Status menu makeover in 9.0 Beta
July 8, 2008 on 10:30 am | In 9.0 version, Features | Add a Comment
If you’ve downloaded the latest Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, you’ve probably already discovered the new status message menu. We made a few changes to let you more easily share what you’re up to, what you’re into or what you’re thinking with your friends.
One of the problems we wanted to address was being able to show you’re available or busy but still be able to share something with your friends like a website, video or funny thought. With this new status menu, you can indicate whether you’re busy or available and separately, provide a status message and even link to something interesting. Here’s how it works…
To the right of your display image or avatar is your availability setting. Just click on your name to change your availability to busy, available or invisible to everyone.
Right below that menu is a white box where you can type in a status message. This is a great place to tell people what you’re doing (out to lunch), what you’re thinking (Is it Friday yet?) or ask those important questions (Why can’t dogs talk?). Think of it like your own billboard to your Yahoo! Messenger friends.
When you click to enter a status message, another box appears below that’s labeled “also link to a webpage”. This is an additional area where you can enter a web link. So if you’re counting the minutes to the weekend, you might have a status that says “Already on vacation” that links to a site about your destination, like http://www.disneyland.com. Your status can then be seen and clicked on by your friends.
The status menu will store your five most recent messages. Unfortunately there’s no way to clear out a message or keep one permanently; as you create new ones, they will replace the older ones.
We hope the new status message menu in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta will give you more fun ways to tell your friends what you’re up to. If you’d like to confirm what your status message looks like to your friends, just add yourself to your own contact list to have a peek. Got a great idea for a fun status message? Leave it in a comment here on the blog.
And if you have feedback about this new status message menu or other feature in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, please stop by our feedback form to let us know.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
P.S. – With 9.0 Beta, you can also include emoticons in your status messages. Visit this page for a list of the emoticons you can use.
