Ralph Johns UK

Setting up iChat

And Links to ChatRooms and Find-a-Buddy Listing Sites.

Jump to Chatroom and Find a Buddy listings

Setting Up iChat

Start By opening the iChat application.
It will open the Assistant or First Run Screen for you.

There are five text entry points First Name Surname Account type (this is a drop down to select the right type, AIM or @mac) Account Name (please type Carefully) Password

Picture of Screen

After filling in the Screen you click the Continue button. There are several message screens that follow. One asks you if you want to "Enable Rendezvous/ Bonjour". This is a matter of preference and depending if you have other Macs on the same LAN. Another asks your about Jabber. See This link and the first three numbered links and page 5

It is possible to click through all the First Run Screen without putting any data (text) in the entry boxes other than the prefilled computer account details.

iChat will now open up.
It will show you the Buddy List "Connecting..." to the AIM server and possibly your Rendevous/ Bonjour and/or Jabber Buddy List(s) if you selected to Log on there as well.

If you clicked through the Start up Screen with out any details you will now have to go to the iChat Preferences and select Accounts and enter your AIM or @mac name and your password. (Click on the word iChat in the Menu Bar and select Preferences).

 

Buddy List window

Accounts Preference Pane Panther Tiger Accounts Pane

You will now have to enter your Buddies.

• STEP 1
  
  This is done by pressing the + sign at the bottom of the Buddy List. Indicated in the picture to the right and hidden mostly by the window which will open that you can see in the picture to the right.
  
  As you can see it is is linked to your Macs Address Book application. You can choose to select someone from this list by using the "Select Buddy" button or you can add a "New Person".
  
  
• STEP 2
  
  Use the "New Person" button to add people that are not in your Address Book (yet).
  
  A new window will open, by contracting the one seen one the right right and opening another with options to enter certain known facts about your new buddy.

• STEP 3
  
  
  1. First of all is the drop down to select the account/screen name type. The default is for an @mac.com name.
  2. The other option is an AIM account/screen name.
  3. In the default setting the suffix @mac.com is written next to the end of the following text entry field. So if it is an @mac name you can enter the new buddy's name right away.
     (The "@mac.com" does not have to be typed. iChat will add it)

  If it is an AIM name these do not have any suffix so there is no need to add "@AIM.com" either.

To clairfy so far:- STEP 1. Click to Add (+) button at the bottom of the Buddy List window. STEP 2. Use the New Buddy button. STEP 3a. Select the account type. 3b. Type in the account name (without any (3c.) suffix).

• STEP 4.
  
  Next you enter a Buddy icon (to the left).
  If you leave this blank it will dispaly the Buddy icon that your Buddy is currently using.

• STEP 5.
  
  There are now three text entry fields on the right, under the ones for the Account type and name.
  1. First Name
  2. Last Name
  3. Email:

These entry fields are self explanatory and don't need me to explain further. However I will point out that additional information can be added to these fields to display in your Buddy List.

iChat's Buddy list window displays the information you enter (or don't) in these fields. If you only enter the account/screen name (and leave the others blank) then that is what is displayed in the list.

If a person has two first names that you want to display you can do that. If you know someone as R.D. (or RD) then just type that in the entry field for one of the names.

The same windows will open if you use the Add Buddy item from the Buddies menu.

This is the end of the basic way of adding New Buddies.

Options

You can add Buddies that contact you by using the menu item in the Buddies menu. This can be done from any type of chat.

Wait until the chat has finished but do not close the chat window.
Now go to the Buddies menu and select add Buddy. It will show you the account name of the Buddy concerned.

If iChat is working properly it can be done in the middle of a Chat so that you can send them files or open a Text chat at the same time. Or contact them straight back form your Buddy list if the chat fails.

Test Sites

Trying test sites. There are 4 AIM account names (running on Macs) that will be of use to the first timer (Those of you with NO Buddies(yet). You know who you are)

Ryan Mathus runs ichatavtesting (occassionally nowadays), an AIM name. Which he has running from time to time.

Also there is appleu3test01, appleu3test02 and appleu3test03 which are again AIM account names. They are setup to Auto respond and show you what the camera can see (still life in art terms) and have a sound track playing music, or more commonly now, they show films or adverts.

Other users at the Apple Discussion Pages for iChat will offer themselves from time to time. See this FAQ: Want to Test your iSight With Another Person? My AIM account name appears if you click for my Current Profile on the left of any post I have made to the Apple Discussion Pages. Also theose willing to test and the Test Auto-responding account names have been listed on the Contact Testers page

There are several AIM and iChat "who's on line" style databases that you can find doing Google searches. Some I have found are listed below.

Chatter Lists pages

This might be useful to those who ask it regularly.
If your looking for iChat Buddy Lists. You may want to register at these.

iChatters.com
Chatfinder.com
.Mac Buddy Central :        (Thanks to Iveta Staks.)
iChat Club :                     (Thanks to Phillippe Alary)
iChat Rooms Listing
MyiSight.com

Some of them cost.

Also do a Google search for more, including the AIM chat rooms.

These require that you make note of the chatroom and enter it in the window that pops up when you use the "Go to Chat" item in the iChat File menu.

Getting iChat to Open Web links

If you have several AIM type Clients (applications that use the AIM servers) you may wish to specify which one opens when you click on the

go:aim link

on a web page.

For this you need to open Internet Explorer on the Mac.
Once launched go to the Preferences.
Scroll down the List to Network and use the Reveal triangle if the contents are not showing
You need Protocol Helpers.
Select AIM and change the Application to the one of your choice (iChat, of course).

Doing this also helps if launching a chatroom from a web page does not work properly.

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iChat Discussion Pages or The Next page or Top of Page

© 2005 Ralph Johns: Edited 24/9/2005, 5/5/2006
Updated September 2006. Moved to Gargoyles Mar 2007

Information Column

There is a more detailed version of this first part of the Start Up Screens here at Ryan's Start-up Pages

This first picture shows the Start-Up Screens at the first point. As well as Ryan's pages there are some here.

The Second set of pictures show a Buddy list with no Groups showing on the left.
On the right are the different Account Preference screens for Panther (iChat2.x) and Tiger (iChat 3).

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