phpFreeChat is a free and open source PHP chat application that doesn’t require any database to run but rather uses the filesystem for it.

It can be used at the same time by any number of users, has a responsive layout that works in mobile too and has a modular authentication system which can be integrated into any app.

The application has 2 parts:

• server: a PHP-powered engine that accepts REST commands and handles the chat logic
• client: a jQuery plugin that communicates with the server and displays the chat interface

phpFreeChat is pretty simple in functionality yet support for multiple rooms, smileys and a “new message notification” will be added soon.

It is kinda easy to find high-quality open source web apps in PHP or JavaScript. But that’s a little harder for ASP.NET.

JabbR is one of those treasures, it is an open source ASP.NET app for real-time chats.

The app uses SignalR library for the communication and allows users to register/sign-in with their e-mails or via social auth (Facebook, Google, etc.).

Users can define an avatar for themselves and communicate in a chat room (multiple chat room support with a tabbed interface) or privately.

It can display inline content from multiple sources like YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, imgur, Google Docs and much more.

There are multiple notification types so that you also keep up with the conversation (Chrome pop-ups, live Twitter mentions or audio).

JabbR support Emojis, has keyboard shortcuts and IRC-like commands. Also, it has a responsive layout.

Candy is an open source chat application that is built with JavaScript and makes use of Jabber (XMPP) for real-time communication.

It has support for multiple rooms, users can be active in any number of rooms, chat publicly or privately and perform all of these in a good-looking, tabbed interface.

The application notifies users when new messages arrive, users can be blocked and the admin has the right to kick/ban.

Candy is themable and highly customizable (a powerful JavaScript API exists for that) with the provided event hooks + plugin support.

Kandan is a free and open source chat application that is built with Ruby on Rails and works with various databases.

The application allows conversations on multiple rooms/channels with a tabbed and slick interface.

It is possible to view the active users, invite people via e-mail and have private chats.

There is a per-channel media library where users can choose what to listen or a channel-wide music can be streamed.

Kandan can be extended with plugins and can be deployed to multiple cloud hosting providers with ease.

CometChat is a Facebook-like chat application (which was featured before at WRD) with many features.

They are running a huge Black Friday Sale and also giving away 3 Basic licenses to WRD readers.

The application is built with PHP, sits in the footer of the websites and allows users/visitors to interact with each other via text or video chat.

It integrates tightly into many popular applications (WordPress, Joomla, vBulletin, phpFox, SocialEngine, etc.) and can be easily setup to work with custom websites.

Besides chatting with website users, it also supports Facebook + Google Talk and can display friends from them as well.

CometChat users can also make file transfers between each other, share each others screens and even play lots of games.

Also, a recently released version adds a mobile interface to all the functionality, moderation support for chatrooms, chat history and 10000+ games.

The Black Friday Sale

They are running an exciting sale until Sunday where Platinum Edition + Desktop Messenger is offered for $449 (one time) rather than $699.

For anyone willing to get CometChat, this may be a good opportunity.

The giveaway

CometChat is giving away 3 Basic licenses to WRD readers. In order join the giveaway:

• share your thoughts on “which CometChat feature you liked the most” as comments

and the winners will be selected randomly 1 week later (30 November 2012) with the query below:

SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_id=3358 AND comment_approved=1 AND comment_type='' GROUP BY comment_author_email ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 3

Good luck to all.

The winners

Here they are:

• der_robert (comment #863417)
• Faiban Bitter (comment #864523)
• Priyank (comment #863678)

Congratulations and thanks to everyone for joining the giveaway.

In-page/floating chat systems always existed but it was Facebook who made the experience slicker and really functional.

Using ArrowChat, a jQuery and PHP-powered chat application, it is possible to bring this functionality to any website easily.

Similar to Facebook chat, ArrowChat sits in the footer of the web pages, displays the other users online and allows each user to communicate with each other.

Besides 1-to-1 chats, chatrooms exist too and anyone can create new chatrooms (with passwords, moderators, kicking, etc.). There is also a pop-out option for chatting while browsing.

And, optionally, you can activate video chats as well. With a Flash-powered interface, users with webcams can video-chat instantly.

The system notifies users visually and with sound when a new request (chat, friend, private message..) is received. Also, it has an "announcement" feature where we can send a mass announcement to users and they will again be informed from the same notification interface.

ArrowChat bar can be extended with other apps like games, social links, translation shortcuts and much more. A store exists for getting such apps and more themes to change the design of the bar.

There is a powerful admin panel for controlling all the aspects of the application like managing users, themes and features.

In case you a re willing to use ArrowChat with a CMS, it is integrated with almost all of them (WordPress, Joomla, vBulletin, phpBB, etc.).

And, yes, mobile support exists too. The chat app works well on mobile devices.

The discount

ArrowChat is offering a 10% discount for all WRD readers who use the coupon code "WRDREADERS" and this is only available when checking out with credit/debit card.

P.S. The coupon code is valid until 31 October 2012.

Balloons.IO is a very impressive and open source chat application that is built with node.js, Express, Socket.IO and Redis.

It has support for multiple rooms where users can join any of them, chat with other users and send files to each other.

Also, there is an option for users to create their own rooms and set their statuses (available, away, busy)

The application is simple-yet-solid and requires users to login with their Twitter accounts (which is good to keep the quality "up" but can be limiting). It also automatically fetches the avatar and uses is with every message of each user.

ArrowChat is a jQuery-powered, PHP/MySQL (or MSSQL) application for quickly adding chat support to any website so that visitors/members can easily communicate with each other.

The application features a Facebook-like chat system which sits in the footer of websites, presents the online users and allows them to chat instantly.

Users can choose to chat in private or inside full-featured chatrooms (which can be password-protected with moderators, kicking, etc.). And, they are instantly notified about new messages or friend requests.

ArrowChat also has video chat which is Flash-based and works smoothly. This is specially great for social networking websites.

It has a set of integrated applications from games to social sharing or instant web page translation to offer more features to users.

The application is also great for sending announcements as they are sent in real-time and you feel sure that each user logging in sees them.

Managing the application is easy for both the end users and the system admin as users get an options panel to customize everything and admins have an admin panel to control each and every feature.

It is possible to customize the look and feel of the application with theming support and also customize/improve the functionality as ArrowChat is fully open sourced.

And, best of all, ArrowChat has integrations for many popular apps including forum softwares, social networking softwares and others like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. Once installed, the system works with existing users, avatars and profiles.

P.S. The system works with all major browsers including mobile.

The discount

ArrowChat provides 10% discount to all WRD readers who use the coupon code "WRD" (the coupon will expire on 5/31/2012 and Credit/Debit Card must be selected at checkout to use the code -PayPal can still be used with this method-).

How to join the giveaway?

ArrowChat is giving away 3 KickStarter Licenses ($45/each) to WRD readers.

If you want to join the giveaway, you can choose one of the methods below or do both to increase your chances:

• comment to this post
• tweet this post (click to tweet easily)

Winners will be selected randomly on 12 April 2012 (1 week later). Good luck to all.

The winners

Here are the winners:

• @ian_chan
• Jason (comment #557436)
• k19s (comment #553902)

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for joining.

There are many ways a website owner can choose to communicate with visitors: e-mail, contact forms, forums are the widely used ones.

ClickDesk is a live-help application that enables website owners to be in contact with visitors much tighter.

They are giving away 5*annual Lite Plans/1 agent ($120/each) to WRD readers and details of joining the giveaway can be found at the bottom of this post.

What is ClickDesk?

It is a hosted live chat system where visitors can see the online status of the website operator, choose to chat with them if online or leave a message to be contacted later if the operator is offline.

A very nice feature for customers looking for a more personal touch is the ability to make voice calls directly from the browser with a built-in browser-phone app.

ClickDesk also provides global access number in 40+ countries where they can reach you free of cost.

All these great functions (chat and VOIP) are integrated with your favorite IM application (Google Talk or Skype) which also make it possible to keep in contact with your visitors from mobile phones.

The chat can also be initiated automatically/proactively once you think the visitors needs a hand (on using your service, choosing the right pricing plan, etc.).

Once a chat is initiated, the application collects any useful information about the visitor (like chat history, browser and details, country..) that can empower the operator in helping the visitor.

Operators can chat with multiple users at the same time and/or choose to transfer chats to other operators.

Each ClickDesk account can have unlimited departments and the same account can be used in any number of domains.

It is a plug 'n' play service, just insert a few lines of JavaScript code to your website for activating the widget (whose design can be customized) and that's all. For Magento, OsCommerce, WordPress and Joomla users, plugins exist for an easier installation.

The application works as a social bar with the display of social services like Facebook or Twitter.

And, integrations exist for 3rd party services like SalesForce, Zoho, SugarCRM, Zendesk and WHMCS.

How to join the giveaway?

In order to get a chance to win one of the 5*annual Lite Plans/1 agent, you can do one (or both to increase the chances) of the following:

• tweet: "Just joined the @2desk ClickDesk giveaway at WebResourcesDepot – http://bit.ly/w3YQ5a" RT to join & win annual accounts #contest  (click to tweet quickly)
• comment to this post

Winners will be selected and announced on 23 Jan 2012 and good luck to all.

And the winners

Here are the lucky commenters for the giveaway

• Olivier (comment #497548)
• Livne (comment #497637)
• Kevin (comment #494805)
• @asacarter
• @uiliw

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for joining.

CometChat, a powerful chat application for websites (which was previously shared at WRD), has recently released the 4th version with new features and giving away 4 licences (3 Basic and 1 Pro) to WRD readers to celebrate the event.

In order to join the giveaway, please make sure you check the details at the bottom of this post.

What is CometChat?

It is a PHP-MySQL (or MSSQL) powered application that enables users of a website to easily communicate with each other and interact with the website.

CometChat sits in the footer of a website and supports both text (including group chat) + video/voice chat. It also allows file transfers, screensharing and, with the most recent version, the ability to chat with Gtalk and Facebook friends.

This is an exciting feature as it helps "the activity of users to grow" by keeping them on the website more.

The application also offers more than chat:

• it has 100+ built-in games -including multiplayer ones-
• users can write or draw together on whiteboards or writeboards
• it is possible to publish announcements
• integrates Facebook fan page and displays Twitter activities
• works as a social share widget

There are integrations with many other popular softwares (like JomSocial, vBulletin, SocialEngine, Invision Power Board, phpFox, Boonex Dolphin, BuddyPress, phpBB, WordPress, SkaDate, Elgg and more) exist.

With the new version, there is now a mobile web interface which works in all major devices/platforms.

CometChat can be completely customized to better with the style of any website and it can be controlled very easily with the help of a powerful admin panel with settings for everything.

The discount

CometChat is offering a 10% discount to all Professional Edition or higher purchases until 1st of November with the coupon code: "WRD10OFF" (without quotes).

How to join the giveaway?

CometChat is giving away 1 Pro and 3 Basic licenses to WRD readers. In order to join the giveaway, just comment to this post and the random query below will be choosing the winners:

SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_id=2537 AND comment_approved=1 AND comment_type='' GROUP BY comment_author_email ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 4

Winners will be announced 1 week later (1 November 2011) as an update to this post. Good luck.

The winners

Here are the winners of CometChat licenses:

• Derek (comment #422062) – Pro license
• NiK Makovka (comment #417901) – Basic License
• MasterChowl (comment #418049) – Basic License
• Dennis (comment #418259) – Basic License

Congratulations and thanks very much for joining.