Service-specific Features

This page aims to explain some Adium features that are specific to services.

Table of contents

• AIM
  • Direct Connect
  • Search for Buddy by Email

• Jabber/XMPP
  • Advanced Features

• MSN
  • Turning HTTP connection on and off
  • Nudge

• Yahoo
  • Buzz

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AIM

Direct Connect

In the offical AIM client, it is possible to "directly connect" to someone and send them inline pictures and large blocks of text. DirectConnect is plagued by problems similar to those of FileTransfer (e.g. NAT traversal).

Direct Connect is also called “direct messaging”, “direct IM”, or “direct chat”.

Using Direct Connect

Simply drag an image into your message window text entry area, and then send it, with or without additional text. Adium should prompt the remote user to accept a direct connect invitation (iChat automatically accepts such invitations) and then display the picture inline in both your message window and the other user's message window.

Note that direct connect support in libpurple, and by extension Adium, is mediocre at best; large images may fail to send, with poor or no error reporting. It is possible for a direct connect chat to 'freeze', leading to one or both parties not seeing messages sent by the other party. Simply close the chat to cancel out of the direct connect, at which point you can reopen a server-based chat with the contact. This is not an optimal situation, obviously, and we hope to improve Direct Connect support in the future.

Improving Direct Connect

Direct Connect uses port 4443. If you have a firewall, opening this port may help. If you have a router, forwarding this port may help.

Direct Connect and AIM File Transfer are interrelated; see File Transfer or Direct Connection Technologies for more details.

Search for Buddy by Email

If you want to find one of your AIM contacts by his/her email, just select select Search for Buddy by Email from the submenu off the AIM account in the File menu.

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Jabber/XMPP

Advanced Features

There are a number of advanced Jabber/XMPP features available in Adium such as changing your account password, searching for other users and changing your contact info. Not all features may be supported depending on the Jabber/XMPP server you're using.

To access these features, while you are connected to the account check the options available in the submenu next to the account in the File menu.

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MSN

Turning HTTP connection on and off

Adium allows you to connect to the MSN service using HTTP, for situations when the MSN server is not reachable by normal means. This feature can be turned on and off in the Account Editor:

The Account Editor can be accessed by double-clicking on the account in the Accounts list in Adium's Preferences.

Nudge

Adium calls it simply “notification”, and enables you to send and receive it. You need Adium 1.1 or later.

The same information on this page is also presented in  an Adium screencast, which shows the feature in action.

Presenting notifications you receive

When somebody nudges you, the official clients will shake the window and play a sound.

We don't offer the window-shaking action, but we do provide our entire usual suite of event actions. You see, receiving a notification is in Adium as one of the events in the Preferences. You determine what Adium will do when one comes in.

Simply select the “Notification received” event in the list, click the + button, and choose the action you want Adium to perform. You can add as many actions as you want.

Sending notifications

There are three ways to send a notification to one of your contacts.

The keyboard

Type “/nudge” into the inputline and press Return or Enter.

The menu

Choose “Send Notification” from the Contact menu.

The toolbar

The “Send Notification” button is not on the chat window toolbar by default, so you need to add it.

First, right-click on the chat window toolbar and choose “Customize Toolbar…”. This sheet will appear:

Drag the “Send Notification” button to the toolbar. Finally, click OK.

From then on, when you want to send a notification, click “Send Notification” (or the shaking-emoticon icon if you're using Icon Only mode).

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Yahoo

Buzz

Adium calls it simply “notification”, and enables you to send and receive it. You need Adium 1.1 or later.

The same information on this page is also presented in  an Adium screencast, which shows the feature in action.

Presenting notifications you receive

When somebody buzzes you, the official clients will shake the window and play a sound.

We don't offer the window-shaking action, but we do provide our entire usual suite of event actions. You see, receiving a notification is in Adium as one of the events in the Preferences. You determine what Adium will do when one comes in.

Simply select the “Notification received” event in the list, click the + button, and choose the action you want Adium to perform. You can add as many actions as you want.

Sending notifications

There are three ways to send a notification to one of your contacts.

The keyboard

Type “/buzz” into the inputline and press Return or Enter.

The menu

Choose “Send Notification” from the Contact menu.

The toolbar

The “Send Notification” button is not on the chat window toolbar by default, so you need to add it.

First, right-click on the chat window toolbar and choose “Customize Toolbar…”. This sheet will appear:

Drag the “Send Notification” button to the toolbar. Finally, click OK.

From then on, when you want to send a notification, click “Send Notification” (or the shaking-emoticon icon if you're using Icon Only mode).