Advanced Chat Features
| Blocking Chat Messages | Unblocking Chat Messages | Chatting with Windows Live Users | If You Use Yahoo! Messenger |
Chatting With Windows Live™ Messenger Users
Yahoo! Mail’s chat feature lets you communicate with your Windows Live™ Messenger contacts, as well as with your Yahoo! Messenger contacts. But the process of getting them to appear among your online contacts is a bit different.
Contacts with Yahoo! IDs in your Yahoo! Contacts automatically show up in your Online Contacts List whenever they are online. To include a contact with a Windows Live ID (@hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com), you must first request permission to chat.
Note: If you already have Windows Live contacts on your Messenger List, they automatically show up in your Online Contacts List in Mail.
You have several ways to send a request for permission to chat to your Windows Live friends.
Here’s How
By using the New Chat link
The wizard gets all the Windows Live contacts from your Yahoo! Contacts. If you want to chat with someone who isn’t in your Yahoo! Contacts, you can start by using the New Chat link.
Make sure that you are available to chat within Yahoo! Mail. (Remind me how.)
Click the New Chat link in the Chat & Mobile Text area.
A chat tab opens in a small window on the bottom-right corner of the Mail page.
Type the Windows Live email address of the person you want to chat with, then click the Chat button.
A message tells you that you must add the user to your Online Contacts List.
Click the Add Contact link.
The Add to Contacts window opens with the email address and Windows Live ID filled in.
Complete the information, then click the Save button.
Another window tells you that your request to add this person to your list has been sent, and the chat window tells you that the person is offline.
The person remains offline until she accepts your request.
By editing an existing contact
If you already have a Windows Live contact in your Yahoo! Contacts, you can add him to your Online Contacts List.
Click the Contacts tab in Yahoo! Mail, find the contact, then click the Edit link.
In the Messenger ID box on the edit page, fill in the Windows Live chat ID (if it’s not already there) and check the Add this person to my Messenger List option.
Save the changes to the contact.
The contact will receive a request from you.
What’s Next
When your friend gets your request, she must accept it and send a request back to also add you to her online contacts. Once you accept her return request, she’ll appear in your Online Contacts List and you two can chat.
Words to Know
- Avatar: a character that you can use when interacting with friends online. By changing hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.
- Emoticon: a small character that shows someone how you feel during an IM conversation, such as happy, sad, or laughing.
- Messenger List: a list of coworkers, friends, family, and associates who also use Messenger.
- Online contact: a contact with a Messenger ID who is signed in at the same time you are.
- Windows Live™ Messenger: Microsoft® Windows’ free instant messaging application.
- Yahoo! ID: the name by which a person is known to all Yahoo! networks.