Working With the Messenger List
| What Is... | Understanding the Messenger List Interface | Controlling What the List Displays | Changing the List’s Font | Using Contact Cards |
Understanding the Messenger List Interface
Your Messenger List uses a combination of symbols and text to provide information about the status of your contacts.
Online Presence Icons
An online presence icon to the left of a contact’s name indicates the person’s online and offline status.
 | Online. |
 | Online showing a display image. |
 | Offline. Only the smiley icon, never a display image, displays for offline contacts. Offline contacts display if you’ve chosen to show offline contacts on your Messenger List. |
 | Pending. You’ve asked permission to add this contact to your Messenger List and are waiting for the contact’s approval. Pending contacts display if you’ve chosen to show pending contacts on your Messenger List. |
Symbols
A symbol to the left of the online icon lets you know if the person is available or busy.
 | Busy—online but unavailable. |
 | Idle—online and has not used the computer in a while. |
 | Open Talk—online and available for an Open Talk call. |
 | Mobile—online with a mobile phone. |
Appearance of Contact’s Name
The appearance of a contact’s name also indicates the person’s online and offline status, and your status to them.
| Chris Mayberry | Bold—Online. |
| Chris Mayberry | Normal—Offline or pending. Offline and pending contacts display if you’ve chosen to show offline contacts on your Messenger List. |
| Chris Mayberry Chris Mayberry | Italics—This contacts sees you as offline (through a stealth or invisible setting) even though you’re online. |
Text and Symbols
Text and/or a symbol to the right of a contact’s name indicates the person’s online availability and is also a way for the contact to say a little bit about his or herself, such as favorite music or web page.
| Text | Your contact has selected a status from Messenger’s status list or has written a status. For example, the contact can select "Busy" from a preset status list or write "I’m working from home." |
 With
text | Your contact has written a status that includes
a URL. For example:  |
| With
text | Your contact has Open Talk on and is inviting you to call. |
 With
artist’s name | Your contact is listening to Yahoo! Music. This
displays if your contact allows it through his preferences. Tip: Your Windows Live™ Messenger contacts can’t see this status. |
All together, these icons, symbols, and text give you a pretty good feel for your contact.
What’s Next
You can change your status so that others see your availability on their Messenger Lists.
Words to Know
- Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email or instant message.
- Display image: a picture or Avatar that represents you in some way and that you share with your contacts during IM conversations.
- Messenger List: a list of coworkers, friends, family, and associates who also use Messenger.
- Open Talk: a Messenger feature that lets your friends connect a PC-to-PC call to your PC without waiting for you to accept the call.
- Stealth setting: a setting that allows you to choose when specific contacts see you as online or offline.
- Windows Live™ Messenger: Microsoft® Windows’ free instant messaging application.