| Gaim Manual V1.0 | ||
|---|---|---|
| <<< Previous | Next >>> | |
This section describes using Gaim for chats. This is mostly similar to using Gaim for instant messaging as described in the Section called Conversations: IM. Thus, this section mostly describes things that are done differently for chats than for IM.
To join a chat, you first must sign on using an account which allows chats. For IRC, you need a separate account for each IRC server you use.
After signing on, you can join a chat by clicking on the Chat button in Buddy List window or by using Ctrl-C shortcut. This will open a Join Chat dialog in which you need to select the account you want to use and the chat room (or channel) name. Depending on the protocol, this dialog may also contain other options: FIXME.
You can also add a chat room (channel) you frequently use to your buddy list as described in the Section called Adding, Removing, or Modifying a Buddy. After this, you can join this chat room by double-clicking on it in the Buddy List window. You can also enable Auto-login option for such a channel by right-clicking on it in the buddy list and selecting Auto-login. If this option is enabled, Gaim will automatically join this chat channel after signing on,
To create a new chat room or channel, follow the same steps as when joining a chat but instead of entering the name of existing chat room (channel), select a new name. The name can be arbitrary (for IRC, the name should start with # symbol, e.g. #mychannel).
After creating a new chat room, you can invite others to join it as described in the Section called Inviting and Blocking in Chat.
shows a typical chat window. Its main components are the same as for the IM window, with the following differences:
Chat window has a panel which shows the list of all the people in the chat room. Right-clicking on any of the names brings up the popup menu which can be used to get information about this user, send a private IM message to this user, add him to your buddy list or ignore the user.
For IRC chats, every chat channel has a topic which is set by the channel administrator and shown at the top of the window.
Typing notification icon is not available in chats.
You can use Tab key to auto-complete other users' nicknames in the messages you type. For example, if among other people in the chat room there is a user with nickname LinuxFan and you want to send a message addressing him (such as LinuxFan: do you know how to...), you can type Lin, then press Tab key and Gaim will auto-complete to LinuxFan:.
To invite a user to join a chat, click on Invite button in the chat window and enter the users screen name and a message to be sent to him (for example, Join us at #gaim channel!). Gaim will send the user an instant message.
Gaim also allows you to "ignore" a certain user in chat. After this, Gaim will not show you any messages from this user in this chat, as if the user does not exist. Gaim will not inform the ignored user or any other chat users that you have chosen to ignore him. To ignore a user, select his nickname in the list of users in the right side of the conversation window and click on Ignore button under the lsit, or right-click on his nickname and select Ignore in the popup menu.
Some chat protocols also allow you to "kick out" a user in a chat channel you have started (or in any channel in which you have operator privileges), or make the channel available only for users you allow. This varies from one protocol to another. In IRC, you can kick out a user by typing /kick nickname (note the leading slash!)
Some protocols provide many more features than described above. For example, in IRC chats you can change your nickname on the fly, "kick out" any user you do not like from a chat you have started (or, more generally, any chat in which you have administrator privileges), and much more. This is done by typing a message of this form /commandname option, where commandname is one of the commands recognized by the IRC server. Note that the command should begin with a slash. For example, to change your nickname you can type /nick newnick. To join another channel on the same server, type /join channelname.
You can get a full list of available commands in an IRC chat by typing /help.
| <<< Previous | Home | Next >>> |
| Conversations: IM | Buddy Lists in Gaim |