source: doc/user-guide/misc.xml @ 6451d27

Last change on this file since 6451d27 was c148701, checked in by Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@…>, at 2011-10-20T02:56:36Z

Fixed "chan set" typos in help. (Bug #842)

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1<chapter id="misc">
2<title>Misc Stuff</title>
3
4<sect1 id="smileys">
5<title>Smileys</title>
6
7<para>
8All MSN smileys (except one) are case insensitive and work without the nose too.
9</para>
10
11<variablelist>
12        <varlistentry><term>(Y)</term><listitem><para>Thumbs up</para></listitem></varlistentry>
13        <varlistentry><term>(N)</term><listitem><para>Thumbs down</para></listitem></varlistentry>
14        <varlistentry><term>(B)</term><listitem><para>Beer mug</para></listitem></varlistentry>
15        <varlistentry><term>(D)</term><listitem><para>Martini glass</para></listitem></varlistentry>
16        <varlistentry><term>(X)</term><listitem><para>Girl</para></listitem></varlistentry>
17        <varlistentry><term>(Z)</term><listitem><para>Boy</para></listitem></varlistentry>
18        <varlistentry><term>(6)</term><listitem><para>Devil smiley</para></listitem></varlistentry>
19        <varlistentry><term>:-[</term><listitem><para>Vampire bat</para></listitem></varlistentry>
20        <varlistentry><term>(})</term><listitem><para>Right hug</para></listitem></varlistentry>
21        <varlistentry><term>({)</term><listitem><para>Left hug</para></listitem></varlistentry>
22        <varlistentry><term>(M)</term><listitem><para>MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger icon (think a BitlBee logo here ;)</para></listitem></varlistentry>
23        <varlistentry><term>:-S</term><listitem><para>Crooked smiley (Confused smiley)</para></listitem></varlistentry>
24        <varlistentry><term>:-$</term><listitem><para>Embarrassed smiley</para></listitem></varlistentry>
25        <varlistentry><term>(H)</term><listitem><para>Smiley with sunglasses</para></listitem></varlistentry>
26        <varlistentry><term>:-@</term><listitem><para>Angry smiley</para></listitem></varlistentry>
27        <varlistentry><term>(A)</term><listitem><para>Angel smiley</para></listitem></varlistentry>
28        <varlistentry><term>(L)</term><listitem><para>Red heart (Love)</para></listitem></varlistentry>
29        <varlistentry><term>(U)</term><listitem><para>Broken heart</para></listitem></varlistentry>
30        <varlistentry><term>(K)</term><listitem><para>Red lips (Kiss)</para></listitem></varlistentry>
31        <varlistentry><term>(G)</term><listitem><para>Gift with bow</para></listitem></varlistentry>
32        <varlistentry><term>(F)</term><listitem><para>Red rose</para></listitem></varlistentry>
33        <varlistentry><term>(W)</term><listitem><para>Wilted rose</para></listitem></varlistentry>
34        <varlistentry><term>(P)</term><listitem><para>Camera</para></listitem></varlistentry>
35        <varlistentry><term>(~)</term><listitem><para>Film strip</para></listitem></varlistentry>
36        <varlistentry><term>(T)</term><listitem><para>Telephone receiver</para></listitem></varlistentry>
37        <varlistentry><term>(@)</term><listitem><para>Cat face</para></listitem></varlistentry>
38        <varlistentry><term>(&amp;)</term><listitem><para>Dog's head</para></listitem></varlistentry>
39        <varlistentry><term>(C)</term><listitem><para>Coffee cup</para></listitem></varlistentry>
40        <varlistentry><term>(I)</term><listitem><para>Light bulb</para></listitem></varlistentry>
41        <varlistentry><term>(S)</term><listitem><para>Half-moon (Case sensitive!)</para></listitem></varlistentry>
42        <varlistentry><term>(*)</term><listitem><para>Star</para></listitem></varlistentry>
43        <varlistentry><term>(8)</term><listitem><para>Musical eighth note</para></listitem></varlistentry>
44        <varlistentry><term>(E)</term><listitem><para>Envelope</para></listitem></varlistentry>
45        <varlistentry><term>(^)</term><listitem><para>Birthday cake</para></listitem></varlistentry>
46        <varlistentry><term>(O)</term><listitem><para>Clock</para></listitem></varlistentry>
47</variablelist>
48
49</sect1>
50
51<sect1 id="groupchats">
52<title>Groupchats</title>
53<para>
54BitlBee now supports groupchats on all IM networks. This text will try to explain you how they work.
55</para>
56
57<para>
58As soon as someone invites you into a groupchat, you will be force-joined or invited (depending on the protocol) into a new virtual channel with all the people in there. You can leave the channel at any time, just like you would close the window in regular IM clients. Please note that root-commands don't work in groupchat channels, they only work in the control channel (or to root directly).
59</para>
60
61<para>
62Of course you can also create your own groupchats. Type <emphasis>help groupchats2</emphasis> to see how.
63</para>
64
65</sect1>
66
67<sect1 id="groupchats2">
68<title>Creating groupchats</title>
69
70<para>
71To open a groupchat, use the <emphasis>chat with</emphasis> command. For example,  to start a groupchat with the person <emphasis>lisa_msn</emphasis> in it, just type <emphasis>chat with lisa_msn</emphasis>. BitlBee will create a new virtual channel with root, you and lisa_msn in it.
72</para>
73
74<para>
75Then, just use the ordinary IRC <emphasis>/invite</emphasis> command to invite more people. Please do keep in mind that all the people have to be on the same network and contact list! You can't invite Yahoo! buddies into an MSN groupchat.
76</para>
77
78<para>
79Some protocols (like Jabber) also support named groupchats. BitlBee now supports these too. You can use the <emphasis>chat add</emphasis> command to join them. See <emphasis>help chat add</emphasis> for more information.
80</para>
81
82</sect1>
83
84<sect1 id="away">
85<title>Away states</title>
86
87<para>
88To mark yourself as away, you can just use the <emphasis>/away</emphasis> command in your IRC client. BitlBee supports most away-states supported by the protocols.
89</para>
90
91<para>
92Away states have different names accross different protocols. BitlBee will try to pick the best available option for every connection:
93</para>
94
95<simplelist>
96        <member>Away</member>
97        <member>NA</member>
98        <member>Busy, DND</member>
99        <member>BRB</member>
100        <member>Phone</member>
101        <member>Lunch, Food</member>
102        <member>Invisible, Hidden</member>
103</simplelist>
104
105<para>
106So <emphasis>/away Food</emphasis> will set your state to "Out to lunch" on your MSN connection, and for most other connections the default, "Away" will be chosen.
107</para>
108
109<para>
110You can also add more information to your away message. Setting it to "Busy - Fixing BitlBee bugs" will set your IM-away-states to Busy, but your away message will be more descriptive for people on IRC. Most IM-protocols can also show this additional information to your buddies.
111</para>
112
113<para>
114If you want to set an away state for only one of your connections, you can use the per-account <emphasis>away</emphasis> setting. See <emphasis>help set away</emphasis>.
115</para>
116
117</sect1>
118
119<sect1 id="nick_changes">
120<title>Changing your nickname</title>
121
122<para>
123BitlBee now allows you to change your nickname. So far this was not possible because it made managing saved accounts more complicated.
124</para>
125
126<para>
127The restriction no longer exists now though. When you change your nick (just using the <emphasis>/nick</emphasis> command), your logged-in status will be reset, which means any changes made to your settings/accounts will not be saved.
128</para>
129
130<para>
131To restore your logged-in status, you need to either use the <emphasis>register</emphasis> command to create an account under the new nickname, or use <emphasis>identify -noload</emphasis> to re-identify yourself under the new nickname. The <emphasis>-noload</emphasis> flag tells the command to verify your password and log you in, but not load any new settings. See <emphasis>help identify</emphasis> for more information.
132</para>
133
134</sect1>
135
136<sect1 id="channels">
137<title>Dealing with channels</title>
138
139<para>
140You can have as many channels in BitlBee as you want. You maintain your channel list using the <emphasis>channel</emphasis> command. You can create new channels by just joining them, like on regular IRC networks.
141</para>
142
143<para>
144You can create two kinds of channels. Control channels, and groupchat channels. By default, BitlBee will set up new channels as control channels if their name starts with an &amp;, and as chat channels if it starts with a #.
145</para>
146
147<para>
148Control channels are where you see your contacts. By default, you will have one control channel called &amp;bitlbee, containing all your contacts. But you can create more, if you want, and divide your contact list accross several channels.
149</para>
150
151<para>
152For example, you can have one channel with all contacts from your MSN Messenger account in it. Or all contacts from the group called "Work".
153</para>
154
155<para>
156Type <emphasis>help channels2</emphasis> to read more.
157</para>
158
159</sect1>
160
161<sect1 id="channels2">
162<title>Creating a channel</title>
163
164<para>
165When you create a new channel, BitlBee will try to guess from its name which contacts to fill it with. For example, if the channel name (excluding the &amp;) matches the name of a group in which you have one or more contacts, the channel will contain all those contacts.
166</para>
167
168<para>
169Any valid account ID (so a number, protocol name or part of screenname, as long as it's unique) can also be used as a channel name. So if you just join &amp;msn, it will contain all your MSN contacts. And if you have a Facebook account set up, you can see its contacts by just joining &amp;facebook.
170</para>
171
172<para>
173To start a simple group chat, you simply join a channel which a name starting with #, and invite people into it. All people you invite have to be on the same IM network and contact list.
174</para>
175
176<para>
177If you want to configure your own channels, you can use the <emphasis>channel set</emphasis> command. See <emphasis>help channels3</emphasis> for more information.
178</para>
179
180</sect1>
181
182<sect1 id="channels3">
183<title>Configuring a control channel</title>
184
185<para>
186The most important setting for a control channel is <emphasis>fill_by</emphasis>. It
187tells BitlBee what information should be used to decide if someone should be shown
188in the channel or not. After setting this setting to, for example, <emphasis>account</emphasis>, you
189also have to set the <emphasis>account</emphasis> setting. Example:
190</para>
191
192<ircexample>
193        <ircline nick="wilmer">chan &amp;wlm set fill_by account</ircline>
194        <ircline nick="root">fill_by = `account'</ircline>
195        <ircline nick="wilmer">chan &amp;wlm set account msn</ircline>
196        <ircline nick="root">account = `msn'</ircline>
197</ircexample>
198
199<para>
200Also, each channel has a <emphasis>show_users</emphasis> setting which lets you
201choose, for example, if you want to see only online contacts in a channel, or
202also/just offline contacts. Example:
203</para>
204
205<ircexample>
206        <ircline nick="wilmer">chan &amp;offline set show_users offline</ircline>
207        <ircline nick="root">show_users = `offline'</ircline>
208</ircexample>
209
210<para>
211See the help information for all these settings for more information.
212</para>
213
214</sect1>
215
216<sect1 id="nick_format">
217<title>Nickname formatting</title>
218
219<para>
220The <emphasis>nick_format</emphasis> setting can be set globally using
221the <emphasis>set</emphasis> command, or per account using <emphasis>account
222set</emphasis> (so that you can set a per-account suffix/prefix or have
223nicknames generated from full names for certain accounts).
224</para>
225
226<para>
227The setting is basically some kind of format string. It can contain normal
228text that will be copied to the nick, combined with several variables:
229</para>
230
231<variablelist>
232        <varlistentry><term>%nick</term><listitem><para>Nickname suggested for this contact by the IM protocol, or just the handle if no nickname was suggested.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
233        <varlistentry><term>%handle</term><listitem><para>The handle/screenname of the contact.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
234        <varlistentry><term>%full_name</term><listitem><para>The full name of the contact.</para></listitem></varlistentry>
235        <varlistentry><term>%first_name</term><listitem><para>The first name of the contact (the full name up to the first space).</para></listitem></varlistentry>
236        <varlistentry><term>%group</term><listitem><para>The name of the group this contact is a member of</para></listitem></varlistentry>
237        <varlistentry><term>%account</term><listitem><para>Account tag of the contact</para></listitem></varlistentry>
238</variablelist>
239
240<para>
241Invalid characters (like spaces) will always be stripped. Depending on your
242locale settings, characters with accents will be converted to ASCII.
243</para>
244
245<para>
246See <emphasis>help nick_format2</emphasis> for some more information.
247</para>
248
249</sect1>
250
251<sect1 id="nick_format2">
252<title>Nickname formatting - modifiers</title>
253
254<para>
255Two modifiers are currently available: You can include only the first few
256characters of a variable by putting a number right after the %. For
257example, <emphasis>[%3group]%-@nick</emphasis> will include only the first
258three characters of the group name in the nick.
259</para>
260
261<para>
262Also, you can truncate variables from a certain character using
263the <emphasis>-</emphasis> modifier. For example, you may want to leave out
264everything after the @. <emphasis>%-@handle</emphasis> will expand to
265everything in the handle up to the first @.
266</para>
267
268</sect1>
269
270<sect1 id="whatsnew010206">
271<title>New stuff in BitlBee 1.2.6</title>
272
273<para>
274Twitter support. See <emphasis>help account add twitter</emphasis>.
275</para>
276</sect1>
277
278<sect1 id="whatsnew010300">
279<title>New stuff in BitlBee 1.3dev</title>
280
281<para>
282Support for multiple configurable control channels, each with a subset of
283your contact list. See <emphasis>help channels</emphasis> for more
284information.
285</para>
286
287<para>
288File transfer support for some protocols (more if you use libpurple). Just
289/DCC SEND stuff. Incoming files also become DCC transfers.
290</para>
291
292<para>
293Only if you run your own BitlBee instance: You can build a BitlBee that uses
294libpurple for connecting to IM networks instead of its own code, adding
295support for some of the more obscure IM protocols and features.
296</para>
297
298<para>
299Many more things, briefly described in <emphasis>help news1.3</emphasis>.
300</para>
301</sect1>
302
303<sect1 id="whatsnew030000">
304<title>New stuff in BitlBee 3.0</title>
305
306<para>
307BitlBee can be compiled with support for OTR message encryption (not available
308on public servers since encryption should be end-to-end).
309</para>
310
311<para>
312The MSN module was heavily updated to support features added to MSN Messenger
313over the recent years. You can now see/set status messages, send offline
314messages, and many strange issues caused by Microsoft breaking old-protocol
315compatibility should now be resolved.
316</para>
317
318<para>
319Twitter extended: IRC-style replies ("BitlBee:") now get converted to proper
320Twitter replies ("@BitlBee") and get a reference to the original message
321(see <emphasis>help set auto_reply_timeout</emphasis>). Retweets and some
322other stuff is also supported now (see <emphasis>help set commands</emphasis>).
323</para>
324</sect1>
325
326<sect1 id="news1.3">
327<title>New stuff in BitlBee 1.3dev (details)</title>
328
329<para>
330Most of the core of BitlBee was rewritten since the last release. This entry
331should sum up the majority of the changes.
332</para>
333
334<para>
335First of all, you can now have as many control channels as you want. Or you
336can have none, it's finally possible to leave &amp;bitlbee and still talk to
337all your contacts. Or you can have a &amp;work with all your work-related
338contacts, or a &amp;msn with all your MSN Messenger contacts. See <emphasis>help
339channels</emphasis> for more information about this.
340</para>
341
342<para>
343Also, you can change how nicknames are generated for your contacts. Like
344automatically adding a [fb] tag to the nicks of all your Facebook contacts.
345See <emphasis>help nick_format</emphasis>.
346</para>
347
348<para>
349When you're already connected to a BitlBee server and you connect from
350elsewhere, you can take over the old session.
351</para>
352
353<para>
354Instead of account numbers, accounts now also get tags. These are
355automatically generated but can be changed (<emphasis>help set
356tag</emphasis>). You can now use them instead of accounts numbers.
357(Example: <emphasis>acc gtalk on</emphasis>)
358</para>
359
360<para>
361Last of all: You can finally change your nickname and
362shorten root commands (try <emphasis>acc li</emphasis> instead
363of <emphasis>account list</emphasis>).
364</para>
365
366</sect1>
367
368</chapter>
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