JauntyM Messenger
A modern, Facebook-Messenger-style private messaging experience for phpBB. It adds
a conversation list, threaded 1:1 chat with left/right bubbles, read receipts,
typing indicators, BBCode, member blocking, a floating chat bubble on every page,
and an ACP settings panel.
It is self-contained — it uses its own database tables and never touches
phpBB's native private-message inbox.
- Compatible with: phpBB 3.2.x and 3.3.x
- Requires: PHP 7.2+
- License: GPL-2.0-only
Features
- Conversation list — avatars, last-message snippet, unread badge, timestamps
- Member search to start a new chat, plus a client-side filter for your list
- Threaded 1:1 chat — left/right bubbles, newest at the bottom, load-older paging
- Read receipts — "Seen" + time on your latest message
- Typing indicators (polling-based)
- BBCode + smilies in messages, rendered through phpBB's own text engine
- Soft-delete your own messages
- Block / unblock members — works in both directions: no messages, no online status,
read receipts or typing indicators, and blocked members are hidden from search
- Hide conversation from your list
- Floating chat bubble in the bottom-right of every page, with a mini conversation
list, mini chat, and member search
- Hover-to-message button on usernames across the forum
- Deep links — open a specific conversation with
?c=<id> on the messenger page
- ACP settings — refresh interval, max message length, minimum search characters,
and toggles for BBCode, smilies, and typing indicators
Permissions
| Permission | Controls |
|---|
u_jauntym_messenger | Can use the messenger (view conversations and messages) |
u_jauntym_dm | Can start chats and send direct messages |
Both are available under ACP → Permissions and can be assigned per user or per group.
Installation
- Download the latest release, or clone this repository:
git clone https://github.com/JauntyMYT/messenger.git ext/jauntym/messenger
The extension must live at ext/jauntym/messenger/ inside your board.
- Go to ACP → Customise → Manage extensions and Enable JauntyM Messenger.
This creates the tables, config defaults, permissions, and the ACP module.
- A Messages link appears in the header navigation for members who hold the
u_jauntym_messenger permission.
- Tune behaviour at ACP → Extensions → JauntyM Messenger → Messenger settings.
Refresh model
New messages, read receipts, and typing status update on a polling interval
(default 15s, configurable down to 5s), plus a refresh when the browser window
regains focus. True push (WebSockets / SSE) is intentionally not used, as it
requires a persistent server process that typical shared hosting cannot run.
Security
- Message bodies are processed by phpBB's text engine (
generate_text_for_display),
which handles escaping, BBCode, smilies, and censor words.
- Every action that changes data is POST-only and protected by a phpBB CSRF link hash,
plus ACL checks.
- Conversation membership and block state are verified server-side on every action.
- Member search excludes anyone in a block relationship with you.
- Online status and "last seen" follow phpBB core rules: members who hide their online
status are shown as offline unless the viewer has the "Can view hidden online users"
permission, and no one is shown as online when the board has online tracking switched off.
Support
License
This extension is free software, licensed under the
GNU General Public License, version 2 (GPL-2.0-only).
