Ralph Johns UK

Adding Buddies in iChat

And modifying entries.

Adding Buddies

For those of you that have read this elsewhere go to the related Arranging the List or the next page (Sending Files).

For those of you who are not sure, carry on.

It is presumed that you have managed to start iChat and that the Buddy List has dropped down and says "Available", level with your name - and now you need to add some Buddies.

This can be fairly painless.

What you need.

1. The account/screen name of at least one Buddy
2. iChat open and Logged in to AIM
3. The person's real name or decide how you want to display them in the Buddy List.

Screen names come in different guises as you have already discovered.  Those that come from AIM and those that come from the .mac system at Apple. Rendezvous/Bonjour and Jabber (iChat 3) will be discussed later.

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What you need to do.

Look at the Buddy List window. At the bottom there are four icon/buttons. Three of these sit towards the center in a group and are for starting the different chats. There is a fourth, on the left, that is a + sign. You will need to click this.

iChat 2.x
A pop down window emerges from the top of your Buddy List ( <<-- see Picture to the left). It displays the contents of your Address Book (the Apple one). If you have entered your contacts Buddy name details in their Address Book entry you can use the button to the right of the of the window (Select Buddy).

iChat 3 In iChat 3 there is one extra step to go through compared to the above description. After clicking on the Plus sign a Pop-up appears with 3 items on it. These are Add Buudy, Add Group and Edit group

For brand new Buddies:

iChat 3 There is a similar process to the list below for the Jabber Buddies List.

1. Select the "New Person" button, to the left. The window will gather it self up and reopen with the entry page format. There are six entry fields of which you need to enter only the first two to continue to starting a Chat.
2. Select the type of the Account / Screen Name. This is the top entry drop down. It allows you to change between the default of an @mac.com name and an AIM one.
3. Enter the Buddy's Account/Screen name in the next box.
   (Option: If this is all you want to enter at this point you can click the "Add" button. The Buddy will now be displayed as their Account Name).
4. The next text field is obvious. Enter the person's first name.
   (Option: If you wish to enter a personal reference to the Buddy instead you can enter this here).
5. Their Surname or Family name goes into the next Text field.
   (Note the entries made at 4 and 5 are displayed as the name in the Buddy list.
6. The Sixth entry is if you want to have a perosnal choice of picture for your Buddy. I personally leave this blank and watch as people change their Buddy icons/pictures from their end.
7. Hit the "Add" button.

The Buddies added from the Address Book takes less steps if you already have the AIM or @Mac name.

You have now added your first Buddy.

The total number you can have is 200. You can sort them into Groups which I will go into later in Arranging Your Buddy List.

Rendezvous/Bonjour and Jabber

Rendezvous (iChat 2/Panther and earlier) and Bonjour (iChat 3/Tiger) are the same thing.
It has it's own Buddy List type window that can be called up by using the Apple ()  (Command ⌘) Key and 2 together.

Adding Buddies is not required. It takes the name of your Buddy from his Address Book and broadcasts it to other Macs on the Local Net. The same thing happens to your name to his/her computer. At this point I would like to point out that if you are testing this with your own Macs you will have to make sure the different Macs are not logged in under the same person with the same details in the System Preferences > Accounts ( I could not log on as Ralph Johns on two computers on my LAN if that is how my name appears in the Accounts and Address Book of both computers See Here). The computers also need to be on the same LAN. If the LAN has different Subnets (more than one router) then they need to be in the same Subnet.

Jabber Jabber is another IM service that has now been added to iChat in iChat 3. It is best explained by this web page; jabber.org. The Jabber Buddy List window is called up with Apple ()  (Command ⌘) Key and 3 together. A similar process to the 7 point list above has to be gone through to Add Buddies to this list>

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Modifying an entry.

It is posible to modify the entries you have made. This can be done from the Buddy List. It is useful if you see that you made a typo or your Buddy changes their Account Name. Click on a Buddy's Name (in fact anywhere in the Band that has their name and icon) Once it is highlighted click the Apple ()  (Command ⌘) and "i" keys at the same time. This will open a separate info window. It can dispay several things depending on which item you choose from the drop down at the top. It will open at the last setting used. From the drop down select "Address Card" The part under the first divider will change accordingly. It will look similar to the Add Buddy New Person window, except the Buddy icon picture spot is now at the top. There are four text entry fields, which should be filled in with the details that you entered originally. Change the details in the fields as required. iChat 3 adds a Jabber text entry field under the AIM one. You have now modified your first Buddy entry, or at least looked to see how it is done. I will remind you at this point that Rendezvous/Bonjour names are taken from the Address Book of other computers on the LAN and can not be amended by you.

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Extras

If you have a Buddy and he/she uses more than one account name you can use both the Address Book and the iChat Address card to add the extra Buddy account name. In Address Book you will see that there are several pre-defined Text entries that you can make. Choose one contact and then use the Edit button under the right hand part of the window. Click the AIM or Mac name spot. Add the second screen/account name with no space but a comma (",") in between like this- RalphjohnsR,rlph820 This will not add an extra display to your Buddy List but if your hover the mouse over their name in the Buddy list a little yellow box will appear with both their account names. It will indicate which one is on-line as well as other details about their account such as Status Message and account type. Unfortunately it is not possible to select which one you connect to from the Buddy List.

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Top of the Page -- Arranging Your Buddy List (Page 8) -- Next Page (7)

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

Information Column

Section Links

• What you Need

A quick review of What you need to start Adding Buddies to the AIM (Main ) Buddy List.

Remember for these purposes that AIM and @MAc names are both Screen nakes for this Buddy List.


• What you Need To Do


The How to Add the Buddies. In pictures and words.

Click the "+" sign indicated by the red arrow
(for iChat 3 select Add Buddy from the Menu pop up)
Select Buddy or New Person button.
Follow the 7 steps to Add a New Buddy.

Similar from the Select Buddy and the Address Book.


• Rendvezvous and Bonjour


What iChat does to View Rendezvous/Bonjour names.


• Jabber


Just a note about Adding Jabber names


• Other Applications


Lists of other applications that can use the AIM service in some way first. Followed by stand-alone applications that have Mac and PC versions as alternatives. List of one PC app as an alternative to AIM 5.9 and finally those Mac Apps that use the MSN network


• Modifying Entries


Instructions on how to change the entries in iChat for the Buddies Info Card.


• Extras


How to add Multiple screen nmaes to your Buddies Address Card.