Live Chat Libre 2.0, live video and audio chat, attachments, mobile interfaces, and much more

We have released Live Chat Libre 2.0.

This release includes many new features such as:

• New live video and audio chat.
• Create your own video broadcasts.
• Create your own video conference.
• Now send images, media, and files in chat.
• New mobile web interface.
• Thumbs up/down/star rating of channels and content.
• New bot, avatar, and script library features.

Video Chat

LIVE CHAT libre now on Android

You can now create, access, and chat on your live chat channels from your Android phone or device.

The LIVE CHAT libre! app can be downloaded from Google Play, here, or search for livechatlibre on Google Play from your Android phone or device.

Sign In Sign In, or chat anonymously. Your sign in is remembered until you sign out, so you only need to sign in once.
Browse Browse public channels, or your own personal channels. Browse allows filtering and sorting of channels, and remembers the last bot you accessed.
Chat Chat live directly from your phone or device.
Forums, Bots, and Domains The LIVE CHAT libre app also provides forums, chat bots, and lets you create your own personal domain.

You can also access any channels your create from the Android app from the web interface. The web interface allows additional administrative features for configuring your channel.

The LIVE CHAT libre SDK

The LIVE CHAT libre SDK is a Software Development Kit that makes it simple to add live chat to your own mobile application or website.

The SDK currently provides two components. The first is a Java Connection API that makes it easy to access LIVE CHAT libre from a Java environment such as Android, or a Java web server. The second component is a set of Android activities that you can add to your own Android app, or copy/customize in your own app.

The SDK is developed under Project Libre an open source project hosted on GitHub
https://github.com/paphus/Project-Libre

Connection API

You can create a connection to the LIVE CHAT libre server using the SDKConnection class. You need to pass your connection Credentials, which includes your application ID. You can obtain an application from the LIVE CHAT libre website, from your user details page.

SDKConnection connection =
        new SDKConnection(new LIVECHATlibreCredential("12345");

The SDK includes a set of data objects that represent the LIVE CHAT libre object model.
The data objects are in the com.paphus.sdk.config package, and include the following,

• UserConfig - Defines a user's credentials and info.
• BrowseConfig - Defines a search query criteria.
• ChannelConfig - Defines a live chat channel's details.
• InstanceConfig - Defines a bot's details.
• ForumConfig - Defines a forum's details.
• ForumPostConfig - Defines a forum post.
• DomainConfig - Defines a domain's details.
• ChatConfig - Input for chat bot messaging.
• VoiceConfig - Defines a chat bot's voice.
• ChatResponse - Response for chat bot messaging.
• ContentConfig - Defines a tag/category request.

Users

The API allows you to connect a user, or create a new user.

Use the connect() API to connect a user, the user's details will be returned, or an error message if the connect fails. The returned user details will not include the password, but will include a token, that can be used in place of the password. After connecting a connection, all subsequent requests will use the user credentials, until you call disconnect().

UserConfig user = new UserConfig();
user.user = "test";
user.password = "password";
user = connection.connect(user);

Use the create() API to create a new user. A user id and password are required. You can also pass the user's name, email, bio, and other details. The user details are returned, with a token in place of the password.

UserConfig user = new UserConfig();
user.user = "test";
user.password = "password";
user.name = "Test Account";
user.email = "test@test.com";
user = connection.create(user);

Live Chat

The API allows you to browse channels, and get channel details.

The browse() API is used to browse or search the set of channels in the domain.

BrowseConfig browse = new BrowseConfig();
browse.type = "Channel";
browse.typeFilter= "Public";
browse.tag= "cool";
browse.sort = "name";
List channels = connection.browse(browse);

The fetch() API is used to get a channel's details.

ChannelConfig channel = new ChannelConfig();
channel.id = "12345";
channel = connection.fetch(channel);

The LiveChatConnection class is used to chat in a channel. It can be created using the openLiveChat() API on the SDKConnection class. You must pass the ChannelConfig with its id set, and an implementation of LiveChatListener that will receive the chat messages. Once you have a connection established, you can send and receive messages.

ChannelConfig channel = new ChannelConfig();
channel.id = "12345";
LiveChatConnection livechat = connection.openLiveChat(channel, myListener);
livechat.sendMessage("Hello World");

Android Activities

The SDK includes a set of Android activities you can reuse, or modify in your own app. The MainActivity contains the SDKConnection and some shared data, so you will need to include it even if not using the activity. The live chat activities include, ChooseChannelActivity, ChannelActivity, ChannelBrowseActivity, and LiveChatActivity.

Here is an example of launching a ChannelActivity.

MainActivity.current = new MainActivity();
ChannelConfig config = new ChannelConfig();
config.id = "12345";
HttpAction action = new HttpFetchAction(this, config);
action.execute();

Note, because of the way Android does its packaging, you will need to search/replace the "com.paphus.sdk.activity.R" import with your own application's unique package. This will resolve the generated R class dependencies.

You can use the SDK to access any of LIVE CHAT libre's services, for personal, academic, or commercial applications. You cannot use them for spam, or to violate the LIVE CHAT libre terms of service. LIVE CHAT libre's services are also provided as a commercial service on Paphus Live Chat.

The LIVE CHAT libre web API

In addition to being able to embed your live chat channel on your own website, and access them from any Android device, you can also access your channel through the LIVE CHAT libre web API. The web API gives you the advantage of having complete control of your channel's client interface.

You can use the web API to access your channel from your own website through JavaScript, PHP or any other language. You can also use the web API to create your own mobile application to access your channel, such as an Android or iOS application.

A web API, is a set of HTTP GET/POST URI's that allow sending and receiving of message data. When you browse a website, your browser makes a series of HTTP GET/POST requests to URIs that return HTML content. In a web service the URIs return XML or JSON data, instead of HTML content.

The LIVE CHAT libre web API consists of two parts, a REST API with XML message content, and a web sockets API for distributed communication. The REST API takes HTTP POST XML data, and returns XML data.

HTTP XML POST API

• http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/create-user
• http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-user
• http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/get-channels
• http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-channel

create-user

The create-user API creates a new user, and returns the user's details.

URI: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/create-user
Parameters: application, user, password, hint, name, showName, email, website, bio

XML POST Example

POST: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/create-user <user application="12345" user="test" password="password"/>

check-user

The check-user API validates a user, and returns the user's details.

URI: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-user
Parameters: application, user, password, token

Parameters

application	REQUIRED: The application ID. You can obtain an application ID from your user details page on the LIVE CHAT libre website.
user	REQUIRED: The ID of the user.
password	REQUIRED: The password of the user. A token can also be used.
token	REQUIRED: The token of the user. A token can be obtained through check-user, and is valid until reset.

XML POST Example

POST: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-user <user application="12345" user="test" password="password"/>

get-channels

The get-channels API queries the details for all channels matching the criteria.

URI: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/get-channels
Parameters: application, user, password, token, type, tag, category, sort, typeFilter, filter.

XML POST Example

POST: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/get-channels <browse tag="fun" filter="hockey" sort="posts"/>

check-channel

The check-channel API validates that a channel ID or name exists, and returns the channel's details.

URI: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-channel
Parameters: application, user, password, token, id, name

Parameters

application	REQUIRED: The application ID.
user	OPTIONAL: The ID of the user. The user must be registered with FORUMS libre. If not passed the user will be anonymous. The user is required if the forum is private.
password	OPTIONAL: The password of the user. A token can also be used.
token	OPTIONAL: The token of the user. A token can be obtained through check-user, and is valid until reset.
id	REQUIRED: The ID of the channel to validate. The channel's name can also be used, but the ID is better as it is guaranteed to be unique.
name	REQUIRED: The name of the channel to validate. The channel's ID can also be used.

XML POST Example

POST: http://www.livechatlibre.com/rest/livechatlibre/check-channel <channel application="12345" id="165"/>

Web Socket API

The web socket API uses web sockets to communicate with the LIVE CHAT libre server. Most web browsers support web sockets from JavaScript, you can also get free open source web socket implementations for most programming languages, and mobile platforms.

Here is some example web socket code using JavaScript in a web browser. It assumes an HTTP connection has already been made to the LIVE CHAT libre server. If you have not connected to a channel through a web session, you can still establish a connection. Once you establish a connection, you will need to send a text message to connect to a channel of the form "connect channel-id user password application-id".

<script type="application/javascript"> var Chat = {}; Chat.playChime = false; Chat.keepAlive = null; Chat.socket = null; Chat.connect = (function(host) { if ('WebSocket' in window) { Chat.socket = new WebSocket(host); } else if ('MozWebSocket' in window) { Chat.socket = new MozWebSocket(host); } else { Console.log('Error: WebSocket is not supported by this browser.'); return; } Chat.socket.onopen = function () { Console.message('Info: Connection opened.'); document.getElementById('chat').onkeydown = function(event) { if (event.keyCode == 13) { Chat.sendMessage(); } }; document.getElementById('send').onclick = function(event) { Chat.sendMessage(); }; }; Chat.socket.onclose = function () { document.getElementById('chat').onkeydown = null; Console.message('Info: Connection closed.'); }; Chat.socket.onmessage = function (message) { Console.message(message.data); if (Chat.playChime && !(message.data == 'Info: pong')) { Chat.chime(); } }; }); Chat.initialize = function() { if (window.location.protocol == 'http:') { Chat.connect('ws://www.livechatlibre.com/live/chat'); } else { Chat.connect('wss://www.livechatlibre.com/live/chat'); } }; Chat.toggleChime = function toggleChime() { Chat.playChime = !Chat.playChime; } Chat.toggleKeepAlive = function toggleKeepAlive() { if (Chat.keepAlive != null) { clearInterval(Chat.keepAlive); Chat.keepAlive = null; } else { Chat.keepAlive = setInterval(function() {Chat.ping()}, 600000); } Chat.keepAlive = !Chat.keepAlive; } Chat.chime = function chime() { var sound = document.getElementById('chime'); sound.play(); } Chat.sendMessage = (function() { var message = document.getElementById('chat').value; if (message != '') { Chat.socket.send(message); document.getElementById('chat').value = ''; } return false; }); Chat.ping = (function() { Chat.socket.send("ping"); document.getElementById('chat').value = ''; return false; }); Chat.accept = (function() { Chat.socket.send("accept"); document.getElementById('chat').value = ''; return false; }); Chat.exit = (function() { Chat.socket.send("exit"); document.getElementById('chat').value = ''; return false; }); Chat.boot = (function() { document.getElementById('chat').value = 'boot: user'; return false; }); Chat.whisper = (function() { document.getElementById('chat').value = 'whisper: user: message'; return false; }); Chat.pvt = (function() { document.getElementById('chat').value = 'private: user'; return false; }); Chat.clear = (function() { document.getElementById('response').innerHTML = ''; document.getElementById('console').innerHTML = ''; return false; }); var Console = {}; Console.switchText = true; Console.message = (function(message) { if (message == "Info: pong") { document.getElementById('response').innerHTML = message; return; } var index = message.indexOf(':'); var speaker = ''; if (index != -1) { speaker = message.substring(0, index + 1); response = message.substring(index + 1, message.length); } if (speaker == "Online-xml:") { var onlineList = document.getElementById('online'); if (onlineList.hasChildNodes()) { onlineList.removeChild(onlineList.firstChild); } onlineList.innerHTML = response; } else if (speaker == "Online:") { // Ignore. } else { document.getElementById('response').innerHTML = message; var scroller = document.getElementById('scroller'); var console = document.getElementById('console'); var tr = document.createElement('tr'); var td = document.createElement('td'); var tr2 = document.createElement('tr'); var td2 = document.createElement('td'); var span = document.createElement('span'); var span2 = document.createElement('span'); var chatClass = 'chat-1'; if (Console.switchText) { chatClass = 'chat-2'; } span.className = chatClass; span.innerHTML = speaker; span2.className = chatClass; span2.innerHTML = response; td.setAttribute('nowrap', 'nowrap'); td2.className = chatClass; td2.setAttribute('align', 'left'); td2.setAttribute('width', '100%'); console.appendChild(tr); tr.appendChild(td); td.appendChild(span); tr.appendChild(td2); td2.appendChild(span2); Console.switchText = !Console.switchText; while (console.childNodes.length > 25) { console.removeChild(console.firstChild); } scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight; } }); Chat.initialize(); </script>

So, that is the basic web API. You can now build your own interface for your channel. You can use the API on your own website, or in your own mobile application.

Embedding your live chat channel on your own website or blog

You are free to embed the live chat channels your create on your own website or blog. It is quite easy to embed a channel, and only takes a few lines of HTML code. You can embed a channel to provide help or service for your website, or to connect with people on your blog.

The embedding HTML code can be copied from your channel's Embed page under Admin.

The simplest solution is to embed a channel inside your webpage using an iframe. Here is some simple code to embed the LIVE CHAT libre chat room in an iframe.

Code to embed a channel in a iframe

<iframe src="http://www.livechatlibre.com/livechat?embedded=true&id=7954&chat=true&background=fff" width="550" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto"></iframe>

The embed tab provides 5 different embedding options. You just need to select the embed option and click "Get Code" to see the results. You can also make up your own option using your own code, or modifying the generated code.

Another option is to put a button or link on your website that open the channel in another window. This can be done using a little Java Script code.

Code to popup live chat in a window

<script> function popupwindow(url, title, w, h) { var left = (screen.width/2)-(w/2); var top = 100; window.open(url, title, 'scrollbars=yes, resizable=yes, toolbar=no, location=no, directories=no, status=no, menubar=no, copyhistory=no, width='+w+', height='+h+', top='+top+', left='+left); return false; } </script> <form onsubmit="popupwindow('http://www.livechatlibre.com/livechat?embedded=true&id=7954&chat=true&background=fff', 'child', 700, 500); return false;"> <input style="color:#d5d5d5;background-color:#009900;cursor: pointer;font: 13px/30px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;height: 40px;border: 0;margin: 10px 10px 0 0;font-weight:bold;" type="submit" name="chat" value="Chat Now"> </form>

This code will produce the following:

So that's it, you should now be able to embed your channel on your website or blog.

Create your own live chat channel in under 10 clicks

LIVE CHAT libre provides free hosted live chat channels, chat rooms, and forums. You can create your own live chat channel, chat room, or forum and link or embed it on your own website or blog.

The Browse page lets your browse the live chat channel categories and shows the featured channels. There are public and private channels. A public channel can be accessed by anyone, a private channel can only be accessed by the user who created it and the users they grant access to. You can administer your channel users from the Admin page. You can also add an automated chat bot agent to monitor, or service your channel from the Admin page.

Live chat channels can be configured in two different modes, One On One, and Chat Room.

Live Chat

One On One is an online call center style configuration where users only get to chat with an operator. When a user connects they are queued for the next available operator. When an operator or administrator connects they can see the connected users, and can chat with the other operators. They can accept the first user in the queue, or can 'private' a specific user.

Chat Room

Chat Room is a channel where all users can see and chat with all other connected users. Users can also private other users to engage in a private one on one chat session. Administrators also have the option of booting users.

Chat Bots

Both type of channels can be configured with an automated chat bot agent. The bot will service the channel and chat with the users. For a One On One channel, the user is free to chat with the bot at anytime, such as when all operators are busy, or no operators are online. Adding a chat bot to your channel can help you reduce your call center staffing requirements, and improve your customer response time. Chat bots work 24x7, so you can still service your online call center when no operators are available.

For a Chat Room the chat bot will take part in the discussion. In Chat Room mode, the chat bots are configured to only answer questions that they know the answer to, or that are directed to them. Users can private the chat bot like any other user, and administrators can boot the bot if they choose.

The channel bot is configured from the Admin page. You can select any of the bots that you have created, or create a new bot. You can monitor and administer the bot the same as any of your bots. The bot can be configured in two modes.

• Listen Only - The bot will only monitor the channel conversation, and will learn responses from the operators or users. This is a good way to train your bot.
• Answer and Listen - The bot will both answer questions, and learn from operators and users.

You can access your live chat channels embedded link from its channel page. You can use this link to embed your channel on your own website, or blog. You are free to use all of LIVE CHAT libre's services for free, for personal, academic, or commercial purposes. Professional hosting is also offered for all of LIVE CHAT libre's services through Paphus Solutions Inc.

Alive and Kicking

The LIVE CHAT libre! website is now online.

We will be kicking our tires testing our servers over the next couple of weeks before our official site launch. Feel free to try it out, create your own live chat channel, and test things out. Please email support@livechatlibre.com with any issues you encounter.

LIVE CHAT libre allows you to create your own live chat channels, chat rooms, and forums. You are free to use this website, and create your own channels for personal, commercial, or recreation usages.

LIVE CHAT libre is a website produced and hosted by Paphus Solutions Inc.