gaim is a GTK2-based Instant Messaging (IM) application. It supports
multiple protocols via modules, including AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, MSN, Jabber,
IRC, Napster, Gadu-Gadu and Zephyr. It has many common features found in
other clients, as well as many unique features. Gaim is not endorsed by or
affiliated with America Online, ICQ, Microsoft, or Yahoo.
OPTIONS
The following options are provided by gaim using the standard GNU
command line syntax:
-a, --acct
Launch the Account Editor rather than the Login window on
start.
-d, --debug
Print debugging messages to stdout. These are the same debugging messages
that are displayed in the Debug window.
-c, --config=DIR
Use DIR as the directory for config files instead of ~/.gaim.
-h, --help
Print this help and exit.
-l, --login[=NAME]
Automatically login on start using the default account or the account
specified by the NAME parameter.
-n, --loginwin
Don't automatically login when gaim starts. Show the Login
window instead.
-u, --user=NAME
Use account NAME as default.
-v, --version
Display the version information window.
-w, --away[=MESG]
Automatically go away on signon. You may optionally use the MESG
parameter to set the away message.
BUDDY LIST
The Buddy List window is gaim's main interface window. Using
this window you can see which of your buddies is online, away, idle, etc.
You can also add and remove buddies 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 the buddy's current state and the protocol
they are using. Double 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 Log
gaim is capable of automatically log its activities. These logs are
either plain text files (with a .log extension) or html files (with a
menu command will attempt to view this file with gaim's internal log
viewer.
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 display information about the selected buddy, or brings up
the Get User Info dialog 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 EDITOR
The account editor consists of a list of accounts and information about
them. Clicking Delete will delete the currently selected account.
Clicking Add or Modify will 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 saved in
gaim's configuration file.
If Auto-Login is chosen, this account will automatically login upon
starting gaim.
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 gaim 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' custom 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 more severely rate-limited.
Show idle times: The amount of time each buddy has been idle will be
displayed next to the screen name (if the buddy has opted to have their
client report this information).
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 determine whether
picture-only, text-only, combined picture/text, or no buttons will be used
for Conversation windows.
Enable "slash" commands: Determines whether messages starting with
"slash" (eg. /help) will be interpreted as commands by gaim, or if they
will just be sent as messages.
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 protocols 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.
Tab Options
Show IMs and chats in tabbed windows: Tabbed chatting 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 windows for IMs and Chats).
Message Text
Show timestamp on messages: Toggles the timestamp behavior 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 gaim to disregard
buddies' color/font/size 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 graphical 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 a command to be executed when a sound is
to be played (%s expands to the full path to the file name).
Sound Events
Lets the user choose when and what sounds are to be played.
Network
IP Address
Autodetect IP Address: Gaim 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 Server
The configuration section to enable gaim to operate through a proxy
server. gaim currently supports SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP proxies.
Browser
Allows the user to select gaim'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 gaim decides that the
connection is idle.
Idle time reporting: If None is selected, account idle time
will not be reported. Gaim usage infers your idle time from your
usage of gaim. X usage infers your idle time from X
(this option may not be universally available).
Auto-away: Determines if and under what conditions gaim will
automatically turn on the Away status.
Away Messages
Lets the user add/edit/remove available Away Messages.
Plugins
Allows the user to enable add-on plugins for gaim. Several of these
come with gaim, 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 plugin, its
configuration preferences will appear as a submenu 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
Increases the size of the message text.
Increase font size
Decreases the size of the message text.
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 the other person in the conversation (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 available on protocols where
Gaim supports file transfer.
Add
This adds this user to your buddy list. This option is 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 protocols).
Send
This sends what's 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 protocol 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 sentence
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.
PLUGINS
Gaim allows for dynamic loading of plugins to add extra functionality
to gaim. Plugins can be enabled and configured from the
Preferences window. See plugins/HOWTO for more information on
writing plugins.
PERL
Gaim allows for perl scripting. See Perl Scripting HOWTO in
the Gaim documentation for more information about perl scripting.
TCL
Gaim allows for Tcl scripting. See plugins/tcl/TCL-HOWTO for
more information about Tcl scripting.
FILES
/usr/bin/gaim: gaim's location.
/usr/lib/gaim/: gaim's plugins directory.
~/.gaim/prefs.xml: gaim's configuration file.
~/.gaim/accounts.xml: information about your accounts.
~/.gaim/status.xml: stores your away messages.
~/.gaim/pounces.xml: stores your buddy pounces.
~/.gaim/logs/PROTOCOL/ACCOUNT/SCREENNAME/DATE.log: conversation logs.
~/.gaim/blist.xml: the buddy list.
~/.gaim/plugins/: users local plugins
BUGS
Known bugs are listed at
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=235&atid=100235
PATCHES
If you fix a bug in gaim (or otherwise enhance it), please submit a
patch (using cvs diff -up > my.diff against the latest CVS version)
at
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=235&atid=300235
Before sending a bug report, please verify that you have the latest
version of gaim. Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed
at each release, and if yours is out of date, the problem may already
have been solved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it 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.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
AUTHORS
Gaim's active developers are:
Rob Flynn (maintainer) <gaim@robflynn.com>
Sean Egan (lead developer) <bj91704@binghamton.edu>
Christian 'ChipX86' Hammond (developer & webmaster)
Herman Bloggs (win32 port) <hermanator12002@yahoo.com>
Nathan 'faceprint' Walp (developer)
Mark 'KingAnt' Doliner (developer)
Ethan 'Paco-Paco' Blanton (developer)
Tim 'marv' Ringenbach (developer)
Luke 'LSchiere' Schierer (support)
Stu 'nosnilmot' Tomlinson (developer)
Our crazy patch writers include:
Benjamin Miller
Decklin Foster
Etan 'deryni' Reisner
Robert 'Robot101' McQueen
Kevin 'SimGuy' Stange
Gary 'grim' Kramlich
Ka-Hing 'javabsp' Cheung
Felipe 'shx' Contreras
Daniel 'datallah' Atallah
The retired developers of gaim are:
Adam Fritzler (former libfaim maintainer)
Eric Warmenhoven (former lead developer) <warmenhoven@yahoo.com>
Jim Duchek (former maintainer)
Jim Seymour (former Jabber developer)
Mark Spencer (original author) <markster@marko.net>
Syd Logan (hacker and designated driver [lazy bum])
This manpage was originally written by Dennis Ristuccia <dennis@dennisr.net>. It has been updated and largely rewritten by Sean Egan <bj91704@binghamton.edu> and Ben Tegarden <tegarden@uclink.berkeley.edu>.
