User Commands pidgin(1)
NAME
pidgin - Instant Messaging client
SYNOPSIS
pidgin [--config=directory] [--debug] [--login=name] [--
nologin] [-gnome-std-options]
DESCRIPTION
pidgin is a graphical modular messaging client based on lib-
purple. It supports multiple protocols including AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, XMPP, ICQ, IRC, GroupWise and GTalk all at once. It has many common features found in other clients, as well as many unique features. OPTIONS The following options are supported:-c, --config=directory Use directory as the direc-
tory for config files instead of ~/.purple.-d, --debug Print debug messages to
stdout. These are the same debug messages that aredisplayed in the Debug win-
dow.-l, --login[=name,name,...] Log in with the comma-
separated list of accounts provided, in addition to any accounts that are configuredto be logged in automati-
cally. If no argument is provided, your first account will be signed in.-n, --nologin Do not automatically login
when pidgin starts. Sets
the global status to Off-
line.gnome-std-options Standard options available
for use with most GNOMEapplications. See gnome-
SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 1
User Commands pidgin(1)
std-options(5).
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
Buddy ListThe Buddy List window is pidgin's main interface window.
Using this window you can see which of your buddies isonline, away, idle, etc. You can also add and remove bud-
dies from your buddy list. The Buddy List window contains a list of your buddies who are online and have allowed you to be notified of their presence. The icon to the left of each buddy indicates thebuddy's current state and the protocol they are using. Dou-
ble clicking a buddy will open a new Conversation window. Right clicking will pop up a menu: Get Info Retrieves and displays information about the buddy. This information is also known as a Profile. IM Opens a new Conversation window to the selected buddy. Send File Sends a file to the selected buddy (only available on protocols that support file transfer). Add Buddy Pounce A Buddy Pounce is a configurable automated action to be performed when the buddy's state changes. This will open the Buddy Pounce dialog to be discussed later. View Logpidgin is capable of automatically log its activities.
These logs are either plain text files (with a .txt extension) or html files (with a .html extension) located under the ~/.purple/logs directory. This menuSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 2
User Commands pidgin(1)
command will display pidgin's log viewer with logs
loaded for that buddy or chat. Alias Create an alias for this buddy. This will open up a new dialog in which one can give this buddy an alternate name to appear on the buddy list and in conversations. For example, if a buddy's name screen name was jsmith1281xx and his real name was 'John Q. Smith,' one could create an alias as to identify the buddy by his common name. The remainder of the menu will consist of protocol specific commands. These commands vary depending on the protocol. At the bottom of the Buddy List are several buttons (if enabled in Preferences): IM Opens a new Conversation window to to the selected buddy, or brings up the New Message dialog box if no buddy is selected. Info Retrieves and displays information about theselected buddy, or brings up the Get User Info dia-
log box if no buddy is selected. Chat Brings up the Join Chat dialog box, prompting the user to select which username to use and what chat group to join. Away Brings up a menu of all available Away Messages. If an item is selected, all online accounts will use this item as their away message. ACCOUNT EDITORThe account editor consists of a list of accounts and infor-
mation about them. Clicking Delete will delete the currently selected account. Clicking Add or Modify willSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 3
User Commands pidgin(1)
invoke a Modify Account window. Here, you can add or alter account information. When creating a new account, you will submit your screen name and password. You will also choose your protocol. If Remember Password is chosen, the password will be savedin pidgin's configuration file.
If Auto-Login is chosen, this account will automatically
login upon starting pidgin.
Each protocol has it's own specific options that can be found in the modify screen. PREFERENCES All options take effect immediately. Interface Display remote nicknames if no alias is set: Toggles whether server nickname data should be used if no local alias exists. Buddy List Sorting: Toggles the order in which buddies are shown in your Buddy List between none, alphabetical, by status and by log size.Show buttons as: Toggles between picture-only, text-
only, picture and text or no buttons view of the buttons on the Buddy List.Raise window on events: Tells pidgin to bring the Buddy
List window to the top when buddies sign in or out. Show numbers in groups: The number of buddies from each group currently logged in will be shown along with the total number of buddies in the group.Show buddy icons: Toggles the display of buddies' cus-
tom icons. Show warning levels: Each buddy's warning level will be displayed next to the screen name. As a buddy's warning level increases, outgoing messages are more and moreseverely rate-limited.
Show idle times: The amount of time each buddy has been idle will be displayed next to the screen name (if theSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 4
User Commands pidgin(1)
buddy has opted to have their client report this infor-
mation). Dim idle buddies: If enabled, idle buddies will be displayed in grey text instead of black text. Automatically expand contacts: If enabled, contacts will automatically expand to show the associated buddies when the mouse is held over the contact for a short period. Conversations Show buttons as...: The selected item will determinewhether picture-only, text-only, combined picture/text,
or no buttons will be used for Conversation windows. Show formatting toolbar: Display the formatting toolbar between the upper and lower text boxes in conversations. Show aliases in tabs/titles: Displays buddy alias instead of screen name in window tabs and titles. Show buddy icons: For protocols that support it, buddy icons allow buddies to send small pictures to be displayed during the course of a conversation. Turning this option off hides those pictures. Enable buddy icon animation: If these pictures happen to be animated, this option will enable the animation, otherwise only the first frame will be displayed.Notify buddies that you are typing to them: Some proto-
cols allow clients to tell their buddies when they are typing. This option enables this feature for protocols that supports it. Raise IM windows on events: If enabled, IM Conversation windows will be brought to the top when new messages are received. Raise Chat windows on events: If enabled, chat Conversation windows will be brought to the top when new messages are received.Use multi-colored screen names in chats: Color code the
screen names of users in chat rooms.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 5
User Commands pidgin(1)
Tab OptionsShow IMs and chat in tabbed windows: Tabbed chat-
ting allows one to have multiple conversations without multiple windows. Show close buttons on tabs: Adds a close button to each tab. Tab Placement...: Specifies where tabs are shown in the conversation window. New conversation placement...: Determines where new conversations will be placed (Last created window / New window / windows grouped by group or account / separate windwos for IMs and Chats). Message Text Show timestamp on messages: Toggles the timestampbehavior for conversations. Per-conversation
behavior can be changed by pressing F2 in the Conversation window. Highlight misspelled words: Toggles highlighting of misspelled words as you type.Ignore colors/font faces/font sizes: Tells pidgin
to disregard buddies' color/font/isze information in displaying IMs or Chats. Default Formatting: Allows specifying the default formatting to apply to all outgoing messages (only applicable to protocols that support formatting in messages). Shortcuts Allows the user to determine which keyboard shortcuts are available. Smiley Themes Allows the user to choose between different smiley themes. The "none" theme will disable graphicalSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 6
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emoticons - they will be displayed as text instead.
Sounds Sounds while away: Determines whether sounds are played when an away message is up. Sound Method: lets the user choose between different playback methods. The user can also manually enter acommand to be executed when a sound is to be played (%s
expands to the full path of the file name). Sound Events Lets the user choose when and what sounds are to be played. Network IP AddressAutodetect IP Address: pidgin will attempt to
automatically determine your IP address for use in file transfers and Direct IMs. Public IP: What IP address to use for file transfer and Direct IMs. This is mainly useful for users with multiple network interfaces or behind NAT. Ports Manually specify range of ports to listen on: Specify specific ports to listen on, overriding any defaults. Proxy ServerThe configuration section to enable pidgin to
operate through a proxy server. pidgin currently
supports SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP proxies.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 7
User Commands pidgin(1)
BrowserAllows the user to select pidgin's default web browser.
Firefox, Galeon, Konqueror, Mozilla, Netscape and Opera are supported natively. The user can also manually enter a command to be executed when a link is clicked(%s expands to the URL). For example, xterm -e lynx
"%s" will open the link with lynx. Open new window by
default makes the browser use a new window instead of using the current window (or spawning a new tab). Logging Message Logs lets the user choose whether Conversations and/or Buddy Chats will be logged as well as whether logs will be in HTML or plain text format. System Logs describes the types of events to be logged. Away / Idle Queue new messages when away: Messages received since going Away will not be shown until away status is removed.Send auto-response: If someone messages you while away,
your auto-response will be sent.
Only send auto-response when idle: If someone messages
you while away, your auto-response will only be sent if
pidgin decides that the connection is idle.
Idle time reporting: If None is selected, account idletime will not be reported. pidgin usage infers your idle
time from your usage of pidgin. X usage infers your idle
time from X (this option may not be universally avail-
able).Auto-away: Determines if and under what conditions
pidgin will automatically turn on the Away status.
Away MessagesLets the user add/edit/remove available Away Mes-
sages.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 8
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PluginsAllows the user to enable add-on plugins for pidgin.
Several of these come with pidgin, while others must be
downloaded separately. The Description field gives the plugin author's description of the plugin, while the Details field gives the plugin's authorship, URL, and file name/location information.Some plugins can be configured. If you load such a plu-
gin, its configuration preferences will appear as a sub-
menu to Plugins, with the submenu title determined by the plugin's name. Protocols Protocols provide protocol specific preferences here. CONVERSATIONS When starting a new conversation, the user is presented with the Conversation window. The conversation appears in the upper text box and the user types his/her message in the lower text box. Between the two is a row of settings, represented by icons. Some or all buttons may not be active if the protocol does not support the specific formatting. From left to right: Bold Turns on/off bold. Italics Turns on/off italics. Underline Turns on/off underline. Decrease font size Decreases the size of the message text. Increase font size Increases the size of the message text.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 9
User Commands pidgin(1)
Select a foreground color Changes the foreground color of the message text. Select a background color Changes the background color of the message text.Add image Inserts an in-line image in
the message. Add hyperlink Adds a clickable link to the message. Add smiley Adds an emoticon (smiley) to your message. Beneath the lower text box is a row of buttons that execute commands: Warn This issues a warning to theother person in the conver-
sation (not available in all protocols). Block This adds the other person to your deny list (not available in all protocols). Send File Send a file to this user.This option is only avail-
able on protocols wherepidgin supports file
transfer. Add This adds this user to your buddy list. This option isSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 10
User Commands pidgin(1)
not available if the user is already on your list. Remove This removes this user from your buddy list. This option is not available if the user is not on your list. Info This gets information (a profile) about the other person in the conversation(not available in all proto-
cols). Send This sends what is currently in the lower text box BUDDY CHATS For protocols that allow it, Buddy Chats can be entered through the File menu or the Chat button at the bottom of the Buddy List's Online tab.Additional commands available in chat, depending on the pro-
tocol are: Whisper The text will appear in the chat conversation, but it will only be visible to the sender and the receiver. Invite Invite other people to join the chat room. Ignore Ignore anything said by the chosen person. Set Topic Set the topic of the chat room. This is usually a brief sentenceSunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 11
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describing the nature of the chat; an explanation of the chat room's name. AWAY MESSAGES Most protocols allow for away messages. When a user is Away, he can leave an informative message for others to see. The Away submenu of the Tools menu is used to add and remove away messages. New Away Message provides space for one to enter an away message and a title for that message. If Save or Save & Use are chosen, this message will be saved. It can later be referred to by the title given to it. Remove Away Message is a submenu containing the titles of saved away messages. Clicking on one of these titles will remove the away message associated with it. The rest of the away menu provides the user with a way to assign different away messages to different connections. Choosing Set All Away will set away all the connections capable of the away state. BUDDY POUNCE A Buddy Pounce is an automated trigger that occurs when a buddy returns to a normal state from an away state. The New Buddy Pounce dialog box can be activated by selecting the Buddy Pounce submenu from the Tools menu. A pounce can be set to occur on any combination of the events listed, and any combination of actions can result. If Save this pounce after activation is checked, the trigger will remain until it is removed from the Remove Buddy Pounce menu. PLUGINSpidgin allows for dynamic loading of plugins to add extra
functionality to pidgin. Plugins can be enabled and config-
ured from the Preferences window. See plugins/HOWTO for more information on writing plugins. PERL
pidgin allows for perl scripting. See Perl Scripting HOWTO
in the pidgin documentation for more information about perl
scripting. TCLpidgin allows for Tcl scripting. See plugins/tcl/TCL-HOWTO
for more information about Tcl scripting.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 12
User Commands pidgin(1)
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Launching pidgin
example% pidgin
EXIT STATUS The following exit values are returned: 0 Application exited successfully >0 Application exited with failure FILES The following files are used by this application:/usr/bin/pidgin Executable for pidgin
/usr/lib/pidgin Location of pidgin plugins.
~/.purple/prefs.xml pidgin configuration file.
~/.purple/accounts.xml Information about your accounts. ~/.purple/status.xml Stores your away messages. ~/.purple/pounces.xml Stores your buddy pounces.~/.purple/logs/PROTOCOL/ACCOUNT/SCREENNAME/DATE.{html,txt}:
Conversation logs ~/.purple/blist.xml The buddy list.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 13
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~/.purple/plugins/ User's local plugins.ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | communication/im/pidgin |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Interface stability | Volatile ||_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
otr_parse(1), attributes(5), gnome-std-options(5)
pidgin Manual, http://pidgin.im/
NOTES This man page was originally written by Dennis Ristuccia (dennis@dennisr.net). Updated and largely rewritten by Sean Egan (bj91704@binghamton.edu) and Ben Tegarden (tegarden@uclink.berkeley.edu). Updated by Stephen Browne, Rick Ju, and Brian Cameron, Sun Microsystems Inc, 2003, 2006, 2007.SunOS 5.11 Last change: 12 Nov 2007 14