More chat idea

Or if you have IRC client installed then just click here

Here's how the online list would work:

A small application would run on the MoS server and stay permanently connected to the IRC channel. A PHP script (or snippet) could be added into vBulletin to query this application for a list of users each time a MoS page is viewed.

The reason for the seperate app is that otherwise the PHP snippet would have to login to the IRC channel each time a page was viewed. This would cause horrendous spamming of the channel, which would make it unusable.

Techy information.. if it's possible (and wanted), I'll do it.

Actually, it turns out I should have done my research first. The IRC protocol allows for a nickname list query without actually joining the channel, so the solution can be purely PHP. Gimme a day or two, and I'll set up a demo.

Turns out the query won't actually work without being in the channel.. so, I've written a program to sit in the channel and provide a webservice to list the users. A PHP snippet comes with it, and is very small and simple.

Only one thing - the program is Windows based, and the MoS server isn't. Do you guys have an alternative Windows server the program could be put on?