It is a normal chat window as you would expect. But there are few facts worth mentioning:
1.
It is a module. Actually, it is a display module. This means, that while you are in the chat, you will stay in the room, even if the browser is closed. This is a feature which many weblin power
users wanted.
2.
It is HTML based. See the bold user names: a single line CSS style. See the resize bars between chat-out panel, chat-in panel, and participants panel: just a few lines of HTML with the help of jQuery UI Layout.
Do you remember a blog post one year ago about "Starting Avatar Display Development"? This was after the client core and protocol was implemented, but before you could see avatars.
Now the chat is implemented and I can paint a new picture with a blue box around the finished chat module (there is also a grey cross over the IRC protocol. We do not need it now. IRC is just a future option).
All this means, that the client is basically complete.
There are only small things missing, like:
- Translations: there is a translation module, but not all visible texts are translated,
- Installer: there is an installer, but the client must be packaged and tested before release,
- Auto start with windows: currently you have to start as any other program by double clicking the icon,
- Tray icon: would be nice
... and some bigger parts:
- Settings and configuration dialog: there are config files and a config database, but no dialog yet,
- Browser compatibility: currently only Firefox works, but we want IE and Chrome as well,
- Web portal: a portal like weblin.com would be nice where you can change avatar images.
There is still much to do. It is not configured for normal users. It is for people who know what they are doing. It has still less features than weblin. It is an alpha version. But it's cool and it's on the way.
More technical detail: http://blog.wolfspelz.de/2011/06/html-based-chat-window-with-webkit.html
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