One preference I always set when I upgrade to a new version is “Always use my fonts and colors” (Messenger > Preferences > Appearance). That means that no matter what quirky font, color or size my friends use when they message me, it will always show up in the style I prefer (Arial, 12 for anyone who’s keeping track). I think I discovered this after my college roommate kept insisting on IMs with fluorescent green Tahoma letters in size 16.

While I like to think of myself as young, my aging eyes do betray me. I got tired of squinting at my list to find a friend so a few years ago, I changed my preferences to increase the font size of my contact list (you can also change the font). You can even have online friends show up in bold so they’re more noticeable. You’ll find this ageist setting in Preferences > Appearance, under the Messenger List section.

We’ve all dealt with random people IM’ing us. Sometimes we know them, sometimes they are spammers. To help me quickly separate the riff raff from my real friends, I changed my preference to “When I receive messages from people not on my Messenger list, show the messages in a single list” (Messenger > Preferences > Messages). That way, the messages are all listed in one window and I can quickly reply or ignore them (or mark them as spam). They appear in a window that looks similar to the one used for offline messages.

On the efficiency tip are a couple of shortcuts that may come in handy. If you’re like me and leave your Messenger window open all day long, you can save a step when it comes time to shut down at the end of the day. Under Preferences > General you’ll find a setting for “Sign out of Messenger when I close the main window”. Select that and save yourself the extra step of signing out and then closing down Messenger.

And last but not least is a shortcut you can use to update your status message more quickly. You may already know about the Windows + y shortcut, but do you know the Windows + Shift + y shortcut? That one takes you right to the waiting status message menu where you can start typing your deep thoughts and important updates. For this to work, you first have to enable it under Preferences > General; look for the checkbox that says “Enable system-wide shortcut keys to activate Messenger”.

What are some of your favorite settings, shortcuts, tips or tricks in Yahoo! Messenger? Leave a comment to let us know.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The new FoxyTunes from Yahoo! Music plug-in lets you easily control your desktop music player as well as share the track you’re listening to in your Yahoo! Messenger status.

To get started, install the FoxyTunes plug-in, available for users on Yahoo! Messenger 8.1, 9.0 or 10. Once it’s loaded, click the “Select Player” menu and choose from a long list of players that are supported by the plug-in. All the biggies are there – Windows Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, Winamp, Musicmatch – plus many more.

When you select a player, it will launch it on your desktop (if it’s not already open). Then use the controls in the FoxyTunes plug-in to begin playing the song, skip to the next song, pause, adjust volume or move ahead in the song by clicking the progress bar.

To share what you’re listening to with your Yahoo! Messenger friends, click the “Share your music” icon (the one with two arrows on it). Be sure the box for “Display current song as your status message” is checked, and then click your status message menu at the top to select the currently playing song from the list. When the next song comes on, your status will automatically update.

Another handy feature in the plug-in is the ability to open and play an audio file from your desktop. Just click the “Play File” icon and choose the song you want to play.

The plug-in also includes quick access to the accompanying music website, FoxyTunes Planet. Click the FoxyTunes Planet button while listening to a track and you’ll go to a page for that artist which includes the latest news, lyrics for the song you’re currently playing, more tracks you can listen to right on the page, plus videos.

When you’re sharing your music via your status message, friends will also be able to click on your status message and be taken to the artist page on FoxyTunes Planet.

To add the FoxyTunes plug-in to your Yahoo! Messenger, visit the plug-in page on the website or click the “Add Plug-ins” button in your main Messenger window and select it from the list.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

As you may recall, we jump started the campaign with events around our infamous Yahoo! yodel, which we’ve updated and riffed on in new ways with the Yodel Studio. Now we’ve launched some audibles to go with it that let you yodel as much as you want with twists of reggae, bluegrass, hip-hop, a capella, and R&B.

To access the audibles, click on the Audibles icon in the IM window, click “More Audibles”, go to “See All Audibles”, then find “Yahoo! Yodels” in the list. Audibles are available for Yahoo! Messenger 8.1, 9.0 and 10 only.

You can also dress up your Avatar in some of the latest Yahoo! gear, including t-shirts with the slogans from the campaign: “It’s my Web, you just live in it” and “Master of the Digital Universe”. To get changed, head over to Yahoo! Avatars, click on the “Branded” tab, then click on the “Yahoo!” link.

And if you want more than virtual reality, head over to the Yahoo! Company Store to order a real live t-shirt or other Y! gear.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Many Indians living outside of their home country will be calling home to wish their friends and family a happy Diwali. If you’re one of them, Yahoo! Messenger is a great way to stay connected not only during Diwali, but any time.

If your family and friends are already using Yahoo! Messenger, you can make high-quality PC-to-PC calls for free. And with the new video calling feature in Yahoo! Messenger 10, you’ll feel like you’re right there with them. Get great quality video, synched audio, even a full-screen mode.

If your friends and family aren’t using Yahoo! Messenger, you can still call them using Messenger, and enjoy great savings. Sign up for a Yahoo! Messenger Phone Out account and you can make calls to any landline or mobile phone in India for just 7.9¢ a minute – right from your desktop.

You can also send free SMS text messages from Messenger to your friends and family in India if they are on the following carriers: Vodaphone Essar, Airtel, Spice, Escotel, Reliance. Their replies come right back to you in Yahoo! Messenger. Find out how to SMS from Messenger.

Even if you just plan to IM friends this weekend to celebrate the festival, you can dress up for it. Head over to Yahoo! Avatars and search on “india” to find Indian-themed clothing and backgrounds. Or add a little Diwali with a custom display image. Click on one of the designs below to make it your display image (you need to be signed into Messenger before you click):

      

From the looks of Diwali pictures I found on Flickr (see slideshow below), the festival is bright, warm and colorful. Lamps (called “diyas”) are lit in homes, fireworks are set off, sparklers color the night air, gifts are exchanged and people eat all kinds of delicious Indian sweets and snacks made specifically for the festival. To learn more about Diwali, head over to diwalifestival.org.

We wish all of our Indian users a Happy Diwali!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

This means that if you are currently using a version of Yahoo! Messenger that is below 8.0, you will no longer be able to sign in and use it after September 30.

If you are using a version that is set to retire, you have several options for continuing to use Yahoo! Messenger. Please read this article for more information.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

This means that if you are currently using a version of Yahoo! Messenger that is below 8.0, you will no longer be able to sign in and use it after September 30.

If you are using a version that is set to retire, you have several options for continuing to use Yahoo! Messenger:

Option 1: Download the latest version for Windows
You can use Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 which offers enhanced security as well as better protection from spam (info | video demo | download).

We also have a new Beta available, Yahoo! Messenger 10. This latest version offers enhanced video calling features, more ways to keep up with your friends, and a new menu that makes it easy to switch languages. (info | video demo | download)

Option 2: Use Yahoo! Messenger for the Web
If you can’t use the latest version mentioned above, you can always sign in to Yahoo! Messenger for the Web from any web browser. No extra download or installation is required. With our web version, you can send IM’s as well as SMS text messages to your friend’s mobile phones for free. Our web version also includes anywhere archiving, allowing you to access your message history from any computer or browser. Try it now at http://webmessenger.yahoo.com.

Option 3: Use the built-in IM feature in Yahoo! Mail
Both versions of Yahoo! Mail offer a built-in feature that lets you send and receive IMs. If you’re using the all-new Yahoo! Mail, just click the status menu next to your name in the upper header and change your status to “Available”. This will sign you into Yahoo! Messenger (you also have the option of staying invisible). IM conversations occur in separate tabs within your Mail page.

In Yahoo! Mail Classic, you’ll see a module on the left hand side of the page labeled “Chat & Mobile Text”. Click on the status menu in that module to change to “Available” (or Invisible). IM conversations will show up in a small box in the lower right corner of your Yahoo! Mail Classic page (but it won’t interfere with your Mail messages or using Mail).

As an alternative, there are also solutions available for your mobile phone. We recently launched Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone and additionals versions are available for other mobile devices.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Last week, users on Yahoo! Messenger 10 Beta got an early look at the new Insider, the window that pops up when you first sign into Messenger for the day. Today, we’re also rolling it out to users on the U.S. versions of Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 and 9.0.

Here’s an overview of what you’ll see in the new Insider:

News, news and more news
We’ve pulled in news from the Yahoo! homepage, as well as headlines from Top Stories, World, Sports, Tech, and everyone’s favorite, Odd Stories (and yes, they are truly odd). If you’re in the U.S., you can also get local news from your town or city. The local news location is the same as what you choose for your weather.

We also included Yahoo! Buzz in its own tab in Insider. You’ll see short summaries of the top 10 news stories that have been buzzed up by internet users.

Yahoo! Mail
While Yahoo! Messenger has always had Yahoo! Mail alerts built-in, the new Mail tab in Insider gives you a handy, snapshot view of your Yahoo! Mail inbox. An indicator on the Mail tab will tell you how many unseen messages you have, and clicking on a message will take you right to it in Yahoo! Mail.

Current weather + 5-day forecast
Below your name you’ll find the current weather conditions for your area. Click on the weather display and you’ll see a 5-day forecast. To change your weather location, click on the location listed to the right of the current forecast. Type in any location in the world and click Go.

Search the web, images and video
The new search box at the top of Insider gives you quick access to Yahoo! Search. We’ve also included search assist to help you find the most common search phrases as you enter in your query.

Skins to match
If you’re on Yahoo! Messenger 10, the color of the new Insider will match the skin that you’ve chosen for your main Messenger windows. On versions 8.1 and 9.0, you’ll see a Skins menu in the upper right corner of the Insider window. Just click on it to select a different skin.

Ads, of course
I’m sure you’ll all be thrilled to know that the same 300×250 ad is still available in Insider. And just below it is a smaller ad where you’ll see tips or promotions related to Yahoo! Messenger. Oh and did we mention that we love it when you click on ads?

If it’s been awhile since you’ve looked at Insider, now’s a great time to give it a fresh look. Just click on the Help menu and select “Yahoo! Insider”.

And if you’d like to turn Insider back on so you see it when you sign in to Yahoo! Messenger, go to Messenger > Preferences > General and check the box next to “Show Yahoo! Insider”.

We hope you enjoy the new Insider. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment here on the blog or by going to the Help menu in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 or 10 and selecting “Send Feedback”.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

I’ve listed some recommend steps for troubleshooting sign-in issues on Yahoo! Messenger 9.0. If you are having problems, please read through them and follow the instructions to try and resolve your sign-in issues.

1) Be sure you have the latest version of 9.0 (ver. 9.0.0.2162). If you’re not sure what version you have, go to the Help menu in Messenger and select “About Yahoo! Messenger”. Note the version number, and if it’s earlier than the version number above, download and install the latest at http://messenger.yahoo.com/download/win.

2) IMPORTANT: Visit the sign-in troubleshooting help page and read each section. Follow directions where needed.

3) If you do continue to have trouble signing in after trying the steps above, contact customer care and provide them with answers to the following questions:

a. Indicate what steps you have taken so far when troubleshooting the issue. What settings you’ve changed etc. This will help prevent customer care from asking you to try things that you may have already.

b. What error message are you receiving, if any? Please provide the error message text, as well as any error codes.

c. Using Internet Explorer on your computer, can you successfully sign in to any or all of the following websites? [Note: be sure you use IE, not Firefox]

https://login.yahoo.com/ (Yes/No)
http://mail.yahoo.com/ (Yes/No)
http://webmessenger.yahoo.com/ (Yes/No)

d. On your computer, are you able to sign in to Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 with any other Yahoo! ID? (Yes/No)

e. On a different computer, are you able to sign in to Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 with your Yahoo! ID? (Yes/No)

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

The updates feature in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 allows you to share updates from a variety of outside sites and services with your Yahoo! friends.

When you elect to share your latest Twitter tweets with anyone, friends that have you on their Messenger contact list will be able to see them.

To start sharing your Twitter activity with your Messenger friends, first go to the Share More page on your profile and select Twitter from the list. You’ll be asked to enter your Twitter username. (Note that if you don’t see Twitter in the Share More list, you may already be sharing your updates. In that case, move onto the next step below.)

Then go to the Manage My Updates page. Find Twitter in the list and choose one of three options from the drop-down menu:

Anyone – Your latest tweets will be shared with anyone who is connected to you on Yahoo!. That means friends on Yahoo! Messenger or friends that you’ve connected with on your Yahoo! profile.

My Connections – Your tweets are only shared with people you have explicitly connected with via your Yahoo! Profile.

No one – Your tweets will not be shared with any Yahoo! friends.

To share your tweets with all of your Messenger friends, be sure you select “Anyone” from the menu. Your latest tweet will appear under your name in their Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 contact list or on your contact card.

Happy tweeting!

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

Based on your suggestions in the comments of that earlier post, we added support for the following video and photo sites to the inline media player in Yahoo! Messenger 9.0:

5min.com
collegehumor.com
facebook.com (public videos only)
funnyordie.com
hulu.com
en.netlog.com
qik.com
thewb.com
twitpic.com
viddler.com
vimeo.com

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. If you’ve got another video or photo site you’d like to see supported, leave us a comment.

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager