That would be great. I am sure you can do it Ed.

I tried coping all the info you mentioned above into my header, but I'm getting parsing errors.

Is there another, simpler way to have the PM notification appear on the forumdisplay and showthreads page?

I'd think that the only way to have truly "instant" messages is to run a Java applet in the pages which keeps querying the DB on a regular basis looking for new IMs -- and if you get one it can pop a window saying "Here is your new message: blah blah blah". I’ve worked with Java before and it wouldn't be too hard to do if you have Java on your server -- however it would cause a huge server load if you had a lot of people online continually pegging the DB for their entire session.

This will provide a pop up when you have a new private message. You need to have the Private Messages Hack by Ed Sullivan installed for it to work.

In index.php look for in the private messages hack:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and replace this with:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

Then in your forumhome template look for:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and replace this with:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

then create a new template called:

popupscript

and put in:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

if you want it to work you read a post:

open showthread.php and look for:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and replace this with:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

then open your showthread template and look for:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and replace this with:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and in the postbit template look for:

  $pmlink

and add after $pmlink:

 $lightbulb


Then after all of that create an .html file called
instantprivate.html

and put in:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

and upload this to your forum directory. In the popupscript template that you created you will need to change the path to point to the location of this html file.

Change the .html to read or give you the layout that you want.

This will give you a pop up window, with the private message hack installed, that will tell your members when they have a new message when they first get on the board and if they read a post and they have a new message. They can then go to the private message from the pop up or they will be given a new message icon in their posts. You will need to upload an image file for whatever you have the $lightbulb in the showthread.php file pointing to.

You will also need to go into your admin options area and change the default time for the cookietimeout section. It is set to 14,400 and you may want to reduce this time so that your members won't be getting a pop up window each time they go to the forum.

Give this a shot and let me know how it works.

Parker

Nice work Parker. Do you have this installed anywhere for us to check out?

That sounds like its getting close to what we are looking for.

One way I can think of to improve it would be to put the contents of the private message in the window itself. Also, include a reply button so a user can send an reply without having to stop what they are doing on the board. After they respond, the window can automatically close. That way, its almost just like an instant message.

Of course, at this point, its probably best to make it a seperate hack (instant message as opposed to private message). Give it its own set of templates with minimal interface.

With these small changes it sounds like we've almost got a decent IM tool!

I'd like to see this up somewhere to. Great job!

nice... just a quetion regarding these instant message and pm hacks... if used excessively would they use up alot of bandwidth ?

Johnny:

I have no clue how to put the content of the message or put a reply button in the pop up window. This was just a way to let people know that they have a private message waiting with a pop up. So if someone where to have a private message sent to them while they are on the board it would give them a pop up.

Huss:

I only have this on a test board right now. And this board is changing all the time to get it ready to have my forum as it is switched over.

eva2000:

I am not sure of the amount of bandwidth they would use. I would imagine it would be pretty minimal with what I have as it is just a pop up message.

Parker

You can see this in action at:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/index.php

The forum has messages imported with usernames to test with.
It also loads slowly as it hasn't been set up with PHP and mySQL for optimization yet. You can click on the private messages link at the bottom on the first page or post a message, send a private message and see how it looks on the forumdisplay page too.

Parker



[Edited by Parker Clack on 08-10-2000 at 09:23 AM]