Frequently asked questions

Installation and upgrade

How could I install Mibew Messenger?
You should follow the instructions in the README file that comes along with all our official distribution packages.
How could I set up the cron job for Mibew Messenger 2.0.0 and higher?
As it is written in the README file, you should set up an automated process to visit the special page with URL that looks like http://example.com/cron?cron_key=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef (The exact URL could be seen on the General tab of the Settings page. 

There are multiple ways to do so. For example on *nix systems one can use the crontab utility and the wget command. The following crontab line executes the job for Mibew Messenger each hour, on the hour:

0 * * * * wget -O - -q -t 1 http://example.com/cron?cron_key=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
How could I upgrade Mibew Messenger?
You should follow the instructions in the README file that comes along with all our official distribution packages.
Can I upgrade from release 1.6.X to release 1.6.Z without intermediate upgrade to release 1.6.Y (provided that X < Y < Z)?
Yes, you can unless otherwise is explicitly noted in the release description.
Is it possible to use Mibew Messenger with nginx as frontend?
Yes, it’s possible. One should understand that it’s not official solution, but the only tricky thing here is that Mibew Messenger dynamically generate some files that has “static” extensions, namely locales/XX/translation.js. So, in the section of nginx configuration for static files one should use the appropriate directive. It could be either

try_files $uri @fallback

or

error_page 404 = @fallback

where @fallback is the destination for your Mibew Messenger application served by Apache or PHP in FastCGI mode.

Troubleshooting

What should I do to go online?
Operator is online while he stays on the Visitors page. There could be connection issues, thus we use the online time threshold to determine if the operator is online. If the server has “seen” an operator in the last 30 seconds (the default value), the operator is considered to be online. 

5 seconds are ok if operators have a stable connection to Mibew server. If the server is hosted somewhere outside of your office, it is better to use higher value.

When you leave the Visitors page, you go offline.

I’m unable to upload avatar. The error message is “Error uploading file “file.png”: Error moving file”.
Most probably it’s permissions issue. Avatars are stored in the images/avatar directory. So the web server should be able to write there. There are a number of ways to do so, depending on web server’s OS and environment settings. 

Try set the access mode to 0755, or if your web server is running as another user and you don’t want/unable to change the ownership of the directory – 0777. Though, the last advice is a quick’n’dirty solution.

My Mibew installation doesn’t send email notifications.
In case of Mibew Messenger 2.0.0 and higher one should carefully check the appropriate section in the main configuration (i.e. section mailer in the file mibew_root_directory/configs/config.yml). 

Mibew Messenger 1.6.x uses the standard PHP function mail to send email notifications. So in this case probably you should check your system settings.

How can I restore access to my Mibew installation if I don’t remember the operator’s password and have no access to operator’s email?
The only way to solve this problem is to change the operator’s information in the database. You should alter the appropriate record in the table named [table_prefix]chatoperator. 

The appropriate record could be found by operator’s login stored in the field named vclogin.

You can either set a new email address (field named vcemail) so it will be possible to reset the password, or set a new password (field named vcpassword) directly. In the latter case the password should be set to a value of the md5 hash of a new password.

But don’t forget to change the password once again using the standard interface immediately after regaining the access to your system.

Customization and tuning of Mibew Messenger 1.6.x

How can I change the time from the current format to a 12 hour time format?
Go to the Localize page, proceed to the last page of localization constants and edit the property time.timeformat . 

Set %I:%M %p for 12 hours.

Set %H:%M for 24 hours.

How to create a new style for chat window?
There is a recipe on our forum.
Is there a simple way to add new fields in the pre-chat survey?
Sorry, but in Mibew 1.6.x there is no simple way to do that. You’ll have to change the code of the project.

Licensing

Is Mibew Messenger a free software?
Yes, Mibew Messenger is a free/libre open source software. It is distributed under the terms of the Apache License 2.0.
Can I remove backlinks to mibew.org site from the user interface?
Yes, you can remove that links, though we do not endorse you to do so.
Can I use Mibew Messenger in my custom application?
Yes, you can use Mibew Messenger in your arbitrary custom software solution as long as you preserve the proper attribution in accordance to the license.

Miscellanea

Does Mibew Messenger comply with the GDPR?
It’s a complicated matter. And the answer depends. You should read this and then consult with the lawyer.
How can I support the project?
Just as usual, you can donate your time and skills, or your money. 

We always welcome new developers, translators, and designers.

And if you have intention to financially help the project, you can donate. At the moment we accept only donations via PayPal and Bitcoin, but in the near future we plan to add other options.

Where can I get the source code?
Our public repositories is hosted on Github: 

Could you implement some very useful feature?
It depends. If your feature request does not contradict with our thoughts on project, we can at least consider your issue.
I’ve read the FAQ and have not found the answer to my question. What should I do?
You can either ask your question on our forum, or use your bug tracker on Github, or email us. But please don’t do all the aforementioned things simultaneously.