chat_messenger
Introduction
Chat Messenger is a Drupal module that adds a complete real-time messaging system to your website. Instead of providing only a basic private messaging form, it delivers a modern chat experience with one-to-one conversations, group chats, live message delivery, typing indicators, emoji reactions, presence status, profile pictures, and file sharing—all built directly on Drupal core.
The module requires no separate chat server, WebSocket service, or Node.js installation. Everything runs on a standard Drupal stack, making it easy to install and deploy while providing a fast and familiar messaging experience for your users.
Project Summary
Add a complete real-time chat system to Drupal with private and group messaging, live updates, emoji reactions, presence status, attachments, and read receipts.
Features
Chat Messenger brings a modern real-time messaging experience directly into your Drupal website.
- One-to-one private conversations between site users.
- Create and manage group conversations.
- Floating chat button available throughout the website.
- Live message delivery without refreshing the page.
- Typing indicators while another user is composing a message.
- Delivered and read receipts.
- Unread message badges that update automatically.
- Emoji picker for composing messages.
- Emoji reactions on individual messages.
- Presence status with Available, Busy, and Away options.
- Uses Drupal user profile pictures as chat avatars.
- Supports image and file attachments with configurable limits.
- Clear chat option that hides conversation history only for the current user.
Real-time messaging
Messages appear automatically while conversations are open without requiring users to refresh the page.
- Instant message updates.
- Typing indicators.
- Delivered and read receipts.
- Live unread message counts.
- Real-time emoji reactions.
User presence
Users can see each other's availability while chatting.
- Automatic online/offline detection.
- Custom presence status.
- Available.
- Busy.
- Away.
Profile pictures and attachments
- Uses Drupal's existing user picture field.
- Automatically generates initial-based avatars when no profile picture exists.
- Supports image and file attachments.
- Configurable upload size and allowed file types.
- Private file storage for uploaded attachments.
Typical use cases
- Community websites.
- Membership portals.
- Educational platforms.
- Corporate intranets.
- Customer collaboration portals.
- Volunteer organizations.
- Social networking websites.
Post-Installation
After installing the module:
- Enable the Chat Messenger module.
- Grant the appropriate chat permissions to user roles.
- Users will automatically see the floating chat button while browsing the website.
- Clicking the chat button displays available users and existing conversations.
- Start a private conversation or create a new group chat.
No additional services, WebSocket servers, or external messaging infrastructure are required.
Additional Requirements
- Drupal core User module.
- Drupal core File module.
- Drupal core Image module.
No external chat server, WebSocket server, Node.js service, Redis, or third-party messaging platform is required.
Recommended modules/libraries
No additional modules or third-party libraries are required.
For the best experience, configure user profile pictures and the private file system for secure attachment storage.
Similar projects
Drupal offers messaging modules such as Private Message for user-to-user communication.
Chat Messenger focuses on providing:
- A modern chat interface.
- Floating chat access from every page.
- Real-time messaging using long polling.
- Typing indicators.
- Delivered and read receipts.
- Emoji reactions.
- User presence status.
- Group conversations.
- No WebSocket or Node.js server requirements.
Supporting this Module
Bug reports, feature requests, patches, and documentation improvements are welcome through the Drupal.org issue queue.
Community contributions, testing, and feedback help improve the module for everyone.
Community Documentation
See the module README for installation instructions, configuration, permissions, performance tuning, and usage examples.
Community-contributed tutorials, videos, and demonstrations are always welcome.