I've released Flare under the GNU General Public License and hosted the project on GoogleCode, I've thrown together a landing page on this site for now:

http://flarenow.com/

Since all of Flare's comments, bug reports and suggestions live in the comments of the post announcing Flare I'll keep using that until something more suitable is found.

If you'd like to contribute or help in any other way - let me know!

Posted by Matt at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sam from 37signals just sent me confirmation that Campfire has been updated and now works in IE7, so if you're a Flare user and you have IE7 installed it should look perfect again now - if not, let me know here.

(You'll need to restart Flare)

Posted by Matt at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Download: http://mattbrindley.com/flare/flare.msi (.msi, 2MB)

Forum Support: http://mattbrindley.com/support/

Chat Support: Matt Brindley | Public Room

Want a site-specific browser for your web app? Contact me to find out more or chat to me in my Campfire room: Matt Brindley | Public Room

You can now download Flare 0.4 - the first self-updating, stable release of Flare, the site-specific browser for 37signals' Campfire web app.

Flare lets you stay logged into a room in your Campfire account and notifies you of any new messages.

• Stay logged into your favourite Campfire room in the background - even between reboots.
• Quickly switch between open rooms using Ctrl + the room number
• Be notified of new messages with a preview.
• Tray icon changes colour to show new messages have arrived (in case you miss the preview)
• Request your password through the app if you've lost it.
• Run multiple copies of Flare keeping you logged into many different rooms at once.

1. Make sure you've got .Net 2 installed, if not, get it here
2. Click here to download and install Flare (.msi, 2MB)

It's been tested on Windows XP Home, Pro, Server 2003 and Vista.

1. After installation completes visit Start > All Programs > Flare
2. If you've not used Flare before it will ask you for your account name, username and password.

   
   



3. Once Flare has logged into your account you'll see your campfire lobby, enter the room you want to and minimise the window. Flare will keep you logged into this room until you leave it.
   
   


4. When new messages, pastes, files or users arrive you'll be notified with a semi-transparent message preview.
   
   


5. If you miss the preview, don't worry - Flare's icon will glow orange until you next view the window.
   

Update: SSL support has now been added. If your account uses SSL, make sure you check the "Use SSL" checkbox when entering your account name, username and password.

Update: If you've been using "CampfireWin" please follow these instructions to upgrade to Flare

Update: I've released Flare under the GNU GPL. More details at: http://flarenow.com/

Posted by Matt at 4:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

I've been getting quite a few reports that Campfire Win throws an exception on launching and creates a log file stating it's missing a required dll - a dll that exists in the folder it references.

I'm working on this, and will release an update ASAP. You'll need to uninstall the version installed and install the new version (when it's ready) as the updater will only run after the app has launched.

I'll post here when it's ready.

Posted by Matt at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using my new Campfire Win app, I'll be staying logged into my public room on Campfire, I'm going to be using the room to talk to potential clients and collegues in the future, so feel free to drop in and have a chat :)

Click here to start chatting

Posted by Matt at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've just published version 0.32 of Campfire Win.

I've fixed known bugs and added a new feature - the notify icon (next to the clock) will glow orange if you have unread messages in your room.

You can download Campfire Win here

(If you've previously downloaded it, just restart it, wait a few seconds, restart again and you'll be using 0.32).

Posted by Matt at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you use Campfire and own a Mac you'll have heard of Pyro. For those that haven't, it's a very light-weight app that allows you to stay logged into your Campfire account and be notified of new messages via the icon on the Dock. The app itself wraps around the Campfire web app allowing you to use Campfire from within Pyro.

Whenever I'm away from the Mac (like now) I miss Pyro more than any other app.

I decided to build a very basic version of Pyro - it doesn't do any of the cool stuff Pyro does yet, but it does allow me to keep Campfire open and be notified of new messages in my open room and switch between rooms quickly too.

Here's the feature list so far:

• Keep Campfire running hidden in the background


• Quickly switch between open rooms using Ctrl + the room number


• Be notified of new messages with a preview

You'll need .Net 2 - which you can get here.

Once you've got .Net 2 - you can download the app from here.

Instructions

1. Make sure you've got .Net 2 installed, if not, get it here


2. Click here to download and install Campfire Win

It's an early release, so please send any problems or suggestions to matt@mattbrindley.com or leave a comment here.

Also - any ideas for a name for this app are welcome!

Update: You can now have multiple instances of Campfire Win open - this means you can be in as many rooms as you like at once. I've found this useful for keeping an eye on the SiteVista support room while also getting a general idea of the conversation in other rooms. The notifications will let you know which room the message came from in their title:

A new message notification/preview and the two Campfire Win icons - each watching a different room.

The Campfire Win app, from here you can use Campfire exactly as if it were in your browser, but minimise it to the tray in between chats and be notified of new messages.

Posted by Matt at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)