Installing and running
There are a few things you need to do
before running this alpha:
- Run the included file "Install.sh". This will install
all files needed to run the IM kit in the
proper locations.

When the script has finished installing the IM kit, you will
get the message: "All done". Press OK to continue.
You will now find a folder called im_kit
in /boot/apps/im_kit.
You should not have to run these apps manually, they're startet
automatically by the im_server when it starts up.

- To be able to see the new attributes in
the Tracker, you need to update your Filetype database. Do this
by running BeOS -> Preferences -> File
Types, selecting application/Person and adding two
extra attributes:
Attribute name: "IM Connections",
Internal name: "IM:connections", Attribute type:
"String", Editable, Visible, not Extra, Display width:
80 and Display alignment: Left.

Attribute name: "IM Status", Internal
name: "IM:status", Attribute type: "String", not
Editable, Visible, not Extra, Display width: 80 and Display
alignment: Left.
You can now add those columns in
a folder where there are People files.
- To edit your settings for the installed
protocol(s), right-click the talk-bubble icon in the Deskbar and
select Settings. In the IM Server settings click on the protocol
you want to edit.
You can also change the settings for the im_server, for example
you can select if you want it to start automatically when you
start your computer.

At the moment only the ICQ protocol is supported.
Once in the ICQ settings you can add your ICQ id, password, the
text encoding you prefer to use and your status. To activate the
changes to have made to the settings, press Apply.
You can also set your online status for
all protocols at once using the Deskbar
menu:
Currently only three different status modes
are supported: Online (Available), Away and
Offline.
- If you receive a message from somebody,
a new window will open where you can chat with them and an alert
will appear in the Deskbar. The IM kit's replicant will blink.

Also, since the kit doesn't know which
person is using a UIN you get a message from, it will create
a new People-file in you ~/people folder with the relevant UIN
filled in. It will also get the person's name, nick and email
if they're available.
- If you want, you can use one of the provided
Tracker add-ons to merge two People files, this is useful when
you already have a People file for someone and get a new one created
by the IM server, and you want to combine the two.
Try it out on a copy of a real file before
using it for real, since it's a destructive operation that can't
be undo it's best if you try it on non-vital files first.
-
There are two ways to start a chat in
the IM kit:
The first way is simply to choose a Person
file and open it with im_client.

The second way is to use a Tracker
add-on to start a conversation with that person. Select the file
and use the add-on named "IM Start conversation". and you will
get a new chat window. The other way is to choose a Person file
and open it with im_client. Remember: To be able to start
a conversation this second way, the im_client must be running.
As stated in 1) above, you should not have to run im_client manually.
Eighter way you choose to start the
conversation, a message window will appear. To send a message,
press CMD-Enter.
- If you want to add a new contact, you
can do this by creating a new People file and setting the IM:connections
attribute. To add the project leader you'd set the attribute to
ICQ:721021. The format is pretty simple, <protocol>:<id>,
and if you have several connections for the same person you separate
the connections with a ;
Upgrading
Running Install.sh should be enough to safely upgrade the
Kit. When running the script, you will be notified that you are
about to overwrite your existing version of the kit. Press Continue
to upgrade or Cancel to abort the script.

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