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ChatZilla is an
IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...
client that is part of
SeaMonkey SeaMonkey is a free and open-source Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code, which itself grew out of Netscape Communicator and formed the base of Netscape 6 and Netscape ...
. It was previously an extension for
Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, ...
-based browsers such as
Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...
, introduced in 2000. It is
cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software ...
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...
software which has been noted for its consistent appearance across platforms, CSS appearance customization and scripting.


Early history

On April 20, 1999, it was reported that Mozilla, at the time the open-source arm of
AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...
's
Netscape Communications Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was onc ...
division, had announced the commencement of "an instant messaging and chat project with the stated goal of supporting a wide variety of chat protocols, including "the venerable Internet Relay Chat". Other companies were also developing chat systems. We recognize that there's a lot of interest in the instant messaging space,' said AOL spokesperson Catherine Corre, referring to the Mozilla project. 'This is a recognition of the interest in that area. At the time, the new chat client proposal was reported as being "competition" to AOL's own
AOL Instant Messenger AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was an instant messaging and presence computer program created by AOL, which used the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. AIM w ...
chat client, and on April 21, 1999, the announcement was rescinded "pending further review by Netscape." Independently, programmer Robert Ginda developed an IRC client and submitted it to the Mozilla project, which as of September 1999 planned to introduce it with the planned release of Mozilla browser. Named "ChatZilla", the client was available in development form in May 2000 for the Netscape 6.01 browser, and Mozilla 0.8.


Features

ChatZilla runs on any platform on which SeaMonkey can run, including
OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
,
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...
, and
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
, and provides a "consistent user interface across the board." It can also be used as a standalone app using
XULRunner XULRunner is a discontinued, packaged version of the Mozilla platform to enable standalone desktop application development using XUL, developed by Mozilla. It replaced the ''Gecko Runtime Environment'', a stalled project with a similar purpose. T ...
. It contains most general features of IRC clients, including connecting to multiple servers at once, maintaining a built-in list of standard networks, searching and sorting of available channels, chat logging,
Direct Client-to-Client Direct Client-to-Client (DCC) (originally Direct Client Connection) is an IRC-related sub-protocol enabling peers to interconnect using an IRC server for handshaking in order to exchange files or perform non-relayed chats. Once established, a t ...
("DCC") chat and file transfers, and user customization of the interface. ChatZilla includes automatic completion of nicknames with the Tab key, and appends a comma if the nickname is the first word on a line. It also provides completion of /commands with the Tab key, and a "quick double-Tab" presents a list of available commands based on what's been typed so far.Golbeck, p. 18. The text entry window can be "single line", in which the
Enter key On computer keyboards, the enter key and return key are two closely related keys with overlapping and distinct functions dependent on operating system and application. Functions The return key has its origins in two typewriter functions: ...
sends the composed text, or "multiline" in which allows composing larger text sections with line breaks, and the Ctrl-Enter key combo sends the text block.Golbeck, p. 19.
JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...
is used for running scripts and messages are styled with
CSS Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone technolo ...
, which can be controlled by the user: by selecting from the View menu, dragging a link to a .css file to the message window, or with the /motif command. DCC is supported which allows users to transfer files and chat directly between one another. The sender of each message is shown to the left of the text as a link—clicking the link opens a private chat window to that user. ChatZilla is included with
SeaMonkey SeaMonkey is a free and open-source Internet suite. It is the continuation of the former Mozilla Application Suite, based on the same source code, which itself grew out of Netscape Communicator and formed the base of Netscape 6 and Netscape ...
and was available for download to other Mozilla-based browsers such as
Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...
as an
extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate * Ext ...
. It could also be run in a tab in Firefox.


Plugins

ChatZilla offers many plugins, which extend the functionality in the user-experience of the add-on. Some of these plugins include: * TinyURL – replaces long URLs (typically those with more than 80 characters) with TinyURL links * googleapi – searches Google and displays the top result * cZiRATE – shares the song the user is currently listening to on iRATE Radio


WebExtension

The introduction of
Firefox Quantum Firefox was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross as an experimental branch of the Mozilla browser, first released as Firefox 1.0 on November 9, 2004. Starting with version 5.0, a rapid release cycle was put into effect, resulting in a new ...
(version 57) has dropped the support of add-ons, and so has stopped ChatZilla from working inside Firefox. Work has begun to move the code to a WebExtension.


Reception

Reviews of ChatZilla have varied from enthusiastic, in the case of users familiar with IRC, to unimpressed, for reviewers more accustomed to other chat client user interfaces. A 2003 review in ''Computers for Doctors'' of Mozilla 1.0, referred to IRC client applications as "not very user-friendly, and the same goes for ChatZilla. You won't find any pop-up icons, or happy little noises telling you somebody wants to chat." In 2004, Jennifer Golbeck, writing in ''IRC Hacks'', pointed out its cross-platform consistency, and found it "quick and easy to start using", and has "great support for changing the appearance of chat windows with motifs...( CSS files)." In a 2008 overview of extensions for Firefox in ''Linux Journal'', Dan Sawyer described ChatZilla as an "oldie-but-goodie", "venerable", "with all the trimmings", "handsomely organizes chat channels, logs, has an extensive built-in list of available channels, supports DCC chats and file transfers, and has its own plugin and theming architecture." The application "implements all the standards very well, and for those who prefer to keep desktop clutter to a minimum but still enjoy fighting with random strangers on IRC, ChatZilla is a must-have."


Forks


Ambassador

Ambassador is a fork of ChatZilla compatible with Pale Moon,
Basilisk In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the '' Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyre ...
, and Interlink Mail & News.


See also

*
Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of notable IRC client programs which have been discussed in independent, reliable prior published sources. General Basic general information about the notablecl ...
*
List of free and recommended Mozilla WebExtensions This is a list of WebExtensions that are recommended by Mozilla. Mozilla software Firefox Firefox compatibility Thunderbird Notes References External links Official add-ons site for Mozilla products {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Firefox ...
*
List of Internet Relay Chat commands This is a list of all Internet Relay Chat commands from RFC 1459, RFC 2812, and extensions added to major IRC daemons. Most IRC clients require commands to be preceded by a slash ("/"). Some commands are actually sent to IRC bots; these are tre ...


References


External links


ChatZilla homepageRunning ChatZilla on XULRunnerChatzilla networks.txt generator
{{Mozilla projects Mozilla Application Suite Free Internet Relay Chat clients Unix Internet Relay Chat clients Internet Relay Chat clients Windows Internet software Classic Mac OS software Instant messaging clients for Linux Unix Internet software Cross-platform software 2000 software Software using the Mozilla license Software that uses XUL Free Firefox legacy extensions