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Netscape Instant Messenger is an easy way to communicate instantly with your friends who are online. You can:
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To get started quickly, use the New User wizard.
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You can start Instant Messenger in one of the following ways:
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To sign on to Netscape Instant Messenger:
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When you sign on to Instant Messenger, your Buddy List appears. Three groups are automatically created for you in your Buddy List window the first time you run Instant Messenger: Buddies, Family, and Co-Workers. You can add or delete your buddies to any of these groups or create additional groups.
This section explains how to customize and use the buddy list.
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There are two tabs in your Buddy List: List Setup and Online.
In the List Setup tab:
In the Online tab:
If you know a friend's screen name, you can add him or her to your Buddy List immediately.
If you don't know a friend's screen name, Instant Messenger can help you locate your friend using his or her email address or name and mailing address. Instant Messenger can also help you search a directory of registered Instant Messenger users for new buddies who share your interests.
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You can group your buddies to organize your buddy list. Your buddy list comes with three pre-set groups: Buddies, Family, and Co-Workers.
To create a new group:
To add a new buddy, follow the steps under Adding Buddies.
To open or close a group's folder, double-click it.
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Sign on to Netscape Instant Messenger. From your Buddy List, click the List Setup tab. To remove a buddy or a group, click to highlight it, and then click Delete.
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If you use the Sidebar feature of Netscape 6, then you may find it convenient to include your buddy list in a Sidebar tab.
If it is not already open, open the Sidebar by clicking on its tab.
The Sidebar Buddy List may be closed, so that only its header is
showing To open it, double-click its header.
The Sidebar Buddy List lets you know when one of your buddies is
online and available for a chat, even if Netscape Instant Messenger is
not open.
If your buddy is online, his or her name appears in your buddy
list. If your buddy is idle, his or her name is dimmed and a small clock
icon appears next to the name.
To send an instant message:
If you want to add or remove buddies, Click Edit Buddy List. A standalone Buddy List appears, where you can add buddies or create buddy groups.
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To find out which of your buddies is online, click the Online tab in the Buddy List. If you also keep your Buddy List displayed in the Sidebar, you can check there to see who's online.
You cannot see which of your buddies is online when you have the List Setup tab displayed. Click the Online tab to see the online status of your buddies.
In the Online tab:
You can also find out which of your buddies is online from within Netscape Mail. If you are logged on to Netscape Instant Messenger and a buddy is online, a presence icon appears next to his or her name. This icon also appears next the the names of non-buddies.
The presence icon next to a buddy's name changes when he or she logs on or off. The presence icon does not change next to a non-buddy's name.
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If you have used a previous version of AOL Instant Messenger, you can transfer you Buddy List.
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You see your message in the top frame of the message window. Your buddy's response will also appear in the top pane. You can continue typing and sending messages as long as you and your buddy want to chat.
You can also use Instant Messenger from within Netscape Mail. If an Instant Messenger user sends you a message and he or she is online, a presence icon appears next to his or her email address in the header of the message. To send him or her an instant message, click on the presence icon and choose Send Instant Message.
Netscape Instant Messenger lets you customize your instant messages with special fonts, colors, and styles:
To style text as bold, italic, or underlined click the B, I or U buttons.
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To create a hyperlink in an instant message:
You can also click link with no text selected. If you do this, you need to enter the link text into the dialog box. The link appears at the insertion point location.
If you enter an URL as text (for example, http://www.aol.com or mailto:johndoe@aol.com), the text automatically converts to a hyperlink when you send the message.
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To decorate a message with "smilies" (emoticons):
If you cannot see the smiley, make sure the Disable graphical smiles
preference is not selected.
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You can carry on as many separate conversations as you wish. A separate
message window appears for each conversation.
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A conversation ends when both parties stop sending instant messages. To close the message window, click the close box or open the File menu and choose Close.
To sign off from Instant Messenger, open the File menu and choose "Sign Off" (signs off from Instant Messenger, but leaves a sign on window open) or "Sign Off and Close" (signs off and closes the window).
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The Netscape Instant Messenger Chat feature lets you exchange messages with several of your buddies in your own private chat rooms.
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To invite a buddy to chat, perform the following steps:
The Buddy Chat Invitation window opens.
If you want to send the invitation to additional buddies, type their screen names in the Screen names to invite field.
After your buddy accepts your invitation, Netscape Instant Messenger displays the message, " You can invite a buddy to join a chat in progress. In the Chat Room window, select People on the menu bar and click Invite a Buddy to send an invitation.
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To send a chat message, perform the following steps:
When you are finished with your chat conversation, you can save it to a file.
To stop receiving messages from someone in the chat room, select the personÆs screen name in the field that lists everyone in the chat room and click Ignore. An X appears next to the selected screen name. Click Ignore again to toggle the ignore feature off.
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Netscape Instant Messenger lets you customize your chat messages with
special fonts, colors, and styles:
To style text as bold, italic, or underlined click the B, I or U buttons.
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To create a hyperlink in an instant message:
You can also click link with no text selected. If you do this, you need to enter the link text into the dialog box. The link appears at the insertion point location.
If you enter an URL as text (for example, http://www.aol.com or mailto:johndoe@aol.com), the text automatically converts to a hyperlink when you send the message.
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To decorate your chat message with "smilies" (emoticons):
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You can carry on as many separate chat sessions as you wish. A separate
chat window appears for each conversation.
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A conversation ends when both parties stop sending instant messages. To
close the message window, click the close box or open the File menu and
choose Close.
To sign off from Instant Messenger, open the File menu and choose "Sign
Off" (signs off from Instant Messenger, but leaves a sign on window open)
or "Sign Off and Close" (signs off and closes the window).
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If you need to step away from your computer but do not want to sign off, you can use an Away message to let others know that you are temporarily unavailable.
For planned absences, you can turn on your Away message to let others know when you will be back. Netscape Instant Messenger displays this message when anyone requests information about you and automatically replies with your Away message to anyone who sends you a message while you are away.
Inviting Buddies to Chat
Sending a Chat Message
Adding Styles and Formats
Adding Hyperlinks
Adding Smilies
If you cannot see the smiley, make sure the Disable graphical smiles
preference is not selected.
Conducting Multiple Chat Sessions
Ending a Conversation
Using Away Messages
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To create a new Away message:
Netscape Instant Messenger adds your new message to your list of Away messages.
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To turn an Away Message on or off:
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To delete and Away message:
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If someone else using Instant Messenger sends you annoying or offensive messages, you can permanently block the person from sending messages to you.
You can also set privacy preferences to control which users can send
you messages, and how much information about you other Instant Messenger
users can have.
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You can block one or more users so they can't send you messages. This feature is useful if you want to block users who send offensive messages or if you simply do not want to receive messages for a while.
To remove someone from the "allow" or "block" list, click his or her screen name, then click Remove.
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Instant Messenger lets you control who can send you messages, and how much information about you other users can have.
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If someone else using the Netscape Instant Messenger service sends you annoying or offensive messages, you have two ways to respond. You can issue a warning to the person or you can block the person.
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To warn a user who has sent you an offensive message, click Warn in the Instant Message window in which you received the message.
Warn imposes a warning on the sender, hampering that person's ability to send and receive messages. With frequent warnings, the user will not be able to exchange any messages with anyone. Only after a cooling off period can that user send and receive messages again.
You can choose to impose the warning anonymously. Anonymous warnings are less severe and the user you are warning may not know who issued the warning. Notes:
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You can see someoneÆs warning level next to the person's screen name in your Buddy List window.
Alternatively, you can permanently block one or more people from sending you messages. See Blocking Specific Users from Sending You Messages for more information.
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Last Updated July 21, 2000
Copyright 1994-2000 Netscape Communications Corporation.