Immersive Messenger

Immersive Messenger

Give your members the modern chat experience they already expect.

▶ Try the live demo

See it running on a real forum: https://forum.xen-support.com/direct-messages/
Log in with the demo account (demo / demo) and open your Direct Messages to explore the full immersive experience — floating dock, reactions, typing indicators, voice notes and more. (Direct Messages require an account, so please log in or register first.)
Your members message each other every day on Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp and iMessage. Then they come back to your forum and hit a plain, page-reloading inbox that feels a decade behind. Immersive Messenger closes that gap. It layers a fast, real-time, app-like private messenger over XenForo — floating dock, live typing indicators, read receipts, reactions, voice messages, GIFs, and more — so private conversation on your community finally feels alive.
And it does it the right way: it is built directly on top of native XenForo Direct Messages.

Built on native Direct Messages — safe and upgrade-friendly

Immersive Messenger adds zero custom conversation tables. Every message lives in your existing XenForo Direct Message data. That means:

• No data migration, no lock-in. Turn it on and your members' existing conversations are already there.
• Nothing to lose if you ever disable it. Conversations remain perfectly usable in the native XenForo interface.
• Upgrade-friendly by design. Because it reuses core DM data instead of forking it, it stays out of the way of XenForo updates.
• One source of truth. Notifications, permissions and moderation continue to work with the native system your admins already know.

This is the trust angle that matters: it is an experience layer, not a risky parallel messaging system bolted onto your database.

An immersive, app-like interface

• Three-column app UI — conversation list, live thread, and an info / shared-media sidebar, exactly like the messengers your members already love.
• Floating messenger dock on every forum page — read and reply from anywhere on the site without ever leaving the page they're on.
• Theme-safe design with a Style Property accent color, so it looks native to your style, not bolted on.
• Inline conversation creation with a fast recipient picker — start a new chat in a click.

Real-time messaging that feels instant

• Live message delivery via Pusher, Ably or Soketi (Pusher protocol).
• Typing indicators and online presence — see who's there and who's writing.
• Read receipts — a clear "Seen" so members know their message landed.
• "Go to unread" divider and persistent drafts so nobody loses their place or their half-written reply.

No realtime account? No problem. Immersive Messenger works out of the box with an automatic polling fallback — so there is no mandatory paid dependency. Add a realtime provider later for instant push whenever you want; the experience upgrades seamlessly.

Rich, expressive conversations

• Message reactions — plus a quick double-click to react.
• Inline edit and delete of your messages.
• Reply inline and quote any message in the thread.
• @mention autocomplete, plus @everyone and @here.
• Pin messages (with a dedicated pinned list), forward messages, and save / bookmark the ones that matter.
• Voice messages for when typing isn't enough.
• GIF picker (Giphy / Tenor) and 1-click translation.
• BBCode formatting bar, file attachments, and slash commands (/shrug, /me, and more).

Delight, effects and control

• Message effects, nudge, big emoji and festive effects to make conversations fun.
• Ephemeral / self-destruct messages — Off, 1 hour, 1 day, or 7 days.
• Mute / Do Not Disturb per conversation so members control their own attention.
• Command palette (Ctrl+K) and full keyboard accessibility for power users.

Find anything, fast

• In-conversation search to jump within a thread.
• Global message search across all your conversations.

Admin control, moderation and permissions

• Audited moderation mode with an ACP oversight panel for staff visibility.
• ACP transport configuration with a "Test connection" button — set up your realtime provider and confirm it works in one click.
• Per-feature toggles — enable exactly the features you want for your community.
• Granular permissions (use, GIFs, effects, and more) so you decide who gets what.

Real-time setup (optional)

Immersive Messenger speaks the Pusher protocol, so it works with hosted Pusher, Ably, or a self-hosted Soketi server. Enter your credentials in the ACP, click Test connection, and you're live.
Prefer not to sign up for anything? Leave it blank. The built-in polling fallback keeps everything working — new messages, reactions and updates still come through automatically. You can add push later with zero disruption.

Requirements

• XenForo 2.3 or newer.
• Native XenForo Direct Messages / conversations enabled (part of core).
• Optional for instant real-time push: a Pusher-protocol provider (Pusher, Ably, or self-hosted Soketi). Not required — polling fallback works without it.

Why buy Immersive Messenger

• It sells the outcome your members feel — private conversation on your community that finally feels modern, instant and fun.
• It's safe. Zero custom conversation tables, native DM data, upgrade-friendly.
• It has no forced running costs. Real-time is optional; polling fallback ships in the box.
• It's complete. Reactions, edits, read receipts, typing, voice, GIFs, translation, effects, search, pins, moderation, permissions — the full modern messenger, not a teaser.
• It's polished and tested. English UI, theme-safe with an accent Style Property, passed an 85-check A-to-Z test with 0 functional bugs and verified packaging integrity.

Turn your forum's inbox into a messenger your members actually want to open. By XenSupport.