theme I wrote uses CSS for positioning. It's nothing fancy - just simple and practical.

I also got an "away" command mostly working over the weekend - a custom command for phpFreeChat. That's not uploaded yet. I'm still working on it.

Thanks permutations. This is the error I'm now getting after unisintalling it and reinstalling it:

phpFreeChat cannot be initialized, please correct these errors:

* 'channels' parameter must be an array

I will try uninstalling, removing it completely and re-installing to see if this fixes it.

Thanks,

Sarah

I've never gotten this error but owahab said he did. I initialize the default channels in the phpFreeChat configuration area - maybe this only happens when it's not initialized.

When you reinstall, try filling out the default chatbox name and channels in the administration area. I suspect that will remove the error.

thanks permutations it seems to be working fine now :)

I got this same error ('channels' parameter must be an array). I tried uninstalling the module and installing permutations 1.1b version, but with that I couldn't access the configuration options.

So I went back to this one, but kept getting the channel/array error.

I'll try re-installing this version again and see if that doesn't fix my error. (I noted that I couldn't find a phpfreechat table in my drupal db, even after installing the module and configuring it multiple times... am I totally overlooking something, or looking in the wrong place?)

It sounds like you're in some sort of partially installed state. First completely uninstall what you have there now. That means uncheck the module, then go to the uninstall tab and uninstall it. Then reinstall it - use 1.1b.

If you've created any nodes with chats, you must delete these and recreate them. Otherwise the data in the phpfreechat table won't be created.

After the module is installed again, go into the Admin panel and set a default room(s). That will remove the error. It shouldn't give the error at all - this needs to be fixed. But for now, this is how you make it go away - set a default room.

I had done all that... but either way, this time it seemed to work. I think something was getting cached in Drupal somewhere that was breaking it. I noticed that the access controls were being saved even after I'd done several complete uninstalls etc... but when I went back today, they were really gone and everything worked this time.

Now I have another problem... I set the initial settings, which worked... but then the wouldn't fully load after I added "日本語" as a second channel ( English,日本語 ) and saved that. So I deleted the files/phpfreechat/* folders, removed the 日本語 channel and saved and things worked again.

But after that I tried adding 日本語 back and changing the chat title etc... and the settings simply won't change, even after deleting the files/phpfreechat/* files and folders again. They get recreated when I save the settings, but the page doesn't look any different when I load the chat. :(

I wanted to have 2 channels, one for '日本語' and one for 'English'. :(

Thanks for the help.

UPDATE: Ok, I removed the Title and Channels settings completely from the phpfreechat settings and instead set them solely in the "Page" content type defaults. Then I created a new page and the settings worked as I intended. :)

A bit tricky, but it's working for now at least.

Thanks!

phpFreeChat has a cache that you need to clear to get rid of old settings. You do this by typing /rehash at the command line. Actually, you do this (in this order):

/nick admin
/identify
/rehash

Alternatively, with your ftp program, locate the files directory and delete the subdirectory under files called phpfreechat (that's where the cache is). It will be recreated the next time you load phpFreeChat. One of the things that happens when you uninstall phpFreeChat is this subdirectory is deleted - that's why it clears everything.

It's always good to clear your browser's cache as well, just in case. I had to clear my cookies once to see changes, but that was when I was doing development - probably you wouldn't need to do that.

On another topic, I found the bug that was causing the "channels must be an array" error. I haven't uploaded any of my recent changes because I'm a co-maintainer now and need to figure out how to upload them here. That's this weekend's project.

The new version will fix the whois box (add back the custom code from the Drupal theme, which stopped working with phpFreeChat 1.1) and add an /away command and button which I wrote because I wanted it for my own site.

The Drupal-themed whois box (the box you see when you click on the nick) has a link to the user's Drupal profile, and - for admins - kick and ban commands. It also shows when the person is away, but that's not necessary because you see that just from the nick (which has "away" appended after it).

Excellent. :D

I've come across another question... how do you set private messaging? Or the ability to set how many possible tabs can be open etc?

Also, when I click a users name on the username list, it just jumps to the top of the page and doesn't open the little dialog box. Is this another bug?

I'd love to get some of these little bugs worked out before I go live with the chat. :D

Thanks again!

how do you set private messaging?

To initiate private messaging, click on the nick name in the list and you'll see a link with the option. Both people have to do this to enter the private session.

Or the ability to set how many possible tabs can be open etc?

There is a "max channels" setting in the admin area (second tab - performance and output settings). The default is 10 channels per user.

Before you change a numerical parameter, make sure you've edited the phpFreeChat file to correct a problem with its type checking. I posted the details here (last comment):

http://drupal.org/node/255702

Also, when I click a users name on the username list, it just jumps to the top of the page and doesn't open the little dialog box. Is this another bug?

You must have customize.js.php in the extras/themes/drupal directory. I had renamed this in 1.1b so it can't be found. It doesn't work with the current version of phpFreeChat (1.1). If you delete it (or rename it so phpFreeChat can't find it), you'll get the default behavior for the whois box.

I have fixed this now so it works correctly, but I haven't yet figured out how to upload my changes to Drupal so I haven't shared it yet.

For more about the whois box, take a look here:

http://drupal.org/node/257717

Permutations,

First of all, thanks for all the work you have put into this project.

We are still experiencing the time outs OR all the users getting kicked off and then get stuck at the chat loading screen.

The timeout is set for 35000 and commented out the negative number error.

We have an active chat community during our programming and the chat really goes crazy with the timeouts and mass log-offs.

How can I help troubleshoot? What data do you need that will assist? You can see it for yourself at http://www.luxuriamusic.com

Thanks,

Cliff.

Cliff,

I've seen occasional time-outs since correcting the two problems, but nothing like what you're describing - in particular, no more hangs. You're using 1.1b, right? One of the bugs I fixed in the last version was something that incorrectly cleared the cache and deleted the JavaScript files, which caused the chat to hang after a period of time.

If this isn't the problem, I think you may be in the realm of phpFreeChat issues that have nothing to do with the Drupal integration module. I'd suggest posting about this over in the phpFreeChat forum. The original developer is building a house and not very available, but he does answer now and then, and others in the community sometimes can help. You also may find a solution by searching the forum archives. I've found useful information there.

http://www.phpfreechat.net/forum/

Two people have mentioned this problem with version 1.1b under this this issue, so I thought I should include my experience with it and my fix here. After installing 1.1b and creating a new chat (or clearing the cache, and using an old chat) I also received the following error:

phpFreeChat cannot be initialized, please correct these errors:

* 'channels' parameter must be an array

My fix was to change line 468 in phpfreechat.module from:

$params['channels'] = $node->title;

to:

$params['channels'] = array($node->title);

This solved that problem for me.

@kbradford: yup, I agree... should have been assigned with the 'array' as you indicated. However, that did nothing for the time-out issue. It shouldn't happen, given what I read in the phpfreechat site and that the poling interval should be short enough even at its maximum, but nonetheless on my site, it's still timing out... :(

anybody figured that out?

shawn

Just FYI... I have another version almost ready, and this one will be posted here on Drupal.org rather than on my own site. I just have a learning curve with CVS, so it may take me until next weekend.

I've fixed a few other problems in the code. I figured out how to fix the "negative number" error without commenting out the integer check in phpFreeChat. The "channels must be an array" bug is fixed. I fixed a bug in the startup code (handler.php) that probably wouldn't affect most people, but in any case it's fixed. The nicks listed on the right are links, and when you click on them it opens a little window with a link to the Drupal profile.

And (cheers) I finally found and fixed some last problems in my "away" feature (there's a new "away" feature) that I really wanted to resolve before uploading the new code. There are just one or two more things I want to clean up on this before I upload the new version - shouldn't take me more than a day. Sometimes when you put down a coding project and come back to it, you can see things with a fresh eye. I almost immediately found one of the problems that had completely stumped me last May.

I'm running 1.1b on my own site and some people still do have timeout problems, though the value is set to 35000. I agree this is a phpFreeChat issue and not a Drupal module issue.

And by the way, I'm working with the latest phpFreeChat (1.2) - no incompatibilities with the Drupal module (which was written for 1.1).

So look for a new version this weekend here on Drupal (most probably this weekend - unless learning the CVS system takes longer than I expect).

Awesome! and welcome back, permutations. Missed you. :-)

Subscribing.

Thank you for your work Permutations.

I finished all the code changes and (as far as I can tell) everything works. I uploaded 5.x-1.2 to my own site just to make it available while I figure out how to upload it here. I hope nobody has a cow because I did that. I absolutely have every intention of uploading it here - there is nothing in it for me to maintain a fork. I just have to learn CVS, which I will work on tomorrow and hopefully be able to upload here tomorrow or Sunday. In the meantime, you can get it here:

http://permutations.com/drupal/phpfreechat.php

Here are the changes in this version (from the readme):

Version 5.x-1.2
---------------
Module works with phpFreeChat 1.2.

Negative number problem is now fixed within the Drupal module code so nothing has to be changed in phpFreeChat. (phpFreeChat 1.2 uses the correct time-out value of 35000.)

Code is formatted to according to Drupal conventions (except for the phpFreeChat customization files, which use phpFreeChat conventions).

The phpFreeChat customization files provide some additional features:

- Clicking on a username in the list opens a box with a link to that person's Drupal profile.

- There is a new "away" command that lets users indicate when they are not at their computer. This can be implemented with the new "door" button that opens and closes to indicate status, or by typing /away on the command line. When the user is away, the string "(away)" appears after the username, and a message is displayed in the chat box. Another message is displayed when the user returns. This is a toggle, so just click again or type the command again to turn the away status on or off. There is sometimes a slight delay between when the command is executed and when it's implemented. This is due to coding within phpFreeChat itself, so it's not something that can be fixed.

In the "no good deed goes unpunished" department... The author of phpFreeChat would like to give me SVN rights so I can add the "away" feature to phpFreeChat core code. According to Wikipedia, SVN is a "mostly compatible" successor to CVS. So I guess I'm learning that, too, now. Apparently my weekend is cut out for me. It's a little bit funny.

Version 1.2 of the module (5.x-1.2) is now uploaded to this site so you don't have to go to my Web site to get it.

I see there's some other issues mixed into the comments, so I'll keep this open and take a look later in the week.

how to start in the sense to create a website....