ET-Chat and MyBB

[Lennart]

I can't see any errors in your code, you might want to contact the creator of the ET-Chat to solve this issue.

Kind regards
Lennart Sauter

[Disciple of Nagash]

Right then, no I am a subscriber I can get help then?

I have tried following the instructions on the first page, but having some issues. Basically I installed (after transferring the best host ever: Forum Forge who installed PDO_MySQL for me) the Chat ok, figured out after 20 minutes where to change the language settings.

But the main issue is the editing in the Zusatztool_Anbindung_an_Fremduserverwaltung.php

It doesn't seem to do anything. I edited the file again and again, but still when I went to chat it asked for log in name and gender. As a test I even deleted the file as I had a suspicion that the chat wasn't using it, and funnily enough the chat worked without that file being present.

So....any ideas please?

[Lennart]

You have to read the tutorial very carefully:

Now save the file as index.php

Save the "Zusatztool_Anbindung_an_Fremduserverwaltung.php" as "index.php" overwriting the old index.php and link to that file... it won't do anything otherwise

By the way, I noticed some elementary changes in ET-Chat 3.6, there might be a possibility that this tutorial does only apply to ET-Chat 3.5 since in 3.6 the index file is changed and is now needed to stay there.

[Disciple of Nagash]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your help. I installed the previous version and have now managed to set it up.

Cheers!

[Disciple of Nagash]

As promised, here is how to make MyBB work with the latest version of ET-Chat.

1. Follow Lennarts instructions in regards to uploading and installing (you need to have PDO_MySQL on your hosts server).
   
2. Login as admin, and create another admin under your username but DO NOT put in a password. Leave that blank - it will still allow you to save. Then log out. (If you have other admins & mods you can do the same for them)
   
3. In the files leave the index.php alone! This initiates all the classes in your chat, and your chat will not work without it. Do not edit it anyway.
   
4. Create a file, call it anything you like (obviously no duplications). In this example my_chat.php. In this file input the following code:
   You are not allowed to see php code.
5. Make sure in this file you input the location of your global.php on line 6. Don't bother with the logout option here, as it doesn't work. I will show you where to change it elsewhere. Upload This file to the same folder as the index.php
   
6. If you now navigate to that file via your browser such as http://XXXX/chat/et_chat_v306/my_chat.php, then you will find you are automatically logged into chat. If you typed in your username right, it will recognise it as admin and so you can access all the admin settings!
   
7. The next step is to stop members either cleverly manually typing in the address of the index.php or pressing back on their browser, which will take them to actual login page where they can change their username. To do this in your ET-Chat folder go to styles and then choose the style you want / are using. In that folder there is a file index.tpl.html. This is template for the login page. Firstly rename the original in case you ever need it. The create a copy named correctly, edit the body of the text with whatever information you would like to be displayed on that page. For example mine states:
   You are not allowed to see php code.
   Mine points to my index page.
   
   
8. Finally create a link to your custom .php file for you members.
   

You now have a chat that will automatically log your members in, logs you in as admin, stops members from trying to use the index to login under another username, and on logout redirects to the page of your choosing.!

A couple of handy tips:

You can edit the CSS of the style you are using in styles/etchat_xxxx/style.css

The first part of that file under /* for index.php - Login */ is the style for the login page. I for example changed the information box to 600px wide.

Under /* for chat.php*/ is for the rest of the chat, quite easy for anyone who uses CSS.

If you would like to edit some other things in your chat, in the style folder open chat.tpl.html

On line 5 you can edit the title of your chat (what it will appear as in in the browsers tab).

On line 47, you can place something in the chat header. Either some basic text, or you can put a banner using the normal image source tags:
<div align="center"><img src='http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/chat/et_chat_v306/img/chatbanner.png'></div> (this code has the banner centered). However you need to make sure the banner is quite small, or you will push the whole chat window down.

Also on this line is the following:
..... iv align="right"> <?=$this->lang->hallo_user[0]->tagData?> <b><?=$_SESSION['etchat_'.$this->_prefix.'username']?></b>!<br/>
ET - Chat v3.X.X by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sedesign.de" target="_blank">SEDesign</a> &copy; 2009</div>......

This is what creates the Hello xxxxx at the top left hand side, where to blunt it looks out of place, and will probably interfered with your banner if you have one.

I would suggest moving it to the bottom on the right hand side in the block where you have the buttons to logout etc.

To do this remove all text after the banner you have put in. Then on line 76 (under </form>) input the following:

PHP Code:

You are not allowed to see code.

This should move the text to the right place.

Finally, here is a screenshot of my complete chat:
   

[Lennart]

Thank you for the tutorial. I will hopefully find the time to write something about this lateron, there is one security hole in your script which could make any user admin inside the chat...

But nice solution, I'll add my 50 cents lateron, going to school now. Thanks!

[Disciple of Nagash]

I thought there might be a hole somewhere

If you could help fix it would be much appreciated.

[Lennart]

Okay, here we go...

A hacker could at the moment edit the index.php of the chat - he could add back the login form and then simply sign in with your username. This is possible with live editing tools like Firebug or anything.
To prevent the access to the index.php inside the chatfolder I recommend creating a .htaccess file with a redirect like that:

Code:

You are not allowed to see code.

This will make it impossible to access the file and the chat if not logged in into the forum.

If you need further help with .htaccess your favorite search engine will gladly help you out, that topic is covered by hundreds of tutorials in the www so I won't go deeper into it.

Second, if you don't want to have guest access to your chat you should add the following to the file / modify it this way:

You are not allowed to see php code.
If you modify any templates keep in mind that you have to leave the visible copyrights where they are, do respect the author.

Apart from that really good work DoN, thanks a lot!

If you don't mind, you could open a new thread with this info here in tutorial section called "ET-Chat 3.0.6 and MyBB" and I would rename this one so it would be easier for people to find.

Best regards
Lennart Sauter

[schwarz]

i will use this!

[TheoPro]

Alright ive made this work perfectly thanks to all the hard work guys, But one question

So the admins and moderators have the little symbols next to there names, how would i go to making it that my premium members have the $ sign next to theres, Is there a lot of coding involved? Thanks in advance guys.