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=========================================
Quickstart (to get a demo up and running)
=========================================
When you download a specific release of *Converse.js* there will be two minified files inside the zip file.
* converse.min.js
* converse.min.css
You can include these two files inside the ** element of your website via the *script* and *link*
tags:
::
You need to initialize Converse.js with configuration settings particular to
your requirements.
Please refer to the `Configuration variables`_ section further below for info on
all the available configuration settings.
To do this, put the following inline Javascript code at the
bottom of your page (after the closing ** element).
::
require(['converse'], function (converse) {
converse.initialize({
auto_list_rooms: false,
auto_subscribe: false,
bosh_service_url: 'https://bind.opkode.im', // Please use this connection manager only for testing purposes
hide_muc_server: false,
i18n: locales.en, // Refer to ./locale/locales.js to see which locales are supported
prebind: false,
show_controlbox_by_default: true,
xhr_user_search: false
});
});
Finally, Converse.js requires a special snippet of HTML markup to be included in your page:
::
The `index.html `_ file inside the
Converse.js repository serves as a nice usable example of this.
These minified files provide the same demo-like functionality as is available
on the `conversejs.org `_ website. Useful for testing or demoing, but not very
practical.
You'll most likely want to implement some kind of single-signon solution for
your website, where users authenticate once in your website and then stay
logged into their XMPP session upon page reload.
For more info on this, read: `Prebinding and Single Session Support`_.
You might also want to have more fine-grained control of what gets included in
the minified Javascript file. Read `Configuration`_ and `Minification`_ for more info on how to do
that.
============
Introduction
============
Even though you can connect to public XMPP servers on the `conversejs.org`_
website, *Converse.js* is not really meant to be a "Software-as-a-service" (SaaS)
webchat.
Instead, its goal is to provide the means for website owners to add a tightly
integrated instant messaging service to their own sites.
As a website owner, you are expected to host *Converse.js* yourself, and to do some legwork to
properly configure and integrate it into your site.
The benefit in doing this, is that your users have a much more streamlined and integrated
webchat experience and that you have control over the data. The latter being a
requirement for many sites dealing with sensitive information.
You'll need to set up your own XMPP server and in order to have
`Session Support`_ (i.e. single-signon functionality whereby users are authenticated once and stay
logged in to XMPP upon page reload) you will also have to add some server-side
code.
The `What you will need`_ section has more information on all these
requirements.
==================
What you will need
==================
An XMPP/Jabber server
=====================
*Converse.js* implements `XMPP`_ as its messaging protocol, and therefore needs
to connect to an XMPP/Jabber server (Jabber is really just a synonym for XMPP).
You can connect to public XMPP servers like ``jabber.org`` but if you want to
have `Session Support`_ you'll have to set up your own XMPP server.
You can find a list of public XMPP servers/providers on `xmpp.net`_ and a list of
servers that you can set up yourself on `xmpp.org`_.
Connection Manager
==================
Your website and *Converse.js* use `HTTP`_ as protocol to communicate with
the webserver. HTTP connections are stateless and usually shortlived.
`XMPP`_ on the other hand, is the protocol that enables instant messaging, and
its connections are stateful and usually longer.
To enable a web application like *Converse.js* to communicate with an XMPP
server, we need a proxy in the middle that can act as a bridge between the two
protocols.
This is the job of a connection manager. A connection manager can be either a
standalone application or part of an XMPP server. `ejabberd`_ for example,
includes a connection manager (but you have to enable it).
The demo on the `Converse.js homepage`_ uses a a connection manager located at https://bind.opkode.im.
This connection manager is for testing purposes only, please don't use it in
production.
Overcoming cross-domain request restrictions
--------------------------------------------
The domain of the *Converse.js* demo is *conversejs.org*, but the domain of the connection manager is *opkode.im*.
HTTP requests are made by *Converse.js* to the connection manager via XmlHttpRequests (XHR).
Until recently, it was not possible to make such requests to a different domain
than the one currently being served (to prevent XSS attacks).
Luckily there is now a standard called `CORS`_ (Cross-origin resource sharing), which enables exactly that.
Modern browsers support CORS, but there are problems with Internet Explorer <
10.
IE 8 and 9 partially support CORS via a proprietary implementation called
XDomainRequest. There is a `Strophe.js plugin`_ which you can use to enable
support for XDomainRequest when it is present.
In IE < 8, there is no support for CORS.
Instead of using CORS, you can add a reverse proxy in
Apache/Nginx which serves the connection manager under the same domain as your
website. This will remove the need for any cross-domain XHR support.
For example:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Assuming your site is accessible on port ``80`` for the domain ``mysite.com``
and your connection manager manager is running at ``someothersite.com/http-bind``.
The *bosh_service_url* value you want to give Converse.js to overcome
the cross-domain restriction is ``mysite.com/http-bind`` and not
``someothersite.com/http-bind``.
Your ``nginx`` or ``apache`` configuration will look as follows:
Nginx
~~~~~
::
http {
server {
listen 80
server_name mysite.com;
location ~ ^/http-bind/ {
proxy_pass http://someothersite.com;
}
}
}
Apache
~~~~~~
::
ServerName mysite.com
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^/http-bind(.*) http://someothersite.com/http-bind$1 [P,L]
Server-side authentication
==========================
.. _`Session Support`:
Prebinding and Single Session Support
-------------------------------------
It's possible to enable single-site login, whereby users already
authenticated in your website will also automatically be logged in on the chat server,
This session should also persist across page loads. In other words, we don't
want the user to have to give their chat credentials every time they reload the
page.
To do this you will require a `BOSH server `_
for converse.js to connect to (see the `bosh_service_url`_ under `Configuration variables`_)
as well as a BOSH client on your own server (written for example in Python, Ruby or PHP) that will
do the pre-authentication before the web page loads.
.. note::
A BOSH server acts as a bridge between HTTP, the protocol of the web, and
XMPP, the instant messaging protocol.
Converse.js can only communicate via HTTP, but we need to communicate with
an XMPP server in order to chat. So the BOSH server acts as a middle man,
translating our HTTP requests into XMPP stanzas and vice versa.
Jack Moffitt has a great `blogpost`_ about this and even provides an `example Django application`_ to demonstrate it.
When you authenticate to the XMPP server on your backend application (for
example via a BOSH client in Django), you'll receive two tokens, RID (request ID) and SID (session ID).
The **Session ID (SID)** is a unique identifier for the current *session*. This
number stays constant for the entire session.
The **Request ID (RID)** is a unique identifier for the current *request* (i.e.
page load). Each page load is a new request which requires a new unique RID.
The best way to achieve this is to simply increment the RID with each page
load.
When you initialize converse.js in your browser, you need to pass it these two
tokens. Converse.js will then use them to attach to the session you just
created.
You can embed the RID and SID tokens in your HTML markup or you can do an
XMLHttpRequest call to your server and ask it to return them for you.
Below is one example of how this could work. An Ajax call is made to the
relative URL **/prebind** and it expects to receive JSON data back.
::
$.getJSON('/prebind', function (data) {
converse.initialize({
prebind: true,
bosh_service_url: data.bosh_service_url,
jid: data.jid,
sid: data.sid,
rid: data.rid
});
);
**Here's what's happening:**
The JSON data returned from the Ajax call to example.com/prebind contains the user's JID (jabber ID), RID, SID and the URL to the
BOSH server (also called a *connection manager*).
These values are then passed to converse.js's ``initialize`` method.
.. note::
If you want to enable single session support, you need to set **prebind: true**
when calling **converse.initialize** (see ./index.html).
Additionally you need to pass in valid **jid**, **sid**, **rid** and
**bosh_service_url** values.
Example code for server-side prebinding
---------------------------------------
* PHP:
See `xmpp-prebind-php `_ by
Michael Weibel and the folks from Candy chat.
* Python:
See this `example Django application`_ by Jack Moffitt.
Setting up a BOSH server
------------------------
The `Movim `_ project wiki has a very thorough page on setting up a BOSH server for
a wide variety of standalone or XMPP servers.
http://wiki.movim.eu/manual:bosh_servers
Facebook integration
====================
.. Note ::
It should be possible to integrate Converse.js with Facebook chat, and
below I'll provide some tips and documentation on how to achieve this. That
said, I don't have a Facebook account and therefore haven't tried to do
this myself. Feedback and patches from people who have succesfully done this
will be appreciated.
Converse.js uses `Strophe.js `_ to connect and
communicate with the XMPP server. One nice thing about Strophe.js is that it
can be extended via `plugins `_.
Here is a `plugin for authenticating with facebook
`_.
You will need your own BOSH connection manager to act as a proxy between
Converse.js/Strophe.js and Facebook's XMPP server. That is because Facebook's
XMPP server doesn't support BOSH natively.
The BOSH connection manager that I make available for
testing purposes (at https://bind.opkode.im) uses `Punjab `_,
although there are quite a few other options available as well.
When you configure Converse.js, via its ``initialize`` method, you must specify the
`bosh_service_url`_ value, which is to be your BOSH connection manager.
Please note, to enable Facebook integration, you'll have to
get your hands dirty and modify Converse.js's code, so that it calls the
``facebookConnect`` method of the plugin above.
The plugin above gives the following code example for you to meditate upon:
::
connection = new Strophe.Connection("http://localhost:5280/bosh");
connection.facebookConnect(
"12345@chat.facebook.com",
onConnectFacebook,
300,
1,
'5e64a30272af065bd72258c565a03f2f',
'8147a27e4a7f9b55ffc85c2683f9529a',
FB.getSession().session_key
);
The connection is already created inside Converse.js, so the
``facebookConnect`` method needs to also be called from there.
If someone submits a sane patch that does the above, I'll be happy to merge it.
Until then, people will have to do this themselves.
========
Features
========
Off-the-record encryption
=========================
Converse.js supports `Off-the-record (OTR) `_
encrypted messaging.
The OTR protocol not only **encrypts your messages**, it provides ways to
**verify the identity** of the person you are talking to,
**plausible deniability** and **perfect forward secrecy** by generating
new encryption keys for each conversation.
In its current state, Javascript cryptography is fraught with dangers and
challenges that make it impossible to reach the same standard of security that
is available with native "desktop" software.
This is due to its runtime malleability, the way it is "installed" (e.g.
served) and the browser's lack of cryptographic primitives needed to implement
secure crypto.
For harsh but fairly valid criticism of Javascript cryptography, read:
`Javascript Cryptography Considered Harmful `_.
To get an idea on how this applies to OTR support in Converse.js, please read
`my thoughts on it `_.
For now, suffice to say that although its useful to have OTR support in
Converse.js in order to avoid most eavesdroppers, if you need serious
communications privacy, then you're much better off using native software.
===========
Development
===========
If you want to work with the non-minified Javascript and CSS files you'll soon
notice that there are references to a missing *components* folder. Please
follow the instructions below to create this folder and fetch Converse's
3rd-party dependencies.
Install Node.js and development dependencies
============================================
We use development tools (`Grunt `_ and `Bower `_)
which depend on Node.js and npm (the Node package manager).
If you don't have Node.js installed, you can download and install the latest
version `here `_.
Once you have Node.js installed, run the following command inside the Converse.js
directory:
::
npm install
This will install all the development dependencies for Converse.js. If you are
curious to know what these are, take a look at whats under the *devDependencies* key in
`package.json `_.
Install 3rd party dependencies
==============================
Make sure you have ``git`` installed. `Details `_.
After running ``npm install``, you will now have Grunt and Bower installed.
We use Bower to manage Converse's front-end dependencies (e.g. Javascript that
should get loaded in the browser).
To fetch these dependencies, run:
::
grunt fetch
If you don't have grunt installed globally, you need to specify the relative
path:
::
./node_modules/.bin/grunt fetch
This will call Bower in the background to fetch all the front-end
dependencies (like backbone.js, strophe.js etc.) and then put them in the
*components* folder.
With AMD and require.js (recommended)
=====================================
Converse.js uses `require.js `_ to asynchronously load dependencies.
If you want to develop or customize converse.js, you'll want to load the
non-minified javascript files.
Add the following two lines to the ** section of your webpage:
::
require.js will then let the main.js file be parsed (because of the *data-main*
attribute on the *script* tag), which will in turn cause converse.js to be
parsed.
Without AMD and require.js
==========================
Converse.js can also be used without require.js. If you for some reason prefer
to use it this way, please refer to
`non_amd.html `_
for an example of how and in what order all the Javascript files that converse.js
depends on need to be loaded.
Before submitting a pull request
================================
Add tests for your bugfix or feature
------------------------------------
Add a test for any bug fixed or feature added. We use Jasmine
for testing.
Take a look at ``tests.html`` and ``spec/MainSpec.js`` to see how
the tests are implemented.
If you are unsure how to write tests, please
`contact me `_ and I'll be happy to help.
Check that the tests pass
-------------------------
Check that the Jasmine tests complete sucessfully. Open
`tests.html `_
in your browser, and the tests will run automatically.
On the command line you can run:
::
grunt test
Check your code for errors or bad habits by running JSHint
----------------------------------------------------------
`JSHint `_ will do a static analysis of your code and hightlight potential errors
and/or bad habits.
::
grunt jshint
You can run both the tests and jshint in one go by calling:
::
grunt check
Minification
============
Minifying Javascript and CSS
----------------------------
Please make sure to read the section `Development`_ and that you have installed
all development dependencies (long story short, you can run ``npm install``
and then ``grunt fetch``).
We use `require.js`_ to keep track of *Converse.js* and its dependencies and to
to bundle them together in a single minified file fit for deployment to a
production site.
To minify the Javascript and CSS, run the following command:
::
grunt minify
Javascript will be bundled and minified with `require.js`_'s optimization tool,
using `almond `_.
You can `read more about require.js's optimizer here`_.
CSS is minified via `cssmin `_.
Translations
============
.. Note ::
Translations take up a lot of space and will bloat your minified file.
At the time of writing, all the translations add about 50KB of extra data to
the minified javascript file. Therefore, make sure to only
include those languages that you intend to support and remove from
./locale/locales.js those which you don't need. Remember to rebuild the
minified file afterwards.
The gettext POT file located in ./locale/converse.pot is the template
containing all translations and from which for each language an individual PO
file is generated.
The POT file contains all translateable strings extracted from converse.js.
To make a user facing string translateable, wrap it in the double underscore helper
function like so:
::
__('This string will be translated at runtime');
After adding the string, you'll need to regenerate the POT file, like so:
::
make pot
You can then create or update the PO file for a specific language by doing the following:
::
msgmerge ./locale/de/LC_MESSAGES/converse.po ./locale/converse.pot -U
To do this for ALL languages, run:
::
make merge
The resulting PO file is then what gets translated.
If you've created a new PO file, please make sure to add the following
attributes at the top of the file (under *Content-Transfer-Encoding*). They are
required as configuration settings for Jed, the Javascript translations library
that we're using.
::
"domain: converse\n"
"lang: de\n"
"plural_forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\n"
Unfortunately `Jed `_ cannot use the PO files directly. We have to generate from it
a file in JSON format and then put that in a .js file for the specific
language.
To generate JSON from a PO file, you'll need po2json for node.js. Run the
following command to install it (npm being the node.js package manager):
::
npm install po2json
You can then convert the translations into JSON format:
::
po2json locale/de/LC_MESSAGES/converse.po locale/de/LC_MESSAGES/converse.json
Now from converse.json paste the data as a value for the "locale_data" key in the
object in the language's .js file.
So, if you are for example translating into German (language code 'de'), you'll
create or update the file ./locale/LC_MESSAGES/de.js with the following code:
::
(function (root, factory) {
define("de", ['jed'], function () {
return factory(new Jed({
"domain": "converse",
"locale_data": {
// Paste the JSON data from converse.json here
}
})
}
}(this, function (i18n) {
return i18n;
}));
making sure to also paste the JSON data as value to the "locale_data" key.
.. Note ::
If you are adding translations for a new language that is not already supported,
you'll have to make one more edit in ./locale/locales.js to make sure the
language is loaded by require.js.
Congratulations, you've now succesfully added your translations. Sorry for all
those hoops you had to jump through.
===============
Troubleshooting
===============
Conflicts with other Javascript libraries
=========================================
Problem:
---------
You are using other Javascript libraries (like JQuery plugins), and
get errors like these in your browser console::
Uncaught TypeError: Object [object Object] has no method 'xxx' from example.js
Solution:
---------
First, find out which object is referred to by ``Object [object Object]``.
It will probably be the jQuery object ``$`` or perhaps the underscore.js object ``_``.
For the purpose of demonstration, I'm going to assume its ``$``, but the same
rules apply if its something else.
The bundled and minified default build of converse.js, ``converse.min.js``
includes within it all of converse.js's dependencies, which include for example *jQuery*.
If you are having conflicts where attributes or methods aren't available
on the jQuery object, you are probably loading ``converse.min.js`` (which
includes jQuery) as well as your own jQuery version separately.
What then happens is that there are two ``$`` objects (one from
converse.js and one from the jQuery version you included manually)
and only one of them has been extended to have the methods or attributes you require.
Which jQuery object you get depends on the order in which you load the libraries.
There are multiple ways to solve this issue.
Firstly, make sure whether you really need to include a separate version of
jQuery. Chances are that you don't. If you can remove the separate
version, your problem should be solved, as long as your libraries are loaded in
the right order.
Either case, whether you need to keep two versions or not, the solution depends
on whether you'll use require.js to manage your libraries or whether you'll
load them manually.
With require.js
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Instead of using ``converse.min.js``, manage all the libraries in your project
(i.e. converse.js and its dependencies plus all other libraries you use) as one
require.js project, making sure everything is loaded in the correct order.
Then, before deployment, you make your own custom minified build that bundles everything
you need.
With