Using Text Messaging
| What Is... | Signing In to Chat | Sending a Text Message | Switching Between Texting, Chat, and Email |
Signing In to Chat
Your online chat availability determines whether you can send text messages to your contacts. If you’re signed in to Yahoo! Mail’s chat feature (that is, online), you can initiate text messaging; if you’re signed out of chat (offline), you can’t.
If you’re signed out of chat, you’ll see a gray circle (
) and "Offline" next to your name at the top of the Mail page.
Just sign in to get started text messaging.
Tip: For text messaging, it doesn’t matter what your online status is, as long as you’re signed in. You can be available (
), busy (
), or even invisible () and still be able to send and receive text messages. See the Chatting With Your Contacts tutorial to learn more about different chat statuses and how to create your own status messages.
(More Details)
Here’s How
-
To sign in to Yahoo! Mail’s chat feature, click the "Offline" status, and then select another status from the menu.
Tip: The check mark in the menu indicates the current status.
Your text messaging friends don’t see your online status, but your online Messenger contacts do.
What’s Next
Now that you’re signed in, you can send a text message to one of your contacts.
Words to Know
- Offline: not connected to the Internet or any other network.
- Online: connected to the Internet.
- Online status: a setting that lets others know your availability to chat.
- Yahoo! Messenger: an application that lets you communicate using your voice, text, or other means with one or more people over the Internet in real time (instantly).