cocoaforge

Hi everyone - I'm new to mac as of 3 days ago - and I LOVE it... and Adiumx is Sweet! So much better than trillian for windows.

Item 1:

As for the contact list, I think the transparent background is great (much better than the fixed backgrounds of most other messengers) but I was hoping there was an extra out there that did a little more.

I'm thinking that becuase most of us use our messengers all the time - it makes sense that the contact list (and messages) be 'on top' of all other programs... but that also takes up real estate and i find myself constantly moving it around the screen.

>> Has anyone come up with a plugin/extra that moves the contact list off the screen, either to the menu bar or via an autohide feature (preferred, more below)? This way every one of our contacts could be only 1 click away, but without having to manage space...

With the menubar approach, is it be possible to put our contacts into the menu that comes down? I would like to probably put all my contacts there because I keep my list small - but I would think most people would want only select contacts or 'favorites'.

The autohide feature (which i would prefer) could work just like the dock (or taskbar in windows) in that we could move our cursor to the 'x' side of the screen and the contact list would rollout - and then disapear again when we're done. i like this better because the contact list could still be fully featured/skinned whereas the menubar approach would be more limited.

If this has already been done - please let me know...

Item 2:

how come the actual messaging window can't be used with a transparent/borderless window like the contact list. Especially for styles like smooth operator (which i still like better than the xtras out there) this would work so nicely.

... and why can't the same auto-hide/rollout feature be applied to messaging windows as the contact list.

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Ideally I would probably use a combination of the two, menubar for favorite contacts, and rollout from the left side of my screen for messaging window.
If the messaging window auto-rolled out when someone messaged me that would be even nicer. If this is a new feature, then maybe we could use a key modifier to do rollout of both from same side of screen (cntr+mouse to left side for contact list, mouse to left side for messaging window).


If anyone has any ideas, please let me know - this project is awesome. Are these features in the beta? if so, how can i get the beta? everytime i go to beta.adiumx.com it comes up invalid.

Thanks

Item 1 is already supported in the beta version of adium 1.0 which will be released... whenever its done. If you feel comfortable using beta release software, you can check it out here but being new to the Mac, you may just want to wait.

As for item 2, it is partially solved in the beta as well. Transparency is fully supported, but boarderlessness has been discussed several times and has been cataloged as impractical by the developers for a few reasons. It's possible at some point in the future, but is not planned. Also, about the autohide of message windows... I dont know that I've ever heard that requested before, I wonder how useful it would be to other uses... hm.

glad to know transparency is coming in the beta -- is anyone else having trouble accessing the beta site? (I'm on safari, is that the problem)?

bummer that borderless isn't doable in the message list - seems strange, since it is already working for the contact list.

I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that no one else has thought of auto-hide... to me it seems far and above the best way to interact with a messenger, hopefully more people will read this post and open their eyes to the idea.

I for one would love it! I probably waste 20 minutes a day repositioning my messenger.

Thanks

The beta site is down right now.

jaycrouch wrote: I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that no one else has thought of auto-hide... to me it seems far and above the best way to interact with a messenger, hopefully more people will read this post and open their eyes to the idea.

Ya, and it's already in 1.0

i thought luxurychair said that it wasn't in 1.0(the beta) and that he had never heard anyone else request it?

Maybe I misread, but this is what it can do:

http://brok3n.org/adiumclhiding.mov

perfect - except can this be applied to the messaging window as well as the contact list?

Yeah, he asked about both the contact list hiding as well as the (unimplemented as far as I know) message window hiding.

I know the contact list hiding is in beta, I use it often, but I have not heard anything of message window hiding (and am sure I would have noticed the option in one of my many trips through the adium preferences)

You can currently hide the contact list and message window in the background with 0.89.1. Goto Advanced in the Preferences window, select contact list, then click the box next to "Hide while Adium is in the background". Then do the same for Messanges. Not the same as how it is in the beta however if this is something you are looking for, try that until 1.0 is released.

Pics:

thanks, but i've already tried that.

The problem is that i frequently go back and forth to the message list refering to data sent. So when 'hide in background' is on each time it want to go back to the message list i have to re-open the messaging window. It would be much nicer to just move to the edge of the screen and have it pop out than having to go to the contact list, open it, and then open the contact message window.

I understand now that auto-hiding is in 1.0 for the contact list... I'm trying to figure out if anyone can get it working (add it) for the messaging window as well... truth be told, I think most people message the same contacts over and over so they interact more with the messaging window than the contact list - so auto-hide for the messaging window is more important than the contact list.

Thanks

All you have to do is have adium in the dock, point the mouse to the dock click on adium bam! It's right there, saves "realestate" as everyone calls it. Would be just as quick as 1.0's auto hide feature.

sweet, thanks!

duh to me - im new to macs, didn't think of doing that.

Still think auto-hide of message window will be nice, but this will get me by.

jaycrouch wrote:sweet, thanks!

duh to me - im new to macs, didn't think of doing that.

Still think auto-hide of message window will be nice, but this will get me by.

True, I also can't wait for the new auto hide feature. Glad I could be of help to you.

We won't be adding this functionality to the message window.

"We won't be adding this functionality to the message window."

in 1.0 or in the future - and why not? can't be that hard since its already working for contact list...

jaycrouch wrote:"We won't be adding this functionality to the message window."

in 1.0 or in the future - and why not? can't be that hard since its already working for contact list...

I don't think think its a technical issue. The point of having the contact list hidden on the side is that you can check quickly who's online. The message window is where you interact more and is not something you just glance at. Well thats my opinion anyway.

jaycrouch wrote: in 1.0 or in the future

Now and in the future. It's not a question of difficulty, rather what should go into Adium. The contact list tends to be a tall narrow window which fits fine into the docking paradigm. A big window like the message window, with most users, does not.

Why?

Well, it's really simple if you look at it like this. We've got a bunch of message styles and contact lists themes, but every time you see a screenshot on the screenshots thread, about 90% of the time it's with people who are trying to basically blend their desktop into the background. They want it there but they really don't want to have to see it a lot. Whereas their message window is usually in the middle or sorta in a corner, but it's kind of out there, that sort of thing.

There are some people who run without the contact list (myself included) for weeks at a time. There is no one who uses Adium without using the message window for weeks without being a little weird. That's basically why.

If you want to save desktop real estate, you could look into how to hide applications, that sort of thing.

In the end though, we have to weigh the options, and this just isn't something we're going to do.

Well not to be argumentative - but i totally disagree. I'm also not sure how "There is no one who uses Adium without using the message window for weeks without being a little weird." comes into play. I think this is a really useful new idea that you guys are dismissing because you haven't seen it before.

The issue here isn't about how often one uses the message window (which is indead frequent) but of workflow. Since the last 2 replies have been from developers lets use a user example followed by a coding example. After the clarification I offer a quick compromise that could be beneficial to all users.

1st example: Many users experience what i call 'extended' chats, where the person on the other side is infrequently sending information over - and you may or may not be replying infrequently (this especially happens when you get fast typers talking to slow ones). The key here is that you're trying to work in between being interupted. In this case the messaging window keeps popping up and you have to keep closing it (can get very annoying). You can't go offline because the chat is important (or the contact is) but its interupting your workflow to deal with the window each time.

2nd example: You guys must occationally receive incoming messages that are important (say containing code snippets) which you need to work with over a period of time using the clipboard.

In both of these examples the messaging window needs to be interacted with for a long time. But as you mentioned, its a big ol window that hides a significant portion of your favorite IDE. You're only choices are closing/re-opening over and over, or bringing the messaging window to the front if you aren't running it in 'always on top' mode, and most of us resort to moving the window all over the place in order to get at the information behind. All three of these choices suck and interject Adium into the application history distrupting the users ability to quickly toggle between working apps.

My suggestion is to auto-hide the messaging window when not in use - and to allow re-opening quickly by simply moving to an edge of the screen. By doing this, incoming messages can be seen in their entirety and in the context of the conversation (as opposed to short message bubble alerts common in other chat programs) but without forcing the user to divert his/her attention from the task at hand. I.e the window hides itself after a few seconds of inactivety (non-focus).

So i stand by the opinion that this could be a VERY useful feature... but here is a workaround. Earlier in this thread, InfernoSoul talked about how to use the existing preferences of auto-hide when adium in the background. This almost works great except for 2 things. Say you are copy/pasting from your IDE to Adium and vice a versa. Adium dissapears every time you click on your IDE. 2nd case, your coding away and someone chats you - all of a sudden your focus changes to Adium and you have switch back and continue typing.

It would be much better if you could add a user configured time delay to auto-hide once Adium looses focus. This would take care of all 4 examples I have talked about.

Another workaround is to add a 'pin' to the message window which toggles the auto-hide setting without having to go into the preference->advanced->etc. This allows a user to temporarily keep the window around while doing copy/paste.

Review:
Extended Chat - someone chats you - messaging window comes up (without focus) and disapears after a few seconds giving you a chance to reply or ignore them and keep typing. No manual open/close/reposition required.
Content Chat - you can move back and forth between Adium and your IDE doing copy/paste to your hearts content, without Adium disapearing, but then when your done Adium hides after a few seconds.

jaycrouch wrote:Since the last 2 replies have been from developers

This assumption is incorrect.