Note: This is aimed for users of Mozilla Firefox 4.0+ but if you're using Chrome, you need to follow this guide first, and skip 'Installing Greasemonkey' below.

This will show you how to 'reverse' the new Facebook Chat back to the old style chat.

In order to reverse the chatbar you need to install Greasemonkey, an addon for firefox which allows you to customize the way a web page displays or behaves, by using small bits of JavaScript.

Installing Greasemonkey (Click to Toggle)
Installing Greasemonkey is easy and can be done in 5 simple steps:

  1. go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/
  2. Click 'Add to Firefox'
  3. You should see the 'Add-on downloading' box
  4. When the Add-on has download, click 'install'
  5. Restart your browser

 

Greasemonkey does not make any changes to your browser by default, you will need to install scripts individually.

Now that you have Greasemonkey installed, you can install scripts from http://userscripts.org/, the specific script we're installing is called: Facebook Sidebar Chat Reversion by a user called Enzyme.

Script Summary: Gets rid of the new Facebook sidebar replacing it with one like the original.

Script Features (Click to Toggle)
  1. Shows ALL online/idle friends
  2. Shows ONLY online/idle friends (Doesn't show offline friends)
  3. Orders friends by first name
  4. Groups friends by online and idle.
  5. Shows total number of online/idle friends when chat bar is open and closed.
  6. Chat bar adjusts in size based on how many friends you have online.
  7. Chat bar closes when it loses focus to stay out of your way.
  8. Does not realign the page when chat opens
  9. Header to the top of chat that closes the menu when clicked.
  10. Works for both HTTP and HTTPS – Searching friends is still possible.
  11. Going online/offline is still possible.
  12. Keep the list of online friends on the left hand side of the page always visible even when the chat dialog opens.
  13. Adds "View Profile" link to the cog menu in each chat window to easily view the profile of the person you are talking to.

 

How to install Facebook Sidebar Chat Reversal:

  1. Go to http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/107159 
  2. Click 'Install' on the top right
  3. Click 'Install' on the pop-up
  4. Refresh Facebook and the chat should be reverted to the old style.