| 25 | | |
| 26 | | === How do I change the font Pidgin uses? The background color? === |
| 27 | | The font preference in Pidgin applies only for the formatting of outgoing messages on those protocols which support said formatting. The display fonts used by the rest of Pidgin are those specified by GTK+, the toolkit we use to create the user interface. To change this font, you need to edit your `~/.gtkrc-2.0` file. On Windows, this file is located at `C:\Documents and Settings\username\.themes\Default\gtk-2.0\gtkrc`. If that file does not exist, simply create it. |
| 28 | | |
| 29 | | As an example, you can put this into `.gtkrc-2.0` to change the font size for all GTK+ applications: |
| 30 | | {{{ |
| 31 | | # Sets the font used by all gtk applications. |
| 32 | | gtk-font-name = "Verdana 9" |
| 33 | | }}} |
| 34 | | |
| 35 | | Alternatively, you can do this to change the font size for other elements: |
| 36 | | {{{ |
| 37 | | # This is the style section. You need this for the examples below. |
| 38 | | # If you are going to copy the example, copy the entire block, |
| 39 | | # including the "{" and "}" lines. |
| 40 | | style "imhtml-fix" |
| 41 | | { |
| 42 | | font_name = "Sans 10" |
| 43 | | } |
| 44 | | |
| 45 | | # This will apply the font style just shown to various components. |
| 46 | | # If you are going to copy the example, copy the line that does |
| 47 | | # what you want. |
| 48 | | |
| 49 | | # Conversation entry box--where you type. |
| 50 | | widget "*pidgin_conv_entry" style "imhtml-fix" |
| 51 | | |
| 52 | | # Conversation history pane--where you read the conversation. |
| 53 | | widget "*pidgin_conv_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| 54 | | |
| 55 | | # Log viewer--where you read stored logs |
| 56 | | widget "*pidgin_log_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| 57 | | |
| 58 | | # formatting-capable entry areas (IMHtml widgets) in request dialogs |
| 59 | | widget "*pidgin_request_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| 60 | | |
| 61 | | # formatting-capable notification areas in dialogs (again, IMHtml widgets) |
| 62 | | widget "*pidgin_notify_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| 63 | | }}} |
| 64 | | |
| 65 | | Background colors can be changed similarly, by finding the correct widget names and setting appropriate bg elements. Other widgets in Pidgin can be controlled in a similar manner. |
| 66 | | |
| 67 | | You could also switch GTK+ themes. Themes and information on using them can be found at http://themes.freshmeat.net, http://art.gnome.org, or by searching on your favorite search engine, such as Google. |
| | 80 | === How can I unblock someone? === |
| | 81 | See the "Privacy" option under the "Tools" menu in the Buddy List. |
| | 82 | |
| | 83 | === How does Pidgin decide which saved statuses to show in the status selector? === |
| | 84 | Pidgin shows six "popular" saved statuses in the status selector. These are your six most recently used statuses, offset by a weight. Pidgin sorts all your saved statuses by the timestamp when they were last used. And then, for each time you've used a status, the timestamp is increased by one day. |
| | 85 | |
| | 86 | If you are upgrading from 1.x or lower, Pidgin is unable to determine which are the most popular states, as these older releases did not save that information. As a result, the initial contents of the menu will be somewhat random. It will settle over the first few uses of (distinct) states into the behavior described above. |
| | 87 | |
| | 88 | === Why are no states listed when I go to set a state for Auto Away? === |
| | 89 | Pidgin can only use saved states for Auto Away. You need to create and save a named state first. |
| | 90 | |
| | 91 | === Why are the status icons so big? === |
| | 92 | We believe that, by adding a second line of text to each buddy list entry, we're able to show more information about each buddy on the buddy list. The "Big List," as we call it, shows status text and idle time concisely and attractively. Most importantly, it puts the buddy icon in the list, making it far easier to locate buddies within a large list where names are harder to pick out than images. Due to the increased usability of this interface, we have made it the default. |
| | 93 | |
| | 94 | We are aware that some people feel more comfortable using an interface more similar to IM clients they may have used in the past. The 'Big List' can be disabled by un-checking "Show buddy details" in the Buddies menu. |
| | 95 | |
| | 96 | === What happened to my timestamps? Can I change them? === |
| | 97 | As of 2.0.0, timestamps follow the system locale. This is a significant difference from previous versions of Pidgin, and though it was requested more than once, we know it will prove to be a controversial decision. Fortunately for all of you out there, we also provide plugins to change it. |
| | 98 | |
| | 99 | The two plugins we provide are the Timestamp plugin and the Message Timestamp Formats plugin. Timestamp allows you to have iChat style timestamps, but it is implemented to behave slightly differently. The Message Timestamp Formats plugin allows you to manipulate the timestamps in a couple different ways, such as restoring 24-hour timestamps and/or causing all timestamps to have dates in them. |
| | 100 | |
| | 101 | === What is a "Buddy Pounce"? === |
| | 102 | Pidgin introduced buddy pounces a few releases before AOL came out with "Buddy Alerts." Despite this, you could think of a buddy pounce as an alert and get an idea of the most minimal use of a buddy pounce. In reality, a buddy pounce is much like a macro, or a recorded action. When you set a pounce on someone, you can choose from a number of events, such as sign on or status change, and then you choose from a number of actions. These actions include everything from playing a sound (like an alert would do) to sending a message to the person, to executing a command. This action will occur the next time pidgin detects the event, i.e. the next time the person in your buddy list who you have pounced signs on. |
| | 103 | |
| | 104 | === Can I use Pidgin for e-mail, blogging, an RSS feed, or something else that isn't IM-related? === |
| | 105 | No, you can't. We get requests for this often, but Pidgin is indeed a messaging client. Aside from the capabilities each protocol may support, the Pidgin developers have no intention to turn Pidgin into a multi-feature Internet client capable of doing everything under the sun. We also won't be helping to develop plugins to turn it into that. There are many Internet applications available for Linux, Windows, or whatever operating system you use that would undoubtedly do a better job. |
| | 106 | |
| | 107 | Note that [http://www.livejournal.com LiveJournal] provides an XMPP messaging service which makes it possible to make entries to your blog via IM, no matter what XMPP-supporting IM client you use. |
| | 108 | |
| 126 | | === How can I unblock someone? === |
| 127 | | See the "Privacy" option under the "Tools" menu in the Buddy List. |
| 128 | | |
| 129 | | === How does Pidgin decide which saved statuses to show in the status selector? === |
| 130 | | Pidgin shows six "popular" saved statuses in the status selector. These are your six most recently used statuses, offset by a weight. Pidgin sorts all your saved statuses by the timestamp when they were last used. And then, for each time you've used a status, the timestamp is increased by one day. |
| 131 | | |
| 132 | | If you are upgrading from 1.x or lower, Pidgin is unable to determine which are the most popular states, as these older releases did not save that information. As a result, the initial contents of the menu will be somewhat random. It will settle over the first few uses of (distinct) states into the behavior described above. |
| 133 | | |
| 134 | | === Why are no states listed when I go to set a state for Auto Away? === |
| 135 | | Pidgin can only use saved states for Auto Away. You need to create and save a named state first. |
| 136 | | |
| 137 | | === Why are the status icons so big? === |
| 138 | | We believe that, by adding a second line of text to each buddy list entry, we're able to show more information about each buddy on the buddy list. The "Big List," as we call it, shows status text and idle time concisely and attractively. Most importantly, it puts the buddy icon in the list, making it far easier to locate buddies within a large list where names are harder to pick out than images. Due to the increased usability of this interface, we have made it the default. |
| 139 | | |
| 140 | | We are aware that some people feel more comfortable using an interface more similar to IM clients they may have used in the past. The 'Big List' can be disabled by un-checking "Show buddy details" in the Buddies menu. |
| 141 | | |
| 142 | | === What happened to my timestamps? Can I change them? === |
| 143 | | As of 2.0.0, timestamps follow the system locale. This is a significant difference from previous versions of Pidgin, and though it was requested more than once, we know it will prove to be a controversial decision. Fortunately for all of you out there, we also provide plugins to change it. |
| 144 | | |
| 145 | | The two plugins we provide are the Timestamp plugin and the Message Timestamp Formats plugin. Timestamp allows you to have iChat style timestamps, but it is implemented to behave slightly differently. The Message Timestamp Formats plugin allows you to manipulate the timestamps in a couple different ways, such as restoring 24-hour timestamps and/or causing all timestamps to have dates in them. |
| 146 | | |
| 147 | | === What is a "Buddy Pounce"? === |
| 148 | | Pidgin introduced buddy pounces a few releases before AOL came out with "Buddy Alerts." Despite this, you could think of a buddy pounce as an alert and get an idea of the most minimal use of a buddy pounce. In reality, a buddy pounce is much like a macro, or a recorded action. When you set a pounce on someone, you can choose from a number of events, such as sign on or status change, and then you choose from a number of actions. These actions include everything from playing a sound (like an alert would do) to sending a message to the person, to executing a command. This action will occur the next time pidgin detects the event, i.e. the next time the person in your buddy list who you have pounced signs on. |
| 149 | | |
| 150 | | === Can I use Pidgin for e-mail, blogging, an RSS feed, or something else that isn't IM-related? === |
| 151 | | No, you can't. We get requests for this often, but Pidgin is indeed a messaging client. Aside from the capabilities each protocol may support, the Pidgin developers have no intention to turn Pidgin into a multi-feature Internet client capable of doing everything under the sun. We also won't be helping to develop plugins to turn it into that. There are many Internet applications available for Linux, Windows, or whatever operating system you use that would undoubtedly do a better job. |
| 152 | | |
| 153 | | Note that [http://www.livejournal.com LiveJournal] provides an XMPP messaging service which makes it possible to make entries to your blog via IM, no matter what XMPP-supporting IM client you use. |
| | 112 | === Where did my custom smiley theme go after I upgraded Pidgen? === |
| | 113 | Customized Smiley Themes should be saved in the user profile folder, NOT in the main install folder. On Windows, this means saving smiley themes in %APPDATA%\.purple\smileys, not in %ProgramFiles%\Pidgin\pixmaps\pidgin\emotes . Customizations made to Pidgen's main install folder may be lost during an upgrade. Also see http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/1354 |
| | 114 | |
| | 115 | === How do I change the Look and Feel? === |
| | 116 | Pidgin doesn't support skinning. It does, however, support using various GTK+ themes to render the widgets. The default theme, `MS-Windows,` is designed to fit in with Windows. The GTK+ Runtime installer now includes a utility, accessible from the Start Menu, to change the theme. If you'd simply like to change the smilies used in your chats, take a look at [wiki:SmileyThemes the page on smileys]. |
| | 117 | |
| | 118 | Themes and information on using them can be found at http://themes.freshmeat.net, http://art.gnome.org, or by searching on your favorite search engine, such as Google. |
| | 132 | |
| | 133 | Themes and information on using them can be found at http://themes.freshmeat.net, http://art.gnome.org, or by searching on your favorite search engine, such as Google. |
| | 134 | |
| | 135 | === How do I change the font Pidgin uses? The background color? === |
| | 136 | The font preference in Pidgin applies only for the formatting of outgoing messages on those protocols which support said formatting. The display fonts used by the rest of Pidgin are those specified by GTK+, the toolkit we use to create the user interface. To change this font, you need to edit your `~/.gtkrc-2.0` file. On Windows, this file is located at `C:\Documents and Settings\username\.themes\Default\gtk-2.0\gtkrc`. If that file does not exist, simply create it. |
| | 137 | |
| | 138 | As an example, you can put this into `.gtkrc-2.0` to change the font size for all GTK+ applications: |
| | 139 | {{{ |
| | 140 | # Sets the font used by all gtk applications. |
| | 141 | gtk-font-name = "Verdana 9" |
| | 142 | }}} |
| | 143 | |
| | 144 | Alternatively, you can do this to change the font size for other elements: |
| | 145 | {{{ |
| | 146 | # This is the style section. You need this for the examples below. |
| | 147 | # If you are going to copy the example, copy the entire block, |
| | 148 | # including the "{" and "}" lines. |
| | 149 | style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 150 | { |
| | 151 | font_name = "Sans 10" |
| | 152 | } |
| | 153 | |
| | 154 | # This will apply the font style just shown to various components. |
| | 155 | # If you are going to copy the example, copy the line that does |
| | 156 | # what you want. |
| | 157 | |
| | 158 | # Conversation entry box--where you type. |
| | 159 | widget "*pidgin_conv_entry" style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 160 | |
| | 161 | # Conversation history pane--where you read the conversation. |
| | 162 | widget "*pidgin_conv_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 163 | |
| | 164 | # Log viewer--where you read stored logs |
| | 165 | widget "*pidgin_log_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 166 | |
| | 167 | # formatting-capable entry areas (IMHtml widgets) in request dialogs |
| | 168 | widget "*pidgin_request_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 169 | |
| | 170 | # formatting-capable notification areas in dialogs (again, IMHtml widgets) |
| | 171 | widget "*pidgin_notify_imhtml" style "imhtml-fix" |
| | 172 | }}} |
| | 173 | |
| | 174 | Background colors can be changed similarly, by finding the correct widget names and setting appropriate bg elements. Other widgets in Pidgin can be controlled in a similar manner. |
| | 175 | |
| | 176 | You could also switch GTK+ themes. Themes and information on using them can be found at http://themes.freshmeat.net, http://art.gnome.org, or by searching on your favorite search engine, such as Google. |
