# &app; Manual V&manrevision;

## Introduction

### What is &app;

&app; is an instant messaging program for the GNOME Desktop. It allows instant communication across a network using Jabber. &app; is written to be as simple to use as possible and to allow users of the GNOME Desktop to keep in touch with friends.

### What is Instant Messaging

Instant messaging lets people send text messages to each other over a network, such as the internet. They can add each other to a list, to see if their contacts are available.

### What is Jabber

Jabber is an open instant messaging system which allows a group of interconnected servers to pass messages to one another in a similar fashion to email.

The Jabber protocol is an open, free and public standard, which was accepted by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) under the name XMPP in 2004. It's decentralized and extensible with cusom functionality.

More information on the Jabber protocol can be found on the Website of the Jabber Software Foundation and in the Wikipedia.

## Getting Started

### To Start &app;

You can start &app; in the following ways:

Applications menu

- Choose Internet Gossip Instant Messenger .

Command line

- To start &app; from a command line, type `gossip` and then press Return.

### When You Start &app; the First Time

When you start &app; the first time, the following window is displayed.

#### &app; First Start Up Window

Shows &app;s first start window which is an assistant to set up &app;.

This window is an assistant to set up &app;. With this assistant you can set up &app; in few steps. You can use it to get a new Jabber account or setting up &app; for using an existing Jabber account.

### Getting a Jabber Account

&app; will help set up a new Jabber account:

1. When first running &app;, answer No to the "Do you already have an account on a Jabber server?" question and click Next.

2. Fill in desired user name and actual name and click Next.

3. Add the server information.

   - Choose the correct server for the account from the list, or type in a custom server if needed.

   - Select the Use encryption (SSL) option if your server supports it or requires it.

   - Select the Use system proxy option if you use a proxy.

   - Once all options are set, click Next.

4. Review the information and click Apply.

5. When prompted on first connection with the account, enter desired password.

### Setting Up &app; to use an Existing Jabber Account

&app; will let you use an existing Jabber account:

1. When first running &app;, answer Yes to the "Do you already have an account set up on a server?" question and click Next.

2. Fill in the user name of the account and click Next.

3. Add the server information.

   - Choose the correct server for the account from the list, or type in a custom server if needed.

   - Select the Use encryption (SSL) option if your server requires it.

   - Select the Use system proxy option if you use a proxy.

   - Once all options are set, click Next.

4. Review the information and click Apply.

5. When prompted on first connection with the account, enter desired password.

### When You Start &app;

When you start &app;, the following window is displayed.

#### &app; Main Window

Shows &app; main window. Contains titlebar, menubar, contact list, status icon and status arrow button list. Menubar contains Chat, Edit and Help menus.

The &app; window contains the following elements:

Menubar.

- The menus on the menubar contain all of the commands you needed to connect to servers and manage accounts, contacts, and preferences in &app;.

Accounts Toolbar

- The buttons on the account toolbar allow you, depending on account state, to connect, disconnect, and edit an account.

  The accounts toolbar is only visible if you have two or more Jabbers accounts set-up in &app;.

Status Drop-Down List.

- You can use this selector to change your online state.

Contact List

- The Contact List shows all available contacts and their associated statuses.

## Basic Usage

You can use the &app; application to perform the following tasks:

### Connect to a Jabber Server

To connect to a Jabber server, choose Chat Connect from the Menubar.

### Disconnect from a Jabber Server

To disconnect from a Jabber server, choose Chat Disconnect from the Menubar.

### Sending An Instant Message

You can send instant messages to a contact, in the following ways:

- Double click on the contact's nickname in the Contact List, to open the chat window.

- Choose Ctrl N Chat New Message . A question dialog will be displayed, asking for the user ID or of the person you wish to send an instant message to. Type in the name or the contact ID and click Chat. You can also choose the name from the list.

  If you are online with more than one account, you can also choose from which of your accounts you want send the message.

- Right click on &app;'s Notification Area icon, and select New Message. A question dialog will be displayed, asking for the user ID or of the person you wish to send an instant message to. Type in the name or the contact ID and click Chat. You can also choose the name from the list.

### Receiving An Instant Message

When you receive an instant messages, &app; notifies you with a blinking balloon icon in the Notification Area and beside the nickname in the Contact List. You can read the message, in the following ways:

- Double click on the contact's nickname in the Contact List, to open the chat window with the new message.

- Click on the &app; icon in the Notification Area. A chat window with the new message will open.

### Edit Account Personal Information

To edit an accounts personal information, choose Edit Personal Information from the Menubar.

#### &app; Personal Details Window

Shows &app;s Personal Details windo, where the user can edit his personal information.

This will open the Personal Details dialog, which will allow you to provide the following information:

1. Select the Account you wish to edit from the drop-down list box.

2. To add your name, edit the contents of the Name text box.

3. To add your nickname, edit the contents of the Nickname text box.

4. To add your e-mail address, edit the contents of the Email text box.

5. To add your web address, edit the contents of the Web site text box.

6. To add a description about you, edit the contents of the Description text box.

7. To add an avatar, click the Avatar image chooser button and select the image you wish to use.

After reviewing the information, click Save to publish your information.

## Working With Contacts

TODO: Describe briefly what the idea of contacts is in one or two sentence.

### Adding a Contact

If you add a contact to your contact list, you can see when this person is online. To add a contact, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Chat Add Contact from the Menubar, to open the Add Contact dialog.

2. Use the Which account do you want to add this contact to? arrow button to specify which account to add a contact to.

3. Enter the Jabber ID of new contact, and then click Forward.

   The Jabber ID (JID) looks like an email-address. Example: name@host.domain

4. Enter What nickname do you want to use for this contact?, this is the nickname that will be displayed in the Contact List.

5. Use the In which group do you want to place this contact? arrow button to choose a group for this contact. The contact will be displayed in the Contact List under the chosen group name. Click Forward when finished.

6. Review the information displayed and click Apply..

   A request will sent to the contact, asking to subscribe to their presence notifications. Until this request is approved, the user will be shown as "Offline" in your Contact List. In addition, everybody who wants to add you to their Contact List, needs your authorization.

### Show Offline Contact's

To show offline contact's in the Contact list, choose Ctrl H Chat Show Offline Contacts

### Accessing a Contact's Information

To access a contact's information, right click a contact's nickname in the Contact List and select Contact Information.

### Renaming a Contact

To rename a contact in the Contact List, perform the following steps:

1. Right click a contact's nickname in the Contact List and select Rename Contact.

2. Enter a new name and click OK to apply, or Cancel to discard all changes.

### Removing a Contact

To remove a contact, right click a contact's nickname in the Contact List and select Remove Contact. Click Remove when prompted to finish removal.

## Using Online Status

You can use online status to show other users, if you are available for chat, busy or away. You can check the online status of your contacts in the contact list. In addition to your online status you can save a status message, e.g Out for shopping.

### Different Online Status

Gossip knows following online statuses:

Status Icon | Description
Shows a green circle. | Available
Shows a yellow circle with a sheet of paper. | Busy
Shows a red triangle. | Away
Shows a red triangle with a question mark. | Extended away
Shows a grey square. | Offline

### Change Online Status

You can change your online status, in the following ways:

- Click on the status button at the top of the contact list and choose one of the statuses.

- Click with the right mouse button on &app;'s notification area icon and select in Status one of the status messages.

### Automatic Online Status

If you didn't use your computer for five minutes, &app; will switch your online status from Available to Away. If you didn't use your computer for 30 minutes, &app; will switch from Away to Extended away.

If you use your computer again , &app; will switch after 15 seconds from Away or Extended away to Available. Also when you send a message, &app; switchs back to Available.

### Clean Saved Statuses

You can delete all saved customized status messages, in the following ways:

- Click on the status arrow button at the top of the contact list and choose Clear List.

  All your saved status messages will irrevocable be deleted.

- Click with the right mouse button on the &app;'s notification area icon and select in Status and choose Clear List.

## Using Group Chats

You can use a group chat to chat with more than one person in the same room.

### Joining A New Group Chat Room

To join a new Group Chat Room, choose Chat Group Chat Join New from the MenuBar.

#### &app; New Chat Room Dialog

Shows &app; New Chat Room dialog.

This will open the New Chat Room dialog, in which you will need to complete the following information:

1. Select the Jabber account you wish to use from the Account drop-down box.

2. Enter the Nickname you wish to use.

3. Enter the Server that you wish to connect.

4. Enter the Room that you wish to join.

After completing the necessary information, click Join to enter the Chat Room.

### Managing Group chat

TODO

### Joining A Existing Group Chat

TODO.

### Using A Group Chat

TODO: Group Chat window, close, group and single chat

### Invite A Contact To A Group Chat

TODO: How to invite a contact to a group chat

## Settings

To configure &app;, choose Edit Preferences . The Preferences dialog contains the following tabbed sections:

- gossip-prefs-general

- gossip-prefs-notification

- gossip-prefs-spelling

### General

Appearance

- - Select the Show avatars option, to enable avatar support in the contact list area.

  - Select the Show smileys as images option, to enable graphical images. This will replace text-smileys like ":)" by corresponding images.

  - Select the Chat Theme, that you wish to use in the chat windows.

Behavior

- - Select the Open new chats in separate windows option, to open chats in separate windows. If you didn't select this option, new chats will open in tabs in the last opened chat window.

### Notifications

Audio

- - Select the Play sound when messages arrive option to enable sounds.

  - Select the Enable sounds when busy option to get notified about new messages when busy.

  - Select the Enable sounds when away option to get notified about new messages when away.

Visual

- - Select Display notifications when contact come online to get visual cues when contacts come online.

### Spell Checking

These setting might not be available if spell checking capabilities were not compiled into &app;.

Languages

- - Select the languages you wish to enable for spell checking

  The list of languages only reflect the languages that have a dictionary installed.

## About &app;

&app; was written by Mikael Hallendal, Richard Hult, Martyn Russell, Geert-Jan Van den Bogaerde, and Kevin Dougherty. To find more information about &app;, please visit the &app; Developer Page.

To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or this manual, follow the directions in this document.

This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public license as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this license can be found at this link, or in the file COPYING included with the source code of this program.