pidgin(1) General Commands Manual pidgin(1)
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NAME
pidgin - Instant Messaging client
SYNOPSIS
pidgin [options]
DESCRIPTION
pidgin is a graphical modular messaging client based on libpurple which
is capable of connecting to XMPP, IRC, SILC, Novell GroupWise, Lotus
Sametime, Zephyr, Gadu-Gadu, and QQ all at once. It has many common
features found in other clients, as well as many unique features.
Pidgin can be extended by plugins written in multiple programming lan-
guages and controlled through DBus or purple-remote.
OPTIONS
The following options are provided by Pidgin using the standard GNU
command line syntax:
-c, --config=DIR
Use DIR as the directory for config files instead of ~/.purple.
-d, --debug
Print debugging messages to stdout. These are the same debug-
ging messages that are displayed in the Debug Window.
-f, --force-online
Try to be online even if the network is reported (by Windows, or
NetworkManager on Linux) to be unavailable.
-h, --help
Print a summary of command line options and exit.
-m, --multiple
Allow multiple instances of Pidgin to run.
-n, --nologin
Don't automatically login when Pidgin starts. Sets the global
status to Offline.
-l, --login[=NAME,NAME,...]
Enable the comma-separated list of accounts provided, disabling
all other accounts. If the user does not specify such a comma-
separated list, the first account in accounts.xml will be en-
abled.
-v, --version
Print the current version and exit.
TERMS
Pidgin uses a few terms differently from other applications. For con-
venience they are defined here:
Buddy List
The list of other users who the user wants to see status infor-
mation for and have quick access to for messaging.
Buddy A user who has been added to the Buddy List.
Contact
A grouping of more than one buddy who are all the same person.
A contact may contain buddies from any protocol and may contain
as many buddies as the user desires. Contact arrangements are
stored locally only.
Alias A private "nickname" that may be set for Buddies or the user
himself. On some protocols, aliases are saved on the server but
not visible to other users. On other protocols, aliases are
saved only locally.
Protocol
A messaging service. XMPP, Zephyr, etc. are protocols. Others
may call these "service types," "account types," "services," and
so on.
BUDDY LIST
The Buddy List window is Pidgin's main interface window. Using this
window a user can see which of his/her buddies is online, away, idle,
etc. The user can also add buddies to and remove buddies from the
buddy list.
The Buddy List window contains a list of the user's buddies who are on-
line and have allowed the user to be notified of their presence. The
icon to the left of each buddy indicates the buddy's current status.
Double clicking a buddy will open a new Conversation window. Right
clicking will pop up a menu:
Get Info
Retrieves and displays information about the buddy. This infor-
mation is also known as a Profile.
IM Opens a new Conversation window to the selected buddy.
Send File
Sends a file to the selected buddy (only available on protocols
that support file transfer).
Add Buddy Pounce
A Buddy Pounce is a configurable automated action to be per-
formed when the buddy's state changes. This will open the Buddy
Pounce dialog, which will be discussed later.
View Log
Pidgin is capable of automatically logging messages. These logs
are either plain text files (with a .txt extension) or html
files (with a .html extension) located under the ~/.purple/logs
directory. This menu command will display Pidgin's log viewer
with logs loaded for that buddy or chat.
Alias Create an alias for this buddy. This will show an editable text
field where the buddy's name was displayed. In this field one
can give this buddy an alternate, more friendly name to appear
on the buddy list and in conversations.
For example, if a buddy's name was jsmith1281xx and his real
name was 'John Q. Smith,' one could create an alias as to iden-
tify the buddy by his common name.
The remainder of the menu will consist of protocol specific commands.
These commands vary depending on the protocol.
Status Selector
At the bottom of the Buddy List is a status selector which al-
lows one to change his/her status. This will be discussed fur-
ther in the STATUS MESSAGES section below.
ACCOUNT EDITOR
The account editor consists of a list of accounts and information about
them. It can be accessed by selecting Manage from the Accounts menu.
Clicking Delete will delete the currently selected account. Clicking
Add or Modify will invoke a Modify Account window. Here, the user can
add or alter account information. When creating a new account, the
user will submit a username and password. The user will also choose
the protocol for the account.
If Remember Password is chosen, the password will be saved in Pidgin's
~/.purple/accounts.xml configuration file.
If Enabled is checked in the accounts dialog, this account will follow
the status currently selected in the status selector. If it is not
checked, the account will always be offline.
Each protocol has its own specific options that can be found in the
modify screen.
PREFERENCES
All options take effect immediately.
Interface
Show system tray icon
Specifies when to show a Pidgin icon in the notification area of
the user's panel (commonly referred to as the System Tray).
Hide new IM conversations
Specifies when to hide new IM messages. Messages will queue un-
der the specified condition until shown. Clicking the Pidgin
icon in the notification area or system tray will display the
queued messages. An icon also appears in the buddy list's menu
bar; this icon may also be used to display queued messages.
Show IMs and chats in tabbed windows
When checked, this option will cause IM and chat sessions to ap-
pear in windows with multiple tabs. One tab will represent one
conversation or chat. Where tabs are placed will be dictated by
the preferences below.
Show close buttons on tabs
When checked, this option will cause a clickable "U+2715 MULTI-
PLICATION X" unicode character to appear at the right edge of
each tab. Clicking this will cause the tab to be closed.
Placement
Specifies where to place tabs in the window. Some tab orienta-
tions may allow some users to fit more tabs into a single window
comfortably.
New conversations
Specifies under which conditions tabs are placed into existing
windows or into new windows. For a single window, select Last
created window here.
Conversations
Enable buddy icon animation
If a buddy's icon happens to be animated, this option will en-
able the animation, otherwise only the first frame will be dis-
played.
Notify buddies that you are typing to them
Some protocols allow clients to tell their buddies when they are
typing. This option enables this feature for protocols that
supports it.
Default Formatting
Allows specifying the default formatting to apply to all outgo-
ing messages (only applicable to protocols that support format-
ting in messages).
Smiley Themes
Allows the user to choose between different smiley themes. The "none"
theme will disable graphical emoticons - they will be displayed as text
instead. The Add and Remove buttons may be used to install or unin-
stall smiley themes. Themes may also be installed by dragging and
dropping them onto the list of themes.
Sounds
Method Lets the user choose between different playback methods. The
user can also manually enter a command to be executed when a
sound is to be played(%s expands to the full path to the file
name).
Sounds when conversation has focus
When checked, sounds will play for events in the active conver-
sation if the window is focused. When unchecked, sounds will
not play for the active conversation when the window is focused.
Enable Sounds
Determines when to play sounds.
Sound Events
Lets the user choose when and what sounds are to be played.
Network
STUN server
This allows specifying a server which uses the STUN protocol to
determine a host's public IP address. This can be particularly
useful for some protocols.
Autodetect IP address
When checked, causes Pidign to attempt to determine the public
IP address of the host on which Pidgin is running and disables
the Public IP text field listed below.
Public IP
If Autodetect IP address is disabled, this field allows manually
specifying the public IP address for the host on which Pidgin is
running. This is mainly useful for users with multiple network
interfaces or behind NATs.
Manually specify range of ports to listen on
Specify a range ports to listen on, overriding any defaults.
This is sometimes useful for file transfers and Direct IM.
Proxy Server
The configuration section to enable Pidgin to operate through a
proxy server. Pidgin currently supports SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP
proxies.
Browser
Browser
Allows the user to select Pidgin's default web browser. Fire-
fox, Galeon, Konqueror, Mozilla, Netscape and Opera are sup-
ported natively. The user can also manually enter a command to
be executed when a link is clicked (%s expands to the URL). For
example, xterm -e lynx "%s" will open the link with lynx.
Open link in
Allows the user to specify whether to use an existing window, a
new tab, a new window, or to let the browser to decide what to
do when calling the browser to open a link. Which options are
available will depend on which browser is selected.
Logging
Log format
Specifies how to log. Pidgin supports HTML and plain text, but
plugins can provide other logging methods.
Log all instant messages
When enabled, all IM conversations are logged. This can be
overridden on a per-conversation basis in the conversation win-
dow.
Log all chats
When enabled, all chat conversations are logged. This can be
overridden on a per-conversation basis in the conversation win-
dow.
Log all status changes to system log
When enabled, status changes are logged.
Status / Idle
Report idle time
Determines under which conditions to report idle time. Based on
keyboard and mouse use uses keyboard and mouse activity to de-
termine idle time. From last sent message uses the time at
which the user last sent a message in Pidgin to determine idle.
Never disables idle reporting.
Change status when idle
When enabled, this uses the Minutes before becoming idle and
Change status to preferences described below to set status on
idle.
Minutes before becoming idle
Specifies how many minutes of inactivity are required before
considering the user to be idle.
Change status to
Specifies which "primitive" or "saved" status to use when set-
ting status on idle.
Use status from last exit at startup
If this is checked, Pidgin will remember what status was active
when the user closed Pidgin and restore it at the next run.
When disabled, Pidgin will always set the status selected in
Status to apply at startup at startup.
Status to apply at startup
When Use status from last exit at startup is disabled, this
specifies which "primitive" or "saved" status to use at startup.
CONVERSATIONS
When starting a new conversation, the user is presented with the Con-
versation window. The conversation appears in the upper text box and
the user types his/her message in the lower text box. Between the two
is a row of options, represented by icons. Some or all buttons may not
be active if the protocol does not support the specific formatting.
From left to right:
Font This menu provides font control options for the current conver-
sation. Size, style, and face may be configured here.
Insert This menu provides the ability to insert images, horizontal
rules, and links where the protocol supports each of these fea-
tures.
Smile! Allows the insertion of graphical smileys via the mouse. This
button shows the user a dialog with the available smileys for
the current conversation.
CHATS
For protocols that allow it, Chats can be entered through the Buddies
menu.
Additional features available in chat, depending on the protocol are:
Whisper
The text will appear in the chat conversation, but it will only
be visible to the sender and the receiver.
Invite Invite other people to join the chat room.
Ignore Ignore anything said by the chosen person
Set Topic
Set the topic of the chat room. This is usually a brief sen-
tence describing the nature of the chat--an explanation of the
chat room's name.
Private Message (IM)
Send a message to a specific person in the chat. Messages sent
this way will not appear in the chat window, but instead open a
new IM conversation.
STATUS MESSAGES
Most protocols allow for status messages. By using status messages, a
user can leave an informative message for others to see. Status and
status messages are configured via the status selector at the bottom of
the Buddy List window. By default the menu shown here is divided into
sections for "primitive" status types, such as Available, Away, etc.; a
few "popular" statuses (including "transient" statuses) which have
been recently used, and a section which shows New Status... and Saved
Statuses... options for more advanced status manipulation.
Primitive Statuses
A primitive status is a basic status supported by the protocol.
Examples of primitive statuses would be Available, Away, Invisi-
ble, etc. A primitive status can be used to create a Transient
Status or a Saved Status, both explained below. Essentially,
primitive statuses are building blocks of more complicated sta-
tuses.
Transient Statuses
When one of the statuses from the topmost section of the status
selector's menu is selected, this creates a transient, or tempo-
rary, status. The status will show in the "popular statuses"
section in the menu until it has not been used for a suffi-
ciently long time. A transient status may also be created by
selecting New Status... from the status selector's menu, then
clicking Use once the user has entered the message.
Saved Statuses
Saved statuses are permanent--once created, they will exist un-
til deleted. Saved statuses are useful for statuses and status
messages that will be used on a regular basis. They are also
useful for creating complex statuses in which some accounts
should always have a different status from others. For example,
one might wish to create a status called "Sleeping" that has all
accounts set to "Away", then create another status called "Work-
ing" that has three accounts set to "Away" and another account
set to "Available."
New Status Window
When the user selects New Status... from the status selector
menu, Pidgin presents the user with a dialog asking for status-
related information. That information is discussed below:
Title - The name of the status that will appear in the status
selctor's menu. If the user clicks the Save or Save & Use but-
ton, this name will also be shown in the Saved Status Window.
The title should be a short description of the status.
Status - The type of status being created, such as Available,
Away, etc.
Message - The content of the status message. This is what is
visible to other users. Some protocols will allow formatting in
some status messages; where formatting is not supported it will
be stripped to the bare text entered.
Use a different status for some accounts - This allows the cre-
ation of complex statuses in which some accounts' status differs
from that of other accounts. To use this, the user will click
the expander to the left of the text, then select individual ac-
counts which will have a different status and/or status message.
When the user selects an account, Pidgin will present another
status dialog asking for a status and a message just for the se-
lected account.
Saved Status Window
When the user selects Saved Statuses... from the status selec-
tor's menu, Pidgin presents a dialog that lists all saved sta-
tuses. "Transient" statuses, discussed above, are NOT shown
here. This window provides the ability to manage saved statuses
by allowing the creation, modification, and deletion of saved
statuses. The Use, Modify, and Delete buttons here allow opera-
tion on the status selected from the list; the dd button allows
creation of a new saved status, and the Close button closes the
window.
BUDDY POUNCE
A Buddy Pounce is an automated trigger that occurs when a buddy returns
to a normal state from an away state. The Buddy Pounce dialog box can
be activated by selecting the Buddy Pounce option from the Tools menu.
From this dialog, new pounces can be created with the Add button and
existing pounces can be removed with the Delete button. A pounce can
be set to occur on any combination of the events listed, and any combi-
nation of actions can result. If Pounce only when my status is not
Available is checked, the pounce will occur only if the user is set to
a non-available status, such as invisible, do not disturb, away, etc.
If Recurring is checked, the pounce will remain until removed by the
Delete button.
CUSTOM SMILIES
Pidgin 2.5.0 introduced support for custom smilies on those protocols
for which interested contributors have developed support. The custom
smiley manager can be accessed by selecting Smiley from the Tools menu.
From here, custom smilies may be added, edited, or deleted by clicking
the Add, Edit, or Delete buttons, respectively.
During a conversation with another user, that user's custom smileys may
be added to the user's own custom smiley list directly from the conver-
sation window by right-clicking the new custom smiley and selecting Add
Custom Smiley...
PLUGINS
Pidgin allows for dynamic loading of plugins to add extra functionality
to Pidgin. See plugins/HOWTO or http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/CHowTo
for information on writing plugins.
The plugins dialog can be accessed by selecting Plugins from the Tools
menu. Each plugin available appears in this dialog with its name, ver-
sion, and a short summary of its functionality. Plugins can be enabled
with the checkbox beside the name and short description. More informa-
tion on the currently selected plugin is available by clicking the ex-
pander beside the text Plugin Details. If the selected plugin has
preferences or configuration options, the Configure Plugin button will
present the plugin's preferences dialog.
PERL
Pidgin allows for plugins to be written in the perl scripting language.
See Perl Scripting HOWTO in the Pidgin documentation for more informa-
tion about perl scripting.
TCL
Pidgin allows for plugins to be written in the Tcl scripting language.
See plugins/tcl/TCL-HOWTO for more information about Tcl scripting.
D-Bus
Pidgin allows for interaction via D-Bus. Currently very little docu-
mentation about this interaction exists.
FILES
/usr/bin/pidgin: Pidgin's location.
~/.purple/blist.xml: the buddy list.
~/.purple/accounts.xml: information about the user's accounts.
~/.purple/pounces.xml: stores the user's buddy pounces.
~/.purple/prefs.xml: Pidgin's configuration file.
~/.purple/status.xml: stores the user's away messages.
~/.purple/logs/PROTOCOL/ACCOUNT/BUDDYNAME/DATE.{html,txt}: conversa-
tion logs.
DIRECTORIES
/usr/lib/pidgin/: Pidgin's plugins directory.
/usr/lib/purple-2/: libpurple's plugins directory.
~/.purple: users' local settings
~/.purple/plugins/: users' local plugins
BUGS
The bug tracker can be reached by visiting http://developer.pid-
gin.im/query
Before sending a bug report, please verify that you have the latest
version of Pidgin. Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed at each re-
lease, and if yours is out of date, the problem may already have been
solved.
PATCHES
If you fix a bug in Pidgin (or otherwise enhance it), please submit a
patch (using mtn diff > my.diff against the latest version from the
Monotone repository) at http://developer.pidgin.im/simpleticket
You are also encouraged to drop by at #pidgin on irc.libera.chat to
discuss development.
SEE ALSO
http://pidgin.im/
http://developer.pidgin.im/
purple-remote(1)
finch(1)
LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER-
CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02111-1301 USA
AUTHORS
Pidgin's active developers are:
Daniel 'datallah' Atallah (developer)
Paul 'darkrain42' Aurich (developer)
John 'rekkanoryo' Bailey (developer and bugmaster)
Ethan 'Paco-Paco' Blanton (developer)
Thomas Butter (developer)
Ka-Hing Cheung (developer)
Sadrul Habib Chowdhury (developer)
Mark 'KingAnt' Doliner (developer) <thekingant@users.sourceforge.net>
Sean Egan (developer) <seanegan@gmail.com>
Casey Harkins (developer)
Ivan Komarov
Gary 'grim' Kramlich (developer)
Richard 'rlaager' Laager (developer) <rlaager@pidgin.im>
Sulabh 'sulabh_m' Mahajan (developer)
Richard 'wabz' Nelson (developer)
Christopher 'siege' O'Brien (developer)
Bartosz Oler (developer)
Etan 'deryni' Reisner (developer)
Tim 'marv' Ringenbach (developer) <marv_sf@users.sf.net>
Michael 'Maiku' Ruprecht (developer, voice and video)
Elliott 'QuLogic' Sales de Andrade (developer)
Luke 'LSchiere' Schierer (support)
Megan 'Cae' Schneider (support/QA)
Evan Schoenberg (developer)
Kevin 'SimGuy' Stange (developer and webmaster)
Will 'resiak' Thompson (developer)
Stu 'nosnilmot' Tomlinson (developer)
Nathan 'faceprint' Walp (developer)
Our crazy patch writers include:
Marcus 'malu' Lundblad
Dennis 'EvilDennisR' Ristuccia
Peter 'fmoo' Ruibal
Gabriel 'Nix' Schulhof
Jorge 'Masca' Villaseñor
Our artists are:
Hylke Bons <h.bons@student.rug.nl>
Our retired developers are:
Herman Bloggs (win32 port) <herman@bluedigits.com>
Jim Duchek <jim@linuxpimps.com> (maintainer)
Rob Flynn <gaim@robflynn.com> (maintainer)
Adam Fritzler (libfaim maintainer)
Christian 'ChipX86' Hammond (developer & webmaster)
<chipx86@chipx86.com>
Syd Logan (hacker and designated driver [lazy bum])
Jim Seymour (XMPP developer)
Mark Spencer (original author) <markster@marko.net>
Eric Warmenhoven (former lead developer) <eric@warmenhoven.org>
Our retired crazy patch writers include:
Felipe 'shx' Contreras
Decklin Foster
Peter 'Bleeter' Lawler
Robert 'Robot101' McQueen
Benjamin Miller
This manpage was originally written by Dennis Ristuccia <dennis@den-
nisr.net>. It has been updated and largely rewritten by Sean Egan
<seanegan@gmail.com>, Ben Tegarden <tegarden@uclink.berkeley.edu>, and
John Bailey <rekkanoryo@pidgin.im>.
Pidgin v2.14.12 pidgin(1)
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