RookChat / News: Recent posts

RookChat v4.0 has been released and is now available for download. There are many additions, changes, and fixes from v3.0. Most significantly, there are 9 new bots (for a total of 30), and the entire bot infrastructure was revamped to allow bots to be created and edited more easily.

Here is a list of changes since v3.0:

New:

- Macros. Users can set up macros, which are shortcuts for executing common
commands or sequences of commands.
- Two special, predefined aliases were added: @@, to refer to all users in
the room excluding yourself; @@@, to refer to all users in the room
including yourself. (For example: "/mod @@".)
- Added /voice and /unvoice commands to allow moderators of auto-quiet rooms
to specify exemptions. This allows specified users to come and go without
being autoquieted.
- Added /modnone, /modfirst, /modvoiced, and /modset commands, so that
greater control can be had over who gets [mod] permissions in user rooms.
This is particularly useful for permanent rooms (rooms with sticky topics)
set up by administrators, but it can also be helpful for non-permanent
rooms as well.
- /p now allows users to post literal strings to the chat. This is useful
in two ways:
- One, "/p /me is cool" actually posts "/me is cool" to the chat,
rather than executing the /me command.
- Two, if the drop-down box next to the "Post" button is set to something
other than "Public," use of the /p command allows you to post a
public message without changing the drop-down box.
- Added new rcconf.py parameters to let you set the background image in
various places.
- Added a new rcconf.py parameter that lets you change the color of non-idle
usernames in the user list.
- Special codes (e.g., "🌹" and "❤️") are case-insensitive now.
- Added a new option that lets users determine whether or not /purge should
remove sent memos from the message frame.
- Botched message detection is no longer tripped by certain recognized words.
Previously, starting a line with "memorize" or "Amsterdam" or "smuggle,"
for example, would trigger botched message detection.
- RookChat now italicizes your name in lists of memolist subscribers.
Additionally, if the subscriber list of a memolist is restricted, you at
least now get told if you are subscribed to it.... read more

RookChat v3.0 has been released and is now available for download. The additions and changes from v2.1 are extensive:

New in v3.0:

- New language setting: German.
- New language setting: English (Dialect - Pirate).
- Added message box coloring, so that the message box turns green or
orange when sending a private message or memo, respectively. The
intention is to provide a visual cue for someone intending to send a
public or private message but accidentally getting it wrong. An option
can be toggled to turn off message box coloring.
- Added a /clear command, which clears the message buffer and forces
the browsers of other users to reload. The intended use is for
administrators to erase private or sensitive information that was
posted to the chat room accidentally. (Caution: Transcripts are
unaffected, so anyone who might have been transcribing in the room
will have picked up lines prior to the buffer clearing in their
transcripts.)
- Added an /allow command, which works like /invite but doesn't send
the invitation message. The corresponding /disallow works exactly
like /uninvite.
- Added a /rollp command, which works like /roll but sends the result
privately to the user instead of posting it publicly
- Added a message saying when you have new memos to the lobby page.
- Expanded the message reported by /transcripts (also visible when you
enter a room) so that it notes when you have transcripts about to expire.
- Added new horsey smileys, completing the current collection.
- Special codes :spade:, ❤️, :diamond:, and :club: now translate
into correctly colored playing card suit characters.
- Modifiers were added to the /roll command, so now you can roll
things like: /roll 3d8+2
- Option to adjust how focus is forced to the text entry box. Fixes
some usability issues with certain browsers.
- Added "back" links to the password recovery pages.
- Added an extra line of text that is displayed when the owner account
is created, confirming this.
- The "elsewhere..." list now includes people who are idle in the current
room but active elsewhere.... read more

Version 2.1 of RookChat has been released. This version includes a new bot game (MatchBot), a new language (Norwegian), and supports more UNIX platforms than previously.

This is the same as v2.0 (see previous news item for details) but with an oversight corrected: the new bots, SnagBot and AcroBot, are now summonable by default by mods and admins.

If you have v2.0, you can make it v2.01 simply by adding these two bots to listed_bots at the end of config/perms.py.

RookChat v2.0 has been released and is available for download.

Notes for 2.0:

- RookChat v2.0 now supports the Windows platform in addition to the
UNIX platform. However, if you are running on Windows, you will need
to install the win32all package, which is available to download at
this URL: http://www.python.org/windows/win32all/
- After upgrading from 1.0, users' language options will revert to the
default. Users will have to reset this option after the upgrade.
- After upgrading from 1.0, users' botch detection options may not be
set to the correct values. Users will have to reset this option after
the upgrade.
- IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT ALL WEBMASTERS SEND OUT A BROADCASTMEMO
INFORMING THEM OF THE ABOVE CHANGES so that they can adjust their
option settings accordingly.... read more

RookChat v1.0 has been released. Also, the RookChat home page is open at http://www.rinkworks.com/rookchat/ where there is a demo and much documentation.

RookChat v0.17 (beta) is available for download from the CVS repository for this project. There are some minor outstanding issues, but all major functionality for the eventual 1.0 release has been written and currently in testing. The release of installable archives to this SourceForge page and the opening of the RookChat home page are not far away.

In the meantime, if you'd like to download the CVS tree and beta test RookChat, please feel free to do so. For now, send bug reports to the contact information located on http://www.rinkworks.com/rookchat/.... read more

"A few weeks" turned into a few months, but RookChat is at last in the final stages before its public beta release here on SourceForge. RookChat itself, plus three of the bots for it, are in the beta stage already. The remaining bots are all that's left to go. I would expect to have a beta release ready by early March.

The page you are now reading is open, as of yesterday. It won't see much action for a few weeks, as the initial development of RookChat will be done outside of SourceForge's CVS system until I get up to the alpha stage, which I hope will be sometime in October.