And why don't simply make an App developed by staff (like Gallery, Blog and Content) to buy and install on own servers?
Otherwise, if an user need more people in chat, is really best to go with a simple (and free) shoutbox :angel:

Isn't the shoutbox exactly what you're asking for?

Isn't the shoutbox exactly what you're asking for?

No! I asking for an official chat released by IPB (to buy but without all actual limits).

(to buy but without all actual limits).

Not going to happen. A chat service consumes more server resources than you might imagine.

The free 5 user version included with Standard Licenses is meant to give you a demo and trial of the chatroom so that you can test it in your community. If you require more users, plans start at less than $20/year.

I should mention that our hosted communities include 20 free chat users on the Basic 10 and up hosting plans at no extra charge.

also just to mention, you need an active license for IP.Chat, so even if you have purchased 20$ IP.Chat License for 1 year , you will have to renew your IPB license every 6 months or your IP.Chat won't work ;)

Not going to happen. A chat service consumes more server resources than you might imagine.

Isn't that simply the client's responsibility? I am wary of using IP.Chat as a long term solution for a chat based site since I don't have control over the software. It's very nice for there to be external chat hosting up to 250, but say 3 to 5 years down the line, I would like to have it on my own dedicated servers. Until then, IP.Chat will remain only a "feature" of a site, rather than an integral core of a site.

Isn't that simply the client's responsibility? I am wary of using IP.Chat as a long term solution for a chat based site since I don't have control over the software. It's very nice for there to be external chat hosting up to 250, but say 3 to 5 years down the line, I would like to have it on my own dedicated servers. Until then, IP.Chat will remain only a "feature" of a site, rather than an integral core of a site.

There was a modification that someone (i forgot his name) made however it wasn't really for public release and it worked with IP.Board 3.2. I can't seem to find my copy... but basically, what it did was it hosted the Chat on your server and the problem with that (even with a server like mine), you can't have the kind of Chat you guys are looking for, it's just not good enough. You need to have a separate server dedicated to the chat, that's the only way its going to work. If you like the Chat so much, buy the package and that's it.

also just to mention, you need an active license for IP.Chat, so even if you have purchased 20$ IP.Chat License for 1 year , you will have to renew your IPB license every 6 months or your IP.Chat won't work ;)

I don't believe that is true... If you have an active chat license of 20 users or more, you DO NOT have to have the board license it is on active... While they are linked, chat should still work.

The free version is the only one tied to you board license to work.

I don't believe that is true... If you have an active chat license of 20 users or more, you DO NOT have to have the board license it is on active... While they are linked, chat should still work.

The free version is the only one tied to you board license to work.

^This.

If you have the $20 IP.Chat for a full year, it's for a full year, regardless of license status. Only the free version requires an active standard license.

There was a modification that someone (i forgot his name) made however it wasn't really for public release and it worked with IP.Board 3.2. I can't seem to find my copy... but basically, what it did was it hosted the Chat on your server and the problem with that (

even with a server like mine

), you can't have the kind of Chat you guys are looking for, it's just not good enough. You need to have a separate server dedicated to the chat, that's the only way its going to work. If you like the Chat so much, buy the package and that's it.

ChatServe worked fine for me on shared hosting with less than 20 chatters, saved me money too. The problem I have is that it doesn't seem to work with 1.4, although it did great with 1.2. I find the 5 user limit silly myself, at least do 10 imo.

ChatServe worked fine for me on shared hosting with less than 20 chatters, saved me money too. The problem I have is that it doesn't seem to work with 1.4, although it did great with 1.2. I find the 5 user limit silly myself, at least do 10 imo.

i agree. on average i'd have around 7-8 people come in. so having 5 was not enough, and i ended up having to upgrade to the 20 package :/ which i've now stopped paying for and have disabled. replaced it with the shoutbox.

ChatServe worked fine for me on shared hosting with less than 20 chatters, saved me money too. The problem I have is that it doesn't seem to work with 1.4, although it did great with 1.2. I find the 5 user limit silly myself, at least do 10 imo.

i agree. on average i'd have around 7-8 people come in. so having 5 was not enough, and i ended up having to upgrade to the 20 package :/ which i've now stopped paying for and have disabled. replaced it with the shoutbox.

Mind you, we don't have to offer 5 users for free - we could offer zero. Having 5 users for free is intended for you to be able to demo the chatroom and try it yourself, and will suit a small community without issue. It costs about five cents per day to be on the 20 user plan, which we offer free to users that are hosted with us. :thumbsup:

Mind you, we don't have to offer 5 users for free - we could offer zero. Having 5 users for free is intended for you to be able to demo the chatroom and try it yourself, and will suit a small community without issue. It costs about five cents per day to be on the 20 user plan, which we offer free to users that are hosted with us. :thumbsup:

Of course when you put it like that it looks cheap, but that's not something I can actually afford, and not worth it especially with how little the chat offers (I've mentioned that a few times already).

It doesn't suit a small community without issue. On my first board, I have 200 members and 10K posts. Even though the forums themselves are fairly quiet, in average I'd have maybe 7 people want to come into the chatroom every now and again. So the "5 user" isn't enough.

I don't want a hosted plan. I want to be in full control of my site and not have to worry about upgrading, which is why I am going to get a 2nd license instead.

Mind you, we don't have to offer 5 users for free - we could offer zero. Having 5 users for free is intended for you to be able to demo the chatroom and try it yourself, and will suit a small community without issue. It costs about five cents per day to be on the 20 user plan, which we offer free to users that are hosted with us. :thumbsup:

Well of course, you could make it 0, 2, 10 whatever we understand that. But its one of those apps that is iffy on whether or not it's worth the 20 dollars a year for 20 people as the number of chatters fluctuates so drastically on my site, there can be one day with 20, and other days with none. The majority of the days would probably be around 10, so it's not worth it for me.

Nor is hosting with IPS as your plans are super expensive and quite limiting in terms of the TOS from what I've read and in my own opinion as compared to other web hosts out there.

ChatServe worked great for me because of this, I wasn't forced to add on to the all the money I've already invested in "IP.Suite" + renewal costs which is something that is very important to me as I like many other forum owners are surely not made of money. I don't understand why we as webmasters aren't given the option to host the chat on our own server in the first place. Rather than being forced to pay to use the chat to any real potential, sure it may take resources but so does the forum software in the first place, and its our responsibility to know our limits and whether or not we can afford to host ourselves or use yours.

But again, this is just one persons opinion, and in the end I can live without it regardless.