New Release: dnnCHAT v01.00.00 now available using #SignalR

Earlier this year I started on a project to learn how to use SignalR, I had reasons to do so for my full time job (non-DNN related) but considering my DNN experience over the past 11 years I figured that learning how to use SignalR with DNN would be my fastest way to get myself up to speed. So I started working on a Chat module. Originally that module was called SignalRChat, and was available on codeplex, but ultimately I decided that name kind of sucked, so it needed to be something else.

In comes the DNN Chat module project, there was a Chat module for DNN long ago, but the last official release of it was in 2008, and while there was a Beta in 2010, it hadn't seen any development and work in years. So I approached DNNCorp about taking over the DNN Chat project and replacing it with my newly developed module, at the same time, going from "DNN Chat" to "dnnCHAT".

So here we are today, and the first official release of dnnCHAT is now available, v01.00.00, you can download it now from Codeplex.

You can see the module in action on http://www.dnnchat.com

Here are some of the details about the module, but first things first, a note.

Note: If you previously used the DNN Chat module, and still have it installed, this module will not replace that, the namespaces are different, the Module Name in the Manifest is different. This module WILL NOT UPGRADE the older module. I would suggest uninstalling that module if you still have it, and then installing this module.

Module Details

Minimum DNN Version: 7.1.0
Source Control Location: https://github.com/ChrisHammond/dnnCHAT 
Source Language: C#
Issue Tracking: https://github.com/ChrisHammond/dnnCHAT/issues
Live Demo: http://www.dnnchat.com

Module Description and Features

This module is based on SignalR, utilizing C#, and requires DNN 7.1.0+, it provide basic Chat Room functionality, allowing both Anonymous and logged in users to communicate in the Lobby, logged in users can also join Rooms.

This is an entirely new module, old instances of the DNN CHAT module should be removed before attempting to use this module (they most likely weren't working anyways).

  • Chat logging in DotNetNuke Database using DAL2 (logs connections and all messages)
  • Ability for users to change their name in the chat window with /nick
  • Ability to create rooms with /join, or join existing rooms
  • Shows the number of connected chat users when in the room
  • Defaults anonymous users are named Anonymous# based on their number in the user queue
  • Uses Display Name if the a user is logged in to the DNN site
  • Strips all HTML from posts
  • Shows when a user connects or disconnects
  • Highlights messages that mention your "nick" in a different CSS class
  • Shows previous message history when you connect

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