Disclaimer:
*** IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW MY HOW-TO MAKE SURE YOURE FOLLOWING IT TO THE WORD ***
I know that this application works. I have been using / testing it for long time before I wrote this howto.
If its not working for you let me know but expect that the first question always will be "Did you do exactly what I wrote?"
Sometimes the applications can be problematic. When I am writing a howto it means 3 things:
1) I am using this application myself for a longer period of time.
2) I am recommending it to You as something that works under the condition of following my exact directions.
3) I got rid of the problems by using workarounds and the application works as a charm for me.
Andy
Hi Everyone!
I will try to show you how to configure my favourite IM - Pidgin to work with different protocols. Today I want to show you how to configure IRC channels.
Even tho sometimes I will use konsole window I will explain every single step as this howto is written for the newbies mostly.
Do not be affraid of the CLI (Command Line Interface) it can make life easier... lot easier...
There are few things I assume you have done before following this how to:
1. Read forum rules and all 3 links from my signature (below this post):
2. Install pclinuxos
3. Configure internet connection
4. Fully upgrade the system
5. Setup graphical server (XWindow System)
6. Reboot
Once all those things are done:
I - Installing and starting up pidgin:
1. Open konsole window and get root privilages:
A. Type in
su and press [ENTER]
B. Type in roots password and press [ENTER]
2. Install pidgin
A. Type in
apt-get install --yes pidgin and press [ENTER]
3. Wait till the install process is finished
4. Once you have installed messanger plus all the dependancies go back to normal user mode and fire up pidgin
A. Type in
exit and press [ENTER]
B. Type in
pidgin and press [ENTER]
C. Do not close the konsole window.
D. Ignore the gtk theme errors in the konsole.
II - Setting up account with irc.freenode.net
5. Since its your first time starting pidgin it will come up with the Account creating wizzard
A. Click [+Add] button
6. New window will appear with the account configuration.
7. Fill in few details on the [Basic] tab:
A. Protocol : Since we are setting up IRC choose IRC from protocols list
B. Username : Type in a desired username. I will use Hagrid
C. Server : You could leave it as irc.freenode.net - I will use 209.177.146.34 due to dns problems
D. Password : Unless you already have registered user on freenode.net leave it empty for a while
E. Loc alias : Type in the desired username again. This will be what you will see on the users list in irc channel
8. Click on the [Advanced] tab and fill in few details:
A. Port :
7000 B. Encodings : UTF-8
C. Proxy type : Depends on your connection - in my case No Proxy
D. Mark :
Use SSL E. Click [Add] button
F.
Accept the SSL Certificate
9. Now you can see a new window - your buddy list
10. After a few seconds if everything was configured properly another window should come up:
A. Message from NickServ telling you that this nickname already was registered by someone else (optional)
B. On the second tab message from freenode-connect - sign that we are connected properly
III - Adding a group
11. Click on the new green icon in the system panel tray to bring up the Buddy List window
A. Click on the [Buddies] button
B. Choose [+ Add Group] from dropdown menu
12. Type in the name for your buddy list group - I will use Irc Channels to make things radically simple
IV - Adding a chat to the Buddy List / Certain Group
13. Click on the green icon in the system panel tray to bring up the Buddy List window
A. Click on the [Buddies] button
B. Choose [+ Add Chat] from dropdown menu
14. Fill in few details about the channel that you want to connect to in Add Chat window:
A. Account : choose your newly created accout i.e.
DesiredNick@209.177.146.34 (DesiredNick) (IRC)
B. Channel : #pclinuxos-support - very useful channel for new pclinuxos users
C. Password : Leave empty
D. Alias : #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel - this will appear on your buddy list
E. Group : Choose the newly created group Irc channels
F. Tick the box next to Autojoin - you will be connected to this channel right after your pidgin online
G. Tick the box next to Remain - will keep you logged in even if you will close the channel chat window
H. Click [Add]
15. As you can see in your Buddy list window:
A. Group Irc Channels is now created
B. #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel has been added to the Irc Channels group
16. Right click on the #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel and choose [Join] from the menu
17. As you can see on the picture below you have joined the #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel
A. In my case Window has 3 tabs now. Messages from NickServ, freenode-connect and on 3rd tab #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel
B. On the right hand side you can see a users logged in to the channel
C. At the bottom you can see a space to type in your messages
D. Between the users list and the space to type in your messages you can see a main chat window
E. In the main chat window you can see the topic for this channel setup by channel operator
18. Example of the chat with melodie in the main chat window and message that is not yet sent
19. Repeat step 13. to add another channel - this time we will use [Room List] button
20. New window will appear and after a while the rooms list is imported
21. Click on any of the channels to highlight it and type in some search phrase i.e. pclinuxos - list will be sorted
22. Click on the channel you want to join i.e. #pclinuxos-pl and click on the [Add Chat] button
23. Add chat <2> window will appear. Fill in few details here.
A. Account : choose your newly created accout i.e.
DesiredNick@209.177.146.34 (DesiredNick) (IRC)
B. Channel : #pclinuxos-pl
C. Password : Leave empty
D. Alias : #PCLinuxOS - Polska - this will appear on your buddy list
E. Group : Choose the newly created group Irc channels
F. Tick the box next to Autojoin - you will be connected to this channel right after your pidgin online
G. Tick the box next to Remain - will keep you logged in even if you will close the channel chat window
H. Click [Add]
24. Now you have two channels added to your Irc Channels group in your Buddy List window
25. Right click on the #PCLinuxOS - Polska and choose [Join] from the menu
26. Now you have 2 channels in the previously opened window.
A. To move between #PCLinuxOS - Support Channel and PCLinuxOS - Polska just click on the tabs in the window
B. You can add as many channels as you want. Just follow step 19 - 25
C. All the channels will be opened in one window on a new tabs.
V - Changing and registering Nickname
27. Here is how to change nick with
/nick MyDesiredNick command.
A. Type it in to the message area and press enter.
B. In the main chat window you will be notified what is your new nickname
C. Your nick on the users list is not changing
D. For others you have changed nick to MyDesiredNick
E. Your list will always show Local Alias nick typed in the step 7.
28. There are some other commands you can use. Type in
/help to find out what they are
29. You can use combinations i.e.
/help nick to get more details about the command you want to use
30. Lets change the nick again. Use the
/nick Hag command.
A. Notice that NickServ tab turns blue - this means there is a message waiting for you there. Click on it.
B. You have used nickname that is already registered by someone else.
C. Change your nick with
/nick whateveryouwant command till you will find desired and free handle
D. Once NickServ is not telling you that its registered - its free.
E. For this howto purpose I will change my nickname to HowToTestUser with
/nick HowToTestUser command
31. Now in the main chat window I will register my user.
A. Command syntax is /msg nickserv register <password> <email>
B. Skip the <>
C. Password as always must be unigue UPPER and lower case letters numbers and special characters like , or .
D. Email must be valid - you will have to confirm your registration
32. I have filled in the command to get registered. Now press [ENTER]
33. NickServ wants to tell us something again...
34. Your nickname has been registerd. Check your email find a freenode message and finish the registration according to its content
35. Example of the message from freenode
VI - Changing account details
36. Click on the pidgin icon in the tray to bring up the buddy list window
37. Click on the green status icon in bottom the left hand side of the Buddy List window.
38. You should see more status options i.e. Away, Offline. Choose Offline.
39. Click on the [Accounts] button in your buddy list and pick the account set up in step 7.
40. Choose to Edit Account
41. Change details to suit your needs
A. Username : Use the registered username in my case HowToTestUser
B. Password : Use the password that you used during registration process in step 32.
C. Loc Alias : Type in nickname that you will see on the buddy list (Look in 27 E for explanation)
D. Tick the box next to Remember Password
E. Click Save button
VII - Messing up with settings
42. Bring up Buddy List window
A. Click on Tools
B. Choose preferences
C. Go to Status / Idle tab
D. Untick the box next to Use the status from last exit at startup
E. Change Status to apply at startup to Availble
F. You can mess around with settings later on to tweak your pidgin to your liking
G. Close the Preferences window
43. Right click on the pidgin icon in the panel tray and choose Quit.
VIII - Creating Pidgin desktop shortcut
44. Create pidgin shortcut icon
A. Right click on the Desktop
B. Choose Create New
C. Choose Link to Application
D. New window will come up:
a. Type in Pidgin in the name box
b. Click on the blue gear icon
c. Type in pi in the search box and click on the pidgin icon
d. Notice that the icon has changed.
e. Click on the Application tab and type in
pidgin in the Command: box.
f. Click OK and notice that somewhere on the desktop your new Pidgin icon was created. Click on it to fire up pidgin.
45. Notice that pidgin has started with the status Availble - Connecting
46. You have been connected and recognized as a registerd user. You can now start chatting.
Enjoy your Pidgin - Irc adventure.
Just to let you know. If you will copy your pidgin icon from the Desktop to the /home/mylogin/.kde/Autostart your pidgin will start up automatically after the computer is booted up to the kde...
Hope this helps somebody someday.
Andy
P.S. Continuation:
Pidgin as Google Talk (Gmail chat) client, no brainer - step by step for newbies
