January 19, 2010 on 3:39 pm | In 10 version | 6 Comments
There are a lot of features in Yahoo! Messenger 10. Many of us only use a few on a regular basis and even then, we can get stuck in our routines for how we use them. It’s always fascinating to watch users interact with our product in our usability studies and other research. Sometimes they find or use a feature in a way we never intended (or imagined!).
While it’s a basic of Windows computing to use right-click menus, a lot of users don’t. And in the case of Yahoo! Messenger, they can offer an easy way to do things more quickly, like start a conversation, send a file, or begin a video call. All without opening an IM window first.
From your contact list, right-click on any contact to access the menu. Depending on the information you have for that contact, you’ll see a myriad of ways to connect with them – IM, voice call, video call, SMS, even email.
The right-click menu also gives you quick access to lots of other features, including stealth settings, your message archive for that contact, photo sharing and conference features.
So if it’s been awhile since your right mouse button has gotten a workout, give it a try.
Sarah Bacon
Prodct Manager
January 13, 2010 on 1:39 pm | In 10 version, Features | 12 Comments
Here’s a feature you may have stumbled across accidentally while using Yahoo! Messenger 10…
While you’re having a conversation in the IM window, you can use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to access previous messages you’ve sent.
To try it, hit the “Up” arrow on your keyboard when the cursor is in the IM window message box. The last message you sent to that contact will appear.
Hit it repeatedly and you’ll go back to your earlier messages sent; use the down arrow key to move forward through your messages.
I have found this feature handy when I need to resend a message to someone, or need to grab an earlier message I sent upon opening a new, blank conversation.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
December 14, 2009 on 12:40 pm | In 10 version, Features | 11 Comments
In the new Yahoo! Messenger 10, we added an alternative view of your contact list – the Y! Updates tab. When you jump into that view, you’ll see a running list of updates from the friends on your contact list.
Your friends’ updates can vary from a change to their Yahoo! Messenger status to their latest tweet on Twitter; even the last song they listened to on last.fm or their latest changes to their Avatar. Yahoo! supports updates from dozens of both Yahoo! and non-Yahoo! services.
In addition to the new Updates view, we also added detailed preferences to help you control what types of updates you see and from whom. So if your friend Samantha is a tweet-aholic, you might want to turn off her updates. Or if Uncle Lenny’s taste in music is light years away from yours, perhaps getting his last.fm updates is unappealing.
No worries – changing it is easy. If you’re in the Y! Updates tab, click on the tab’s dropdown menu and select “Customize Yahoo! Updates” (or go to Messenger > Preferences > Yahoo! Updates).
When the window appears, you’ll see a list of sites from which Yahoo! offers updates, followed by your list of contacts. If there’s a type of update you prefer not to receive, just uncheck the box next to it. Be aware that unchecking a service in the list means that you won’t receive that type of update from anybody.
If you’ve had enough of someone’s updates, you can also turn them off. Just uncheck the box next to their name in the list. You will no longer receive any updates from that contact in your Y! Updates view. Note that you’ll still be able to see their updates by viewing their contact card anytime.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
December 1, 2009 on 4:35 pm | In 10 version, Features | 9 Comments
Groups are a useful way to keep your contacts organized in your list. Here in the office, most of us have “Friends” and “Work” groups to separate our personal and business contacts.
Someone asked me the other day if they could have a contact show up in multiple groups in their list. The answer is yes, and below are some instructions on how to include someone in multiple groups in your Yahoo! Messenger 10 contact list.
First, click once on a contact in your list to highlight/select it. Then click on the Contacts menu at the top of your Messenger window and go to “Manage Groups”. From there, click on “Copy to Group”. You’ll first be asked to select the contact you want to copy. Then in the final step, you’ll indicate to which group you want to copy it.
When you’re done, you’ll see the contact is visible in both groups in your contact list. Just repeat the above step if you need to add that same contact to additional groups in your list.
And if the time comes where you only need that contact in one group, you can easily remove it by right clicking on the contact in the group, and selecting delete. As long as the contact appears in one group, it will remain in your contact list.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
November 18, 2009 on 7:34 am | In 10 version | 117 Comments
On a normal day, we double click on the Yahoo! Messenger icon to sign in, the yellow smiley wakes up, and our contact list loads. Then we’re off and chatting with friends.
But sometimes, not everything works perfectly. Sign in issues can sometimes be attributed to problems with an internet connection. This is why we added a new Connection Troubleshooter tool to the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger 10.
If Yahoo! Messenger has problems connecting during the sign-in process, a small window will appear alerting you that there may be a problem with your internet connection. From there, you can click the Troubleshoot button to let it run some connection diagnostics on your machine. After some quick analysis, it will recommend some next steps for resolving the issue.
The wizard also records all the steps it took while diagnosing the problem. Click the “Show Details” button on the final screen to view the details (sometimes it’s helpful to copy and paste those details when working with customer care on an issue).
The connection wizard is only available in the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger 10 (10.0.0.1102 or later) which works on Windows XP, Vista and 7. You’ll only see this wizard when there is a problem with your internet connection, such as a missing connection or problems with your internet proxy.
Sarah Bacon
Product Manager
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