How do I start a chat?

You’ve got lots of ways (well, 4) to start chatting with any of your Rogers Yahoo! contacts. Or with any of your Windows Live contacts (@hotmail, @msn, @live)...

1. On the left side of the page, under Contacts, under "# Online", click a contact name.

Example: Under Contacts, you might see "2 Online". This means two of your contacts are currently online. If you don't see their names, click the triangle to the left to list them. To start chatting, just click a name. A new tab opens up in your Mail window. Type your message at the bottom. That’s it – let the conversation begin!

2. Click the arrow on the right end of the New button to reveal a menu with these options: Email, Chat and Text Message (SMS).

Click Chat. (Or, be even quicker (and slicker) and simply type “c”). In the new tab that opens, enter the Rogers Yahoo! contact with whom you want to start chatting – and you’re off!

3. While Composing an email

If a contact is online when you start typing their email address, Address AutoComplete lists their name twice: once to fill the “To:” line (and write an email), and then again under the heading “Online. Chat now!” To start a chat with them instead of writing an email, just click their name under “Online. Chat now!”

- If you’re in the middle of writing an email and then decide you’d rather make it a chat, you can convert the email into a chat. Just click the button in the upper-right corner of your page that has an exclamation point on it, inside a cartoon bubble. It's part of three small buttons on the far right of the tool bar (under the Help link) -- See them? They give you ways to convert a message into a chat, an email or a text message.

If a contact comes online while you’re writing them an email, Rogers Yahoo! Mail flashes an alert in the Calendar Strip at the bottom of your Mail window to tell you they’re available. Click Chat Now to start chatting with them.

Note: If the message you’ve written so far takes up less than 2K of memory (about 100 words), Rogers Yahoo! Mail converts it into your first comment of the chat. If it’s more than 2k, you’ll get a “Text Limit Exceeded” message. In this dialog, you can either edit (shorten) the text to make it fit into a chat, or click Cancel, I’ll Stay with Email.

4. From within your Contacts.

Click Contacts on the left side of your Mail page, and you’ll open a list of all your contacts. The ones that use either Rogers Yahoo! Mail or Yahoo! Messenger will have a smiley-face icon next to them. If the face is gray and asleep, the contact is offline. But if the face is yellow and smiling, they’re online and available to chat! To get going, click once on their name in the list. Their details appear in the pane to the right. Now, click the smiley-face icon there, and presto! A conversation tab opens for you to start chatting away.

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