As a general rule, if possible, absolutely no shared hosting environments. For best live chat experience, if you must deploy on a shared enviornment, signup with the hosting package with the most resources available. The resources needed by the software is directly related to few factors:

• Website Traffic - Website traffic plays an important factor in server resource usage. The chat icon loads on the webpage and that chat icon is fetched from the server. If you receive over 5,000 unique visitors a day, a server with 2Gigs or more RAM is recommended.
• Anticipated Live Chat Usage - Each live chat session requires server communication during the chat session. The more chat sessions at the same time will require more server resources. A typical modest dedicated server environment with at least 2Gigs of RAM should be able to handle 5-30 chat sessions at the same time, or even more.
• Operators Online - A typical modest dedicated server environment with at least 2Gigs of memory should be able to handle 10-20 operators online at the same time, or even more.

• Server Requirements

  • Server OS
  • UNIX, Mac or Windows

  • Web Server
  • Any web server with PHP and MySQL enabled

  • PHP
  • PHP >= 5.4 or PHP7+

  • Database
  • MySQL >= 4.1 or MariaDB

The software files will consume around 22Megs of disc space. However, the database disc space needed for the system will depend on your website traffic and the software usage. For website traffic around 100-1000 visitors a day, at least 10Gigs free disc space should be sufficient for 5+ years of software usage. Keep in mind, the number of chat sessions a day will also play a factor. More chats, more disc space needed to store the chat transcripts.

The software does not expire. There is no locking mechanism or other types of automatic deactivation of features or locking to a domain. The same downloaded software copy can be installed on a test server, production server or other server environments.

PHP framework is not required. PHP Live! does not use a PHP framework.

Yes. PHP Live! is a complete standalone live chat software that functions 100% on your server, your network, your domain. All the data is stored on your server, all communication from your domain.

There has been sometimes over 10 new versions in a year. But typically 3-6 new versions are released each year.

Yes, general tech support will always be available. PHP Live! is designed to install on all server environments that already has PHP and MySQL enabled. However, some incidents that require extensive troubleshooting will require a purchase of Escalated Tech Support Service. Escalated Tech Support are situations of possible server configuration and other issues that could not be fixed with common solutions. Escalated Tech Support Service is $150 (up to 3 hours) for most situations, per incident. Before any type of troubleshooting begins, your PHP Live! system must be the latest version. Upgrading your PHP Live! system is the first step in the troubleshooting process. Please reference the Knowledge Base for most common solutions.

Yes, the Free Download Version is available.