| Notes
about develooping flash chat Version 1.6.3 |
Emoticons
Many users requested 'smilies'. This version uses monochromatic smilies. The last version of flash allows to insert graphics in text fileds, but I don't like to force users to use the last version, so the smilies method used in this chat is flash5 compatible. It's a font embebed in the movie. If you know how to edit fonts you can make yor own smilies. With the chat script you can find a directory with the truetype font used in emoticons.
Error 500
If you get an error 500 try to delete the .htaccess file inside the directory chat/.
Other languages translation
All the text used
by the system are defined in the configuration file "config.php".
To translate the chat to other languages, just modify the corresponding texts
in this file, or replace this file by one translated to other language.
Develooping flash chat comes with different language files, as "config.php"
files inside the directory "languages".
If you translate deveelooping flash chat to other language, please, send me
the new file "config.php" in order to incorporate it (with your name)
in the distributed version
The ".fla" files
The ".fla" files are provided with the script to personalize the appearance of the system, but if you want to personalize it, please don't request me to teach to you to use flash. It's very simple to modify the size, the form, the typography and the colors of the interface with basic flash knowledge. The ".fla" files have been made with Flash MX and saved in flash 5 format. Don't confuse this file with the movie "chat.swf" that has been exported from the original file (and it can be exported) in flash 5 format.
Speed
Until I have been able to try, the refresh speed is good, but if you want you can try to chage it setting a different speed (in frames per second) to the flash movie.
Client compatibility
The last version of this script works fine (until I have been able to try) with all the clients supporting javascript and the Flash 5 plug-in. If you have intalled it on your server and it fails with a specific browser, please let me know.
Server compatibility
Develooping flash chat has been succesfully tested in several UNIX systems, linux, windows and Mac Os X. It works without problems on any system supporting php4 or higher.
Privileges
Other subject that
seems to generate doubts between some users is the privileges setting for files,
necessary for the correct installation of this
script. This it is not a good place to explain it. But the practical totality
of the FTP clients allows to assign privileges to the archives in the server.
If you don't know how to do it, I recommend you to look around options and menues
in your FTP program.
If you use this chat script in a local network or you place this chat script
in a nonremote computer, be sure to know how to assign access privileges in
your system.
The file "htaccess" inside the directory "required" is essential
to avoid the access to very important information, so the content must to remain
hidden: configuration data, name and password for administration, private messages,
IP numbers. Be sure that is no way to read data in this directory, requesting
with a browser the file "msg.txt" to the web server. If everything
is correct, the server must prohibit the access.
Global
variables
Develooping Flash
chat works with servers with globals variables on in php. If the chat turn you
back to the intro page maybe that your system has global variables off.
You can try it doing a little page with the following code:
<html>
<? phpinfo(); exit ?>
<STRONG>PHP not working or not running with this extension</STRONG>
</html>
Save it in your server as info.php. When you call the page from a browser you'll
get information about your php installation.
Look in the page for register_globals. If it's off you need to put it on. You
can change it editing the php configuration file (php.ini)
but if you haven't acces to this file, you can try saving a file named ".htaccess"
in the chat root directory with the following content:
php_flag register_globals on
To finish …
This script was created exclusively to implement a chat system in a particular website. I´m glad if someone finds it useful, but I cannot assure that it fulfills your expectations. Now I need time to assume other projects, so modifications and improvements will arrive when I can find time. I'm not proffessional programmer, and programming is not my main activity. You are free to think that my programming is not academic or not standard. The only thing I want is that the program makes the task that I request to him. And that is everything.
I hope that script and the explanations are useful for you
Juan Carlos Posé