Index: openacs-4/packages/chat/chat.info
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/chat/chat.info,v
diff -u -r1.21 -r1.22
--- openacs-4/packages/chat/chat.info	28 Sep 2018 11:44:23 -0000	1.21
+++ openacs-4/packages/chat/chat.info	9 Nov 2018 20:09:40 -0000	1.22
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     <implements-subsite-p>f</implements-subsite-p>
     <inherit-templates-p>t</inherit-templates-p>
 
-    <version name="5.0.1d1" url="http://openacs.org/repository/download/apm/chat-5.0.1d1.apm">
+    <version name="5.0.1d2" url="http://openacs.org/repository/download/apm/chat-5.0.1d2.apm">
         <owner url="http://www.openacs.org">Peter Alberer</owner>
         <summary>Server based chat with an html and ajax client.</summary>
         <release-date>2017-08-06</release-date>
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 Adapted by Tekne 2006/03/01 to replace JAVA server with AJAX; make use of generalized chat class from xotcl-core.</description>
         <maturity>0</maturity>
 
-        <provides url="chat" version="5.0.1d1"/>
+        <provides url="chat" version="5.0.1d2"/>
         <requires url="acs-kernel" version="5.9.1"/>
         <requires url="xowiki" version="5.10.0d17"/>
 
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
             <parameter scope="instance" datatype="string"  min_n_values="1"  max_n_values="1"  name="ServerHost"  description="Chat server host"/>
             <parameter scope="instance" datatype="number"  min_n_values="1"  max_n_values="1"  name="ServerPort"  default="8200" description="Listening for chat connection on this port"/>
             <parameter scope="instance" datatype="string"  min_n_values="1"  max_n_values="1"  name="UserColors"  default="#006400 #0000ff #b8860b #bdb76b #8b0000" description="A list of colors to assign to user names in the chat"/>
+            <parameter scope="global" datatype="string"  min_n_values="1"  max_n_values="1"  name="LinkRegex"  default="(https?:\\/\\/[^\\s]+)" description="Regular expression to detect URLs in chat messages, creating html links accordingly. By default, it matches any string starting with http:// or https://. Please notice the backslash double escaping."/>
         </parameters>
 
     </version>
Index: openacs-4/packages/xowiki/tcl/chat-procs.tcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/xowiki/tcl/chat-procs.tcl,v
diff -u -r1.36 -r1.37
--- openacs-4/packages/xowiki/tcl/chat-procs.tcl	9 Nov 2018 16:48:36 -0000	1.36
+++ openacs-4/packages/xowiki/tcl/chat-procs.tcl	9 Nov 2018 20:09:40 -0000	1.37
@@ -108,8 +108,14 @@
       }
     }
 
+    # get LinkRegex parameter from the chat package
+    set link_regex [parameter::get_global_value \
+                        -package_key "chat" \
+                        -parameter "LinkRegex"]
+
     # small JavaScript library to obtain a portable ajax request object
     template::head::add_javascript -src urn:ad:js:get-http-object -order 10
+    template::head::add_javascript -script "const linkRegex = \"${link_regex}\";" -order 19
     template::head::add_javascript -src ${xowiki_path}ajax/chat-common.js -order 20
     template::head::add_javascript -src $jspath -order 30
 
Index: openacs-4/packages/xowiki/www/ajax/chat-common.js
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/openacs-4/packages/xowiki/www/ajax/Attic/chat-common.js,v
diff -u -r1.4 -r1.5
--- openacs-4/packages/xowiki/www/ajax/chat-common.js	9 Nov 2018 16:48:36 -0000	1.4
+++ openacs-4/packages/xowiki/www/ajax/chat-common.js	9 Nov 2018 20:09:40 -0000	1.5
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 var previous_user_id = "";
 var current_color = "";
 
-// Simple function to create links
 function createLink(text) {
-    var linkRegex = /(https?:\/\/[^\s]+)/g;
-    return text.replace(linkRegex, function(url) {
-        return '<a class="xowiki-chat-message-url" href="' + url + '">' + url + '</a>';
-    })
+    if (linkRegex != null) {
+        return text.replace(new RegExp(linkRegex,'g'), function(url) {
+            return '<a class="xowiki-chat-message-url" href="' + url + '">' + url + '</a>';
+        })
+    } else {
+        return text;
+    }
 }
 
 function renderData(json) {