Rehash Your Chatroom

Put simply, the purpose of rehashing is to clear out old saved parameters to load new ones. The system, by default, collects some parameters in a cache. This is all well and good, until you need to load new parameters! This is where rehashing comes in.

There are two ways to rehash your system: using the chatroom's command features, or manually removing the old files. When possible, use the chatroom's command, as it will save time and prevent you from making a mistake.

To use the software to perform the rehash quickly, enter the chatroom and ensure that you have Admin. Once authorized, simply type /rehash into the text line. If you have the proper credentials, the system will indicate you have successfully rehashed the chat.

It's important to note that some parameters are also session specific, so you may need to close your browser and wait a couple of minutes before you will be able to see the changes.

Occasionally automated rehashing is not possible, because the chatroom is not available or admin cannot be obtained. In this case, you will want to perform a manual rehash.

1. Try to encourage any users in the chat to close it for a few minutes while your perform the changes. Occasionally having a user in the chat during the manual rehash may result in strange glitches, so it's always easier to ask users to leave. You can also add the “die” function on the top of your index.php file to prevent them from using the chat further while you make changes.
2. Using FTP (file transfer protocol), navigate to the following folder, where phpfreechat is the name of your chat folder: /phpfreechat/data/private/
3. From this folder, delete the entire “cache” folder. If you wish to clear the chat data as well, remove the “chat” folder.
4. Load up the chat in your browser as normal. You should be able to see the new changes. If not, close the browser and wait a few minutes, then revisit it.