source: doc/user-guide/user-guide.html @ 9a103a2

Last change on this file since 9a103a2 was c1ede6e8, checked in by Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@…>, at 2005-11-14T13:29:14Z

Added references to the BTS to the documentation.
  • Property mode set to 100644
File size: 66.9 KB
RevLine 
[b7d3cc34]1<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>BitlBee User Guide</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.68.1"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="book" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a name="BitlBee-User-Guide"></a>BitlBee User Guide</h1></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Jelmer</span> <span class="surname">Vernooij</span></h3></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Wilmer</span> <span class="surname">van der Gaast</span></h3></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Sjoerd</span> <span class="surname">Hemminga</span></h3></div></div><div><p class="releaseinfo">
2                This is the initial release of the BitlBee User Guide.
3   </p></div><div><div class="legalnotice"><a name="legalnotice"></a><p>
4         Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
5         document under the terms of the <a href="gnome-help:fdl" target="_top"><em class="citetitle">GNU Free Documentation
6         License</em></a>, Version 1.1 or any later version
7         published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant
8         Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You
9         may obtain a copy of the <em class="citetitle">GNU Free Documentation
10         License</em> from the Free Software Foundation by
11         visiting <a href="http://www.fsf.org" target="_top">their
12         Web site</a> or by writing to: Free Software Foundation,
13         Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307,
14         USA.
[c1ede6e8]15       </p></div></div></div><hr></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#Installation">1. Installation</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2488359">Downloading the package</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2449756">Compiling</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2449897">Configuration</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#Usage">2. Usage</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450201">Connecting to the server</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450215">The #bitlbee control channel</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450234">Talking to people</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#Support">3. Support</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450279">BitlBee is beta software</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450293">Support channels</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450298">The World Wide Web</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450315">IRC</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450326">Mailinglists</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#quickstart">4. Quickstart</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart2">Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart3">Managing Contact Lists: Rename</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart4">Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart5">Chatting</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart6">Further Resources</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#commands">5. Bitlbee commands</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_account">account - IM-account list maintenance</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_add">account add</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_del">account del</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_on">account on</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_off">account off</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_list">account list</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_add">add - Add a buddy to your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_info">info - Request user information</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_remove">remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_block">block - Block someone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_allow">allow - Unblock someone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_set">set - Miscellaneous settings</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_help">help - BitlBee help system</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_save">save - Save your account data</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_charset">charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_private">private</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_save_on_quit">save_on_quit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_html">html</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_debug">debug</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_to_char">to_char</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_typing_notice">typing_notice</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_ops">ops</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_away_devoice">away_devoice</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_handle_unknown">handle_unknown</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_connect">auto_connect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_reconnect">auto_reconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_reconnect_delay">auto_reconnect_delay</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_buddy_sendbuffer">buddy_sendbuffer</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_buddy_sendbuffer_delay">buddy_sendbuffer_delay</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_default_target">default_target</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_display_namechanges">display_namechanges</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_password">password</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_query_order">query_order</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_lcnicks">lcnicks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_rename">rename - Rename (renick) a buddy</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_yes">yes - Accept a request</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_no">no - Deny a request</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_qlist">qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_register">register - Register yourself</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_identify">identify - Identify yourself with your password</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_drop">drop - Drop your account</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_blist">blist - List all the buddies in your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_nick">nick - Change friendly name, nick</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_import_buddies">import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server (normally only needed when upgrading)</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#misc">6. Misc Stuff</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#smileys">Smileys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats">Groupchats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats2">Creating groupchats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats3">Groupchat channel names</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#away">Away states</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="Installation"></a>Chapter 1. Installation</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2488359">Downloading the package</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2449756">Compiling</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2449897">Configuration</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2488359"></a>Downloading the package</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]16The latest BitlBee release is always available from <a href="http://www.bitlbee.org/" target="_top">http://www.bitlbee.org/</a>.
17Download the package with your favorite program and unpack it: <span><strong class="command">tar
18xvfz bitlbee-&lt;version&gt;.tar.gz</strong></span> where &lt;version&gt; is to be
19replaced by the version number of the BitlBee you downloaded (e.g. 0.91).
[c1ede6e8]20</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2449756"></a>Compiling</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]21BitlBee's build system has to be configured before compiling. The
22<code class="filename">configure</code> script will do this for you. Just run
23it, it'll set up with nice and hopefully well-working defaults. If you
24want to change some settings, just try
25<span><strong class="command">./configure --help</strong></span> and see what you can do.
26</p><p>Some variables that might be of interest to the normal user:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li><p>prefix, bindir, etcdir, mandir, datadir - The place where
27all the BitlBee program files will be put. There's usually no reason to
28specify them all separately, just specifying prefix (or keeping the default
29<code class="filename">/usr/local/</code>) should be okay.</p></li><li><p>config - The place where BitlBee will save all the per-user
30settings and buddy information. <code class="filename">/var/lib/bitlbee/</code>
31is the default value.</p></li><li><p>msn, jabber, oscar, yahoo - By default, support for all
32these IM-protocols (OSCAR is the protocol used by both ICQ and AIM) will
33be compiled in. To make the binary a bit smaller, you can use these options
34to leave out support for protocols you're not planning to use.</p></li><li><p>debug - Generate an unoptimized binary with debugging symbols,
35mainly useful if you want to do some debugging or help us to track down a
36problem.</p></li><li><p>strip - By default, unnecessary parts of the generated binary
37will be stripped out to make it as small as possible. If you don't want this
38(because it might cause problems on some platforms), set this to 0.
39</p></li><li><p>flood - To secure your BitlBee server against flooding attacks,
40you can use this option. It's not compiled in by default because it needs
41more testing first.</p></li><li><p>ssl - The MSN and Jabber modules require an SSL library for
42some of their tasks. BitlBee can use three different SSL libraries: GnuTLS,
43mozilla-nss and OpenSSL. (OpenSSL is, however, a bit troublesome because of
44licensing issues, so don't forget to read the information configure will
45give you when you try to use OpenSSL!) By default, configure will try to
46detect GnuTLS or mozilla-nss. If none of them can be found, it'll give up.
47If you want BitlBee to use OpenSSL, you have to explicitly specify that.
48</p></li></ul></div><p>
49After running <code class="filename">configure</code>, you should run
50<span><strong class="command">make</strong></span>. After that, run <span><strong class="command">make install</strong></span> as
51root.
[c1ede6e8]52</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2449897"></a>Configuration</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]53By default, BitlBee runs as the user nobody. You might want
54to run it as a seperate user (some computers run named or apache as nobody).
55</p><p>
56Since BitlBee uses inetd, you should add the following line to <code class="filename">/etc/inetd.conf</code>:
57</p><p>
58        </p><pre class="programlisting">
596667    stream  tcp     nowait nobody /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee bitlbee
60</pre><p>
61      </p><p>
62Inetd has to be restarted after changing the configuration. Either
63<span><strong class="command">killall -HUP inetd</strong></span> or
64<span><strong class="command">/etc/init.d/inetd restart</strong></span> should do the job on most systems.
65</p><p>
66You might be one of the.. ehr, lucky people running an xinetd-powered distro.
67<span><strong class="command">xinetd</strong></span> is quite different and they seem to be proud of that.. ;-)
68Anyway, if you want BitlBee to work with <span><strong class="command">xinetd</strong></span>, just copy the
69bitlbee.xinetd file to your /etc/xinetd.d/ directory (and probably edit it to suit
70your needs).
71</p><p>
72You should create a directory where BitlBee can store it's data files. This
73should be the directory named after the value 'CONFIG' in Makefile.settings.
74The default is <code class="filename">/var/lib/bitlbee</code>, which can be created
75with the command <span><strong class="command">mkdir -p /var/lib/bitlbee</strong></span>. This
76directory has to be owned by the user that runs bitlbee. To make
77'nobody' owner of this directory, run <span><strong class="command">chown nobody /var/lib/bitlbee</strong></span>.
78Because things like passwords are saved in this directory, it's probably
79a good idea to make this directory owner-read-/writable only.
[c1ede6e8]80</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="Usage"></a>Chapter 2. Usage</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450201">Connecting to the server</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450215">The #bitlbee control channel</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450234">Talking to people</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2450201"></a>Connecting to the server</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]81Since BitlBee acts just like any other irc daemon, you can connect to
82it with your favorite irc client. Launch it and connect to localhost port 6667
83(or whatever host/port you are running bitlbee on).
[c1ede6e8]84</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2450215"></a>The #bitlbee control channel</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]85Once you are connected to the BitlBee server, you are automatically joined
86to #bitlbee on that server. This channel acts like the 'buddy list' you have
87on the various other chat networks.
88</p><p>
89The user 'root' always hangs around in #bitlbee and acts as your interface
90to bitlbee. All commands you give on #bitlbee are 'answered' by root.
[c1ede6e8]91</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2450234"></a>Talking to people</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]92You can talk to by starting a query with them. In most irc clients,
93this can be done with either <span><strong class="command">/msg &lt;nick&gt; &lt;text&gt;</strong></span>
94or <span><strong class="command">/query &lt;nick&gt;</strong></span>.
95</p><p>
96To keep the number of open query windows limited, you can also talk to people
97in the control channel, like <span><strong class="command">&lt;nick&gt;: &lt;text&gt;</strong></span>.
[c1ede6e8]98</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="Support"></a>Chapter 3. Support</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450279">BitlBee is beta software</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#id2450293">Support channels</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450298">The World Wide Web</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450315">IRC</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#id2450326">Mailinglists</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2450279"></a>BitlBee is beta software</h2></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]99Although BitlBee has quite some functionality it is still beta. That means it
100can crash at any time, corrupt your data or whatever. Don't use it in
101any production environment and don't rely on it.
[c1ede6e8]102</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2450293"></a>Support channels</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2450298"></a>The World Wide Web</h3></div></div></div><p><a href="http://www.bitlbee.org/" target="_top">http://www.bitlbee.org/</a> 
[b7d3cc34]103is the homepage of bitlbee and contains the most recent news on bitlbee and
104the latest releases.
[c1ede6e8]105</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2450315"></a>IRC</h3></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]106BitlBee is discussed on #bitlbee on the OFTC IRC network (server: irc.oftc.net).
[c1ede6e8]107</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2450326"></a>Mailinglists</h3></div></div></div><p>
[b7d3cc34]108BitlBee doesn't have any mailinglists.
109</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="quickstart"></a>Chapter 4. Quickstart</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart2">Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart3">Managing Contact Lists: Rename</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart4">Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart5">Chatting</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#quickstart6">Further Resources</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
110Welcome to BitlBee, your IRC gateway to ICQ, MSN, AOL, Jabber and Yahoo Instant Messaging Systems.
111</p><p>
112The center of BitlBee is the control channel, <span class="emphasis"><em>#bitlbee</em></span>. Two users will always be there, <span class="emphasis"><em>you</em></span> (where "you" is the nickname you are using) and the system user, <span class="emphasis"><em>root</em></span>.
113</p><p>
114You need register so that all your IM settings (passwords, contacts, etc) can be saved on the BitlBee server. It's important that you pick a good password so no one else can access your account. Register with this password using the <span class="emphasis"><em>register</em></span> command: <span class="emphasis"><em>register &lt;password&gt;</em></span> (without the brackets!).
115</p><p>
116Be sure to remember your password. The next time you connect to the BitlBee server you will need to <span class="emphasis"><em>identify &lt;password&gt;</em></span> so that you will be recognised and logged in to all the IM services automatically.
117</p><p>
118When finished, type <span class="emphasis"><em>help quickstart2</em></span> to continue.
119</p><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="quickstart2"></a>Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)</h2></div></div></div><p>
120        <span class="emphasis"><em>Step Two: Add and Connect To your IM Account(s).</em></span>
121      </p><p>
122To add an account to the account list you will need to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>account add</em></span> command: <span class="emphasis"><em>account add &lt;protocol&gt; &lt;username&gt; &lt;password&gt; [&lt;server&gt;]</em></span>.
123</p><p>
124For instance, suppose you have an ICQ account with UIN <span class="emphasis"><em>72696705</em></span> with password <span class="emphasis"><em>QuickStart</em></span>, you would:
125</p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; you&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>account add oscar 72696705 QuickStart login.icq.com</code></strong>
126<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>Account successfully added</code></strong>
127</pre><p>
128Other available IM protocols are jabber, msn, and yahoo. Oscar is the protocol used by ICQ and AOL. For oscar, you need to specify the IM-server as a fourth argument (for msn and yahoo there is no fourth argument). For AOL Instant Messenger, the server name is <span class="emphasis"><em>login.oscar.aol.com</em></span>. For ICQ, the server name is <span class="emphasis"><em>login.icq.com</em></span>.
129</p><p>
130When you are finished adding your account(s) use the <span class="emphasis"><em>account on</em></span> command to enable all your accounts, type <span class="emphasis"><em>help quickstart3</em></span> to continue.
131</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="quickstart3"></a>Managing Contact Lists: Rename</h2></div></div></div><p>
132        <span class="emphasis"><em>Step Three: Managing Contact Lists: Rename</em></span>
133      </p><p>
134For most protocols (currently MSN, Jabber, Yahoo and AOL) BitlBee can download the contact list automatically from the IM server and all the on-line users should appear in the control channel when you log in.
135</p><p>
136BitlBee will convert names into irc-friendly form (for instance: tux@example.com will be given the nickname tux). If you have more than one person who would have the same name by this logic (for instance: tux@example.com and tux@bitlbee.org) the second one to log on will be tux_. The same is true if you have a tux log on to AOL and a tux log on from Yahoo.
137</p><p>
138It would be easy to get these two mixed up, so BitlBee has a <span class="emphasis"><em>rename</em></span> command to change the nickname into something more suitable: <span class="emphasis"><em>rename &lt;oldnick&gt; &lt;newnick&gt;</em></span></p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; you&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>rename tux_ bitlbeetux</code></strong>
139 * tux_is now known as bitlbeetux
140<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>Nick successfully changed</code></strong>
141</pre><p>
142When finished, type <span class="emphasis"><em>help quickstart4</em></span> to continue.
143</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="quickstart4"></a>Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.</h2></div></div></div><p>
144        <span class="emphasis"><em>Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.</em></span>
145      </p><p>
146Now you might want to add some contacts, to do this we will use the <span class="emphasis"><em>add</em></span> command. It needs two arguments: a connection ID (which can be a number (try <span class="emphasis"><em>account list</em></span>), protocol name or (part of) the screenname) and the user's handle. It is used in the following way: <span class="emphasis"><em>add &lt;connection&gt; &lt;handle&gt;</em></span></p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; you&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>add 0 r2d2@example.com</code></strong>
147 * r2d2has joined #bitlbee
148</pre><p>
149In this case r2d2 is online, since he/she joins the channel immediately. If the user is not online you will not see them join until they log on.
150</p><p>
151Lets say you accidentally added r2d3@example.com rather than r2d2@example.com, or maybe you just want to remove a user from your list because you never talk to them. To remove a name you will want to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>remove</em></span> command: <span class="emphasis"><em>remove &lt;nick&gt;</em></span></p><p>
152When finished, type <span class="emphasis"><em>help quickstart5</em></span> to continue.
153</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="quickstart5"></a>Chatting</h2></div></div></div><p>
154        <span class="emphasis"><em>Step Five: Chatting.</em></span>
155      </p><p>
156First of all, a person must be on your contact list for you to chat with them (unless it's a group chat, <span class="emphasis"><em>help groupchats</em></span> for more). If someone not on your contact list sends you a message, simply add them to the proper account with the <span class="emphasis"><em>add</em></span> command. Once they are on your list and online, you can chat with them in #bitlbee:
157</p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; you&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>tux: hey, how's the weather down there?</code></strong>
158<code class="prompt">&lt; tux&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>you: a bit chilly!</code></strong>
159</pre><p>
160If you'd rather chat with them in a separate window use the <span class="emphasis"><em>/msg</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>/query</em></span> command, just like you would for a private message in IRC.  If you want to have messages automatically come up in private messages rather than in the #bitlbee channel, use the <span class="emphasis"><em>set private</em></span> command: <span class="emphasis"><em>set private true</em></span> (<span class="emphasis"><em>set private false</em></span> to change back).
161</p><p>
162You know the basics. If you want to get to know more about BitlBee, please type <span class="emphasis"><em>help quickstart6</em></span>.
163</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="quickstart6"></a>Further Resources</h2></div></div></div><p>
164        <span class="emphasis"><em>So you want more than just chatting? Or maybe you're just looking for a feature?</em></span>
165      </p><p>
166You can type <span class="emphasis"><em>help set</em></span> to learn more about the possible BitlBee user settings. Among these user settings you will find options for common issues, such as changing the charset, HTML stripping and automatic connecting (simply type <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> to see current user settings).
167</p><p>
168For more subjects (like groupchats and away states), please type <span class="emphasis"><em>help index</em></span>.
169</p><p>
170If you're still looking for something, please visit us in #bitlbee on the OFTC network (you can connect via irc.bitlbee.org), or mail us your problem/suggestion. Good luck and enjoy the Bee!
171</p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="commands"></a>Chapter 5. Bitlbee commands</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_account">account - IM-account list maintenance</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_add">account add</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_del">account del</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_on">account on</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_off">account off</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cmd_account_list">account list</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_add">add - Add a buddy to your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_info">info - Request user information</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_remove">remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_block">block - Block someone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_allow">allow - Unblock someone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_set">set - Miscellaneous settings</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_help">help - BitlBee help system</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_save">save - Save your account data</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_charset">charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_private">private</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_save_on_quit">save_on_quit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_html">html</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_debug">debug</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_to_char">to_char</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_typing_notice">typing_notice</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_ops">ops</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_away_devoice">away_devoice</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_handle_unknown">handle_unknown</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_connect">auto_connect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_reconnect">auto_reconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_auto_reconnect_delay">auto_reconnect_delay</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_buddy_sendbuffer">buddy_sendbuffer</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_buddy_sendbuffer_delay">buddy_sendbuffer_delay</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_default_target">default_target</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_display_namechanges">display_namechanges</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_password">password</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_query_order">query_order</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set_lcnicks">lcnicks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_rename">rename - Rename (renick) a buddy</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_yes">yes - Accept a request</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_no">no - Deny a request</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_qlist">qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_register">register - Register yourself</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_identify">identify - Identify yourself with your password</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_drop">drop - Drop your account</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_blist">blist - List all the buddies in your contact list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_nick">nick - Change friendly name, nick</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#cmd_import_buddies">import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server (normally only needed when upgrading)</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_account"></a>account - IM-account list maintenance</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
172          </p><pre class="programlisting">account &lt;action&gt; [&lt;arguments&gt;]
173</pre><p>
174        </p><p>
175                                Available actions: add, del, list, on, off. See <span class="emphasis"><em>help account &lt;action&gt;</em></span> for more information.
176                        </p><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_add"></a>account add</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
177            </p><pre class="programlisting">account add &lt;protocol&gt; &lt;username&gt; &lt;password&gt; [&lt;server&gt;]
178</pre><p>
179          </p><p>
180                                        Adds an account on the given server with the specified protocol, username and password to the account list. Supported protocols right now are: Jabber, MSN, OSCAR (AIM/ICQ) and Yahoo. For more information about adding an account, see <span class="emphasis"><em>help account add &lt;protocol&gt;</em></span>.
181                                </p><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_add_jabber"></a>account add jabber</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
182              </p><pre class="programlisting">account add jabber &lt;handle&gt; &lt;password&gt; [&lt;servertag&gt;]
183</pre><p>
184            </p><p>
185                                                Note that the servertag argument is optional. You only have to use it if the part after the @ in your handle isn't the hostname of your Jabber server, or if you want to use SSL/connect to a non-standard port number. The format is simple: [&lt;servername&gt;[:&lt;portnumber&gt;][:ssl]]. For example, this is how you can connect to Google Talk:
186                                        </p><p>
187                                                Note that Google talk is SSL-only, but officially reachable over both port 5222 and 5223. However, for some people only port 5222 works, for some people only 5223. This is something you'll have to try out.
188                                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; wilmer&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>account add jabber example@gmail.com hobbelmeeuw talk.google.com:5223:ssl</code></strong>
189<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>Account successfully added</code></strong>
190</pre></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_add_msn"></a>account add msn</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
191              </p><pre class="programlisting">account add msn &lt;handle&gt; &lt;password&gt;
192</pre><p>
193            </p><p>
194                                                For MSN connections there are no special arguments.
195                                        </p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_add_oscar"></a>account add oscar</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
196              </p><pre class="programlisting">account add oscar &lt;handle&gt; &lt;password&gt; [&lt;servername&gt;]
197</pre><p>
198            </p><p>
199                                                Specifying a server is required for OSCAR, since OSCAR can be used for both ICQ- and AIM-connections. Although these days it's supposed to be possible to connect to ICQ via AIM-servers and vice versa, we like to stick with this separation for now. For ICQ connections, the servername is <span class="emphasis"><em>login.icq.com</em></span>, for AIM connections it's <span class="emphasis"><em>login.oscar.aol.com</em></span>.
200                                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; wilmer&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>account add oscar 72696705 hobbelmeeuw login.icq.com</code></strong>
201<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>Account successfully added</code></strong>
202</pre></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_add_yahoo"></a>account add yahoo</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
203              </p><pre class="programlisting">account add yahoo &lt;handle&gt; &lt;password&gt;
204</pre><p>
205            </p><p>
206                                                For Yahoo! connections there are no special arguments.
207                                        </p></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_del"></a>account del</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
208            </p><pre class="programlisting">account del &lt;account id&gt;
209</pre><p>
210          </p><p>
211                                        This commands deletes an account from your account list. You should signoff the account before deleting it.
212                                </p><p>
213                                        The account ID can be a number (see <span class="emphasis"><em>account list</em></span>), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
214                                </p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_on"></a>account on</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
215            </p><pre class="programlisting">account on [&lt;account id&gt;]
216</pre><p>
217          </p><p>
218                                        This command will try to log into the specified account. If no account is specified, BitlBee will log into all the accounts. (Including accounts awaiting a reconnection)
219                                </p><p>
220                                        The account ID can be a number (see <span class="emphasis"><em>account list</em></span>), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
221                                </p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_off"></a>account off</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
222            </p><pre class="programlisting">account off [&lt;account id&gt;]
223</pre><p>
224          </p><p>
225                                        This command disconnects the connection for the specified account. If no account is specified, BitlBee will deactivate all active accounts. (Including accounts awaiting a reconnection)
226                                </p><p>
227                                        The account ID can be a number (see <span class="emphasis"><em>account list</em></span>), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
228                                </p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="cmd_account_list"></a>account list</h3></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
229            </p><pre class="programlisting">account list
230</pre><p>
231          </p><p>
232                                        This command gives you a list of all the accounts known by BitlBee, including the numbers you'll need for most account commands.
233                                </p></div></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_add"></a>add - Add a buddy to your contact list</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
234          </p><pre class="programlisting">add &lt;connection&gt; &lt;handle&gt; [&lt;nick&gt;]
235</pre><p>
236        </p><p>
237                                Adds the given buddy at the specified connection to your buddy list. The account ID can be a number (see <span class="emphasis"><em>account list</em></span>), the protocol name or (part of) the screenname, as long as it matches only one connection.
238                        </p><p>
239                                If you want, you can also tell BitlBee what nick to give the new contact. Of course you can also use the <span class="emphasis"><em>rename</em></span> command for that, but sometimes this might be more convenient.
240                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; ctrlsoft&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>add 3 gryp@jabber.org grijp</code></strong>
241 * grijphas joined #bitlbee
242</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_info"></a>info - Request user information</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
243          </p><pre class="programlisting">info &lt;connection&gt; &lt;handle&gt;
244info &lt;nick&gt;
245</pre><p>
246        </p><p>
247                                Requests IM-network-specific information about the specified user. The amount of information you'll get differs per protocol. For some protocols (ATM Yahoo! and MSN) it'll give you an URL which you can visit with a normal web browser to get the information.
248                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; ctrlsoft&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>info 0 72696705</code></strong>
249<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>User info - UIN: 72696705 Nick: Lintux First/Last name: Wilmer van der Gaast E-mail: lintux@lintux.cx</code></strong>
250</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_remove"></a>remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
251          </p><pre class="programlisting">remove &lt;nick&gt;
252</pre><p>
253        </p><p>
254                                Removes the specified nick from your buddy list.
255                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; ctrlsoft&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>remove gryp</code></strong>
256 * gryphas quit [Leaving...]
257</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_block"></a>block - Block someone</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
258          </p><pre class="programlisting">block &lt;nick&gt;
259block &lt;connection&gt; &lt;handle&gt;
260</pre><p>
261        </p><p>
262                                Puts the specified user on your ignore list. Either specify the user's nick when you have him/her in your contact list or a connection number and a user handle.
263                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_allow"></a>allow - Unblock someone</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
264          </p><pre class="programlisting">allow &lt;nick&gt;
265allow &lt;connection&gt; &lt;handle&gt;
266</pre><p>
267        </p><p>
268                                Reverse of block. Unignores the specified user or user handle on specified connection.
269                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_set"></a>set - Miscellaneous settings</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
270          </p><pre class="programlisting">set [&lt;variable&gt; [&lt;value&gt;]]
271</pre><p>
272        </p><p>
273                                Without any arguments, this command lists all the set variables. You can also specify a single argument, a variable name, to get that variable's value. To change this value, specify the new value as the second argument.
274                        </p><p>
275                                To get more help information about a setting, try:
276                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; ctrlsoft&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>help set private</code></strong>
277</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_help"></a>help - BitlBee help system</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
278          </p><pre class="programlisting">help [subject]
279</pre><p>
280        </p><p>
281                                This command gives you the help information you're reading right now. If you don't give any arguments, it'll give a short help index.
282                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_save"></a>save - Save your account data</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
283          </p><pre class="programlisting">save
284</pre><p>
285        </p><p>
286                                This command saves all your nicks and accounts immediately. Handy if you have the autosave functionality disabled, or if you don't trust the program's stability... ;-)
287                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_charset"></a>charset</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
288                                The charset setting enables you to use different character sets in BitlBee. These get converted to UTF-8 before sending and from UTF-8 when receiving.
289                        </p><p>
290                                If you don't know what's the best value for this, at least iso8859-1 is the best choice for most Western countries. You can try to find what works best for you on http://czyborra.com/charsets/iso8859.html
291                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_private"></a>private</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
292                                If value is true, messages from users will appear in separate query windows. If false, messages from users will appear in the control channel.
293                        </p><p>
294                                This setting is remembered (during one session) per-user, this setting only changes the default state. This option takes effect as soon as you reconnect.
295                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_save_on_quit"></a>save_on_quit</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
296                                If enabled causes BitlBee to save all current settings and account details when user disconnects. This is enabled by default, and these days there's not really a reason to have it disabled anymore.
297                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_html"></a>html</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
298                                Determines what BitlBee should do with HTML in messages. If set to nostrip, HTML in messages will not be touched. If set to strip, all HTML will be stripped from messages. Unfortunately this sometimes strips too much.
299                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_debug"></a>debug</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
300                                Some debugging messages can be sent to the control channel if you wish. They're probably not really useful for you, unless you're doing some development on BitlBee.
301                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_to_char"></a>to_char</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
302                                It's customary that messages meant for one specific person on an IRC channel are prepended by his/her alias followed by a colon ':'. BitlBee does this by default. If you prefer a different character, you can set it using <span class="emphasis"><em>set to_char</em></span>.
303                        </p><p>
304                                Please note that this setting is only used for incoming messages. For outgoing messages you can use ':' (colon) or ',' to separate the destination nick from the message, and this is not configurable.
305                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_typing_notice"></a>typing_notice</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
306                                Sends you a /notice when a user starts typing a message (if the protocol supports it, MSN for example). This is a bug, not a feature. (But please don't report it.. ;-) You don't want to use it. Really. In fact the typing-notification is just one of the least useful 'innovations' ever. It's just there because some guy will probably ask me about it anyway. ;-)
307                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_ops"></a>ops</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
308                                Some people prefer themself and root to have operator status in #bitlbee, other people don't. You can change these states using this setting.
309                        </p><p>
310                                The value "both" means both user and root get ops. "root" means, well, just root. "user" means just the user. "none" means nobody will get operator status.
311                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_away_devoice"></a>away_devoice</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
312                                With this option enabled, the root user devoices people when they go away (just away, not offline) and gives the voice back when they come back. You might dislike the voice-floods you'll get if your contact list is huge, so this option can be disabled.
313                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_handle_unknown"></a>handle_unknown</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
314                                Messages from unknown users are echoed like this by default:
315                        </p><p>
316                                If you want this lame user to be added automatically, you can set this setting to "add". If you prefer to ignore messages from people you don't know, you can set this one to "ignore". "add_private" and "add_channel" are like add, but you can use them to make messages from unknown buddies appear in the channel instead of a query window.
317                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_auto_connect"></a>auto_connect</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
318                                With this option enabled, when you identify BitlBee will automatically connect to your accounts, with this disabled it will not do this.
319                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_auto_reconnect"></a>auto_reconnect</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
320                                If an IM-connections breaks, you're supposed to bring it back up yourself. Having BitlBee do this automatically might not always be a good idea, for several reasons. If you want the connections to be restored automatically, you can enable this setting.
321                        </p><p>
322                                See also the <span class="emphasis"><em>auto_reconnect_delay</em></span> setting.
323                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_auto_reconnect_delay"></a>auto_reconnect_delay</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: integer</td></tr></table><p>
324                                Tell BitlBee after how many seconds it should attempt to bring an IM-connection back up after a crash. It's not a good idea to set this value very low, it will cause too much useless traffic when an IM-server is down for a few hours.
325                        </p><p>
326                                See also the <span class="emphasis"><em>auto_reconnect</em></span> setting.
327                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_buddy_sendbuffer"></a>buddy_sendbuffer</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
328                                By default, when you send a message to someone, BitlBee forwards this message to the user immediately. When you paste a large number of lines, the lines will be sent in separate messages, which might not be very nice to read. If you enable this setting, BitlBee will buffer your messages and wait for more data.
329                        </p><p>
330                                Using the <span class="emphasis"><em>buddy_sendbuffer_delay</em></span> setting you can specify the number of seconds BitlBee should wait for more data before the complete message is sent.
331                        </p><p>
332                                Please note that if you remove a buddy from your list (or if the connection to that user drops) and there's still data in the buffer, this data will be lost. BitlBee will not try to send the message to the user in those cases.
333                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_buddy_sendbuffer_delay"></a>buddy_sendbuffer_delay</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: integer</td></tr></table><p>
334                                Tell BitlBee after how many seconds a buffered message should be sent.
335                        </p><p>
336                                See also the <span class="emphasis"><em>buddy_sendbuffer</em></span> setting.
337                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_default_target"></a>default_target</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
338                                With this value set to <span class="emphasis"><em>root</em></span>, lines written in the control channel without any nickname in front of them will be interpreted as commands. If you want BitlBee to send those lines to the last person you addressed in the control channel, set this to <span class="emphasis"><em>last</em></span>.
339                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_display_namechanges"></a>display_namechanges</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_password"></a>password</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
340                                Use this setting to change your "NickServ" password.
341                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_query_order"></a>query_order</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: string</td></tr></table><p>
342                                This changes the order in which the questions from root (usually authorization requests from buddies) should be answered. When set to <span class="emphasis"><em>lifo</em></span>, BitlBee immediately displays all new questions and they should be answered in reverse order. When this is set to <span class="emphasis"><em>fifo</em></span>, BitlBee displays the first question which comes in and caches all the others until you answer the first one.
343                        </p><p>
344                                Although the <span class="emphasis"><em>fifo</em></span> setting might sound more logical (and used to be the default behaviour in older BitlBee versions), it turned out not to be very convenient for many users when they missed the first question (and never received the next ones).
345                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="set_lcnicks"></a>lcnicks</h2></div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Type: boolean</td></tr></table><p>
346                                Hereby you can change whether you want all lower case nick names or leave the case as it intended by your peer.
347                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_rename"></a>rename - Rename (renick) a buddy</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
348          </p><pre class="programlisting">rename &lt;oldnick&gt; &lt;newnick&gt;
349</pre><p>
350        </p><p>
351                                Renick a user in your buddy list. Very useful, in fact just very important, if you got a lot of people with stupid account names (or hard ICQ numbers).
352                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; itsme&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>rename itsme_ you</code></strong>
353 * itsme_is now known as you
354</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_yes"></a>yes - Accept a request</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
355          </p><pre class="programlisting">yes [&lt;number&gt;]
356</pre><p>
357        </p><p>
358                                Sometimes an IM-module might want to ask you a question. (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To accept a question, use the <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span> command.
359                        </p><p>
360                                By default, this answers the first unanswered question. You can also specify a different question as an argument. You can use the <span class="emphasis"><em>qlist</em></span> command for a list of questions.
361                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_no"></a>no - Deny a request</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
362          </p><pre class="programlisting">no [&lt;number&gt;]
363</pre><p>
364        </p><p>
365                                Sometimes an IM-module might want to ask you a question. (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To reject a question, use the <span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span> command.
366                        </p><p>
367                                By default, this answers the first unanswered question. You can also specify a different question as an argument. You can use the <span class="emphasis"><em>qlist</em></span> command for a list of questions.
368                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_qlist"></a>qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
369          </p><pre class="programlisting">qlist
370</pre><p>
371        </p><p>
372                                This gives you a list of all the unanswered questions from root.
373                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_register"></a>register - Register yourself</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
374          </p><pre class="programlisting">register &lt;password&gt;
375</pre><p>
376        </p><p>
377                                BitlBee can save your settings so you won't have to enter all your IM passwords every time you log in. If you want the Bee to save your settings, use the <span class="emphasis"><em>register</em></span> command.
378                        </p><p>
379                                Please do pick a secure password, don't just use your nick as your password. Please note that IRC is not an encrypted protocol, so the passwords still go over the network in plaintext. Evil people with evil sniffers will read it all. (So don't use your root password.. ;-)
380                        </p><p>
381                                To identify yourself in later sessions, you can use the <span class="emphasis"><em>identify</em></span> command.
382                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_identify"></a>identify - Identify yourself with your password</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
383          </p><pre class="programlisting">identify &lt;password&gt;
384</pre><p>
385        </p><p>
386                                BitlBee saves all your settings (contacts, accounts, passwords) on-server. To prevent other users from just logging in as you and getting this information, you'll have to identify yourself with your password. You can register this password using the <span class="emphasis"><em>register</em></span> command.
387                        </p><p>
388                                Once you're registered, you can change your password using <span class="emphasis"><em>set password &lt;password&gt;</em></span>.
389                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_drop"></a>drop - Drop your account</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
390          </p><pre class="programlisting">drop &lt;password&gt;
391</pre><p>
392        </p><p>
393                                Drop your BitlBee registration. Your account files will be removed and your password will be forgotten. For obvious security reasons, you have to specify your NickServ password to make this command work.
394                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_blist"></a>blist - List all the buddies in your contact list</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
395          </p><pre class="programlisting">blist [all|online|offline|away]
396</pre><p>
397        </p><p>
398                                You can get a better readable buddy list using the <span class="emphasis"><em>blist</em></span> command. If you want a complete list (including the offline users) you can use the <span class="emphasis"><em>all</em></span> argument.
399                        </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_nick"></a>nick - Change friendly name, nick</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
400          </p><pre class="programlisting">nick &lt;connection&gt; [&lt;new nick&gt;]
401nick
402</pre><p>
403        </p><p>
404                                This command allows to set the friendly name of an im account. If no new name is specified the command will report the current name. When the name contains spaces, don't forget to quote the whole nick in double quotes. Currently this command is only supported by the MSN protocol.
405                        </p><pre class="screen"><code class="prompt">&lt; wouter&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>nick 1 "Wouter Paesen"</code></strong>
406<code class="prompt">&lt; root&gt; </code><strong class="userinput"><code>Setting your name on connection 1 to `Wouter Paesen'</code></strong>
407</pre></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="cmd_import_buddies"></a>import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server (normally only needed when upgrading)</h2></div></div></div><p><b>Syntax: </b>
408          </p><pre class="programlisting">import_buddies &lt;connection&gt; [clear]
409</pre><p>
410        </p><p>
411                                This command copies the locally stored buddy list to the server. This command exists for upgrading purposes. Previous versions of BitlBee didn't support server-side buddy lists for ICQ, so the list was stored locally.
412                        </p><p>
413                                Since version 0.91 however, server-side contact lists are supported for all protocols, so the local list is now ignored. When upgrading from an older BitlBee to version 0.91, you might need this command to get your buddy list back.
414                        </p><p>
415                                The only argument this command needs is your ICQ account identification. If your serverside buddy list contains some old buddies you don't want anymore, you can pass <span class="emphasis"><em>clear</em></span> as a second argument.
416                        </p><p>
417                                After giving this command, you have to wait for a while before all the adds are handled, because of ICQ's rate limiting. If your buddy list is very large and the ICQ server starts complaining, you might have to reconnect and enter this command again.
418                        </p></div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="misc"></a>Chapter 6. Misc Stuff</h2></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#smileys">Smileys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats">Groupchats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats2">Creating groupchats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#groupchats3">Groupchat channel names</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#away">Away states</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="smileys"></a>Smileys</h2></div></div></div><p>
419All MSN smileys (except one) are case insensitive and work without the nose too.
420</p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term">(Y)</span></dt><dd><p>Thumbs up</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(N)</span></dt><dd><p>Thumbs down</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(B)</span></dt><dd><p>Beer mug</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(D)</span></dt><dd><p>Martini glass</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(X)</span></dt><dd><p>Girl</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(Z)</span></dt><dd><p>Boy</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(6)</span></dt><dd><p>Devil smiley</p></dd><dt><span class="term">:-[</span></dt><dd><p>Vampire bat</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(})</span></dt><dd><p>Right hug</p></dd><dt><span class="term">({)</span></dt><dd><p>Left hug</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(M)</span></dt><dd><p>MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger icon (think a BitlBee logo here ;)</p></dd><dt><span class="term">:-S</span></dt><dd><p>Crooked smiley (Confused smiley)</p></dd><dt><span class="term">:-$</span></dt><dd><p>Embarrassed smiley</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(H)</span></dt><dd><p>Smiley with sunglasses</p></dd><dt><span class="term">:-@</span></dt><dd><p>Angry smiley</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(A)</span></dt><dd><p>Angel smiley</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(L)</span></dt><dd><p>Red heart (Love)</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(U)</span></dt><dd><p>Broken heart</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(K)</span></dt><dd><p>Red lips (Kiss)</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(G)</span></dt><dd><p>Gift with bow</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(F)</span></dt><dd><p>Red rose</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(W)</span></dt><dd><p>Wilted rose</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(P)</span></dt><dd><p>Camera</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(~)</span></dt><dd><p>Film strip</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(T)</span></dt><dd><p>Telephone receiver</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(@)</span></dt><dd><p>Cat face</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(&amp;)</span></dt><dd><p>Dog's head</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(C)</span></dt><dd><p>Coffee cup</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(I)</span></dt><dd><p>Light bulb</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(S)</span></dt><dd><p>Half-moon (Case sensitive!)</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(*)</span></dt><dd><p>Star</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(8)</span></dt><dd><p>Musical eighth note</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(E)</span></dt><dd><p>Envelope</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(^)</span></dt><dd><p>Birthday cake</p></dd><dt><span class="term">(O)</span></dt><dd><p>Clock</p></dd></dl></div><p>
421This list was extracted from <a href="http://help.msn.com/!data/en_us/data/messengerv50.its51/%24content%24/EMOTICONS.HTM?H_APP=" target="_top">http://help.msn.com/!data/en_us/data/messengerv50.its51/$content$/EMOTICONS.HTM?H_APP=</a>.
422</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="groupchats"></a>Groupchats</h2></div></div></div><p>
423Since version 0.8x, BitlBee supports groupchats on the MSN and Yahoo! networks. This text will try to explain you how they work.
424</p><p>
425As 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).
426</p><p>
427Of course you can also create your own groupchats. Type <span class="emphasis"><em>help groupchats2</em></span> to see how.
428</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="groupchats2"></a>Creating groupchats</h2></div></div></div><p>
429If you want to start a groupchat with the person <span class="emphasis"><em>jim_msn</em></span> in it, just join the channel <span class="emphasis"><em>#jim_msn</em></span>. BitlBee will refuse to join you to the channel with that name, but it will create a new virtual channel with root, you and jim_msn in it.
430</p><p>
431Of course a channel with only two people isn't really exciting yet. So the next step is to invite some other people to the channel. For this, you can use the <span class="emphasis"><em>/invite</em></span> command of your IRC client. 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.
432</p><p>
433This is all you'll probably need to know. If you have any problems, please read <span class="emphasis"><em>help groupchats3</em></span>.
434</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="groupchats3"></a>Groupchat channel names</h2></div></div></div><p>
435Obviously the (numbered) channel names don't make a lot of sense. Problem is that groupchats usually don't have names at all in the IM-world, while IRC insists on a name. So BitlBee just generates something random, just don't pay attention to it. :-)
436</p><p>
437Please also note that BitlBee doesn't support groupchats for all protocols yet. BitlBee will tell you so. Support for other protocols will hopefully come later.
438</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="away"></a>Away states</h2></div></div></div><p>
439As you might've expected, you can just use the <span class="emphasis"><em>/away</em></span> command in your IRC client to set an away-state. BitlBee supports most away-states supported by the protocols.
440</p><p>
441Not all away states are supported by all protocols, and some protocols have different names for them. BitlBee will try to pick the best available alias from this list for every connection:
442</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>Away from computer, Away, Extended away</td></tr><tr><td>NA, N/A, Not available</td></tr><tr><td>Busy, Do not disturb, DND, Occupied</td></tr><tr><td>Be right back, BRB</td></tr><tr><td>On the phone, Phone, On phone</td></tr><tr><td>Out to lunch, Lunch, Food</td></tr></table><p>
443So <span class="emphasis"><em>/away Food</em></span> will set your state to "Out to lunch" on your MSN connection, and for most other connections the default, "Away" or "Away from computer" will be chosen.
444</p><p>
445You 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. Protocols like Yahoo! and Jabber will also show this complete away message to your buddies.
446</p></div></div></div></body></html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.