The reason we (or atleast I) were going after something like cometchat was because it intergrated at the bottom of the site, with a footer bar similiar to facebook, so it would stay in the same place on ALL of the pages of the forum, and it allowed users to chat user to user. I looked into having a shoutbox (alot like what you suggested) but I would prefer a chat bar.
The thing is I have got a footer bar you can customize as you want and I have chat working. The problem being now is integrating the two. Also I almost need to recreate who's online so you know who to chat with. I will give it a go later today. I need a mental break;)
I have released Vanilla Jixbar at http://vanillaforums.org/get/627 Will start working on chat portion, but this gives you a fully customizable footer bar.
I was able to get chat to work, but not with current "who's online". Maybe a more experienced plugin maker might want to try to integrate the Jixbar with it. I know I will try, but it may take me longer
Yes, I did. It would be a massive amount of work to integrate. I am looking at alternate solutions..but by all means I hope no one is shy in trying it for themselves
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As for having a disclaimer, I am not sure I want to be responsible.
http://calendarscripts.info/php-chat-script.html
/cd
http://www.sohtanaka.com/web-design/facebook-style-footer-admin-panel-part-1/
Will start working on chat portion, but this gives you a fully customizable footer bar.