FAQ - PULPchat Setup

How do I set up remote database access?

First, you must have this option enabled for your account. If there are no settings for "Remote Database Access" in the preferences tab of your control panels, then you do not have this option. Free accounts do not have this option.

Initial Setup
Log into your control panels and you should see the following options in your preferences tab:

Example of options:


All fields must be filled in and "enable remote database" must be checked in order to connect. You may enter an IP address or domain name in the "database host" field. Do not include http:// or any other parts of a url.

Field names refer to columns in your database table. For "password / uid field name", enter the name of the appropriate column depending on the type of encryption you are using. (see next section)

Encryption Mode
There are several modes that can be used to protect passwords and prevent unauthorized use of your chat room. Select the type that works best with your current system:

	mySQL password() encryption Select this type if you are using a mySQL database and each user's password has been stored using the mySQL password() function. A user's encrypted password is sent in the url that launches PULPchat. PULPchat compares the name and encrypted password in the url to the name and encrypted password in your database.
	PHP, md5() encryption Select this option to verify a password that has been encryption using MD5. PHP has a built-in md5() function but MD5 is available in other scripting languages, even client-side javascript. A user's encrypted password is sent in the url that launches PULPchat. PULPchat compares the name and encrypted password in the url to the name and MD5 encrypted password in your database.
	none, compare uid Select this option if each user in your database has a unique id (uid) that cannot easily be guessed. In the "password / uid" field, you would enter the name of the uid column instead of the password column. A user's unique id is sent in the url that launches PULPchat. PULPchat compares the name and unique id in the url to name and unique id in your database. With this method, passwords are never sent and security is improved because there is nothing for anyone to hack. For even greater login security, you can enable the "write new uid after each login" feature. To use this feature, PULPchat must have permission to write to the uid column of your database. Also notice that you cannot rely on the uid for any other functions since it will be changing randomly, each time a user logs in. Because of this, you may want to create a separate column for this purpose.

Create the launch URL
Simply add  &user=username&pid=password_or_uid  to the end of your links and PULPchat will connect to your database to verify the user, then log the user in automatically.

With some ASP or PHP scripting, you can dynamically set the username and pid in the link so a user who is logged into your site is automatically logged into the chat room.

Require password to be entered again
If so desired, you can require the user to enter their username and password again. This prevents having to send encrypted passwords in the url. You can also use this option if users have different usernames for the chat room than they do for their main account. To use this option, use &pid=1 with no &user parameter.


Back to Questions