Huge update with a focus on mobile and video.
New Features
- Master/Slave Database Configuration (Business Only)
You can now set up a master/slave database configuration during the installation process. The master database handles all the write queries while the slaves will do all the reads. An unlimited number of slaves can be added. Using this option will significantly increase the number of users that can use your chat at once.
- Responsive Admin Panel
The ArrowChat administrator panel is now full responsive to make changing things from your mobile devices easier.
- Right-to-Left Support (beta)
ArrowChat will now fully support right-to-left languages. Simply enable the option in the admin panel and watch the magic. This feature should be considered beta at this time.
- YouTube Embedding
Sharing a YouTube link will now automatically embed the video in the chat making watching easier.
- Spam Protection (Premium and Business Only)
Protect ArrowChat from spam. This feature will automatically detect and disable a user that tries to abuse ArrowChat.
- Friends Only and Guest Searching
The searching in ArrowChat now supports sites using the friend's only option. It will also be able to search for guests when they have changed their name.
- Mobile and Pop-out Warnings
Warnings sent my admins or mods will now display in the pop-out and mobile chat as well.
- Updated Emojis
ArrowChat now uses text-based emojis instead of pictures. Although this will not be fully supported on older browsers, it now allows users to see a visual representation of the emoji in their chat message instead of [e-1fd34].
Mobile Chat (Premium and Businesss Only)
- Onsen UI
We've replaced jQuery Mobile with Onsen UI. The entire mobile UI has been updated to become more modern. In doing this, we've added a ton of features and squashed bugs. The package can also be compiled into a native iOS or Android application. We will be releasing a guide on this in the future.
- Better Chat Management
The open chat tabs are now clearly displayed under the chat tab. Users will see recent messages, typing indicators, and have the ability to remove open chats by swiping left.
- Better Chat Room Management
The open chat room tabs are now clearly displayed under the "Joined Chat Rooms" header. Users can leave chat rooms by swiping left or in the chat room settings. Joining multiple chat rooms is now supported. User-created chat rooms can now be created on mobile as well.
- New Message Indicators
The new message indicator will now display the actual number instead of just "New". This number is stored and will be reduced as chats are viewed. This number is also shown on the back arrow when inside a chat. Lastly, it works for chat rooms too!
- Mobile Tab Updates
The mobile tab has been entirely redesigned. It now supports sounds as well. The ArrowChat administration panel also has an option to change the colors and icon.
- In-Page Mobile Chat
You now have the option to have the chat slide up right from your website instead of opening in a new window.
Video Chat
- Agora.io Support (Business Only)
The appear.in integration has been replaced with Agora.io. This option includes mobile support and screen sharing, as well as a host of professional features. 10,000 minutes are including each month for free. Please see https://www.agora.io/en/pricing/ for pricing details.
- Updated Tokbox/Vonage Support (Business Only)
The Tokbox/Vonage integration has received a major upgrade. It now includes features like screen sharing, mobile device support, pausing audio/video, viewer count, full-screen view switching, and more. Please see https://www.vonage.com/communications-a ... o/pricing/ for pricing details.
- Jitsi Support (Business Only)
The OpenTok RTC Demo integration has been replaced with Jitsi. This is a better free service with advanced features.
- JumpInChat Support (All Versions)
The TinyChat integration has been replaced with JumpInChat. This is a better free service with advanced features. A sign-in is no longer required with this service.
General
- Added the ability to remove moderators in chat rooms from the admin panel.
- Upgrade ArrowChat to use jQuery 3.4.1 and jQuery UI 11.2.1.
- Added a bunch of file types to uploads, including pdf.
- Added the ability to sync user groups with being a moderator or administrator in the admin panel.
- You can now use the same push service keys across all of your installations. Messaging will still be separate.
- Updated the action messages UI to be more modern. e.g., File attachments and video chat requests
- Added the option to automatically select the chat room list instead of the online list on embedded chat.
- The hide online list option in the admin panel will now also hide the pop-out chat online list.
- Giphy searches have been changed to a downsampled file for faster loading.
- Pop-out/embed chat inputs will no longer automatically gain focus to prevent mobile devices from scrolling to them and opening the keyboard.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where chat rooms would not be left after leaving them.
- Fixed phpFox 4.7+ integrations.
- Sending only a zero "0" will now work.
- Fixed some issues with phpBB avatars.
- Fixed and improved efficiency of getimagsize in downloads file.
- Fixed vulnerability in file uploads where a user could upload large files.
- Fixed an issue with Invision Community Redis sessions and made it more efficient.
- Fixed XSRF vulnerability in the admin panel.
- Fixed an issue with admin emails in the admin panel.
- Updated the function that detects mobile devices to catch more devices.
- Fixed an issue in jQuery 2 and 3, where the online list would show off the page.
- Fixed various issues with jQuery 3.x.
- Fixed some warnings associated with PHP 7.x.
- Fixed an issue with pop-out chat smilies that would prevent it from working.
- Fixed undefined index error with admin email.
- Fixed Twitter app sizing.
- Fixed group permissions on pop-out and mobile chat.
- Fixed an issue with pop-out chat tabs spacing.
- Changed time tooltips to show on message hover instead of the avatar to prevent issues with no-avatar installations.
- Fixed a JavaScript error with uploadifive and jQuery 1.8+.
- Fixed the Elgg 3.0+ integration.
- Fixed sent images to be clickable immediately after sending them on non-push service installations.
Upgrade Instructions
Due to the amount of changes with ArrowChat v3.0, a complete re-installation will be necessary. All message history and settings will be lost during the upgrade.
- Step 1: Backup your existing files
You can do this by simply renaming your "arrowchat" folder to "arrowchat.old". You must back up your files in case something goes wrong. You'll then have the old files that may help you fix any issues. It is important you backup your includes/config.php and includes/integration.php files as these can be used to help with the re-install.
- Step 2: Download v3.0 and upload to your server
Download the v3.0 update from our site and place it onto your server.
- Step 3: Run the install folder
Run the /arrowchat/install/ folder in your browser (ex. http://www.yoursite.com/arrowchat/install/) and follow the on-screen instructions. You can use your old includes/config.php file to help you with database information.
You won't need to update the header/footer code unless you named the arrowchat folder something different.
Your old includes/integration.php file will work! Simply copy it over to the new arrowchat/includes/ folder.
Config.php Files:
Your old includes/config.php file will NOT work! We have made changes to this file and a new one must be created.
Languages:
The language file has received a ton of new phrases. You must update your language file to avoid undefined errors.
Themes:
There have been too many changes to themes to count. No existing themes will work and they will need to be completely redesigned.
