Yaplet: Simple and easy chat on any site

Yaplet is a simple idea: Add anonymous, no-registration chat to any Web site. Yaplet is a browser sidebar that can also be popped out as its own browser window. Each site is given its own chat room, and Yaplet caches site conversations for you or others to view, even when no one else is there.

To make the Yaplet experience a little more cohesive you can add an optional bookmarket to your browser. Clicking the bookmarket from any site you're currently on opens up the Yaplet sidebar.

If you're concerned about privacy, private chat is as simple as clicking another chatter's name. There's a simple master list of users that gives you admin controls to ignore or ban other chatters. You're also able to create your own secret rooms, accessible only to those you give a link to, essentially making it its own conference client. Yaplet also has a simple social networking component, keeping track of popular sites visited using Yaplet, plus a list of the top 50 within the last 24 hours.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Yaplet reminds me a little of Me.dium (see coverage here) the way it creates functionality in a Web site that wasn't originally intended. It also reminds me of Planet Minibox, the free shoutbox service I wrote about last month. Yaplet is a nice go-between, offering the core appeal of Me.dium (without a browser plug-in) and the ease of entry you get with Planet Minibox's always-on cached chat room. Not to mention it requires no special code or installation from site creators or visitors.

To try out Yaplet on Webware, click this button: