Pidgin

From LIS 460 Summer 2007

entry by Maryrose Little

1 Overview
2 Types of IM and Operating Systems Recognized by Pidgin
3 Configuring and Using Pidgin
4 Pidgin Features
5 Using Pidgin in a School Community
6 Questions/Issues
7 Links/References

Overview

Pidgin is free, downloadable software which makes instant messaging (IM) easier to use across multiple IM clients. From one Pidgin window, a user can see which of his/her IM buddies are online, and IM with them from one interface. Pidgin was formerly named Gaim, but its name was changed in a June 2007 release.

Conventional Instant Messaging

There are many popular instant messaging and chat services. Typically, if you have an account with an IM service, you will only be able to use it to IM with other users of that service. For example, in order to IM with a Yahoo! Messenger user, you must create a Yahoo! Messenger account, with which you will be able to IM with other Yahoo! Messenger users only. If other friends use AIM, then you must also create an AIM account if you would like to be able to IM with them; you will only be able to IM with AIM users via your AIM account.

Users create multiple accounts, each for a different IM service, in order to be able to IM and chat with friends who use those forms of IM. This can result in multiple windows open on a desktop, each supporting a different IM client.

Benefits of IM-ing with Pidgin

Pidgin supports many IM clients from a single window. Using Pidgin, the status of all your buddies can be seen in one window, and you can IM with them from a single interface. The result is fewer windows open on your desktop, and a standardized way of contacting and chatting with your buddies.

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Types of IM and Operating Systems Recognized by Pidgin

Pidgin currently recognizes the following Instant Messaging and chat-related services:

1. AIM
2. MSN Messenger
3. Yahoo!
4. Jabber/XMPP
5. ICQ
6. IRC
7. SILC
8. SIP/SIMPLE
9. Novell GroupWise
10. Lotus Sametime
11. Bonjour
12. Zephyr
13. Gadu-Gadu
14. QQ

Pidgin is available for the following operating systems:

Windows
Linux
Unix (BSD and others)

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Configuring and Using Pidgin

The Pidgin software can be downloaded at: http://pidgin.im/pidgin/home/. After installing Pidgin, it can be configured and customized by taking the following steps:

1. define all your IM accounts to Pidgin via Account-> Add/Edit in the Pidgin menu.

2. define your buddies to Pidgin. For some IM services, Pidgin is able to import your buddy list automatically. If this does not happen, you must manually identify your buddies to Pidgin, via the Buddy menu item on the Pidgin menu. Buddies can be grouped in folders which can be compressed and expanded in the Pidgin window.

3. set any personal preferences, such as logging of chats, via the Tools->Preferences menu item, or an avatar or image to be globally associated with your ID. (assigning an image to each account individually can be done by editing the account from the Account menu item).

In Windows, Pidgin is invoked either from the Start menu, a desktop icon, or the system tray, based on decisions made at installation.

Once Pidgin has been started, a list of your buddies and their current status will be displayed. A green circle indicates your buddy is online and available, and there are other symbols for away, and offline. A Pidgin user can create custom status messages, and can make him/herself invisible to other users.

Hovering over a buddy provides some profile information about the buddy, including his/her ID name and type of service (e.g. AIM, Yahoo!, etc.) IM-ing with a buddy is begun by double-clicking on the buddy’s name. A chat window will pop up, and the user can type in the bottom half of the window. The upper half of the window shows a transcript of the conversation. When the person with whom you are IM-ing is typing, a small keyboard with moving keys appears in the upper right-hand corner of the chat window.

Pidgin is exited by choosing Buddies -> Quit.

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Pidgin Features

Tabbed Chat Window - When a second chat begins, tabs appear on the chat window, allowing you to easily switch between two conversations.

Chat logs – A Pidgin user can choose to log IM and chats. The entire transcript of a conversation can be reviewed, if this feature is enabled, from the Buddies -> View User Chat menu item. Logs are stored in folders named for each buddy, and each log is named with the date and time of the conversation. They can be retrieved by buddy name, or all log files can be browsed.

Buddy Pounce – allows you to define something you would like to have occur when one of your buddies signs on or off, or has a status change. These can include popping up a notification to yourself, sending the buddy a message, playing a sound, or executing some command which you have defined.

Blocking – Buddies can be blocked and unblocked as desired, to temporarily prevent communication, via Tools -> Privacy. You can also control who may IM you here.

Chat - Fully integrated Multi-User Chat (conferencing) does not seem to be supported by Pidgin across different IM clients, but it can be done within a single IM service (e.g. gTalk, or AIM). Some IM services provide this a conference site automatically and for others, it is a manual step (e.g. gTalk). Examples of setting up an external site are found here (see “Setting up a Conference Room or Group Chat”, and here. Multi-user chat is also supported separately by IRC and ICQ, which are recognized by Pidgin.

Plug-ins - A variety of plug-ins have been developed for Pidgin, many of which are easily added from the Tools menu, increasing the usefulness of the product. For example, a plug-in named switchspell that allows you to change the language that spell-checking is done in for each buddy.

Contacts - If a buddy has more than one IM account, they can be grouped together under one contact name. This is useful because the person can be contacted simply by clicking on the contact name, so the Pidgin user doesn't need to be aware of which ID the buddy is currently using.

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Using Pidgin in a School Community

Pidgin makes instant messaging easier. To the extent that collaboration can be supported by use of IM, Pidgin can be said to improve collaboration. If students and faculty who are online can easily detect when classmates are online (or teachers, including library teachers), they can better collaborate or ask questions.

Library teachers could use potentially use IM to provide some degree of virtual service to their user community .Students who are collaborating on a document or some other project, might use IM to coordinate their efforts. Private chat rooms could be used for virtual meetings by students or faculty. Pidgin does not provide those services, per se, but it facilitates the use of those services through a simplified, centralized interface.

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Questions/Issues

Question: Will Multi-User Chat across multiple IM services be implemented? Will a Pidgeon user be able to chat with a gTalk buddy, a Yahoo buddy, and an AIM buddy in the same private chat room?

Issue: User documentation for Pidgin is sparse. A list of FAQ serves as a user guide, and the user is left to sift through developer wiki, trouble tickets, and API documentation in search of feature descriptions and known problems/solutions.

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