How can I block facebook's webchat?

[ankspo71]

Hi,
I would like to be able to permanently disable the webchat window on my facebook page. Does anybody know of a way I can block it? I have been trying to block it all morning with adblock plus but I was unsuccessful. I know I can easily go offline by clicking on it and choose "go offline", but whenever I connect to facebook chat through a chat client like pidgin or kopete, the facebook webchat gets enabled automatically again on my facebook page.

The actual problem is I can't be disturbed when I'm reading or typing up a message. This is why I prefer to chat in a separate client. As soon as people see me appear online in facebook, the chats and phone calls start pouring in. I barely ever go there anymore because of this.

Any ideas?
Thanks.

[ki4jgt]

Hi,
I would like to be able to permanently disable the webchat window on my facebook page. Does anybody know of a way I can block it? I have been trying to block it all morning with adblock plus but I was unsuccessful. I know I can easily go offline by clicking on it and choose "go offline", but whenever I connect to facebook chat through a chat client like pidgin or kopete, the facebook webchat gets enabled automatically again on my facebook page.

The actual problem is I can't be disturbed when I'm reading or typing up a message. This is why I prefer to chat in a separate client. As soon as people see me appear online in facebook, the chats and phone calls start pouring in. I barely ever go there anymore because of this.

Any ideas?
Thanks.

Set Pidgin or Kopete to automatically set Facebook to offline when you sign on.

[ankspo71]

Thanks,
I'll go check that out now. It figures that right after making my post above I found a ruleset to use in adblock plus. It's blocking the chat window so far, but I'm not sure if I appear as offline to other people.
http://indunanayakkara.com/2011/01/05/how-to-block-facebook-chat/
Thanks for the help.

[ankspo71]

Hi Again,
I think this topic is "solved" now. I tried getting pidgin and kopete to automatically set my status as "offline" but I am disconnected from chat as soon as it sets the status as offline. It looks like what I am supposed to do when I use facebook chat in Pidgin and Kopete, is that I am supposed to set my status to offline before quitting chat. That way my chat status goes back to offline at facebook.com. I'm including a warning message from kopete that is explaining what's going on and what I have been trying to prevent from leaving me "online" on facebook.
Thanks again for the help.

[marshmallow1304]

In the past, I was able to block the webchat using the Element Hiding Helper for AdBlock Plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/elemhidehelper/).

[ankspo71]

Thanks for your suggestion too, marshmallow1304. I've been using the element hiding helper addon too for the longest time, and I think at one time I did manage to block the webchat at facebook using the element hiding helper, but not successfully recently. I was able to bock portions of it today, but using adblock plus makes me feel like I'm still visible as online to other people. I think the only way I'm going to know is by asking a friend if they can see me online on facebook. :)