JBuddy Alerts Frequently Asked Questions

How do I deploy JBuddy Alerts? What is required?

JBuddy Alerts requires a java servlet container (Jakarta-Tomcat, Jetty, etc) with support for Java 1.3.1 or greater. In addition, for each public IM service you plan to send IM Alerts to, you must have an active screenname and password. After dropping JBuddy Alerts.war into the webapps directory of your servlet container, you will need to modify the jalerts.xml property file located inside an expanded war file. See webapps/JAlerts/WEB-INF/classes/jalerts.xml. To cause the servlet container to expand the JAlerts.war file you must access the web application - perhaps using http://localhost:8080/JAlerts/ from your web browser. While editing jalerts.xml, you must supply a valid screenname and password for each public IM protocol for which you intend to use JBuddy Alerts as well as enable the Alert Bot. Lastly, you must ensure that your firewall will permit connections to the public IM Services from the machine running JBuddy Alerts.

What are the restrictions of the license for JBuddy Alerts?

The current license permits one IM Alert Bot for the protocol specified or one per service provider (up to 4 Alert Bots) if you purchased the JBuddy Alerts Deployment Bundle. Please contact our Sales Department if you need to run more than one Alert Bot per IM protocol.

What if the user is not online when I attempt to send an IM Alert?

If the IM service permits off-line message delivery, then your message will be sent and received when the user is online. If the IM service doesn't permit off-line message delivery, then you will get an ErrorPage returned. If the request is processed successfully, you will get a SentPage response.

What are some of the limitations of JBuddy Alerts? Can a user block my IM Alerts?

JBuddy Alerts should be used to send IM Alerts to folks who have opted to receive messages from your IM identity. They may choose to block, ignore or even 'warn' your online identity if they are annoyed by your messages. It is entirely up to the recipient to decide how to handle the messages they receive from you. Likewise, your IM Alert Bot must obey the rules of any other IM user on the IM service. In other words, limitations such as send rates, warnings, reverse list size all apply. If your Alert Bot will be sending high volume IM Alerts, please contact our Sales Department to discuss your alerting needs.

I am trying to run JBuddy Alerts behind a firewall and am having problems. What should I do?

Contact Zion's support team to enable JBuddy Alerts to work through a SOCKS 4 or 5 proxy server.