FREE

BlaB! WS

BlaB! WS is a free realtime group chat system (client & server) based on websockets. Both client app and Admin CP are with responsive design, HTML5 and CSS3 compliant, support all modern browsers (incl. mobile browsers), HiDPI displays ready (no raster images). The client side is written in PHP, HTML/CSS and JavaScript and using MySQL as a backend. The server side is written in Python and compiled with all dependencies in a single executable file.

Requirements (self-hosted PHP/MySQL client, websocket server hosted on our servers)

Any Linux / Windows host or shared hosting service with PHP/MySQL and PHP mysqli extension enabled
If you are still running PHP5: PHP json extension enabled (bundled with PHP7)
Optional: PHP fileinfo extension enabled in order to recognize file types incl. uploaded avatars

Requirements (self-hosted PHP/MySQL client & self-hosted websocket server)

A Linux based server (VPS) with Apache/Nginx, PHP5/PHP7 and MySQL/MariaDB in working state.
Access to that server via SSH as a root user or as a user with sudo privileges.
PHP shell_exec enabled in php.ini (required to start/stop server, alternative method is available).
Basic knowledge about Linux and some basic terminal skills: running commands, editing files.
Supported distros: Debian 8 Jessie+ / Ubuntu 16.04+ / RHEL 7+ / CentOS 7+ / Fedora

Features

Supports any browser incl. mobile browsers.
PHP5/PHP7 compatible: no PHP errors, warnings or notices.
HTML5 and CSS3 compliant: passes W3C tests with 1 warning about scaling.
No errors and warnings in Browser Console.
Native code only - no external frameworks and libraries used.
Blazingly fast and responsive even on old low-end smartphones and tablets.
HiRes/Retina displays ready - no raster images used /why not? see FAQ/.
100% resizable layout, you can run it fullscreen or in iframes as small as 360x360px.
Registration system allowing 'guest' users.
Innovative method to reset forgotten passwords without sending emails.
Predefined mottos, users can put their own one-line motto instead.
A set of avatars to pick from and an option to upload an image/photo.
Online status: Online, Away, Occupied, Unavailable, DND
Rooms - separate chat spaces. Every chatter is connected to all the rooms and receives any message posted in any room with a visual notification and a different sound notification for messages posted in background rooms.
Private one-2-one chats inside the main chat window.
Admin can kick and ban users and IP addresses.
Material icons, EmojiOne emoticons, native emojis & stickers.
Colorful predefined themes; option to create your own in seconds.
Two ready to use Android apps available on Google Play.
An easy way to create your own custom mobile app for Android and IOS.
Ignore option - chatters can choose to hide messages from other chatters.
Stealth users - invisible in chat; do not appear in logs
Sound notifications on (1) new messages, (2) enter/leave, (3) messages in background, (4) PM.
Language & timezone settings per user.
UTF-8 multilanguage support incl. usernames with non-Latin letters.
Frontend translated in Čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, English, Español, Français, bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, Magyar, Nederlands, Polski, Português-BR, Română, Русский, Türkçe.
Widgets - display information such as users online, latest visitors, top10 chatters on external pages.
Mobile friendly Admin CP with server status, start/stop server option, settings, logs, user management, themes.
Mobile friendly and easy-to-use server console to manage your server in case you host it on our servers.

ESC-centric - the ESC key closes any element that is on top and opens the main panel in chat and in Admin CP.
On mobile, a swipe from the left edge opens the main panel in chat and the menu in Admin CP.
Users can scroll with arrow keys, mouse wheel and by dragging.
A double click swaps between select mode and drag to scroll mode.
CTRL+SHIFT+1 CTRL+SHIFT+2 ... CTRL+SHIFT+9 switches to rooms 1-9.
CTRL+SHIFT+L/R arrows cycles between rooms.

How to install (self-hosted PHP/MySQL client, websocket server hosted on our servers)

Login to your console with the provided via email credentials, generate an ACCESSKEY and start your server.
Download BlaB! WS (client) below and unzip the files in an empty folder e.g. /mychat
Upload the folder /mychat to your server with an FTP program and CHMOD config.php to 666 and /attachments to 777.
Navigate with your browser to YOUR-URL.COM/mychat/ - the install will start automatically.
Select install type: blabws-server hosted on another host (our server hosting service or elsewhere).
Step 1: submit Server URL, ACCESSKEY and ProxyPass Token as they appear under your server console » Help
Step 2: submit MySQL host, user, password and database name.
Step 3: create your admin account (username, password, email etc)
Done!

How to install (self-hosted PHP/MySQL client & self-hosted websocket server)

Unmanaged VPS or your own hardware

Managed VPS server with hosting panel

FAQ / Demo

Downloads

Download blabws-server 20.05 {64 bit} Terminal » arch ↵ x86_64 = 64 bit
Download blabws-server 20.05 {32 bit} Terminal » arch ↵ i686 = 32 bit
Download blabws-server 20.05 {ARM7-32bit - RaspberryPi} Terminal » arch ↵ armv7l = ARM7
Download BlaB! WS {client} 20.08 (FULL PACK) (2020-Aug-08)
Download BlaB! WS {client} 20.08 (UPDATE ONLY!) (2020-Aug-08)

Select and copy a color scheme & import from ACP » Style

Notifications - select sounds & create your own notification file

Download emoticon packs {EmojiOne - default & NotoEmoji}
Unzip and replace emocodes.php and emoticons.css in the main BlaB! WS (client) folder. To avoid loading a cached CSS file uncache from Admin CP » Settings.

Download sticker packs
Unzip and upload in a separate folder(s) under BlaB! WS (client) /stickers. All stickers are editable with Inkscape.
Video: How to create your own chat stickers with Inkscape

Need more? Admin panel with more features, voice & video calls over WebRTC, user groups with permissions, voice & video messages, file sharing, doodles, GIFs, Machines, integration with popular scripts such as Invision Board, vBulletin, Simple Machines, phpBB, MyBB, Woltlab Suite, Xenforo, Vanilla, WordPress, Joomla and more? BlaB! WS Pro

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Page updated: 2020-08-08